I have attempted to count calories in the past but have found myself failing at it. Honestly, I think it's because I'm lazy about looking up calories, not always knowing where to go for resources, the tedious chore of following up on each and everything I eat. But, I also know that weightloss can't happen naturally without watching the calories. Calories in... calories out. Any suggestions on how I can get better and be more successful with calorie counting and tracking.

I use Fitday (there is a free online version, but I purchased the PC version). Thedailyplate.com also has a free version. You can create custom foods if you want/need to, but the database on both programs is pretty robust. It makes tracking calories much easier.

I use the downloaded FitDay also--it's not all that expensive.

The nice thing about a computer tracker is that it comes with a big database of foods, so you don't have to look everything up--just type in the food. But, on the downloaded FitDay at least, you can add your own custom foods. I have entered all the Lean Cuisines I eat often, for example, so I only have to type the name and FitDay does the rest.

It also can help you set a goal weight and do calorie planning. And, it has an Activities log where you can enter exercise and other activities. You can add custom exercises as well.

Jay

If you eat a lot of the same foods regularly, it gets easier!

A lot of people eat similar foods at each meal. They learn that x breakfast + y lunch + z dinner and their snacks are within their calorie counts and don't have to keep counting! So, you may find it gets easier if you eat the same foods regularly.

Fitday is only a PITA at the beginning. Like Heather said - I tend to eat the same things pretty often. I have them all saved as custom foods in the free version of Fitday. Easy peasy after initially having to enter them. For me - logging my foods has been VERY IMPORTANT to my weight loss/maintenance efforts.

As the others have said - it gets easier after awhile because most of your foods are in there. I like the downloaded version of fitday because it is easier to do custom foods than the online. Well to clarify - if you eat a lot of packaged foods online is as easy and occasionally easier, if you cook a lot the downloaded is easier.

I also do "cheats" since calorie counting was a major chore for me. I take combo food that I eat often and put in an average or typical one.

Lets take salad for example. To me, entering 2c lettuce 1/2 carrot, 1/3 cucumber, 1/4 red bell pepper would be a major PITA.

I set up a "salad" in fitday with all of the "typical" salad veggies I use and that is "salad" - I know a salad bowl full is 1 salad, a small plate is 1.5 salads and a big plate is 2 salads.

Now yesterday my salad was more of lettuce and redpepper and didnt have cucumber or carrot. And tomorrow my lettuce will have more tomato and celery and no red pepper, but in the end it all evens out and the calorie differences are miniscule. I do add on starchy veggies, beans, cheese, ham individually.

I do the same kind of thing for veggie omelets and stir-frys

I use FitDay, too. I love it. It makes counting calories almost effortless.

I tried the online version of Fit day before but found the food choices to be limiting. I'll definitely have to check into the software version for more flexibility. Thanks for the feedback. Good to know what's been working for you. I need to work on the consistency of tracking and being honest with the amount of calories I intake.

How do you keep yourself accountable?

I often log the whole day in fitday in the morning.

There are also a bunch of accountability threads that chicks here log in daily.

In the end it amounts to planning ahead to stay on track.

I've been using DailyPlate.com, which is similar to FitDay. The free version online is fantastic, and makes it very easy to add and save custom entries. If you cook a lot, it's also easy to add recipes and use specific brands as your ingredients, which I love. Finally, one of my favorite parts about it is that because it's all online, you can use other people's custom entries as well, and the database is constantly being updated. It definitely saves me a lot of time!

I use DietPower desktop software (Dietpower.com). It is not free but has been worth every penny.

I lost 94lbs in 2001/2002 using DietPower. Then life got in the way and I quit logging. I am back with DP and have lost 67lbs so far.

Lori