You Are What You Eat

You know that saying right? You are what you eat? Well...in my efforts to lose weight and eat right, I've tried lots of things...You know the "Get rid of all carbs" diet..."Say no to sugar" diet. You get the picture. A few years back I did Weight Watchers and I really liked it.

Weight Watchers basically believes in a well balanced, portion controlled diet. Meaning it's lower points food are high in protein and fiber (which burns calories to digest). The higher point stuff is fatty and bad carbs. It also taught me correct portion size. I did it for 4 months and loss almost 20 pounds before. Once I learned, I got off of it. Once I learned, it was not worth the money I was paying each month.

Fast forward to the present...I once again needed to have that same kind of Weight Watchers tool but didn't want to pay the amount again. So I searched the web for food diaries. I found one called MyPlate. It is fabulous! 

You first need to go to Livestrong's MyPlate and set up a FREE account. Once set up, you will come to the following window.

Before you start entering food, you need to know what your calorie goal is. Click on the "Calorie Goals" link button towards the top. It will bring you to this window:

The calorie goals given to you are based on your age, height, weight, how active you are, and how many pounds you'd like to lose per week. Please note that a healthy weight loss is no more than 2 pounds per week. Don't go higher, though you might be tempted to. Once your info is entered, it will tell you how many calories you can eat per day.

Now you're ready to enter in your food. Go back to the MyPlate page. Under the "What did you eat?" question, start typing in the food. Be specific. For example, if you went to Subway and ordered a turkey sandwich...then type that in. It will bring up a list of entries. I always go with the Verified entry whenever available. Click on the one that matches and that's it! The cool thing is they have a VERY extensive database of food. You'll find most of your brands and restaurants on there!

As you keep entering your food throughout the day, your calorie calculator will keep track of how many calories you have left. This is very similar to Weight Watcher's point system.

The great thing about this website is that you can scroll further down, it will give you a cumulative list of all your food intake numbers and let you know if you go over your recommended daily intake (i.e. did you eat more fat that suggested?)

It's just that easy. But in case you're not convinced, here is my list of reasons why you should do it!

1) They have cell phone app versions, so you can take it with you as you eat all day.

2) If you're going to eat out, you can look ahead of time to see what to order. This way, once you get there you do not need to be tempted by the items on the menu. Go in knowing what you want and order it!

3) You learn very quickly what items will suck up your allotted calories and you'll stay away from them.

4) You'll find yourself measuring your food, since most items are listed by size. Then you'll really know the proper portion size.

5) It's FREE!! No more paying $35 or higher for places like Weight Watchers.

Try it out, even if you're currently on Weight Watchers, and compare it! Remember... weight loss is 80% food and 20% exercise. Get the food under control and you are on your way!