FitDay.com I love it!

[karenisraw]

Hi,

I just started using Fitday.com a few days ago and I love it. It really made me see that I was consuming more calories than I thought per day (the reason I was not losing weight) and also where I was deficient in vitamins and minerals. I can just go to my cupboards and eat a couple of teaspoons of sesame seeds if I need phosporus, a brazil nut if I need selinium.

What does everyone think about Fitday.com??

[Boz]

I often feel like fitday is misguiding. I used to look at it for caloric consumption calculation and it rarely had the foods i was looking for, so i was forced to enter them, and it was just a difficult process. Sounds confusing but i think the whole program is a bit confusing. I couldnt find young coconuts on their so I got frustrated and quit using it

[karenisraw]

Boz,

You can enter the nutritional values and then it is in there forever. I find it really helped me understand I was eating more than I thought I was. It also motivates me to work out so I can enter it in and see the calories I burned.

k :) :)

[livingatthetop]

I so love this site it has most of the raw food meals that I eat. It is a great site and its completly free I will visit daily. Make a person want to increase their exercise because by seeing how much calories you bun.

I burned 200 calories today by dancing to all my favorate songs for thirty minutes!

Thanks Karen !

[RawTruth]

You asked for what people think of fitday.com, so here's my opinion. I would really love it if you please don't try to persuade me from it, okay?

I don't see a need for it if someone is following Alissa's plan.

She explains so very well in her book and in person that we don't need to do this. It is applying a theory that isn't needed for raw and living foods.

Our bodies don't need the same amounts of nutrients, vitamins and minerals when eating living foods than they do when we're eating cooked foods.

To me, it's the antithesis of trusting our bodies' innate wisdom. It's never even occurred to me to use it. If we do use it, I think we're using our human brains to try to control something that Western medical and scientific thought has decided must be controlled. Very authoritian and patriarchal. If eating all raw, our bodies' needs are met by the living food we're nourishing it with. It changes, heals, adapts, and changes again within hours and days. The R.D.A. is a set, one-size-fits-all "requirement" for cooked and processed and animal product foods. EVeryone's body doesn't need the same amount of, say, magnesium, at the same time ... or even the same day. It just makes no logical -- or intuitive -- sense. That's why I don't think fitday is needed when eating all living foods.

So, that's my answer. It's not the first time not probably not the last time this subject will arise on this forum since new people join all the time and a few of them also discover fitday. There are prior discussions, some of them quite long, but sometimes past threads are worth reading to get everyone's opinions.

If it works for you, great. Really. Each person is different and should do what's best for them.

Now you've got me wondering if there are any long-timers who use it ... or have used it ... cause I've never heard of any. None of the raw folk I know in real life do. Anyone out there who's been raw for a long time and uses fitday interested in chiming in so we can get an experienced opinion?

[fiddler]

FWIW, I see nothing wrong and actually everything RIGHT with spending say a week or two tracking your caloric intake a few times per year.

The results measured could serve as a way to monitor how you're doing nutrionally. For example, record your meals at the end of the day. Then, at some point during the week go and enter your meals into a program that will compute the nutrient info (carbs, fat, protein, etc). You could jot down this information along with your exercise and moods/energy levels to see how your nutrition/exercise correlates to your fitness. Keep a journal of your food intake and the rough amounts of food you've consumed.

This way, you have an idea of what foods and how much of each foods provide you with the nutrition your body needs. For me, based on various medical reports about high fat diets being harmful; I'm trying to do a low-fat raw diet. So, using a tool to track fat/carbs/protein (protein because of previous gout attacks) enables me to somewhat have an idea. After I've punched in a couple weeks worth of my routine foods, I have a better grasp for the content of each food without having to look it up.

I use "Living Cookbook" software. I learned about it from Doug Graham's web site. It works fantastic!!!

[karenisraw]

Rawtruth,

Hi. I pretty much agree with you. However, I just HAD to try it because it was free. And that is the only reason I looked at it. Then I got into it and started entering my food intake in detail, and I know, I know we are not supposed to count calories and stuff, but I discovered that I was eating about twice what I thought I was. I was not losing weight for 2 months and I discovered that my little snacks and nibbles all added up to a huge amount FOR ME, a person who seems to have a VERY VERY slow metabolism. After keeping track for a few days, I have again started to lose weight. I have lost 2.5 lb.s in 3 days which is HUGE for me. I really believe that for me, because of my obesity and slow metabolism, I really do need to watch and limit because of the problems that prolonged obesity can cause. I was also curious to see what nutrients I was getting and not getting. There were only a few that I was deficient in and I made an immediate trip to the NFS to get sesame seeds and brazil nuts to fix it.

For me, I just feel I really need to monitor what I am taking in because of issues of hypothyroidism, depression, learning problems and a few other things that I have had to deal with, thank god for raw they are gone now, but I needed to make sure for my own peace of mind.

I do also get it and appreciate your input about the inaccuracy of the RDA being different for raw vegans as opposed to cooked.

