| |
| |
|
Weight Loss Information Center |
|
|
|
Technology & Weight Loss: Putting An Online Tool to Use
Because the Internet allows so many millions of people to be connected to any single site, function or feature, many programmers and marketing folks have put their heads together to come up with some really neat online tools. Many of these tools are not only useful and convenient, but they are often times free to use. We like free! Some examples include area code locators, mortgage calculators, metric conversion charts and many, many more. Today I ran across a free tool that is available to us courtesy of the US Government. The Deparment of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health, makes this tool available. The tool is called an Interactive Menu Planner and it's worth spending a few minutes exploring. The tool's original intent seems to be as a menu planner that one would use on a daily basis in order to calculate the total calories, total fat and total carbohydrates for all three meals each and every day. Because the interface is a little bit "clunky" and the tool takes a while to plug in an entire day's meals, I don't think it's really practical to use every day. However, that doesn't mean that it's not useful. Load it up in a browser and take a peek for yourself while I point out a few things that I found interesting. The first thing you need to do is to select the number of daily calories you plan to consume. The number can range from 1200 to 2000. There are no guidelines as to how many calories you should start with so use common sense to select a number. Factors such as body size (less the fat you want to lose), type of occupation, amount of daily exercise, and age should be taken into consideration. Your doctor may have a suggestion as well. Once you've selected a daily calorie target, select "Breakfast" as your first meal. Mentally segment your daily calories into three fairly equal parts. If you've selected 2000 calories, you should try to aim for around 600 - 650 calories per meal, leaving a few left over for an evening snack. Move over to the right where the food itself is located. Start at the top and select a food item from the food groups you typically eat for breakfast. It doesn't matter if it's what you ate today, or are planning to eat, the education is in the experience. As you select a "food item" you must remember to also select the number of servings in the next column. For instance, if you typically eat two kiwi fruit at breakfast, select "1 Kiwi" from the "food" column and select "2" from the servings column. The thing that I really like about this tool is that it updates after every item is selected. Continue on through breakfast adding items as you go. You may select multiple items from any of the food groups. As you continue, you will see the menu for breakfast grow longer for each added item. Try to ignore the totals on the left-hand side until you have finished selecting each of the items that make up your typical breakfast. Once done, look at the totals to see how much damage you've done. If you find, like I did, that you need to make some adjustments to each meal if you want to get three meals a day in, you can remove some of your items or reduce the number of servings. To do so, simply select one of the items already in your breakfast menu and change the servings to zero to remove it completely, or just lower the number to reduce it. Once you've set your breakfast menu, continue on to lunch and repeat the process. After you've finished your lunch menu, repeat the process for dinner. If you still have some calories left over, you can go ahead and treat yourself to a snack; if you exceed your total allowed calories at any time, a warning message will pop up. There are a few things about this exercise that I believe are particularly educational. The first is the degree to which the daily calories can be thrown off by simple things such as beverages. For my breakfast I selected a bagel. I watched carefully as I slowly added a tablespoon of cream cheese and some jelly, thinking they would cause a dramatic increase. To my dismay, a couple teaspoons of jelly and a tablespoon of cream cheese added only 75 calories. It was the bagel that was the major offender, coming in at a whopping 320 calories! I decided to see how much the daily totals would be affected by selecting a large glass of "Kool Aid" as a drink. I have children in the house and "Kool Aid" is available and convenient. But is it a good decision? For my lunch menu, I selected "8 oz. Kool Aid" as a beverage. But wait, do you know how small an 8 oz. glass is? I plugged in "2" servings just to be safe. To my horror, that single beverage selection came to 232 calories, or just over 11% of my daily total! I quickly "zeroed out" the "Kool Aid" and opted instead for water. Another shocker was the cream that I use in my morning coffee or tea. Drinking two cups of black coffee adds only 20 calories to your daily menu. However, if you lighten up those two cups of coffee with a couple of tablespoons of cream each, you can add nearly 100 calories to your diet. A teaspoon of sugar adds only 15 calories, and that's typically the item we'd be inclined to abandon first. The second thing that I realized is that, with a little bit of planning, a person can still eat a substantial amount of food and stay within their daily caloric budget, especially if you choose wisely. I'm a substantially sized guy with an active lifestyle who should be able to consume 2000 calories per day and still lose weight. Using this tool can help me do so without starving and without busting my budget. Again, I don't think it's terribly practical to suggest you use this tool every day, but referring to it every now and again can help you ascertain the average number of calories you are consuming each day, make sure you aren't making any bad menu decisions, and help you to win the battle of the bulge! Interactive Menu Planner: http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/menuplanner/menu.cgi Michael Callen is the author of the Weekly Weightloss Tips Newsletter and the Chief Technology Officer for WellnessPartners.com, an online retailer of dozens of health and wellness products.
