Keep Accurate Fitness and Diet Records
You will not reach your fitness goals without accurate record keeping. The key to long-term, sustainable success is to track useful data and adjust your diet and exercise regimen until you get results. Thanks to the web, anyone can keep track of their diet and perform the sort of data analysis that was previously only practical for registered dieticians or well-equipped athletic training staffs.
Everyone knows that you have to track your calorie intake, daily protein and fat intake, and exercise routine. But that’s easier said than done, right? Wrong. Today, there are many websites and information repositories that exist to take the guesswork and tedium out of diet and fitness tracking.
Get in the habit of recording everything you eat. Use a food scale and a set of measuring cups to figure out your portion sizes, and never pass up the chance to read a nutrition information label. At first, it will seem like a daunting task, but soon you’ll be able to estimate how much food you are eating with a high degree of reliability.
USDA Nutrition Data Base
If you are into no-cost services, and who isn’t, the Nutrient Data Laboratory at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service maintains a database that lists the nutrient profiles of many common foods. You can check it out online here, or download a stand-alone programs here for Windows or Palm OS PDA’s that allow you to search the Nutrient Database without an internet connection.
My Pyramid Tracker
Another free service provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, My Pyramid Tracker helps you visualize how your diet stacks up according to the government’s “food pyramid” – a chart designed to graphically convey how a balanced diet should be structured. Give it a try here, or check it out without logging in by clicking check it out.
Gyminee
Gyminee is a popular social-networking site focused on fitness and healthy eating. While it’s free to join, they’ll try to sell you a “pro” account that gives you access to more features and services.
Gyminee can run as an iPhone app, so you can take your workout plan with you to the gym, and it is has Twitter integration too, to keep you connected with the friends who motivate you to work out and eat right. With a slick, social-networking feel, the Gyminee site is gaining a ton of new users. You’ll be able to find plenty of people who share your goals and you might even find some Gyminee friends from your hometown.
The major downside is that to get full nutrition data, you need a pro account. Otherwise, Gyminee only allows you to track protein, fat, and carbs. However, this may be more than enough for someone who is just trying to bulk up.
FitDay
Older and more well-established than Gyminee, Fitday is the gold standard of food tracking software. It was originally developed as a stand-alone software program, similar to the sorts of systems used by professional dieticians, but suitable for use by a layman. Now, however, FitDay also comes as a free, browser-based service so you can track your food intake online without loading a separate program onto your computer.
The FitDay site offers forums and other options for connecting with like-minded people. Like Gyminee, the site is in business to make money, but some may enjoy the fact that FitDay doesn’t try to worm its way into every aspect of your online social life the way Gyminee does.
Sparkpeople.com
This site is known for providing a huge amount of information for fitness enthusiasts who like to read and absorb anything they can get their hands on. The interface is more flashy and colorful than FitDay, but you can get the same level of in-depth information here as you can at FitDay.
Thedailyplate
The Daily Plate will help you track your calories and nutrition, and help you keep track of your exercise. It has a lot of subscribers and active message boards, but you must be a member to interact with the community or even see the forums.
Traineo
Traineo is the granddaddy of fitness communities. It has been online for 7 years and it’s still going strong. Many people first cut their fitness teeth on Traineo, and they still swear by its simple interface and effective services. There are active forums and a wide range of special-interest groups that have been set up for years.
Start Tracking your Progress Today
Don’t put it off. If you want results you have to know with certainty how much food is going into your body, the nutritional profile of your meals, and how many calories you are burning via exercise and daily living.
Online fitness tracking is the easiest way to maintain accurate records. Without it, you won’t be able to see what works and what doesn’t.
If this article helped you, help us by "liking" or "+1" to spread the word!
