It’s been almost 2 years since I’ve kept a food journal. I can’t believe it. I swear it was only a few months ago. Back then I used Weight Watchers and then switched to Live Strong. This time I’m using the free MyFitnessPal. It’s not perfect, but it’s as good as the Weight Watchers membership I just signed up for and regret to the tune of $60 for three months.
I’ll be sharing more about my journey but for today, here’s my food journal. My concentration this time is on nutrition and not just calories. In the few days I’ve been living this way I feel better than I have in years. Thanks to my journaling and the nutritional tracking MyFitnessPal provides, I’ve realized the only way I can get enough iron is to eat an iron-fortified organic cereal so I’ll be adding that in tomorrow.
I’ll be sharing a lot more about what I like and don’t like about the free online site and iPhone app, but for now here’s a glimpse into what I’m eating and why.
My Food Diary For:
Breakfast |
Calories | Iron | Fat | Protein | Vit A | Chol | |
Creative Bioscience – Raspberry Ketone 123, 1 capsule | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Creative Bioscience – Green Coffee Bean Pure Extract 800mg, 1 veggie capsule | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Hot cereal and fruit, 1 serving | 225 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 3 | |
225 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 3 | ||
Early Snack |
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Yami Lowfat Yogurt – Organic – Raspberry Rush, 6 oz | 130 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 10 | |
Blue Diamond – Whole Natural Raw Almond, 12 nuts | 80 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
210 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | ||
Lunch |
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Creative Bioscience – Green Coffee Bean Pure Extract 800mg, 1 veggie capsul | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Tillamook – Sliced Medium Cheddar Cheese, 1 slice (28g) | 110 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 25 | |
Annie’s Naturals – Organic Dijon Mustard, 1 Tsp | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Rudi’s Organic Bakery – Multigrain English Muffins With Flax , 1 Muffin | 130 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
Lightlife – Smart Dogs: Veggie Protein Links, 1 link | 50 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
Vlasic Stackers – Bread and Butter Midly Sweet & Spicy Pickels, 1 slices | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
310 | 16 | 13 | 18 | 6 | 25 | ||
Afternoon Snack |
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Newman’s Own Organics – Pretzels – High Protein, 22 pretzels | 120 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
Kraft – Philadelphia Whipped Cream Cheese Spread, 2 tbsp (22g) | 60 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 15 | |
180 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 15 | ||
Dinner |
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Earthbound Farm – Organic Baby Spinach, 2 cups (3 oz. or 85 g) | 20 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 160 | 0 | |
Brianna’s – Homestyle Poppy Seed Dressing, 2 Tablespoons | 160 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Generic – Roma Tomato, 148 g (1 medium size) | 35 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 0 | |
Organic Valley – Parmesan Cheese (Shredded) , 2 tbsp | 30 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | |
Fresh Gourmet Italian Seasoned Premium Cruntons – Croutons, 6 cruntons | 30 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
Cascadian Farm Organic – Purely Steam – Organic Petite Sweet Peas, 0.25 cup | 19 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
294 | 21 | 17 | 17 | 182 | 0 | ||
Late Snack |
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Generic – 2 6″ Celery Stalks, 6 ” celery stalks | 45 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
Santa Cruz – Organic Dark Roasted Peanut Butter, 3 Tbsp | 300 | 3 | 24 | 11 | 0 | 0 | |
345 | 3 | 24 | 14 | 0 | 0 | ||
Totals | 1,564 | 62 | 72 | 73 | 207 | 53 | |
Your Daily Goal | 1,570 | 100 | 52 | 59 | 100 | 300 | |
Remaining | 6 | 38 | -20 | -14 | -107 | 247 |
You may notice I’m not tracking my fitness. I wanted to get my nutrition under control and next week I’ll be adding a wi-fi activity tracker!
This is a great idea.
I bet I eat way more than I should each day and this would be a great way to keep track of it.
Thank you for the wonderful idea.
I need an app for calorie tracking; it’s mortifying how many actual calories I take in daily as opposed to my rough estimate.
It’s certainly an eye opener for sure when you start tracking actual calories. They add us so freakin’ fast! 🙂
I love MyFitnessPal – I’ve been using it on my iphone for months now! So helpful and it keeps you accountable
What a great app! I have been looking for something like this. Thanks for sharing.
What a great app. Perfect for getting fit.
what a wonderful app! I might have to try this and keep myself on track
I have downloaded it and am looking forward to using it tomorrow. Will be following your journey. I have a lot to lose and am there with you.
I do believe I am off to get this app to add to my Android. Hoping to use this and my FitBit Zip and Omron Heart Rate Monitor soon to add in the movement piece. Once the snow/ice go away, I can toss in the desire to do Couch to 5K.
Love Myfittnesspal app!
I really need to do something like this for myself, so that I really can pinpoint the areas of my diet that I need to change. I also need to better measure my intake and calories, and could use some help maximizing my nutrition.
Susan,
It’s such a great way to see what’s going in our bodies. The iPhone app is better than the online site, go figure. There are many more nutrients tracked on the app. Really helpful to know how many sugars, carbs, fat, protein, etc., I’m getting.
Looks like a great site. Interested in following your journey!
Thanks Joan! I’m loving about 90% of it. There just a few weird things…sooooooo much better than Weight Watchers. I’m kicking myself. But then I really haven’t spent much time on the WW site to see if it’s changed in the last 2 years. I suppose since I paid for it I should try it out. We’ll see.