It may seem tedious and at times, monotonous, but keeping a food log of what all touches your tongue is a key step to reaching any and all weight loss and fitness goals. After all, what diet have you tried where you don't have to count your calories? The folks over at myfitnesspal.com have come up with an easier, more user-friendly way to track your daily food (and water) intake.
Simply open an account on myfitnesspal.com. The beginning stages will take you through an assessment to determine the number of calories you should be consuming, and if you have any weight loss goals. (Their calculators will actually add and subtract calories to your daily intake when you input your workouts as well!)
Once your account and goals are set up, it is time to start tracking your calories and using the website. Each time you enter a food, their software will calculate the total number of calories, carbohydrates, fats and protein in each serving. Additionally, once you enter a certain item for breakfast, it will store that information and let you choose the same meal another day. For example, if you often eat 6 egg whites (like I do), it keeps that info and all you have to do is click your mouse instead of retyping and searching for that food again. It keeps a running total of your calories and lets you know just how many you have left or how many you have gone over (oops!).
We all now how important drinking water is for your waistline and for your fitness goals, right? If not, refresh yourself on H20 and then track your water consumption on the same page as your food consumption!
Additionally, MyFitnessPal.com offers a few other calculators that are certainly handy. My favorite - the recipe nutritional tracker! How awesome is it that you can figure out just how many calories are in your favorite meal? Just input your ingredients and amounts and voila! you have all of your nutrient counts in one place!
Go explore their website - it is phenomenal once you get into it!