I'm using my Fitbit to log my activity and whatnot, but I also want to use it for logging my food intake. However, I have no idea how to enter stuff from a restaurant or take-out! Most of the food items that they have in their database are pre-packaged items.
Any suggestions for making sense of food that doesn't come in a box?
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Food logging?
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veronica's pick
Short of asking the chef exactly what's in the dish you have to guess.
The tough answer here is that if you're super concerned about what you're eating, take-out probably isn't what you should be eating. By cooking at home you know what you're using and can be accurate.
Not very realistic, I know, but the problem is that one teaspoon of olive oil is the difference of 40 calories and 5 grams of fat!
The tough answer here is that if you're super concerned about what you're eating, take-out probably isn't what you should be eating. By cooking at home you know what you're using and can be accurate.
Not very realistic, I know, but the problem is that one teaspoon of olive oil is the difference of 40 calories and 5 grams of fat!
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Hey Veronica - try SparkPeople. They have THE BEST database of food I've ever seen to track what you eat -- raw, cooked, packaged, fast food, etc. What's cool is that you can enter in the components of a recipe and get a calorie count off the site for each serving. Haven't seen anything else that comes close. www.sparkpeople.com/ -- also have mobile apps - mobile.sparkpeople.com. Hope this helps!
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I'm fitbiting as well and also find their library of foods limited.
I use the database on www.livestrong.com/myplate/ which is excellent. It has not only foods in the US but also in the UK.
P.S. If anyone one else is on fitbit, looking for friends (@guestygrrl)
I use the database on www.livestrong.com/myplate/ which is excellent. It has not only foods in the US but also in the UK.
P.S. If anyone one else is on fitbit, looking for friends (@guestygrrl)
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I have found Livestrong.com's Daily Plate to have the most expansive food directory. I also find myself in a lot of situations where it is hard to judge the calorie and fat count of food. When in these situations I have found myself picking menu items I am better able to estimate. My approach is always error on estimating high.
I have found that after logging my food for around a month or so I have become very accurate in my calorie estimating prior to entering the food in my log. You can also typically find an "equivalent" from a chain restaurant that should at least get you close.
Depending on the goal of you food tracking (weight loss, lifestyle, etc.), there is also the option of flat quantity based tracking, but I feel this is inaccurate. I have heard good however about Calorific on the iPhone.
I have found that after logging my food for around a month or so I have become very accurate in my calorie estimating prior to entering the food in my log. You can also typically find an "equivalent" from a chain restaurant that should at least get you close.
Depending on the goal of you food tracking (weight loss, lifestyle, etc.), there is also the option of flat quantity based tracking, but I feel this is inaccurate. I have heard good however about Calorific on the iPhone.
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The first thing I do is google the restaurant's name and nutrition after (ex: Red Lobster nutrition). Most mainstream restaurants will have a nutrition facts but, if it doesn't, you can just try searching the generic food that you ate and just adjust the serving size. For example, if you can't find the nutrition facts for Joe's Burgers (hypothetical restaurant) but I ate a cheeseburger there, I would just search for the nutrition facts for a cheeseburger and adjust the serving appropriately. If the caloric count seem low even with the right serving, I'd just adjust it to reflect the caloric count more accurately.
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I use myfitnesspal it has a free website and app for android and iphone and it has such a massive database i haven't found much that isn't already there, You can also add food if it isn't there, It also tracks excercise etc.
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I've been logging my food intake for years and found the fitbit interface to be insanely frustrating. It's not even that they don't have the foods I eat so much as the steps involved in entering items and how vague the measurements are (IE: 1 Serving... is what?? Most sites will specify 1 Serving is such and such grams or whatever).
I used to use fitday.com for food entry and quite liked it. I admit, that since I got the fitbit, that I've pretty much stopped logging food. I keep hoping that they'll get with the program and scoop up one of these other sites that have a better interface/database at their disposal.
I used to use fitday.com for food entry and quite liked it. I admit, that since I got the fitbit, that I've pretty much stopped logging food. I keep hoping that they'll get with the program and scoop up one of these other sites that have a better interface/database at their disposal.
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Lose It! is a great iPhone (and I think Android too now?) calorie-counting app. They have a huge food database (including a lot of chain restaurants and supermarket packaged-food brands). It's really easy to look up food in their database, or to create your own custom foods or recipes. It's totally free and I used it a ton when I was a lightweight rower in college (keeping my weight under 160lbs can be a challenge at 6' 2"!)
They also have Fitbit integration, although I don't have a FitBit so I can't speak to how good it is but I'm really tempted to pick one up and try it out. the app is free so you're not risking anything! www.loseit.com
They also have Fitbit integration, although I don't have a FitBit so I can't speak to how good it is but I'm really tempted to pick one up and try it out. the app is free so you're not risking anything! www.loseit.com
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i had a fitbit for about a month before returning it. the data didn't appear to be right, and food tracking was a pain. lots of other great apps out there. I use Lose It for food tracking.
