aham23

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

Machka 

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.

Machka 

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.

UmneyDurak

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.

Machka 

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.

mccook

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

buddy

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.

PearlJamNoCode

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.

scorpio516

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.

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...

sammie

Another good one is 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.

Shadiyah

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.

gregf83 

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 

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

buddy

Boy that a bummer that would be a great excuse.

Machka 

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.

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

DataJunkie

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).

HardyWeinberg

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.

squidroadie

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!

scorpio516

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

aham23

correct!!!!

later.

Machka 

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!

squidroadie

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!

gregf83 

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.

peiffer83

I use calorie county plus

https://caloriecount.about.com/

MrCrassic 

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).

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