Training & Nutrition - Do you use FitDay?

I have remained the same weight for months now despite quite a bit of exercise, so I decided to start counting calories. All week I maintained a deficit of a minumum of 300 calories a day, and often around 500-600 calories a day.

And ..... I'm 2 lbs down from where I was last Saturday morning!! :D

Yeah, I know ... 2 lbs is nothing to get excited about, and could just be water weight, but it's been months since I've been the weight I am today, so I'm pleased ... it's a start.

I'm tracking my calories (and other nutrients) on FitDay ... and has that ever been an eye opening experience!! I've pinpointed several "problem areas" with my diet, and have been working to fix them. I plan to keep logging my diet and exercise there for at least a few more weeks to help me become more aware of where my food intake difficulties are.

http://www.fitday.com/

i started messing around with fit day, i dont think i like it though, its not accurate enough/too cumbersome for me, i think im just going to stick to using an excel sheet or something because its just a pain in the butt to log onto fitday all the time.
good luck getting over your plateau though.

not so much anymore. however, i did in 2006. i tracked it all. everything that went into my mouth. i have almost 200 custom entries too. if i ate out i would look up the nutrition info and enter the item in my Fitday. i was sort of obsessed. i lost 70 pounds though :)!

most people have no clue the amount of calories they take in. it really is an eye opener. some tips; enter sleep as an activity as it decreases your BMR. over estimate what you eat and under estimate what you burn.

later.

It is a little cumbersome, but I'm making it easier to use and less cumbersome by customizing my foods. I eat much the same food every day, so that speeds things up.

All I want it for is to ensure I'm not eating too much.

Right now, for example, I'm about to enter what I've eaten today to find out if I have room to eat more, or if I will have to call it quits now. FitDay helps me with that decision.

It also helps me see what vitamins and minerals I'm taking in. Evidently my iron levels in my blood are low, with FitDay I can see whether or not I'm consuming enough iron ... or at least I can have a ball park idea.

I use the desktop version and have for a couple of years now. It's gotten me from 18% bodyfat to 8%. It's all about tracking the numbers.

Do you weigh yourself daily?

I don't calorie count, and while you are correct that you could have 2lb of water weight (although if you are maintaining a calorie defecit, I doubt it), what I find is best is to take my weight daily and then plot it out using a spreadsheet program like Excel, then I can see a trend. Yes, it varies from day to day sometimes fluxuating as much as a pound, but look over the course of a few days or a week and you see a useful trend: are you flat, gaining or losing? and then you can adjust your diet or exercise.

Do you weigh yourself daily?

I don't calorie count, and while you are correct that you could have 2lb of water weight (although if you are maintaining a calorie defecit, I doubt it), what I find is best is to take my weight daily and then plot it out using a spreadsheet program like Excel, then I can see a trend. Yes, it varies from day to day sometimes fluxuating as much as a pound, but look over the course of a few days or a week and you see a useful trend: are you flat, gaining or losing? and then you can adjust your diet or exercise.

My weight was remained exactly the same ... and has been since the middle of March. It will go up after a long ride like a century or brevet, of course, but 3 days later it drops back to the same weight, and remains the same until I do my next long ride.

My last 5 weeks of cycling have looked like this:

322 kms cycling, 10 kms walking
182 kms cycling, 10 kms walking
270 kms cycling, 12 kms walking
288 kms cycling, 10 kms walking
111 kms cycling, 14 kms walking

And it has only been in the 111 km week (+14 kms of walking, + weightlifting) that I've really been watching what I eat (and logging it on FitDay), and have finally started to lose weight.

I got the desktop version of Fitday and used it for 3 months. I found it extremely helpful in understanding portions.

The nice thing about it is that you don't need to do it forever. A three to six month period is really all you need, unless you are really overweight. I've lost about 10 lbs since March 1st.

The metabolism numbers are definitely off, but using weightware http://www.weightware.com/ helped me see the calorie deficiency.

It's all about calories in versus calories out.

I use it during periods of time (2-3 months where I want to focus on weight loss. Rest of the year i abandon it. But a year later if I want to lose 5-10 lbs, its still there with all my custom entries.

As Aham23 mentioned, use sleep as an activity, overestimate food portions, underestimate exercise and it works well. People generally eat less than 100 items repeatedly, more likely 50 items. So once you have about 50 custom foods set up, its quick and easy. Its only tedious at the start.

Fitday was instrumental in helping me lose the 35 lbs I gained after quitting smoking. Once I had accomplished that, I didn't need it anymore. I had developed the necessary habits by then to remain steady.