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A good app to use for counting calories is Calorie Counter. They have a lot of existing restaurants in there. The best feature for me is using the barcode scanner to pull the nutritional information automagically.
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like on gdgt, you'd create your own entries: www.fitbit.com/manual#track-food
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You forget how to use Google or something :P Try this link www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-food-calorie-counter :)
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I use the MyFitnessPal app, which seems to have an exhaustive directory of food of all types of cuisines. You can enter it using your phone or via their website. (itunes.apple.com/us/app/calorie-counter-diet-track... on iTunes US)
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There are some restaurant foods within Fitbit. Often I pulled the data from the restaurant website and added myself since it is a community thing. Otherwise, you just may want to find the food that looks to be the same as the restaurant and not be to particular.
Bottom line answer depends upon how much effort and time you want to put in.
Bottom line answer depends upon how much effort and time you want to put in.
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I don't know fitbit, but lost it (itunes.apple.com/us/app/lose-it!/id297368629?mt=8) has an extensive list of products for the US + it is very easy and useful, u should try it.
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My wife and I use SparkPeople.com. This is one of the best free fitness programs around. with full integration with Apple iOS, Android, and any web browser you cant go wrong.
Below is their product info. Hope you like it, Friend me if you can (NetWrkGamr)
Stay Fit!
******************************
SparkPeople is the world's largest healthy living community with a free online diet and fitness program. SparkPeople is helping millions of people achieve their goals every single day!
Whether you want to lose weight, tone up, live a healthier lifestyle or reach other goals, SparkPeople can help--and it's 100% FREE!
SparkPeople is free because REAL people like you, are getting REAL results and spreading the word to their friends and families!
By Joining SparkPeople You Get:
- Calorie Counter & Meal Plans: Take the guesswork out of what to eat with these powerful customizable tools.
- Personalized Fitness Plan & Exercise Demos: Burn calories and tone your muscles with routines you can do at home or at the gym, plus online exercise videos.
- Active Support Message Boards: Get help from thousands of other people like you who are losing weight with SparkPeople.
- Advice From Our Experts: Our programs are designed by registered dieticians and personal trainers, who are also there to answer your questions.
- Member Created Goal Teams: Find others with similar goals and work towards success together.
- Recipes, Articles, Tips and More: Thousands of articles and over 60,000 recipes to learn more about eating right, staying active, and sticking to your program.
Join SparkPeople Now For Free!
www.sparkpeople.com
Below is their product info. Hope you like it, Friend me if you can (NetWrkGamr)
Stay Fit!
******************************
SparkPeople is the world's largest healthy living community with a free online diet and fitness program. SparkPeople is helping millions of people achieve their goals every single day!
Whether you want to lose weight, tone up, live a healthier lifestyle or reach other goals, SparkPeople can help--and it's 100% FREE!
SparkPeople is free because REAL people like you, are getting REAL results and spreading the word to their friends and families!
By Joining SparkPeople You Get:
- Calorie Counter & Meal Plans: Take the guesswork out of what to eat with these powerful customizable tools.
- Personalized Fitness Plan & Exercise Demos: Burn calories and tone your muscles with routines you can do at home or at the gym, plus online exercise videos.
- Active Support Message Boards: Get help from thousands of other people like you who are losing weight with SparkPeople.
- Advice From Our Experts: Our programs are designed by registered dieticians and personal trainers, who are also there to answer your questions.
- Member Created Goal Teams: Find others with similar goals and work towards success together.
- Recipes, Articles, Tips and More: Thousands of articles and over 60,000 recipes to learn more about eating right, staying active, and sticking to your program.
Join SparkPeople Now For Free!
www.sparkpeople.com
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USDA Nutrient Database: www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
NutritionData: nutritiondata.self.com/
Both excellent sources for nutrition information of basic ingredients. For restaurant food, you have to estimate or use data from a national chain for a similar item. Nutrition tracking isn't an exact science.
NutritionData: nutritiondata.self.com/
Both excellent sources for nutrition information of basic ingredients. For restaurant food, you have to estimate or use data from a national chain for a similar item. Nutrition tracking isn't an exact science.
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iOS app for checking nutrition values of food at restaurants:
www.healthyandfitcommunities.com/iphone-applicatio...
www.healthyandfitcommunities.com/iphone-applicatio...
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Lots of good answers already. So all I know is an app called NOSH (iOS & Android)
I am "Bartman" there from San Anselmo but NOT an "Over the Top Foodie"
Enjoy!
I am "Bartman" there from San Anselmo but NOT an "Over the Top Foodie"
Enjoy!
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Fatsecret.com has a good selection of crowd sourced food information including restaurants. I use their android app (Calorie Counter) a fair bit.
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I often use DailyBurn's iOS app Meal Snap, which allegedly counts calories of the meals you take a picture of using this app with some input data, but it's a very rough estimate. I think it can be used as starting point and you need to start noticing or weighing your meals to measure calories.
mealsnap.com/
mealsnap.com/
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