Yesterday, we showed you a cute option for a handwritten food journal. Today, we're looking an online journal that isn't quite as sweet, but does a lot of the work for you. It's a helpful tool for people trying to lose weight, new vegetarians or anyone who wants to keep a close eye on their nutritional intake.
Food Journals: The Daily Plate
Now part of Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong site, The Daily Plate is an online nutritional journal/calculator with an optional social networking component. You can create a profile that calculates your calorie goals, and add food to your plate throughout the day.
I've found it especially helpful to see the breakdown of fat, protein and carbohydrates. As a vegetarian, I sometimes worry about getting enough protein, but after tracking my food for a couple of weeks, I've realized that's not an issue. Protein can add up when you're not even looking – in whole grains, cheese and yogurt, and even vegetables. Unfortunately, as I've found, fat can be just as sneaky.
One feature I like is the meal saver, which allows you to create a meal out of foods you regularly eat together (milk and cereal, perhaps), and then quickly add it to your plate in the future. You can also share these meals with your friends if you choose.
My only gripe with the site is that adding a meal made from scratch can be a bit tedious, but the amount of food products already in the system is pretty impressive. There's also a long list of exercises in the system, and adding one to your daily activity log adds to your allowed calories for the day - a little reward, if you will. For me, it's motivation to hit the gym, knowing I can have have a little something extra when I'm done!
Related: Do You Keep a Food Journal?
(Image: Flickr user lepiaf.geo, licensed under Creative Commons)
Comments (7)
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yes, i like the daily plate as a resource.
i was so hoping this was a recipe, though, because that photo is making me so hungry! :)
view abigailbelle's profile
The Daily Plate really helped me lose weight because it kept me on track. I used it for several months. Although, I stopped using it after a while because their server is so slow that I just lost patience.
view sspros's profile
i agree these systems can be REALLY helpful when you need to pay attention to your diet. Daily Plate is one of the sites I tried but I eventually moved onto my own custom spreadsheet that highlights the numbers important to me as everyones health goals are different I couldnt really find a site that really kept track of everything I wanted without too much fluff. Like Joanna said these stats can sneak up on you and add up faster than you think (good and bad). It lets me know what I need to eat in more moderation. It's also really great for identifying patterns in your diet.
http://www.nutritiondata.com is also a very good site for looking things up and keeping track, their database is not as complete as daily plate but their easy conversion between measuring units and serving sizes is awesome, many foods have 5 serving size options to help you calculate your intake easily; for example the entry "Apples, raw, with skin" has serving size options 100g, 1 oz, 1 cup chopped, 1 cup sliced, whole large (3 1/4" dia), whole medium(3" dia), whole small (2 3/4" dia), whole extra small (2 1/2" dia), and 1 NLEA serving.
Even better is they have free widgets and searchbars you can download to add to your browser for quick reference. With this I have been able to easily calculate values to record and save in my own spreadsheet.
view adamwa's profile
I'm using www.NutriMirror.com and I love it. I know exactly what I'm eating including micronutrients like calcium, vit D and potassium. It's got a cool 'search by nutrient' feature so when I'm low in say, Vit D I can find foods to fit the bill. I can also log my blood sugar levels, exercise and print reports to take to my doctor. And no Ads!!
Oh, and you can put in your own recipes and meals so the things you eat all the time are quick to enter. It's really kept me on track with my eating--I eat less because I log everything--and still keep my nutrient levels up. It's great!
view smsintl's profile
I've used myfooddiary.com and lost quite a bit of weight. It costs $9/month but you don't have to deal w/ads and it is very easy to use.
view twosavoie's profile
I like the Daily Plate. Great for a free service. The food listings are quite comprehensive.
view slipperymarshmallow's profile
I use calorieking.com - nice, clean interface. It's designed for people trying to lose weight but you could certainly use it just to keep an eye on your calorie/nutrient intake. It's $9 a month (or $7 if you pay up front). The interface is quite slick and easy to use.
view margrietta's profile