Online Calorie Counter/Calories Burned Tool

[katieyj]

I need to get back into my exercise and diet routine and would like some insight into what tools you guys may be using to help track your success. I’ve used myfitnesspal in the past, but thought I’d see what other tools are out there. Most of my exercise is by “playing” WII games, Walk it Out, Gold’s Cardio Workout, Zumba. I can’t seem to find a tool that has any of the WII games I use to count calories burned. I don’t eat out often, so I’m adding my own foods/recipes to the Calorie Counters.

What tools are any of you using to help keep track?

Thanks

[rheavon]

Sparkpeople is a good place to go. Lots of people imputting different activities/foods.

You could look into getting a Heart Rate Monitor for seeing what your calorie burn is more accurately during workout periods. Sometimes we over-estimate our burn when we consider our daily caloric count. Polar is the top-notch brand for those.

I personally have a Bodybugg, which seems expensive and kind of a pain you have to subscribe yearly (about retail $80 a year)- but you can often use coupon codes and utilize promos to bring those costs down. The bugg is a device you wear on your arm and it tracks your burn for the day and even shows you where you burn the most in your day.

So if you're looking for accurate burn counts, you'll find wearing a personal device would be best. Ask around first- someone might have an old heart rate monitor they no longer use that you can get your hands on. If you're looking for something in general corresponding with just your height/weight/gender/etc, I'd check out Sparkpeople.

I also do use the Weight Watchers eTools since I am a WW member- it is just harder now with the plan change from last year to calculate PointsPlus activity totals than when it was just the points system. That's why I wear a device so I know how accurate my intensity levels are.

[chitownmelli]

I like spark people. It has all of the tools that I need to get the job done, and you can track what you eat, drink, all of your exercise, goals, etc on the one site, so that works well for me.

[cintinative]

I like sparkpeople too. I did find that their database was not as exhaustive as I hoped (for calorie counting). I did have to do some manual entry. They have a recipe calculator which I have used a few times. My brother uses an app on his smartphone. Not sure if you have one--but it's tons more handy than doing something online.

I have a heart rate monitor that I use to track calories burned during exercise. It's not 100% accurate but generally more accurate than the Wii estimate or just a look up kind of thing. One thing I can recommend is to make sure you get one with a chest strap. I started with one that is only a watch and could never get my pulse off of it. It was useless. With the strap I can monitor my HR while exercising and push myself harder if it is too low. I find this very helpful because it is hard to tell sometimes how hard you are working.

I have not used the Bodybugg--Rheavon, can you tell me if you were able to tell the difference between using that and just some sort of latent calorie burn/day calculator plus your exercise calories? Is it a huge difference?

[rheavon]

I have not used the Bodybugg--Rheavon, can you tell me if you were able to tell the difference between using that and just some sort of latent calorie burn/day calculator plus your exercise calories? Is it a huge difference?

Oh my goodness, yes. According to online calculators, I was burning a whopping 700-900 calories per intense workout. For instance, I just plugged in my kick-boxing dancy workout and the minutes and it factored in my height/weight- and those would be the numbers I got if I plugged them in.

When I got the bugg, my first thought was, "Oh this is going to be so cool! I'm gonna get to see how many calories I'm burning!" But then after uploading my data, for the workouts that were 700-900 calories- or at least that I had been "told" it was that much- I was only burning 400-500 calories according to the bugg.

It really helped me step up my game. I added in intensity. I could see where there might be lulls not only during my workout, but throughout my day. Since it also works as a pedometer I can track my steps and set goals there as well. It also tracks the amount of time it thinks you're active, which is pretty nifty.

Not to sound like a commercial or anything, but I honestly think this is the best tool for me to help keep my caloric expenditure on track. My only complaint is that it can't go underwater.