Hi there!

I've been using fitday.com since last Thursday - I've got few issues/guestions.

How do you measure water? for the reports.. it shows up in grams in moisture. It would be easier in oz or ml

On weight watchers there were alot of veggies we didn't count - do you count all your veggies on fitday.com? If i don't count them I would get an accurate report as to my vitamins for the the day. 1/2 cup of onions are 46 calories. Do you put things like that on? I eat alot of red pepper and onions.

Exercise - do you use this feature? for me, it's kind of a weak spot for the site. When you key in how much time you spent doing something is it basing it on what weight you have for yourself?

Any tips you can share on how to make this better would be great!!

Thanks

Dana

Ok just my 1 cent worth (don't have 2) for water I have it fl oz or cups....may I ask where it says grams of moisture? I'm confused on that. Ok I found it under the goals, I don't set a goal for the water I just out how many fl oz I drink a day on my food journal. And for veggies and fruits I put them because I know they have calories just not a lot but they are there. I want accurate numbers on my calorie intake.

Dana,

I think that water is the biggest slack in the website. I never found a way to measure water in a way that I would like. So, if anyone else out there knows the answer to Dana's question, I want to know too!

I do count the veggies. I know that WW does not, but that goes along with all of the points formula's. It does make it more difficult to stay within my calorie limit, but at the same time still acts as encouragment to eat the low calorie foods. I mean I can eat a salad of red onion, tomato, and spinach with 1 tsp. of vinegar and 1 tsp of oil on top and I use only 202 calories, and that, for me is a good lunch. How are you counting the measurements of your veggies. I mean, for example I always slice my onions, rather than dice them and 1/2 cup of sliced onions is 22 calories.

I think that it is important to count the veggies because it really helps you know what vitamins you are deficient in. I have actually noticed a difference in my moods dependant upon what vitamins I am getting or am defecient.

I personally like the exercise reports on the site. I don't think that it is based upon your weight, but I have printed a list that is based upon your weight from primusweb.com/cgi-bin/fpc/actcalc.pl. I compare the two, and find that I actually burn more than fitday.com tells me. However, It still helps me control the "burn 500 more calories than I consume" guideline in order to lose weight.

I hope that I have been some help, I'm sure that is not what you wanted to hear, but I'm good at giving my opinions! I, personally, like fitday.com and feel like it is a good tool to help me get back on track.

Denise..
so I love fit day!..
I just want to use it to it's fullest potential.
You are right about the veggies - I've just been used to them being free for sooo long

Okay.. so how would I do the exercise part? Yesterday I earned a min of 200 calories at the gym. 100 on the xtrainer, 80 on the bike.. and (I don't know for sure.. just guessing) a min of 20 on the weight lifting. How would I key that in?

Thanks!

Actually, according to primusweb.com/cgi-bin/fpc/actcalc.pl , I actually burn about a third more calories than fitday.com tells me. So, I check the 1 minute compared to 1 minute on the other site an then fudge the time so it equals the same. For example, weeding the garden (I hate this chore that is really taking up way too much time this year) according to fitday is just 4 calories per minute, where according to primusweb (which includes my weight in the calculations) says that it is actually 8 calories burned per minute. So for my reports, I just double the time from 30 minutes to 1 hour, so I can count my entire calories burned. I know that it is a pain in the butt, but it is still beneficial to me.

Dana, you burned 10 calories per minute weight-training, 18 per minute on the bike, and 16 on the trainer (according to the other site)

Denise..
have you noticed that you are really coming up short on vitamins at the end of the day/week?

I'm doing better on fiber and calicum then I thought but lacking big time on folate, and iron. I eat way too many carbs! and too much sodium!

what kind of limits did you set for some of your goals?

fat:
60 g
carbs:
250 g

I'm not sure what to put down for protein.. I said 60?

Dana -

Water - I don't run the reports for water. Probably because I drink a ton of it at any given time. However, I still record it in my daily food notes by clicking on water, changing it to fluid ozs and making the serving size 8 (fluid ozs). Don't know if that helps.

Veggies - I always put in veggies because I want to track my vitamins. I started seeing that my calcium levels were totally low and I didn't like that trend so my vegetables have become very important. Plus, if I ever print the report for my doctor, I want to show him were my nutrients are coming from.

Exercise - I don't put it exercise because I use FitLinxx at the YMCA. It tracks my exercise for me and it's a much better system. Does your Y have it?

Dana,
I have found that I am totally lacking in Vitamin D and Folate. Iron I do ok on, but that is because I have a tendancy to have low iron, so I eat a lot of spinach and eggs, as well as taking iron pills.
I like to use the reports to see where I am lacking and try to do better the next day. Jessica, I never thought of printing the reports to take to my doctor. That is such a good idea. Maybe this way he will be able to help me reach the correct amounts.

I set my fat goal a little higher than yours. I don't think that I can eat less.
fat: 69 g (I actually usually average about 65, but don't think that I could go under 60).
Carbs: 275 g - but I'm not too sure where I should be with this.
Protein: 52 g

I'm still learning about the site, and I am glad to get your imput/suggestions on how you are utilizing it.

I would be so scared to see where I fall in the vitamin/nutrient category. Since I eat almost no veggies at all. Do you enter in your multi-vitamin??

I don't enter my vitamin, but I should. I know that my numbers would change drastically. I guess I'm trying to change my eating habits so that I wouldn't need to take pills to get my daily nutrients.

from what I understand it's really hard to judge how much you are really getting with vitamins. I've heard that you told really get out of them as much as the bottle would let you believe.

So I try to get as much from a natural source.
There has been so much talk lately about how much calicum can help with weight lose. I've heard that it is getting calicum from it's natural source that counts. Any thoughts?
I used to hardly get any calcium - but now I am about 1100 mg per day.

Dana

I've heard the same about calcium. But I've also heard to watch where you are getting it from. I've heard that milk may be loaded in calcium, but because of the fat, it isn't actually that great. (I don't drink fat free milk, I detest the taste)

I've gotten my way down to skim milk
but I eat too much cheese!! I swear 90% of the fat calories are all cheese
What can I tell you .. I'm a cheese head!

Denise, do you enter all the activities you do (like watch TV, walk to the car, etc.) so that you actually get the calories burned to add up to 500 less than what you eat?

Even when I do two aerobics classes and stretching in one day, I can't get the total activity calories to be less than the food calories. I have been tracking the food calories and notice that I run from 1300 to 1600.

Maybe I'm not getting what you mean about burning five hundred calories less than you consume??