As far as I am concerned, it's simple. Calories in, calories out and you have to track it.

4 years now.

Fitday was instrumental in helping me lose the 35 lbs I gained after quitting smoking. Once I had accomplished that, I didn't need it anymore. I had developed the necessary habits by then to remain steady.

As far as I am concerned, it's simple. Calories in, calories out and you have to track it.

The thing is, I never used to have to track it. In past years (up to and including last year) I would slowly put on 20-30 lbs over the winter ... and in May I'd lose 20-30 lbs. It was like clockwork. And I could eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it, through the whole process.

This time, I put on 20 lbs over the winter as usual .... but I haven't lost it yet, and May has come and gone.

This time, I put on 20 lbs over the winter as usual .... but I haven't lost it yet, and May has come and gone.

Welcome to getting old.

i use it, but i only update it about once a week ... i just keep a log in a little book of what i eat and drink during the week.

I use it periodically when I want to loose weight or see how my diet is working relative to my riding.
Good tool.

Welcome to getting old.

All in one year?? Somehow I don't believe it.

Your body is attached to itself. :p

The thing is, I never used to have to track it. In past years (up to and including last year) I would slowly put on 20-30 lbs over the winter ... and in May I'd lose 20-30 lbs. It was like clockwork. And I could eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it, through the whole process.

This time, I put on 20 lbs over the winter as usual .... but I haven't lost it yet, and May has come and gone.

wow. that is a bunch to put on. i fought it hard this past winter. i was hurt, lacking time, and eating lots. i managed to gain very little. good luck to you. later.

wow. that is a bunch to put on. i fought it hard this past winter. i was hurt, lacking time, and eating lots. i managed to gain very little. good luck to you. later.

I've been doing that 20-30 lb gain and loss every year for years! I did it to some extent when I was a teenager, stopped for a bit in my early 20s when I just put on a lot of weight and didn't lose it, and started again in my late 20s and have been doing it ever since. It's just normal for me.

All in one year?? Somehow I don't believe it.

When I was 28 I gained about 30 pounds. I wasn't really doing much differently. My body just decided it wanted more fat.

When I was 28 I gained about 30 pounds. I wasn't really doing much differently. My body just decided it wanted more fat.

I was actually referring to growing old all in one year ... gaining weight like that I have no problem doing. :D

Having a tool like fitday is a very good thing for someone that wants to keep track of their intakes and "out-takes" in my opinion. I think that just because it's there, it can be motivating for a person to keep going at it since they can easily see it all (and people are always on the internet).

Unfortunately I'm not the person I described, and so trying to keep track of calories was making me crazy. Plus I'm only 19 and only have prolly close to 5-10 lbs of fat that I would like to get rid of (it's hard for the young kids too)

FitDay helped me drop 30 lbs in six months last year. I used it less religiously Jan - May but even putting in my numbers a couple days a week helped to keep me focused. I only gained about four or five pounds back before dropping it again when the weather allowed almost-daily cycling again.

As said above, take FitDay's calorie numbers with a grain of salt. I enter my weight about 5 pounds below actual to bring the daily normal use more in line with other calculations I've done. If I have any question about food, I always over estimate (is this apple a medium or large? Large.). For the activities part, I use a HRM to get the calories burned and then just fiddle with the time in FitDay so the numbers match. Every activity I've used in FitDay over-estimates calories burned (cycling, mountain biking, running, tennis, hiking, swimming, lawn mowing, racquetball, basketball, etc.).

But, with those "customizations" I dropped a consistent 5 lbs/month for six months. So I got the numbers to work out well.

And I very much agree about the nutrition portion of FitDay. While I could probably use Excel to just count calories FitDay has made it much easier to look at fat/carb/protein ratio, track vitamins and minerals, and limit sodium and cholesterol. I have no proof of this other than my own personal experience, but I think that the nutrition part of FitDay helped me to keep up a large physical workload and improve biking performance, while still dropping weight. I think that if I just limited calories without paying attention to the rest of it I would have a harder time building muscle and recovering.

I just use the on-line version so that I can update things whether I'm at home, at work, or on the road without my own computer.

Most embarrassing custom entry in FitDay: Doritos.

Yep, I use FitDay. Those little "snacks" do add up fast don't they? One thing I noticed, at least for me, is that it's very hard to estimate portions. For example 40 grams of uncooked rice is 160 calories. How much is it in cooked form? I did an experiment and it comes to about 115-130 grams. I then brought home some food from a chinese restaurant. It really didn't seem like that much rice, but ended up being around 350 grams! Thats about three servings.

