This is a very cool site. Especially for someone that really is not in touch with what goes in versus what one would 'work out' on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.
So how would one try to calculate exactly how well or poorly they are doing with respect to food consumption and daily activities and exercise?
The Daily Plate website is the answer.
www.thedailyplate.comA friend showed me this site and I created my profile. Some of the cool attributes for someone like me who sticks to a pretty routine diet and exercise events are saved events and quick exchange of specific food items from a prior event group. Thus, you do not have to retype them daily. Just point and click and a previous event (you already spent a few mins updating with all the specifics needed) can be easily added to your daily event tracker.
Now, I must warn you that this list of events is pretty graphic. Even the events under "S" listing covers pretty much EVERYTHING you could imagine, it also shows the calorie amounts for certain events so you can be discreet and select something else... instead of the obvious choice. Another warning would need to include the suggested intake amounts depending on how much weight you want to lose. I needed to go to several other sites to assure myself the lofty calorie daily goal was correct. For sometime now, no not a resolution, I have been slowly dialing it back. Something about hitting the 330 weight mark (and my son's view - which I will get to later) did not sit well with me. So when I decided to change - that was it. Change completed! Sooner or later my beloved caught wind of it and she started helping, which is truly the source of any success I will have now or in the future. It is amazing how many choices there are in the food aisle, so if you choose wisely you can eat pretty normally and kill two birds with one stone. A life philosophy in my book, yes, but it works extraordinarily well in this weight loss thing.
Oh before I forget... this is not diet. I hate the word. I do not agree with its intent or its public image regarding what a diet really is saying. (You are too large and need to scale down.) It may be semantics and critics could argue to persuade me, but in the end I just do not agree with the label. I am changing so my kids will have every positive option in front of them. I do not want to hear (ever again) what my innocent you boy told me in early December... that was just a perfectly innocent outlook and word choice, yet it without question knocked me off my feet!
Back to the site, well this sucker puts in direct view exactly what I take in and burn off, so it leaves me with a strong sense of reality... something that could be easily cloaked without such a tool in my case.
Maybe more to come on this topic in the future... maybe not, but one thing is for sure. There will be a whole lot less of me whenever I hit my stride or equilibrium of physical fitness. Racquetball; weight training; never using an elevator; choosing my consumption wisely; and increased activity with my kids are my weapons of choice. I am strongly considering another mission.... but that will be decided later in 2008. I would need to consult with my west coast friends to successfully achieve that milestone if I elect that path.