MORE RESOURCES:
Weight-Loss - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Good Food/Bad Food Whats Left to Eat? We've entered the Twilight Zone when it comes to the multitude of diets being promoted today. Starting with the Atkins Diet, then the South Beach Diet, now the Hamptons Diet and more. Weight Loss in Children What is "too young" to begin a weight loss program with children? Is there actually such a thing? There are many different opinions on the topic of child obesity but one thing everyone can agree on is that it is becoming an epidemic in North America. Many reports show that obesity now kills more people in a year than smoking does. Low Carb Diet - The Way To Weight Loss? Everybody you know is on the latest weight loss bandwagon: The Low Carb Diet. They've seen the astounding results on the scale and have lost 10+ pounds in a short period of time. Calculate Your BMI - Do You Need to Lose Weight? There are a few different ways to determine if you are overweight. Underwater weighing, computerized topography and measurement of skin folds with calipers can be the most accurate ways to measure fat. Push a Button to Lose Weight Trash Your TV! is pleased to announce the easiest weight loss program in the world. It is as easy as pushing a button-the "Power" button on your TV. After WLS: How To Avoid Mourning The Loss of Food A frequent question brand-new gastric bypass patients ask is "How do you deal with the loss of food?"In the first few weeks out of surgery when patients can only eat is Jell-O or protein shakes or broth patients frequently report grieving for food. After all, food is a beloved friend of the morbidly obese. 8 Ways to Rev up Your Metabolism Yes it's true- and so unfair. As we get older weight gain begins to creep up on us. Is Avoiding Sweets Driving You Nuts? Put the Nuts to Work for You You can overcome the desires of your sweet-tooth by incorporating some intelligent snacking. Sometimes dieting and weight control can drive you nuts -- well, we're going to put those nuts to work for us. The Key To Losing Weight And Keeping It Off Do you want to lose weight? Of course you do, otherwise youwouldn't be reading this. Let me ask you another question. After WLS Patients Must Give-up Coffee, Tea, Soda and Alcohol to Sustain Weight Loss Dieters are often told - drink water. Drink a minimum of 64 ounces a day - eight glasses a day. The Myth of Fast Weight Loss You will be surprised to find out how many people are actually looking for a fast weight loss program. Why fast? Well, first of all, most of us are impatient. Nutrition and Metabolism Disorder What is the relationship between intake of nutrition and metabolism disorder? Is slow metabolism the cause of my overweight? Are there any types of nutrition that can speed it up? Could a pill speed it up?There are many myths and misconceptions about metabolism. The idea that a low metabolic rate is always responsible for excess weight is one of them. Dumping Syndrome: The Dirty Secret Gastric Bypass Patients Keep Dumping syndrome is an effective result of the gastric bypass system which alerts the body of inappropriate eating. Dumping syndrome is described as a shock-like state when small, easily absorbed food particles rapidly dump into the digestive system. Failed at Weight Loss: Heres Hope All Diets Work: No Diets WorkHave you lost weight in the past only to regain it a short time later? Have you followed every diet including Atkins, South Beach, the Drinking Man's diet, the Peanut Butter diet, or even the Chocolate Diet? All of these diets work, and none of them work, meaning, you can and probably do lose weight on any of them, but you won't keep it off. Why not? Because the day will come when the diet is over and you're right back to your regular routine; the same routine that got you fat in the first place. Ten Important Things to Know Before You Join a Weight Loss Program 1. What is my BMI and how do I calculate it? BMI means Body Mass Index. Overweight - Answering Your Critics There are those that walk amongst us who have followed all the advice, diligently dieted and exercised with genuine effort for long periods of time, yet still fail to lose their excess weight. Even more heartbreaking for those of us who genuinely struggle with obesity are the accusations of sloth and laziness from those thin people who eat junk all day long and show no physical sign of their own gluttony. The Cheapest Way To Stop Eating Junk Food and Start Finding Your Ideal Weight Again Your health is your responsibility. As a human being, youhave the choice to put in your stomach whatever you want. 4 Surefire Ways NOT To Lose Weight At Your Health Club Everyone has their own individual reason for joining a health club, lose a few pounds, tone up, lower your blood pressure, strengthen a bad back or shoulder, perform better in sports, or just keep in shape by playing some basketball or racquetball.By joining the gym you have shown a time, and a financial commitment to achieving your goals, congratulations!However, joining the gym is only the first step. Fidgeting: The Natural Weight Loss Diet It's now official. The simple act of fidgeting can mean the difference between lean and obese. Carnitine Weight Loss Revealed: Why L-Carnitine Should Be The #1 Weight Loss Drug Carnitine is simply the safest and healthiest supplement you can use to boost weight loss and energy. So then why isn't it touted by drug companies as a miracle weight loss drug? First of all, it is not a drug, but a natural compound found in meats and all throughout your body.
|
| home | site map | Home Site |
| © 2006 |