...... One thing I noticed, at least for me, is that it's very hard to estimate portions. For example 40 grams of uncooked rice is 160 calories. How much is it in cooked form? I did an experiment and it comes to about 115-130 grams. I then brought home some food from a chinese restaurant. It really didn't seem like that much rice, but ended up being around 350 grams! Thats about three servings.
And that's where using FitDay or any other calorie calculator really helps. Before I started working off my weight, I wasn't eating many bad things....just too much of it. I have now found things that I can eat large portions but which have low calorie content: soups, squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes. So when I get that occasional feel to binge I'll make a big pot of pumpkin lentil soup or spaghetti squash with spinach or tomato soup with a can of tuna. I can make up more than I can eat in one sitting and yet the whole thing might still be under 800 calories.

bingo. counting calories will teach you portion control which will help you control you calorie intake and help you drop weight. later.

I enter my weight about 5 pounds below actual to bring the daily normal use more in line with other calculations I've done. ..... Every activity I've used in FitDay over-estimates calories burned (cycling, mountain biking, running, tennis, hiking, swimming, lawn mowing, racquetball, basketball, etc.).



I've entered my weight about 10 lbs lighter than I am.

But it's interesting FitDay seems to be underestimating my exercise when compared with other calculators. For example, other calculators will put me at burning 150 calories for my 30 minute lunchtime walk, but FitDay puts me in at 73 calories. Same with cycling, most calculators have me burning about 500 calories per hour, and FitDay has me burning about 300 calories per hour.

I'm going with it because it's better than overestimating the exercise, but it kind of surprised me.

Yep, I use FitDay. Those little "snacks" do add up fast don't they?

Yep!!

I like those Riesen chocolate candies, and figured that eating 2 or 3 of them in a day would be better than eating a chocolate bar and would meet my chocolate fix. And 2 or 3 probably weren't too bad, but there were some days where I'd knock back 5 or 6 or more.

Turns out, they are 40 calories a piece. 3 = 120 calories, 6 = 240 calories ... about the same as a chocolate bar.

I've entered my weight about 10 lbs lighter than I am.

But it's interesting FitDay seems to be underestimating my exercise when compared with other calculators. For example, other calculators will put me at burning 150 calories for my 30 minute lunchtime walk, but FitDay puts me in at 73 calories. Same with cycling, most calculators have me burning about 500 calories per hour, and FitDay has me burning about 300 calories per hour.

I'm going with it because it's better than overestimating the exercise, but it kind of surprised me.

Hmm interesting, because from what my power is reporting FitDay actually over estimates calories burned for particular average speed. To get similar values I need to use 14-15.9 speed range, when in reality my average is around 18-20 mph.

Hmm interesting, because from what my power is reporting FitDay actually over estimates calories burned for particular average speed. To get similar values I need to use 14-15.9 speed range, when in reality my average is around 18-20 mph.

Well, I'm using 12-13.5 (or whatever it is) for my cycling speed ... which is probably ballpark for me. I do short rides between about 20 and 23 km/h depending on how I'm feeling, weather, etc.

I was actually referring to growing old all in one year ... gaining weight like that I have no problem doing. :D

That was my point too. It came on and didn't go away. It always did before.

Machka,

Have you considered getting your thyroid tested? Your thyroid could be the reason for the change of metabolism and not an issue of diet.

Just a thought.

I just started using this today... it really is amazing how those snacks add up. It definitely does underestimate the exercise, but thats just one more incentive to go that extra mile on the bike.

I tried it and didn't like the interface as much as some other things out there. But I didn't know there was a desktop version. I might have to give that a look.


And ..... I'm 2 lbs down from where I was last Saturday morning!! :D

2 lb/week is a very good and safe number! Most doctors/nutritionists will tell you 2-4 lbs per week is perfect for weight loss. Anything over 5lbs can be dangerous. 2lbs a week is 8lbs a month or 104 lbs a year. Lots of people would like to loose 104lbs in a year ;) most of us can't cause we're not 104 lbs over weight to begin with... If I lost 104 lbs from my xmas weight... Well have you seen a 6' tall guy weighing 116lbs before...

Another good one is www.thedailyplate.com (http://www.thedailyplate.com). I like it because it already knows the labels for a lot of the foods I eat (stuff from trader joe's). And you can put together meals that you eat often so that you can click on one thing instead of assembling the meal from ingredients each time you use it. The calorie counter for activities seemed a bit better too. And you can keep a chart of your weight. All around pretty user friendly. I used fitday for a while last year but I like this one better.

