Tracking daily food intake

[Kimmes 38]

Greetings!

I have learned so much from so many people on this site - I want to say thank you! My surgery is scheduled for Jan 6th and it seems like a lifetime away!

Tiffykins had some great advise for me as I prepare my body both physically and mentally for the change that is going to take place. She told me to start now

eating Proteins first at each meal. Not drinking with my meals and just generally start eating like I will after surgery. Great advise!

As I read I see some people track/log every bit of food that passes their lips (at least until they make goal and some even after). I would like to get opinions on exactly what is most important to track. I assume it is Protein, carbs and calories. So many of you have been so successful, I want to learn from those who are successfully working towards goal or have met goal. What do you track and where do you track it? I have hear some people use sparkpeople, fatsecret, fitday and myplate. What do you use and why.

Sorry for so many questions. I want to make my goal and I think I can get some really good advise from those who have gone before me. Thanks in advance for your help. This site has been a great source of information, I appreciate all opinions!

Kim,

[PlannerGirl 3]

I have found myfooddiary.com to be a good place to track because once you put the food in it, it calculates all the nutritional values. For instance, if you put in 8oz of skim milk, it will put in the Protein, carbs......

You can also build recipes so you don't have to add each item individually, and you can input foods they don't have listed which will most likely include your Protein shakes.

Be prepared that you will get a frowny face every day for not taking in enough calories......so be it, the life of a sleever.

You can also track your exercise. There are all sorts of charts and graphs you can create which appeals to the numbers geek in me very much.

I'm scheduled for November 18th and I'm tracking now with my pre op diet.

Good luck to you!

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Good for you getting ready like this! My surgery is in Jan also, on the 18th. I have been using Fitday on and off for years... its the only one I have ever used, so I can't say if its better than the others.... One bit of advice my nutritionist told me that I never did before was to count only high grade Protein. Only protein in meat, milk products and whey, soy and soy products, Beans and eggs. I guess the rest of the protein that shows up on the counter is lacking amino acids and/or digestibility. So bread, and other foods that have quite a bit of protein don't count towards the count. boo hoo, but thats what she said. So I do a quick count in my head to make sure I am on track with the high quality Proteins before dinner so I can still catch up if I need to.

That being said, Fitday says that I can eat 3000 calories to stay the same weight... and that is not true. I am eating around 1800 now to stay the same. I exercise 4 days a week, and weigh 245lbs...so go figure THAT one!

I am trying the drinking thing, and the protein first thing, to get my head around it too.

Good luck January!

[Cleosan52 6]

I've tried them all. I like The daily Burn best. It even has the info for my proteins!!! I don't have to jump through hoops to find foods and I love the pie chart so I know how may carbs and Proteins I had for the day. Has some goo info blogs too.