SparkPeople, Joy Bauer, or other?

[FLAngie]

Which one do you use and is it worth the money? I know that SparkPeople is free and we are signed up with the free trial for Joy Bauer ($4/week after trial). , but I haven't really been impressed with either one. DD7 is the only one overweight in our family but we all need to start eating healthier. I was looking at these two because they are free or very inexpensive Any other suggestions are welcome. I checked out the WISH board and it seems like most are using WW, but that looked too expensive.

 

[MinnieGirl33]

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

 

[RitaE]

What exactly are you looking for?

I'm a member of livestrong.com .. I track my daily food intake there (they have an iPhone App or you can do it online), participate in a couple of the forums and challenges etc. Its a great community. They really aren't diet-centric though, it is more of a lifestyle change kind of thing.

 

[FLAngie]

We are looking for more of a lifestyle change. I guess I am thinking of something that will track all of our calorie intake and also give us some suggestions for how much of what to eat and when. For example, lunch should have w proteins, x veggies, y fruits, and z carbs. Does that make sense?

 

[Swimnoid]

I started spark people about 3 weeks ago and really like it. The nutrition tracker has really helped me see exactly what I have been eating and keep much better track. They are all about lifestyle change as well. There is also a fitness tracker which I havent gotten really into yet. They have lots and lots of articles to read. And many forums you can participate in...or not. Use it however it suits you best.

One thing I really like is their recipe collection and calculator. Thousands of good healthy recipes. And you can take your favorite recipe, plug in all the ingredients and it will tell you how many, calories, grams of carbohydrate, fat and protein each serving has.

And its free! Excellent tool.

 

[FLAngie]

Does anyone know of a program that can track the entire families meals/calories/amounts?

 

[pigletto]

Sparkpeople is wonderful IMO. There wasn't anything I couldn't find an answer to there. I loved the recipe section as well. I've lost 30 pounds in less than 3 months with Sparkpeople

 

[FLAngie]

Sparkpeople is wonderful IMO. There wasn't anything I couldn't find an answer to there. I loved th recipe section as well. I've lost 30 pounds in less than 3 months with Sparkpeople

Wow. Way to go!

So far I like the simplicity of myfitnesstracker.com but it doesn't seem to let me plan meals ahead of time. I think that we will probably tryout Sparkpeople for a few days. Does it take a lot of time to input your regular meals and recipes or do you mostly use theirs?

 

[pigletto]

Wow. Way to go!

So far I like the simplicity of myfitnesstracker.com but it doesn't seem to let me plan meals ahead of time. I think that we will probably tryout Sparkpeople for a few days. Does it take a lot of time to input your regular meals and recipes or do you mostly use theirs?

It does take a lot of time initially. There are many things that you can choose that they have already listed the nutritional info for though. I wanted to be precise about what I was eating, so I entered the info manually for most things.
The good news is once you have entered the information once, it is saved under your "My favorites" tab. So you can pull it up automatically.
I also found that once I had been doing it for 2 months, I knew pretty much what was in the things I ate regualarly so I didn't need to track them. I only really use it now when I eat something new, or spend a day out e.t.c.

 

[SarahKate]

I just joined SparkPeople a week ago and LOVE it! I had always thought I'd NEVER be one to track my calories, but it's been great for me......and I can enter it in on my iPhone which makes it more convenient. I just love seeing the charts at the end of the day to see where my main calories, carbs, fat, protein are consumed and get all happy when I am right where I need to be. I actually have lost 5 pounds in my 1st week......not deprived at all, just more aware of what I put in my mouth - less likely to grab some junk food because I know I'll have to log it! So far I am loving it and it's just been easy for me (something I didn't expect).

I also love (and your daughter may enjoy too) the SparkPoints. You start out with a little "trophy" on your home page. Each time you log in, read articles, etc. you accumulate points and eventually get a new trophy. I know it's just a VIRTUAL trophy, but it does make you feel like you accomplished something and people just naturally like building up points!

One thing I will say is that the website is a little busy. But that's a relatively minor thing. Very, very thrilled so far and it's FREE. Especially after I was going to join ediets for $20/month!!!!

 

[SuzanneSLO]

For me, the biggest thing was having a food diary that I could use on my iPhone so that I always had it with me. I use the free Shape Up app, but a friend is happy with another similar free app. Shape Up suggests calories based on my height, weight and activity level, as well as nutritional breakdown between proteins, crabs and fats and I can save meals or foods I eat often. I can track my calories burned form exercise and am reminded to weigh in every week. I have stayed successful since November and have lost more than 25 pounds.

I also use Spark People for recipes. -- Suzanne

 

[TxRabbit]

When I'm tracking nutritional info, I LOVE

http://www.nurtimirror.com

I love that it actually tracks nutritional information including calcium, zinc, cholesterol, vitamins, minerals, etc. It really makes you start to think about an overall HEALTHIER way to eat, not just low cal or low fat or low carb or whatever.

HIGHLY recommend.

Don't know if you can track the whole family on one account.