Hi Ladies! I have discovered a wonderful tool! On the My Plate (formerly known as My Pyramid) web site, there is an awesome tool called the Super Tracker. When you register, this tool allows you to plug in your information (age, height, weight, physical activity level, etc) and calculates your daily healthy food allotments. Then you can plug in what you eat, and it will calculate how you are doing according to your plan. It calculates all sorts of wonderful things to help you stay on track--sodium intake, fats (saturated vs. oils)intake, empty calorie intake, and of course your basic food groups. It also has an option to click if you are pregnant and how far along you are, including all of those "extra" tips into your plan. I am so happy I discovered this tool--it has been super helpful in making sure I am getting what I need, and not too much of what I don't need. :-) And I was surprised about a few things--like how much sodium is actually in many foods that I wouldn't expect, and how little protein I was actually getting when I thought I was doing fine!
There is also a physical activity tracker as part of the Super Tracker. It has tips about amounts and types of physical activity you need to reach certain goals. If your goal is to lose weight, you can plug that in. If it is to maintain, you can plug that in. If it is to stay healthy during pregnancy (bingo) you can plug that in. Then you record your physical activity daily and it will show you how you are doing with your weekly goal, and let you know what types of exercise you need to reach the goal for the week. It is an awesome motivator!!!
If you do both, then at the top of the screen it will show you the progress for physical activity as well as food progress for the week/day. I love this tool!
If you have trouble staying on task with food and exercise, or just want to know how you are doing with one or the other, you should check this out. It is awesome!
