Sparkpeople. I found them when I googled “calorie counter.” They’re a full service, free website, with interesting articles, a way to track your nutrition and fitness, motivational stories, message boards, etc. There’s a few Dopers who are over there…my user name is the same there as it is here, so check it out!
Hi, mind if I join? (again.) I was following Weight Watchers online and wasn’t finding it easy to stay motivated. Besides, I hate spending money. So I went to Sparkpeople and started adding - hope you don’t mind, everyone.
I really like Sparkpeople so far! Thanks ivylass. It’s a great idea to have everything to do with your weightloss, motivation and exercise all shoved together on one site.
Anyone feel free to add me! I’m there under exclamation!.
Oh, add me please. 
I am trying to put my unhealthy procrastinating ways behind me so I am joining the thread again and I joined sparkpeople, too. I am DesertSongDog there. I think I added everyone here I could find.
Will do - and Ivylass, thanks for the flowers!
I have to say, it’s been a good weekend - just weighed in at 98kg, so I have dropped over half a kilo over the weekend. Most of that was sweated off in the bathroom, which we have started redecorating. I didn’t make the gym, and (today being a Bank Holiday) it won’t be open today. Given that it is raining (what else on a Bank Holiday :rolleyes: ) I may skip the bike ride I had considered.
So I am a bit more positive about this coming week - maybe I am over the plateau.
My weekly weigh-in at Fat Club is tomorrow night but yesterday I had to go shopping for new trousers for work - my current ones are starting to slide off my hips. The good news is that the new ones are a size smaller. Go, me!
I’m so glad everyone likes Sparkpeople as much as I do. I’m finding something new every day. The blog posts can be a little depressing…one poor woman said her husband “forced” her to eat a potato chip, and she ended up eating the whole bag.
I think some people have more going on in their lives than just eating more than they exercise.
At OrlanDope I showed Ivylad how loose my jeans were. Weigh in on Sunday!
For the most part yes, I think most of us try to eat less/better and move more. We do have a few Weight Watchers folks, but I don’t really consider that a “diet” in an Atkins/Slim Fast sort of way; it’s more about portion control and healthy habits. I’ll admit that I don’t try too hard on the diet end of it. I don’t deny myself anything, really, but I do try to eat healthy foods most of the time and stay in the 1700-2000 calories a day range. That’s a lot more than most people think of doing when they’re on a diet, but my BMR is about 2500 so subtracting the recommended 500 calories a day makes 2000. I exercise six days a week, doing cardio all six days and lifting weights three days a week. I was doing seven days a week but found that I lose more when I take a day off.
I’ve been really hungry lately and have been over-eating. The strange thing is, I’ve been down to 170 for the past 3-4 days. I do need to get back on track with the calories this week. It was a good weekend at the gym. Friday night I did half an hour on the elliptical plus weights, Saturday I did half an hour on the elliptical and walked on the treadmill for an hour, and yesterday I did the elliptical plus weights again. Today is my day off because I have a meeting tonight.
I’ve come to recognize this. Every overweight person I know has something underlying which causes it, and I don’t mean a physical ailment or whatnot. You have to fix what’s wrong with your insides (even if it’s something small) to fix what you see as wrong with your outside. YMMV.
Well, I’m not in the obese range, so for me it’s just getting older and getting more sedentary. But the blog posts by the people who just couldn’t stop themselves from devouring the entire plate of brownies, then hating themselves for it, make me go 
.
Recognize it’s not just overeating in that situation.
yellowval, I’m tracking my calorie intake with the Nutrition Tracker. I’m not really focusing on fat/carbs/protein per se, just making sure I stay on the low end of my calorie range. I’m also finding that if I track what I eat before I eat it, I don’t overeat as much (no dessert for me tonight!)
I also use the nutrition tracker and plan what I’m going to eat at the start of the day and it helps to keep me on track. Last week I was sick and didn’t give a crap. It’s fun sometimes to get everything plugged in and find out that it’s only 1500 calories so I have to eat more!
ETA: My calorie range on Spark is 1760-2110. That’s because I’m only about 10 pounds from my goal at the moment and have my goal date set for Sept. 1.
My metabolism has slowed down, I don’t exercise enough, and I take anti-depressants and beta-blockers. But it’s still my fault, because of the lack of exercise. Dammit.
My calorie range is 1200-1550.
I surf. 
Or find a craft project or a book or a stack of dvd’s…anything to keep from thinking about food…
I think I’d die if I tried to eat only 1200 calories a day. I don’t know how anyone can do it, but that’s just me. In exchange for getting to eat 2,000 calories a day I burn 2,800+ calories a week doing cardio plus my strength training (which Spark doesn’t calculate). I know that doesn’t work for everyone either, but that’s just how I roll.
Hi everyone
I’m going to start dieting from tomorrow, just calorie counting and exercise. I’ve asked for exercise tips here . I weigh roughly 26stone, I haven’t been on the scales for a while though, so I won’t be sure until tomorrow. Last time I did this I lost 3 stone, but since then I’ve put most of it back on.
I’ll have a look at sparkpeople later. It sound similar to the site I used last time I dieted, however that one had to be paid for and had such a confusing layout I could never find the articles or forums properly. If I register is it ok if I go and add everyone from here as friends?
SparkPeople.com is free. There’s a lot of info there, and I’m still learning my way around. My user name is the same there as it is here. Good luck!
I’m on Sparkpeople… my user name is cattrees. I agree that it’s awfully sobering to see your calories tabulated throughout the day. Eeeeeek.
It’s very boring to get it set up with your foods, though. And very boring to figure out how to count food you ate in a restaurant…