Whether you’re on a new diet, trying to lose or gain weight, or are simply curious about what you eat, you may want to track your foods. Knowledge really is power, and studies show that dieters who keep daily food diaries lose twice as much weight as those who don’t.
I’ve found a wonderful, free site that lets me track my foods in a way that’s easy and even fun.
It’s called SparkPeople. Here’s what so good about it.
With SparkPeople you can:
- Personalize your nutrition goals and see if you’re meeting them
I’m on a food plan by Bee Wilder that follows the principles of Dr. Jan Kwasniewski, a Polish doctor who’s been healing heart disease, cancer, arthritis and other debilitating diseases for over thirty years. The plan prescribes food ratios of 1.0 of protein, 0.8 of carbohydrate and 2.5-3.5 of fat.Getting these ratios right has been a whole new challenge for me. But SparkPeople lets you customize your nutritional goals in terms of fat, protein, and carbohydrate gram ranges. It’s satisfying to log in and see that I’ve met my ratios.
- Track everything from calories to calcium to fiber intake
Aside from tracking the usual calories, protein, fat and carbohydrates, you can also track your vitamin and mineral intake… you can even track fiber, cholesterol, or water intake. I like tracking my calcium, magnesium and iron, and I subtract my daily fiber grams from my total carbohydrates to get to my “true” carbohydrate count.
- Add food favorites for quick and easy charting
This is a major time saver. Since I eat things like lemon flan or liver with onions regularly, I set them up as customized “food groups” so that, in one click, I’ve accounted for my entire breakfast. I can even copy one day’s food to the next if I’m eating the same foods day in day out (which I try to avoid). With this feature, I can also add in things like my daily cod liver oil and lemonade intake at the click of a button.
- Create report cards
Yes, I’m a geek but I love data and SparkPeople delivers! We’re talking pie charts, bar graphs and statistical analysis of your diet over any time period. Through using these reports, I discovered that over 40% of my daily caloric intake is from coconut oil. I also eat a lot of eggs, lemons, and broth. I can also see how during vacations or holidays my calories spike or dip. It’s good to see how I’m my nutritional goals long term and see how consistent I am with my plan. All good stuff.
Awareness is the first step to positive change. So, if you want to be more nutritionally empowered, give SparkPeople a whirl. And let us know how it goes.
(I’m not affiliated with SparkPeople in any way. I just like their service.)
Do you have your own tracking method? Please share!
This is a blog about triumph.
