How do you track your carbs? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

ElizabethG · 01-25-2011, 12:50 PM

I was curious on how you all track your carbs. Do you just keep it in your head or do you use a calorie count type of a program only just look at carbs and not calories? or do you just write it down in a notebook?

My husband just kept track in his head but I think I'd forget stuff if I didn't write it all down and I'm someone who likes to see and track things.

Thanks!

Sum38 · 01-25-2011, 12:58 PM

I use ************.com. it counts them for me automatically.
my fitness pal....all one word

HadEnough · 01-25-2011, 01:01 PM

fit day . com (all one word)

wendyland · 01-25-2011, 01:14 PM

I use my fitness pal because they have an app for my phone. I used to use livestrong when I did web only.

beerab · 01-25-2011, 02:01 PM

sparkpeople.com

ElizabethG · 01-25-2011, 02:40 PM

Yeah I use daily plate now and I have used spark people and fitday in the past for calorie counting. I was just wondering if there were any special carb trackers or something.

Thanks!

saraRae · 01-25-2011, 02:57 PM

I use a small notebook and write out the name of the food with the calorie and carb count. This way it is always with me, and I don't have to be on the computer to see where I'm at. Maybe later I'll used a site to help keep track of nutrients, but right now this works for me.

TexArk · 01-28-2011, 09:43 AM

my fitness pal is the best I have found that is online, free, and has a phone app.

However, I have been using DietPower (for PCs only) since the middle of October. You can download a free 15 day trial to see if you like it. It is a program for your computer, not an internet site, so no phone apps, etc. but it is great when the internet is not handy. With DP I have records I can pull up for any range of dates. I can see a weekly, monthly, or yearly average of any nutrient...calories, carbs, etc. It really is helping me to find the range of calories and carbs that works for me.

Natalia · 01-28-2011, 10:49 AM

My system is extremely new age and complex.
You know those magnetic shopping lists you put on the side of your fridge?
Lol
yep I mark my carbs ongoing total as I am prepping or heating each food.
I used to use daily plate, but since I only go online once or twice a day it was a huge pita to run to the cputer every time plus trying to remember my total bs just looking at my shopping list to see. I also found online tracking made me think about food too much and found it a chore to do, although I loved some of the information it held.
Maybe further along I will input it all once or twice after the fact and then at least if I'm stalling or craving I can look back and get more info plus calorie counts . But for now just doing it the old fashioned way,.

Anne333 · 01-31-2011, 01:24 AM

I keep mine in a computer archive named "daily carbs".

I don't erase the previous days, though, it's nice to have history.

Karen925 · 01-31-2011, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexArk

my fitness pal is the best I have found that is online, free, and has a phone app.

However, I have been using DietPower (for PCs only)

I checked out my fitness pal and it is great. I have a Mac, otherwise I would have gotten DP a while ago.

Thanks for the tip. Always great to learn new things.

Irish Michelle · 01-31-2011, 10:01 PM

My husband and I are both LC'ing, and so we have a Google Docs spreadsheet that we share so we can access it anywhere. (I have a shortcut to it in my Gmail and he has it bookmarked, so it's easy for us to get to.) We've set it up with a "grand total" at the top of each of our columns that is set to sum everything below it, and we enter our carbs as we go each day. We do clear them out daily, though - if I ever hit a plateau, I might try keeping them longer term.

Also, since I'm not using a program with a built in nutritional database, I like to use the USDA's. I'm not allowed to link yet (3 more posts!), but if you Google "USDA Nutrient Database," you'll find it. We use that if we have to figure out the carb count on something. So we're not constantly recalculating the same things, we do have a list down the right side of our tracking spreadsheet that lists carb counts of common foods that we eat.

ERHR · 02-04-2011, 09:45 PM

I use plain old Excel for my carb and all other nutrition data tracking. I almost always eat out of my own kitchen so I've just saved the nutrition data from recipes I make frequently and add in other food items as they come up. I use one sheet per day and one spreadsheet per month. I have tried using various online trackers in the past but find they don't give me enough control. This way I can just enter (once, copy-and-paste after that) nutrition data straight off packaging labels or look it up on the web if it's a whole food. Easy peasy!

ElizabethG · 02-10-2011, 02:25 PM

I decided to just continue to use the daily plate for now. Its easy and I can track weight and exercise too. I have also noticed that I've been really low cal too, something I wouldn't have noticed if i was just counting carbs I guess.

Irish-I like your idea of a google doc. I use those too for things like budget and when my husband was looking for jobs. Its great that you can access it anywhere!

martinimouse · 02-11-2011, 11:30 AM

I use a nutritional software that I purchased for $30. I love it, the program is completely set up to my needs, my data base and I can make reports to see trends. I also weigh my foods, so I have a food scale at home and carry a pocket size digital. It sounds more obsessive that it is, most of the time I only need to weigh foods that are in bulk and not packaged.