Found out there are a lot of online websites that you can enter that data but decided I don't want online exclusively because I'm not always online. I began looking closer at the Living Cookbook website and found they have a sister site called DietPro. Here was the software I was looking for. It has all the features and much more that the Living Cookbook had. I immediately downloaded the software and having been playing with it ever since. This software has so much capability and the only disadvantage I can see right now is it doesn't have a fast food or restaurant database, although it does have an extension food database. So, if you cook a lot at home this point will not be an issue. If you are like us and go out a lot, there is a workaround, by using CalorieKing.com online food database. Just search what you are looking for and print out the Nutrition Facts to manually enter them into Diet Pro. Doesn't take too long to do at all and I understand this feature is planned in an upgrade of Diet Pro currently in the works.
To start out I did need to do some initial set-up such as entering my current weight and my goal weight, including my timeline for wanting to lose the weight. To be realistic (which normally I don't do) I went directly to WeightWatchers.com and was able to get my ideal weight range by inputting my current height and age. So easy! This is the information I entered in my Diet Pro profile. I then played around with the preferences on Diet Pro to find out what charts I liked and ones I didn't need to see on a daily basis. This program is highly customizable, which is nice! After doing this, Diet Pro tells me the amount of calories I need to eat per day to reach this goal weight - something good to know.
Next questions is how exactly do I want to use it. The great thing is I can use it as little or as much as I want. I don't have to commit to anything. I can use it exclusively as a software recipe database if I want like I was using Living Cooking. But, I do have capabilities now of getting so much more out of it, depending on my commitment level. I can also create meal plans, track what I eat, set goals (for not only overall weight loss but additional goals such as losing belly weight), create grocery shopping lists and get this - I can even inventory my grocery stock! Yes!!! LOL! Now, I'm not planning on doing this because I would be way to anal at that point but it is very intriguing. You can purchase (separately from here) your very own barcode scanner and scan your groceries when you put them away. I will never be this organized! So exactly how am I going to use this? For now, I'm not going to jump right into a diet but rather just begin by tracking what I'm eating and find out what it says. Here's my screen shot for what I've eaten today (for lunch only):
Not sure how clear you will be able to see this but in looking at my Arby's lunch I see I have already exceeded my calorie intake for the day as well as pushed the limits on my daily recommended allowances in several of the categories. Note, I did not have any breakfast and of course I still need to have dinner. Now, instead of being upset by this I'm viewing this as a good learning experience. I'm beginning to go down the path of understanding what better choices I need to make to get the outcome I want. It would be interesting to compare this to a McDonalds lunch and see what that difference is because I mistakenly thought the Arby's sandwich would be a better choice. Maybe it was a better choice but not the best choice. I'm going to do this for a week to see what I end up with. Should be interesting!
Some additional features this program offers is the ability to track your calorie intake and banks calories that aren't used. If you input you have exercised it adjusts your calorie bank accordingly. It also has a points tracking system that you can customize. I mimicked mine based on the Weight Watchers point system because eventually I will go back to Weight Watchers for additional guidance.
So, whether you just want to get organized and quite having recipes scattered all over your kitchen, or you might want to dig deeper into what you are eating, I highly recommend either the Living Cookbook or Diet Pro. Check them out!
That sounds really, really cool. I'm going to check it out and see what it could do for us. Congrats for you, to have a realistic, but upbeat attitude about being healthy. Keep up updated on how it goes!! Maybe we need some before and after photos??? hehe