Review of LiveStrong's MyPlate Feature

by POPSUGAR Fitness 17

Although I'm on the computer blogging daily, I'm a bit of a Luddite but trying to move away from paper journals for tracking my calories. Maybe because I'm a fan of Lance Armstrong or because the DailyPlate is one of my go-to sites for nutritional information, I chose the MyPlate feature at LiveStrong.com for my first foray into online food and fitness journaling. I've been using the site for two weeks now and so far so good.

Tracking calories consumed is super easy. You can either search for a food (the database has many commercial restaurants, bakeries, and packaged foods) or enter it manually. Many of my staple items are in there: Fage Greek Yogurt, Trader Joe's bread, soba noodles, and coffee drinks from my fave cafe, Peet's. You can also preprogram your favorite meals, making food journal entries a one-click activity. There is a recipe tool for tracking homemade meals too, which is great if you make a big old pot of soup and eat the leftovers throughout the week. When dining out you can use the LiveStrong app ($2.99) on your iPhone and learn that, when dining at Chevy's, you can save about 150 calories by ordering the veggie burrito and passing on the chicken fajitas. The app is great for tracking food on the go.

Learn about the fitness tracker when you read more.

You can track calories burned via fitness too, which is always satisfying. If you work out with a heart rate monitor, you can manually enter your calories burned. The fitness function titled "loops" maps your popular running, walking, or biking routes. You can create circuit workouts too. Plan your circuit, enter it, and then click on the workout every time you do it. I only wish the fitness journal were larger; I'd like to see a week's or month's worth of workouts all on one page, just like the site does for nutritional information.

The calorie tracking on MyPlate is really just the tip of the iceberg, for LiveStrong is also a community and the groups are organized around dares: dare to quit smoking, lose weight, run a marathon, meditate (this is the group I joined and I'm still trying to get those sits in). If you're trying to lose weight, this site will be a super helpful tool to add to your dieting arsenal.

Get a feel for the site by checking out the screenshots below. Do you use LiveStrong.com for your journaling needs? And if you don't, what calorie tracking site do you use?