Tools for Health

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Tue, 02/09/2010 - 1:21am
Mel Smith's picture
Mel Smith
Title: Gardener
Joined: 07/26/2009
Posts: 621
Tools for Health

Do you use "health" tools?

I've found a few I'd like to tell about, and I'm wondering if there are better ones that I'm missing. To explain, I need to work on my diet, and exercise, and I'm the type of person that looks for geeky things to help me out.

First, there is the web site Nutrition Data. I was able to feed a recipe for "Mel's Salad" into this site's free analyzer and it told me the nutritional facts about the salad I made. The analyzer is very complete and tells the vitamins, calories, Carbs, and much more. I make these salads, many at a time, and they keep for a week or so, and now I know a good approximation of their nutritional make-up.

The second thing I wanted to know was what I was doing each day as far as total diet and exercise. The second tool I'm using is My Fitness Pal website. There, I'm able to maintain a log of my daily nutritional intake, exercise, goals, and a forecast of when I'll get there... or at least to the next foreseeable goal.

In addition to these web-based numbers crunchers and information processors, I'm using several other tools such as a heart rate monitor belt/wrist watch to help guide my daily workout. A blood pressure monitor which I've already written about in an earlier blog, and a glucose meter to monitor sugar levels. My exercise room includes a two-station stack-weight machine, tread mill, stationary bike, Ski machine, and several other devices. No, I haven't spent a fortune at all, but I picked up my entire exercise room full of equipment at second-hand stores and garage sales for probably less than $100 total! I visited a health specialist on Thursday, she said I needed to start using the exercise room! So here I go....

I'm especially interested in hearing feedback on the web-sites I've listed or other recommended sites that you use to analyze food and track fitness.

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Tue, 02/09/2010 - 2:52pm
#1
Michelle's picture
Michelle
Title: Administrator
Joined: 03/17/2007
Posts: 6090
Re: Tools for Health

Sparkpeople is really nice. I'm just not good enough at keeping up with any of that stuff.

I wish we had more room to put exercise equipment in our house. The Y is great for getting away and my membership there is a sanity saver, but my exercise comes to a halt if the kids are sick and can't go in YWatch. Would be nice to have something in the house to fall back on.

Michelle

This is the time to remember, cause it will not last forever. These are the days to hold on to, but we won't although we'll want to. -- Billy Joel

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Tue, 02/09/2010 - 4:38pm
#2
Mel Smith's picture
Mel Smith
Title: Gardener
Joined: 07/26/2009
Posts: 621
Re: Tools for Health

Thanks for the Sparkpeople web site tip. Surprisingly, I was already a member of that site and the companion recipe site, but overlooked them this time. Now I'll work with Sparkpeople as well until I can determine which site works best for me now.

If I lived closer to an exercise facility, I probably would have chosen that option. I used to drive through Richland Center on my way to and from work, and at that time I held a membership in Simon's Recreation Center. It is beautiful with machines, Olympic size pool, and many windows to look outdoors while you work 'in', and showers for when you're finished.

Now, I'm looking forward to better weather so I can add 'real' bicycling to my routine. I wish my little dog wasn't so averse to collars, I loved walking along the road and would enjoy her companionship but not without a leash.

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Thu, 02/11/2010 - 1:55am
#3
luce's picture
luce
Title: Crow
Joined: 11/11/2009
Posts: 211
Re: Tools for Health

nutritiondata and sparkpeople are great but I'm like michelle, I find it too much work to keep up on those sites.

Much simpler, if I'm finding myself in a phase of eating really badly, my friend and I have a system. We email each other everyday a completely honest list of everything we've eaten that day. The pressure of knowing I'm going to have to tell someone all the crap I've eaten is usually enough to keep me eating properly.

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Thu, 02/11/2010 - 4:09am
#4
Mel Smith's picture
Mel Smith
Title: Gardener
Joined: 07/26/2009
Posts: 621
Re: Tools for Health

That sounds like a great solution luce and I'm sure it would be much easier than what I'm trying right now. Also, if it works for you, then it's probably a good path for you.

I just spent several hours trying to get accustomed to the Sparkpeople site. Wow, is that thing confusing!

I've had a membership on Sparkpeople dating back to 2008 (I discovered) and it's no wonder I didn't use it, but now I'm really making an effort to learn the site. I'm impressed with it actually. I read many of the blog entries this evening, and they just keep pouring in. There have been some very interesting ones and I plan to write my own but I need to really think about what to say since the first one is designated that way and may draw more attention, so I need to make the first one good.

I guess my first failing is/was that I didn't know when I was eating crap! I mean, I used to have several cans of O'duals or Clausthaler a day without thinking. I figured, no alcohol, no problem, but as I began to work with some of the online programs and actually track what each of those 75 calorie 16 grams of carbohydrates were adding up to, now I'm beginning to see how I can change. another example, I loved popcorn, Orville Redenbacher's Movie Theater Butter, until I actually processed the label... I was eating a whole bag a night! It was only 170 calories per serving... but there are 2 1/2 servers per bag, so that's 425 Calories in munch food. I was then adding 100 more calories, or more, with a couple tablespoons of melted butter.

My total calories over the last three days have been 1255, 1551, and 1164 respectively.

Once I get a firm handle on what I'm doing, I may drop all the online entries as well. There's no question that it's a lot of extra work, but for the time being, I need the structure, the education, and the solid information I'm getting from it.

I'm going to stick with it for as long as I can (or need to), and I hope it yields the results I envision. It's not just weight loss that I'm aiming for but a level of health. My blood sugar levels have already made dramatic changes that I can barely believe, readings in the 90's - 113... without any insulin injections and very light medication!