I use Fitday. Not every single day, but I try to use it when I know I will be doing a lot of exercise. I find it interesting more than anything else, really. I like to see how many calories I am eating vs. how many I am burning. Plus, it is a nice way to keep track of your mileage.

Here's my page (http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=kombuchachic).

I've been using the desktop version since June 16th and to date my actual and predicted weights are within a pound. I maintain an average calorie deficit of 1100 calories and have dropped 11-12 lbs. I sometimes have daily swings of up to 3 lbs particularly after I go out for dinner. I assume it is due to the higher salt content of restaurant food.

I make up custom foods for regular meals and find it easy to use. I'll stop once I get down to my target weight.

Machka,

Have you considered getting your thyroid tested? Your thyroid could be the reason for the change of metabolism and not an issue of diet.

Just a thought.

I've recently had a complete physical with blood work, and my thyroid is just fine.

I've recently had a complete physical with blood work, and my thyroid is just fine.

Boy that a bummer that would be a great excuse.

Boy that a bummer that would be a great excuse.

And that's all the thyroid thing is ... an excuse.

The thyroid is the reason behind being overweight for a very, very small percentage of the population. That condition is extremely rare. It's wishful thinking for most people who want to lose weight. :lol:

No ... my situation is simply a matter of overeating. And that is a much more common reason for being overweight than thyroid.

I prefer the treatment for over eating instead of having to take meds for a thyroid.
Cycling is way more fun than taking a pill (or whatever thyroid treatment entails).

I've known more people whose thyroids have acted up the other way, firing their metabolism way up and just melting them away. Scary.

I think fitday overestimates your resting bmr, overestimates calories burned, underestimates sleep (I needed to put in however many hours of 0 calories used to get close). The main point of portion control was useful.

In general I think all machines that give you a calories burned output overestimate, it makes the customer happy. I think the only actual data you can truly calculate calories burned from is watts output. Anything else is an inference.

I just started yesterday, and was rather shocked to see how much I was taking in, I thought I have been doing good but I guess not. I even got my wife started on it today and she was also shocked. I guess you never know till you start counting!

Cycling is way more fun than taking a pill (or whatever thyroid treatment entails).

My mom had a bad thyroid. So they nuked it. She's got to take 1 ~25mg pill a day to take care of it. Pretty minor stuff. She's been going on just those pills for the 30 years I've been alive ;)

I just started yesterday, and was rather shocked to see how much I was taking in, I thought I have been doing good but I guess not. I even got my wife started on it today and she was also shocked. I guess you never know till you start counting!

correct!!!!

later.

I just started yesterday, and was rather shocked to see how much I was taking in, I thought I have been doing good but I guess not. I even got my wife started on it today and she was also shocked. I guess you never know till you start counting!


Yep ... this past week and a half that I've been using FitDay, I've been consuming anywhere from 500-800 calories a day less than I was in the weeks prior. I didn't think I was eating much before ... but I was!

I also like to see how many calories I'm burning on my rides, it motivates to ride harder and burn more. Tis morning I burned 1340 and calories, it feels good to start the day like that!

In general I think all machines that give you a calories burned output overestimate, it makes the customer happy. I think the only actual data you can truly calculate calories burned from is watts output. Anything else is an inference.
Monitoring your power output is no more accurate than the estimates provided by machines or HRMs. You may know your power output but to calculate the energy consumed you need to estimate your efficiency and that number varies over time and between individuals. Using a tool like Fitday where you carefully track your input calories and your activity is about as close as you will get short of living in a lab for a few weeks.

I use calorie county plus

http://caloriecount.about.com/

I just started using FitDay, and I think it's merely okay.

I liked how another site I used provided a much more informative breakdown of the foods that I was eating, such as glycemic index and "fullness rating" (which was really spot-on). FitDay doesn't have any of those. Also, even if FitDay is inaccurate about the calories burned through activities, I think it's accurate enough to indicate how ones calories are being depleted. Of course, the only accurate way to be sure of calories lost through something like cycling is by having a heart rate monitor and/or a power meter, but this probably exceeds the budget or needs of most people (certainly exceeds mine).

Otherwise, I like it. It's showing me that I was over-worrying a bit, but it's helping me keep my diet in check. Turns out that I usually have anywhere between a 300 to 700 calorie deficit daily, so I might actually be undereating...though it would take several thousand calories to really make up for all of the calories burned through cycling as hard as I (think I) do (especially combined with the summer heat).