“You are what you eat” is a pretty accurate statement. The food you eat is evident in the way you look. In order to achieve your ultimate weight goal, it is important to pay attention to the foods you are eating. If you think that working out alone, and eating what you want will help you attain your goals, you are very mistaken.
If you are reading this article, you have pretty much made your decision that you are ready to change your eating habits and start a fitness program. Good for you! The next step is to keep track of what you eat and start a workout program that is right for you. To help you keep track of what you are doing, there are many websites that offer meal logs and fitness logs. All of these sites will encourage healthy eating habits to help you lose fat, build muscle, or whatever your goal is. I have researched the four most popular sites and have provided you with a breakdown on what they contain so you can make your own decision of which website better feeds your needs.
Fit Day
The first website I reviewed is Fitday.com. This is a basic website for you to track you meals and exercises. One of the best things about this website is that it is very easy understand and get started.
Here are some of the top features of FitDay:
- A fitness log. You can track your food intake which is converted into a pie chart that helps you identify the percentage of fat, protein, carbs, and alcohol intake)
- Daily activities tracker to know how many calories you are burning
- Weight tracker
- Daily journal
- Moods chart
We really like the moods chart because it tracks your average happiness over time. Your mood can play an important part in the foods you eat and how you exercise.
Some of the misses of this website:
- Not many options on food tracker if you like to eat out
- No customizing
- No sample workouts to follow along with
- No meal plans.
However, if you upgrade to FitDay Premium ($5.49/month) you can obtain custom tracking which tracks any statistic that is important to you, learn more about nutrition with advanced reports, and no advertising! Check it out for yourself. Visit Fitday Now!
Spark People
The second website reviewed was Sparkpeople.com. This site focuses mainly on either losing weight or just leading a healthy lifestyle. In this site, you will also find:
- Calorie counter (contains various choices from restaurants as well)
- Fitness tracker
- Meal plan options to choose from
- Recipes
- Workout videos
- Community board
- Information on health A-Z including daily newsletters and videos
What attracts many people to this website is that you can join a team with others that have your same goals and interests for more motivation. This site is completely free. Visit Sparkpeople now!
Daily Burn
The next site is Dailyburn.com. This site allows you to track your weight, nutrition and workouts. This site includes:
- Options to design your own workout plan
- Choice of the many workout plans already created
- Videos with demonstrations
- Option to join a challenge with a group of people for motivation
- Forums to share with others goals and tips
- Nutrition log with a variety of items from chain restaurants for more accurate tracking
- Recipes added by other users and you can also submit your own
The site offers the option of joining dailyburnpro which offers meal planning, unlimited body metric tracking, pro workout programs, and nutritional stats. You can try this option for 3 months for $15 or one year for $45. Visit the DailyBurn now!
Live Stronger / Daily Plate
The next reviewed site is Thedailyplate.com also known as Livestrong.com. This site goes beyond just tracking your nutrition and fitness. It “dares” you to change your life! Whether you want to lose weight, save money, or spend more time with your family, there is a group out there for you to join! Here are some of the things included in this site:
- Begin with choosing a dare/goal
- Dares contain forums for people to update and motivate each other
- Articles and videos on healthy food and healthy living
- Nutrition tracker (various options for searching food, restaurant, or brand)
- Does not promote diets and believes in just eating health
- No meal plan to follow but other members listed what has worked for them
- Samples of exercises categorized by target areas
- Not many exercise videos but has links to where you can buy them
- Site is completely free
This is just a brief description of some of the information we found in each website. You can check each one for yourself and decide which one is right for you! Overall most have some of the same features. Some are geared more towards dieting and food logs and not as much information on working out. You really cannot go wrong with either one. Remember, tracking your daily diet and workouts will help you stay consistent and reach your goals.