I found this great, FREE site that I have been using and thought I would share it. You can enter your current weight and how many pounds per week you would like to lose and it calculates how many calories a day you can have. Then you can enter foods (nearly everything possible is there) and it breaks down the nutritional content.....even tracks exercise and gives you more calories for that!

www.thedailyplate.com

Good luck!

I also use that website! I was intimidated but once I gave it a try, I loved it.

I'm wondering if I should just stick with the free membership, or give in and pay to be a gold member.

That's a great tool! I have been using that website since my surgery, also. Just keep in mind that it also depends on how many calories you use up each day. I use the BodyBugg which is similar -- you tell it how much you want to lose each week, and it tells you how many calories a day you can eat.... and how many calories a day you have to use (and it calculates how many calories you have burned throughout the day). I was pretty shocked how much effort it takes to use up the amount of calories I have to use each day in order to meet my 2 pound a week goal!

I'll tell you one thing I have learned from the BodyBugg.... the best thing you can do to burn more calories is just move, every opportunity you have. Get up and walk throughout the day. Take the long way around. Take the stairs. It has made a much bigger difference than I realized, in how many calories a day I burn.

Good luck, guys!

I tried signing up for the free membership, and I was told they aren't accepting new members at this time. They directed me to livestrong.com. I wanted the dailyplate.com on my blackberry, but you have to be a paid member to do that.

I'm not really thrilled with the Realize band website food tracker. Nothing is in there! Everything has to be added to your list of foods, which means I go to the dailyplate and look up the nutritional info anyway.

Ugh. Any other sites out there as comprehensive as thedailyplate?

I'm sorry, but I'm not sure. I just signed up for the daily plate a couple of weeks ago so am surprised they aren't still taking new members. It does the same thing as the Body Bugg does as far as telling you how many calories a day you can have. You might try that site.

I am surprised at how many calories Water aerobics burns! My surgeon recommended it to me and I love it! It's so much more fun than walking on my treadmill (which I do on days I'm not swimming). I was terrified of being seen in public in a bathing suit, but found out there were others there in the same shape as me, or worse, so I felt much more comfortable going. If you have a place close to you that offers the classes, I would highly recommend them!

Edited August 8, 200817 yr by tmcd59