trying something new

These days, smart phones have so many different applications for just about anything you want to do.  One of the things I really want to do is lose 8-12 pounds.  Reading all my "Shape" and "Self" magazines reminded me that one of the best tactics to use when you want to lose weight is to keep a food diary.  Food diaries can be a pain--after you write stuff down you have to go search for the calorie count for things, or points equivalents if you are doing Weight Watchers etc. And I didn't want to pay for Weight Watchers,  So, I did a little search on my blackberry and found this app called "Calorie Counter".  It got some pretty good reviews, it was free, and so I downloaded it. (I think the Android app is also called "Calorie Counter").

Even though I have only used this app for 3 days, I am super happy with it. Not only does it have a really easy food diary, but also has an exercise log, journal, a weight tracker, community forums, information and ideas, all kinds of stuff.   The phone app can sync with the website it is associated with, called Fatsecret.  I'm not sure how I feel about the name of the website, but I really like the functionality.  So, I can log my food on my phone and it automatically shows up on the web account I just created at Fatsecret.  Or I can log on the website and it shows up on my phone.  I can't use any excuses about not having internet access or being near a computer since I can do all the logging on my phone!  And when I log all my activities (it includes calorie counts for resting, sleeping, housework, and all kinds of other things), it tells me how many calories I will have burned that day and I can compare it to how many calories I have taken in so I can make an informed decision about whether or not I should eat that third taco :)

The thing I really like is that they have the most enormous database of foods from which to choose. Just last night we had homemade tacos carnitas and we bought some tortillas that seemed like boutique-y tortillas--they weren't a brand I normally see in the store. I typed in the name on the package and up came all the nutrition information for that brand and size.  I was shocked and impressed.  It is also flexible in that it allows you to decide if you want to report the food in cups, ounces, or whatever.  Or it will tell you that a serving is 1 cup and I can say that I had .75 servings and it calculates the calories. 

Right now my account is totally private, but apparently you can chose to share your information with either a select group of "buddies" or everyone in the community.  I will never share with the entire community, but would be interested in sharing with buddies if anyone else wanted to try it. 

So- my first post in a while is a bit of a sales pitch- but I am very excited about this application and I am really hoping that it will help me lose this weight. I just didn't want this to be my little "fatsecret"  :)