FitSugar

Track Your Progress Online: The Google 15

FitSugar — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:30:00 PDT

I recently came across a nifty little weight tracking device created by Google, of course.

The Google 15 is basically just a simple tracking tool that calculates your average weight and puts it into a graph for your viewing pleasure. All you have to do is visit GoogleModules.com and add it to your Google homepage (what you see when you go to Google). Then you enter your goal weight and log your weight daily. Once you have data it will create a little graph to show you how things are looking and you'll even get warning messages when you're moving too far away from your goal weight. This is a great little tool for anyone who uses Google a lot as well as for those of us that like to see things in graphical form.

Keep in mind that The Google 15 is simply a tracking tool and does not offer tips or advice, but who cares because that's why you come to FitSugar!

Phone It In: Free Apps to Help You Drop Pounds

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:03:47 PDT

Losing weight is a difficult struggle for most, but you don't have to go at it alone. For busy women wanting to drop pounds, being able to keep track of weight-loss goals on their phone is not only convenient, it offers the support and motivation needed to follow through. Here's a list of the best weight-loss apps - and they won't cost you a dime!

Lose It!: Fill in some important info about yourself, including age, height, current weight, goal weight, and how many pounds you want to lose per week and you're ready to go. The app tells you how many calories you should have each day to meet your weight-loss goal, and also keeps track of the calories you consume each day and the calories you lose via exercise. The "My Day" feature gives you a quick snapshot of your day, how many calories you've consumed and burned, and how many cals you have left. Easy to use and easy to read.
Easy Weight Loss Tips: We could always use more advice on how to lose weight, and this little app offers quick diet, exercise, and nutrition tips to help you on your quest, such as, "Keep a bowl of cut-up vegetables in a see-through container in the refrigerator."

Keep reading to hear about two more free weight-loss apps.

Do You Track What You Eat in a Food Journal?

Leta Shy — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:53:01 PST

No matter how much you exercise, if you're looking to lose weight, changing your diet should also be a priority. And watching what you eat has become so much easier with the availability of iPhone apps, websites, and fitness monitors that can track exactly how many calories you're consuming every day.

Most food trackers have vast databases that make inputting every single thing you eat relatively simple: just search for the specific brand or type of food and add how much you've had (there are several good sites to choose from; FitSugar editor Michele recommends My Fitness Pal). But while being aware of what exactly you're eating is an important aspect in any weight loss plan, food trackers may not be for everyone. It can be hard for some to remember to log every single thing they eat, or it can even turn all-consuming if tracking your food leads you to obsess over every calorie.

What's your take on food journals - do you track your food?

Gear Review: Motorola's MotoACTV Fitness Tracker

Leta Shy — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:55:36 PST

Is getting fit one of your New Year's resolutions for the coming year? Whether you're just diving into a new regimen or need a better way to track your workouts, you'll love the new MotoACTV fitness tracker from Motorola.

Released in November, the MotoACTV promises to be your constant fitness companion, and with good reason. It can track calories burned, pace, speed, steps taken, and GPS route out of the box, and holds up to 16 GB of music and workout data. All features that will make anyone's workouts better, so I was happy to test out the 8 GB version that Motorola recently sent over ($250; the 16 GB version goes for $300).

The MotoACTV is slightly bigger than the iPod Nano, and like the Apple product, it has a simple interface making it completely intuitive as soon as you power it on. You can use it as a pedometer, and the home screen shows the time, steps taken, and calories burned for the day. By swiping left and right you can navigate to four more screens with different options. Five tactile buttons and one designated back button on the touch screen work all the main functions, which I appreciated since having easy-to-feel buttons made pausing music or finding my way back to my workout screen much faster than if I were fumbling my way through touch screens. And after entering your height and weight stats, the MotoACTV tracks the amount of calories you burn throughout the day, including your basal metabolic rate. When on the workout screen, you can choose between five styles - running, cycling, walking, elliptical, and step machine - and what type of workout you want (like racing against a previous personal best or setting a time and distance goal). During a workout a pleasant voice keeps you updated on certain milestones and how long you have left in your workout.

Keep reading for more on how the MotoACTV performs.

Why Going Online Helps With Weight Loss

FitSugar — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:00:44 PDT

It used to be that we didn't talk about our weight. But that was before the Internet. Now everyone knows our business! Facebook, the Twitter Humiliation Diet, Fitbit, and online weight tracking sites allow users to put their weight struggles under a very public eye. The good news is that it's working. A new study - the Weight Loss Maintenance Trial - suggests that weight loss is easier for people using online weight management websites.

To be included in the study as a whole, participants had to be considered overweight or obese, and had to have lost at least nine pounds within the first six months of the trial. Of this group, 348 individuals were randomly assigned to join an online weight maintenance program. The site tracked the user's weight, diet, and exercise habits - it also included a community forum. Compared to other participants, those who used the site at least once a month maintained the greatest amount of weight loss, and managed to maintain an average 44 percent of their initial weight loss.

My guess is that the accountability and online support group that the website provided was key in helping participants maintain their weight loss. Something about seeing our progress and tracking our food and exercise habits makes it hard to ignore the task at hand. Have any of you had success with online weight tracking websites? If yes, which ones?

Calorie Counter Wants to Be Your Only Diet App

Kristy Korcz — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 01:23:03 PDT

How many diet apps do you have loaded in your smartphone right now? Mine is kind of a graveyard of apps tried and failed, while others just didn't meet my diet and exercise needs. Enter Calorie Counter and Diet Tracker (Free) from the folks at CalorieCount.About.com. This app is the first I've seen to include both an activity log and food journal, alongside speech recognition (no more scouring food listings to find what you ate!) and bar code scanning for easy entry. Genius! There's even sections for informative articles, recipes, weight tracking, and the option to participate in the diet-focused community on the Calorie Count website.

Speaking of the website, if you choose to update your daily intake and output on the web instead of the app, Calorie Counter will auto update on your iPhone the next time you log in. Check out more screens of the app in the slideshow, and stay tuned for a full review after we take it for a spin.

5 Alternatives to Google Health

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 10:47:16 PDT

Bad news, health nuts: Google Health is being discontinued. Although we loved the free online feature that allowed you to organize, track, and share important health and fitness information in a central place, granting access to doctors, family pharmacists, or others who should be privy to your health history, Google says the program just wasn't catching on and will be discontinued next January. If you were a fan of the site, or are just looking for a place to track and store health and fitness information, check out these five alternatives to get in on now.

WebMD - Not just a place to see what that ache in your back can mean, WebMD offers up a food and fitness tracker so you can monitor your weight, calorie intakes, and even gives you recommendations on food and exercise times based on your goals.
BabyCenter - Expecting moms can get a ton of information on this site, which offers up calendars and trackers to help you through your entire pregnancy and beyond.
The Carrot - This site can help you monitor your fitness, nutrition, and medical data for a holistic view of your overall health. Plus, you can add or remove trackers to fit your lifestyle.

See the rest of the list after the break.