I have used different methods over the years to track calories (pen and paper, fitday.com, custom Excel spreadsheet, etc) but have felt that they do not come close to what I am looking for.
My Requirements
-Keep track of daily calories
-Add custom foods
-Create recipes (come in handy for leftovers)
-Ability to take my data with me (allows for trending and analysis of your history)
-Oh yeah, and fast (the web based ones that I have used are slow)
Does anyone have something that does these things? What do you currently use?
So since I could not find anything to do these things, I put together an Access database which allows me to keep an electronic food log (hopefully I did not waste my time).
What it does…
-Keeps a custom catalog of foods that you enter into the database. (It does not link out to the internet to pull data into it.)
-Allows you to maintain the foods in your database (update macronutrient content and it will automatically update your log or recipe)
-Allows for creation of recipes (Let’s say I make a big pot of chili and only eat a portion of it. I will have the macronutrient content per gram saved so that I can track it later on when I eat it again.)
-Automatic calculation of daily macronutrient intake with percentage.
Cons…
-Need Microsoft Access. I normally keep it on a jump drive and take it with me.
-My programming knowledge is not the best so all the bugs are not worked out yet.
Future…
-Add Goal tracking
-Compare actual macronutrient intake against Goal macronutrient intake
-Add body composition tracking
Anyone interested in trying it?
I have this cool app for my iPhone. It’s also available for the Ipod touch and its free. Its called “loose it” I find it great because it has a huge database of foods and its always on hand. I use it to track my cardio as well when I do it. Check it out http://www.apptism.com/apps/lose-it
I use Microsoft Excel.
I made the first tab a “reference” tab. This is where I list all the foods I eat with all the breakdowns. I like this method because I buy the same food every week, so I can be very specific, instead of looking up nutrition data online.
Then, for each day, I make a new tab. I just copy and paste foods from my reference tab, and thats it. I have built a template in Excel that keeps a running total of fat, carbs, pro, fiber, sugar, cals, and display them as percentages of total daily intake, so I dont even have to do any math (once I put the initial equations in). The great thing about this, it allows me to build my diet the night before, just copy and paste the foods in until my macros and cals work out for the day.
Once the template was built, I just copy and paste it into a new tab every day, labeled with that days date. It is very easy and anytime I eat a new food, I just add it in. Once I put it in there, its there for good. I also take my laptop and a jump drive when I leave town, so I can always log it. I even have the breakdown for the fast food I eat (cheat meal) in there.
[quote]Dave1986 wrote:
I have this cool app for my iPhone. It’s also available for the Ipod touch and its free. Its called “loose it” I find it great because it has a huge database of foods and its always on hand. I use it to track my cardio as well when I do it. Check it out http://www.apptism.com/apps/lose-it [/quote]
Looks nice. I wish I had an iPhone! Thanks for the reply.
-Machine
