Counting Calories and Fitday.com?

[toystoryduo]

Good morning WISHers!

I have a couple of questions regarding counting calories and fitday.com...

1. For those of you who have used fitday.com... how accurate do you find the calorie amounts to be? For example, I ate a banana this morning and it says that it has 138 calories. Is this accurate?

2. For someone who works out frequently how many calories a day do I need? I would like to lose 1-2 pounds per week. I workout 5-6x's a week using the FIRM, Cathe, TaeBo, Walking or Jogging.

3. Are there any other websites that you can recommend that have calorie counts for foods as well?

Thanks in advance! I've decided to start counting calories because my weight loss has stalled and this is all new to me. Have a great day!

 

[Lesli54]

Not all of the calorie counts on fitday.com are correct. When I can, I add what I eat to the customize food list. Otherwise, I just use my best judgement and pick foods off the pre-made charts that are closest to what I ate. Sometimes, I think it is much more calories than I really had, but unless you have something in front of you with different numbers, there is no way of knowing. For the most part, I use it as a tool to keep myself in a range of calories rather than holding to an exact amount.

Bananas have a lot of natural sugars in them, so they might be high calorie. But you have to remember that there are a few trade-offs. Bananas are good for you, contain many minerals and vitamins, and are a complex carb which takes longer to digest.

Fitday is not perfect, but it can be a useful tool to help you rethink some choices.

 

[lajones81]

Tracy,
One thing to look at with fitday is the portion size. If you ate a large banana vs. a small banana there is a calorie difference. Once you enter the food, you can change the portion size.
I only use the fitday entries for foods I really don't know about - ie fruits and veggies. I create a custom food entry for all foods that I buy with the information on the package.

Lisa

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Tracy, count me in on what everyone has already said. I do it the same as those who already commented.