I keep hearing references to fitday. What is it and How do I get there?

Hi Judy,

Fitday is a site where you can pop in your food eaten, and it gives you a readout of calories, carbs, fat and protein.

You have to register, but it's free. www.fitday.com

Cheers.

Rosebud

Thank you. I went in and set up an account. It should help track calories. I was worried I was eating too much. But I'm eating under 1200, so that is not a concern.

I just tried fitday- what a pain in the butt! I just can't imagine doing the tracking daily, It is such a hassle to add foods and if you do not know the details on what you have tried to add, forget it! I guess I am not patient enough. I do pretty well eyeballing my diet and as a rule I just stay away from foods I do not know are low carb or that will fit in with what else I have eaten that day. Today I saved up all my carbs and had a slice of Pizza and 1/4 cup icecream. For me the key is to stop after the allowable amount! Portion control is key, and by the time I would get to add stuff to fitday, I would have already have eaten it. I guess if I am stalled for a long period or gaining it would be a helpful analysis. Janet

I swear by fitday...I input the foods I eat after I've etaen them, but tracking everything gives me a good sense of whether I'm sticking to my carb count or not. It also lets me track my weight, physical activities, and dietary habits over a long period of time. it's well worth the 10 minutes a day i spend updating it.

I LOVE FIT DAY . IT TAKES A BIT OF GETTING USED TO , BUT AFTER YOU'VE ADDED YOUR FOODS, THEY ARE SAVED , MAKING IT EASIER NEXT TIME TO LIST THEM, IT REALLY HELPS ME TO TRACK MY GOOD AND BAD DAYS, MAKING IT EASIER TO RESOLVE ANY PROBLEM DAYS....KAD ...

frustrated: could not even figure out how to add 4 strips of bacon for breakfast

I know Fitday can be a struggle. I really had a bad time in the beginning. But stalling for weeks made me realise I neede to keep better track of my "eatings". I found out I was not eating enough ! You say 1200 cals is not a concern.....are you sure you're eating enough ??? To have the metabolical advantage, Atkins recommend to eat 10 to 12 times your bodyweight in calories. I was around 1200, NOT enough, - and body went into starvation mode. Also according to www.mybodycomp.com my resting metabolic rate is 1336 cals. Total calorie burn with little or no excercise is 2071 cals a day. So far I've managed to stay between 1500 and 1800 cals and have started losing again. Without Fitday I would never have known. I was so sure I could do this with just "eyeballing" and getting used to this WOE, counting carbs. I was wrong. I was having 10-15 net carbs a day......I have now raised that to +/-20.

There is of course other programmes, but without getting totally anal about it, I can not do this WOE Induction without Fitday. Later maybe, but not now !

Good luck to you all, with or without Fitday !

PS Just remember to deduct fiber from carbs to get net carbs, that's all Fitday will not do.

I enjoy Fitday.com, been there for a few days now. Although I don't get online everyday, I can remember what I ate the day before and plug it in when I get the chance!

Nille, am I suppose to eat more calories? Will this help me loss faster? I missed the part in the book that talks about eating enough calories. I'll go back and check it out.

Hi Judy,

There's nothing in the book about calories as such. It just says to eat until you are full but not stuffed. What the book does mention is that low carbing gives us a "metabolic advantage." That means that using fat rather than carbs as our basic fuel, automatically uses more calories. So eating 1200 cals, may mean you are really only giving your body about 1000. (I'm not sure exactly how many cals are used in this way, I'm saying 1000 as an example.)

But, this is not a low calorie "diet." In fact, many people here have found that their weight loss increases when they up their calories a little. Many of us suggest as a guideline that you eat around 10 to 12 times your weight (in pounds) in cals. Check this website for more info about calories: http://www.fitren.com/res3art.cfm?compid=18&artid=46
Remember though, this is just a guideline, it's not laid down in stone. I just want you to know that you will still lose, and may even lose better, if you eat a little more.

Cheers.

Rosebud

Rosebud, thanks for the info. I'll try upping the calories and see if that helps. I have cut AS, alchol, and all diet drinks. I have added an extra 16 oz of water. I was checking calories to see if they were too high. I keep the carbs to 20. The only thing I have left to give up is coffee. I hope adding calories save my moring cups of coffee. I really want to see loss for this month! I have been bouncing between 198 and 200 for weeks.

Hiya Judy,

If you feel you are stalled, you may be interested in The Plateau Buster's Checklist.

HTH

Rosebud

How do I adjust the carb count in fitday? My carb count is very different, because of the fiber. Do I just keep track mentally?

It's a very good idea to make yourself a journal in the journal section of this forum. You can report your daily/weekly progress there, and also communicate with your journal visitors. Feel free to check out my journal, just follow the link · on the bottom of my posting. (you will also get a link like that when you've started one). I transfer the stats from FITDAY every day. When you copy it, it comes over like this:

Total: 1646Fat:127 1141 71% Sat:48 430 27% Poly:19 173 11% Mono:47 425 26%Carbs:40 86 5% Fiber:19 0 0%Protein:98 390 24%Alcohol:0 0 0%

So to clearify, I break it down to:

Total cals: 1646
Net carbs: 21 (5%) (carbs - fiber = net carbs)
Fat: 71%
Protein: 24%

Like that I'm keeping track of net carbs. If I lose or gain, I can always go back and check what I've eaten and what I did different etc. I've also started to write down my daily menue. My forum friends can check it out and come with suggestions how to do things better and support/cheer when I've done good. I don't know if this will work for you, but I find it extremely helpful. If I had tools like that when I did Atkins first time over 20 years ago, I might have kept my weight down.

Here is some info from the Atkins page re metabolical advantage :
http://atkins.com/Archive/2001/12/15-316384.html
http://atkins.com/Archive/2001/12/22-945076.html

The most important thing is that you find a way to do this that is right for you. If the whole fitday/journal thing stresses you out, then it might be better to keep it simple ! I didn't use Fitday or wrote my stats in my journal every day until the day I stalled. Then I suddenly needed stats in order for others to be able to help me out !

I wish you all the best, and hope that you find a way to do this that suits your needs. You can always count on somebody from this forum to help you if you need it !