That's another aspect of my health & nutrition world. I already do a lot of monitoring and I use computer programs to upload and track blood pressure and glucose readings. Accurate data concerning food and exercise is probably more important to me than to one that doesn't have additional health concerns. I guess 20 years ago I wouldn't have bothered but now I do.

I'm surprised at how large (ha! ha!) of a community Sparkpeople seems to be. Are they connected in some way to Weight Watchers or some other .... ? something that's giving them such a base?

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Sun, 02/14/2010 - 12:31am
#5
the_hubby's picture
the_hubby
Title: Crow
Joined: 12/05/2009
Posts: 310
Re: Tools for Health

I used SparkPeople for a several weeks and yes I too was amazed at what I was eating. Actually it wasn't as big a surprise as it could have been. I knew I was taking in a couple thousand calories a meal and few each snack, but it wasn't until I totalled it up that I got the big piture.

I was having some health issues and started the tracking and my intake went from 3800+ callories a day to 1200-1500 calories a day or less. Now some of that was from watching what I ate and sticking to a strict set of foods to eat. But some of it was just not wanting to eat for much of that time. In the end I lost 30 pounds from my highest weight (doctor recorded anyway Wink )

Now unfortunately, I went in to see a dietitician to see what I could improve and to learn some basics of levels of certain nutrients I should be getting. I was told that one that she didn't like telling people what levels a person should be getting and two I was doing everything all wrong. Then we did the whole wheigh in and body composition and found that nearly all my numbers were where they should be except my muscle mass was off by a couple of pounds.

I left that appointment more confused and discouraged than when I went in and I basically stopped my weight control plan at that point. Since then I have put back on nearly 20 pounds.

Well enough about my story. I find SparkPeople a pain to enter in what I ate for the day. Page refresh was very slow and if you entered something for the wrong meal all you could do was add it for the correct meal and then go back in and delete it for the wrong meal. And with pages that took a long time to refresh this took a long time to correct. I did like the fact that you can track various different nutrient values but didn't like the fact that if you wanted to tracka new one, it wouldn't go back and show you past history for it. Also their graphing ability was limited to how they wanted to show the data.

the_hubby

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Sun, 02/14/2010 - 1:27am
#6
kc9eci's picture
kc9eci
Title: Gardener
Joined: 07/07/2008
Posts: 153
Re: Tools for Health

As close as I get is a Nike fit.

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Sun, 02/14/2010 - 12:08pm
#7
Mel Smith's picture
Mel Smith
Title: Gardener
Joined: 07/26/2009
Posts: 621
Re: Tools for Health

Thanks for your impressions of Sparkpeople, 'the_hubby', and I'm sorry for the discouragement and confusion brought on by the so-called dietitian. They may have known their field of food and nutrition but it sounds as if they were morons when it came to relating and working with a client. There is something known as 'dead right' and it's when you have all the knowledge and facts on your side but you loose the situation and it seems as if this 'expert' didn't help you in the long run. I'm sorry for that. I would suggest you write that one off, start over - learning at your own pace and do what you know how to do. It sounds like you did it well.

I have not gotten into entering foods and exercise into Sparkpeople. I'm already doing that on My Fitness Pal web site and haven't musttered the time and energy to make the double entries yet. I have found My Fitness Pal to be a pain but fairly simple and straight forward.

By all my tracking and checking, I think I'm making progress. I'm into day 9 of this program and I haven't suffered too much in the way of sore muscles. I've been doing a 45-55 minute moderate work-out a day with a heart rate up around 140 - 150 for a sustained 20 minute or more segment of time. My sleep pattern has changed drastically to where I'm now sleeping within an hour of getting off work and I'm sleeping longer. My blood sugars have nose-dived and I'm now running in the 90's to 115 which is often.

One peculiar thing I've observed is this, and I need to ask my doctor about it when I see her in March; when I woke up this morning my glucose reading was 116 but after a 50 minute moderate work-out it was 142! I don't know if that's something I need to be concerned about or not. The elevated reading is because my body is screaming for more fuel and the sugar is being released from somewhere and with diabetes, my pancreas isn't quite on top of the situation of regulating the whole mess, I guess? It just surprised me when I first noticed this phenomena, I had supposed that exercise would have lowered my glucose levels but it raises them, at least temporarily. I'll take another reading an hour after exercise and see what happens.

That's one of the benefits of monitoring and tracking what I am doing, it reveals the truth of what's occurring not just what I imagine is happening. I think in coming days, other measurements and records will reveal additional surprises and insights to help me achieve my goals. At least I hope that's what will happen.

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Tue, 02/16/2010 - 1:36pm
#8
Michelle's picture
Michelle
Title: Administrator
Joined: 03/17/2007
Posts: 6090
Re: Tools for Health

@Hubby: I agree with Mel that you shouldn't let one person discourage you. You were doing so well. Obviously it was working, regardless of what the so called expert thinks.

@Mel: Congrats on the progress. Sounds like it's really working for you. You get your heart rate higher than I ever manage. Even when I'm working my hardest, the machine puts me at about 130. That's weird about the sugar reading. I have no clue if that's normal.

I'm still going in fits and starts. I'll start eating better and then backslide. I just keep working at it. I want to lose 20 pounds by June 1, which is probably more than I can manage but it's a goal to shoot for.

Michelle

This is the time to remember, cause it will not last forever. These are the days to hold on to, but we won't although we'll want to. -- Billy Joel

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