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I want to get a computer program which tracks my eating & exercise results (net calories, nutritional makeup, etc.). I did this effectively ~10 years ago. Program must have extensive data base of foods & allow me to create items. Can you recommend some software (PC with XP & VISTA systems)?

 

Congratulations for taking on a great health initiative! Surprisingly some of the best programs are now free and online (which makes them great to use anywhere and not just at home). Below you will find a breakdown of the free ones and the paid software ones.

Free:

  1. Sparkpeople (www.sparkpeople.com) allows you to track your food intake, exercise minutes and calories burned, weight, and measurements. You can print off daily analysis, reports, track changes, etc. They have tons of resources like exercise videos, free meal plans and shopping lists, recipes, discussion boards, and articles with update info on everything from nutrition, exercise, motivation, etc. The database of foods is extensive and the majority match the USDA database of foods. It allows you to create your own food groups and enter in your personal recipes or nutrition analysis on something you've created. One of the best, if not the best, free websites around.
  2. Fitday (www.fitday.com) also tracks calories and exercise, provides tons of reports, etc. FitDay also has software you can buy and you can sync the online version with your home version ($29.95).
  3. The Daily Plate (www.thedailyplate.com) is another free online nutrition and exercise tracker. This website is associated with LiveStrong. There is a strong community network component where followers can contribute food items they've eaten.

Paid:

  1. Nutribase and Food Processor are the two nutrition software programs the Registered Dietitians will use. Market Street uses Food Processor to analyze our prepared foods. These are both very science based and pull from the USDA database but can be cumbersome to use. Unfortunately, they don't provide the best exercise tracking support that you may be looking for. Cost is usually several hundred dollars.
  2. FitDay PC (see above)

I hope that these get you going in the right direction.

brown

Alicia M. Brown, MS, RD, CSSD, LD
Health & Wellness Marketing Manager

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Tyra M. Carter, PhD, RD, LD

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