Oh, Also, I noticed this about myself. If I had all the money in the world, and could go with every instinct about what to eat, I probably would not feel the need to track what I eat. I do not have much to spend on food and often ignore what I feel I want because I just don't have the money. The tracking allows me to see what I am lacking and then I can find the least expensive food source available within my price range. This happened with me about brazil nuts. I always wanted to get brazil nuts because I love them but I did not because I felt that would be frivolous spending. When I discovered I was not getting enough Selenium, I looked up food sources of Selenium and sure enough brazil nuts are the highest available source of Selenium available. I had ignored my desire for them because of money and deprived my self of a nutrient which is necessary for proper brain function. As I have had learning problems in the past and other "issues" with neurology, I am much relieved to have had a way at least guide me in the approximate direction.



k :)

[fiddler]

Then I got into it and started entering my food intake in detail, and I know, I know we are not supposed to count calories and stuff, but I discovered that I was eating about twice what I thought I was. I was not losing weight for 2 months and I discovered that my little snacks and nibbles all added up to a huge amount FOR ME, a person who seems to have a VERY VERY slow metabolism.k :)

I like to think of it as just jotting down what is eaten. Then, let the computer spit out a report of calories etc... Recording your food intake can really be an eye opener at the end of a week. For example, suppose you felt sluggish one week? If you recorded your food intake, rest, exercise, moods, energy, etc in a journal, you could look for clues in your journal for answers.

[karenisraw]

Fiddler,

Right. Also if you become sick or feel not right or something then you can review your journal and see what you ate or did that day to find out what the problem is.

The other day I felt nauseas. I looked it up and I believe I had too much Vitamin D which can make you feel nauseas.

I find it helpful and puts my mind at rest.

Like I said, If money was no object I probably would not think to use it but I felt like I have to make sure of getting enough because I am ignoring my desires for certain foods because of a lack of money.

k :) :)

[jujube]

Now you've got me wondering if there are any long-timers who use it ... or have used it ... cause I've never heard of any. None of the raw folk I know in real life do. Anyone out there who's been raw for a long time and uses fitday interested in chiming in so we can get an experienced opinion?

I don't know if I count as a long-timer yet, but I've been raw 3 years and I do use fitday (not all the time, but sometimes). I find it helpful in figuring out how different ratios of fat/carbs/protein make me feel. I notice that the days I eat a high percentage of fat, I have less energy the next day... and this is something I never would've figured out without tracking my food on fitday.

I don't think it's necessary to use fitday if you aren't having any problems with your diet. But it can be useful for people who don't feel like they're thriving, or who are doing everything "right" but still struggle with weight or other issues.

Also, I enjoy looking back and seeing what I was eating 1, 2, or 3 years ago. It helps me understand my own raw evolution, and see exactly how my eating patterns have changed over the years. For example, looking back on my earliest raw days, I see a trend that I was NOT eating enough greens...and around this same time I started getting dental problems.

By having my own food history recorded, I can help newbies avoid making the same mistakes I did...or even prevent myself from making the same mistakes again! They say those who forget history are doomed to repeat it...and considering I don't even remember what I ate yesterday, I think I'm the type to "forget history" So it's nice that fitday keeps track of all that.

[karenisraw]

jujube,

It would also be great for taking this information to the doctor if something happens and they want to know what you have been eating or doing for exercise etc. I have a consultation with my doctor on the 19th of this month and that is another reason I decided to use Fitday.com, so I could help him to figure out why I am not losing weight even though I am raw.

k
:)

[aromaticwings]

You all are talking about journaling IN Fitday right? What is a regular journal for? You can do the same type of tracking what foods you ate etc there.. I have used Nutridiary.com before and did like to see the ratios etc... but now knowing the RDA is very incorrect on the ratios we should actually have.. well I tend not to use it anymore. I am just tracking my foods in a blogg now.. and Hope to see more results doing this the Alissa Cohen way and see the fat melt off...

I know of two areas I need to work on... sooo I will work on those... besides even doing the blogg is hard for me as I am not disciplined enough to write everything down.. I miss days...etc... and having to enter some of the foods into Nutridiary and some with the food details...was not something I wanted to mess with... If I knew they were correct then maybe I would but not knowing what I know now.. But if it works for you that is Great!! We all will get where we want to go ..just down different roads.

I am trying to learn to listen to my body...

[karenisraw]

Thank you Aromaticwings,

I am going to post a thread about the RDA and how far off it is and see if I get any responses describing a more accurate picture. I think it is being revised at this time anyway.

k

[aromaticwings]

Thank you Aromaticwings,

I am going to post a thread about the RDA and how far off it is and see if I get any responses describing a more accurate picture. I think it is being revised at this time anyway.

k

Maybe so but knowing the government and how they lie to us how are we to know that this new revisment will be any better... Listen to the body.. It will know.. Just like the old Indians used to say ..listen to the wind .... we need to listen to the body.. if it is hard right now to do that then we need to try harder.. and never give up listening...

[Sharon in Colorado]

I have plugged in numbers on fitday a few times - just enough to know what I was eating and how much fat I was taking in because I have high cholesterol. I was fairly shocked that my fat was that high so it gave me valuable perspective.

I think after eating SAD for so long, our "food intuition" has been perverted terribly. It should be natural to eat raw but it can be confusing to many people. So it is good to take a look at what we are eating and how it adds up.

I would recommend it for someone who really wants to keep track of what they eat whether they are dealing with a health or weight issue or an athlete. The great thing about it is you don't have to use it all the time - just entering a few days' worth gives any raw fooder a good idea about their diet and they can tweak a few things to make improvements.