My Newest Obsession: NutriMirror.com
September 6, 2009 | (11)
A friend of mine turned me on to Nutrimirror.com, a website where you can log your daily exercise and food intake. NutriMirror keeps a running total of the nutrients you are taking in, which can help you plan fitness goals like weight loss. There are all kinds of tools, counters and calculators that can help you keep track of diet and exercise. Some upfront quality time is necessary to get the full benefits of the site, but NutriMirror is very easy to use once you spend a few days playing with it. <geekout>The coolest feature is that your information is presented graphically, with the goal being to stay in the green (you’ve met your RDA) and avoid the red (you’ve over/under consumed).</geekout>
I’ve been using NutriMirror for the past week, diligently logging my food choices and exercise. I’ll be totally honest: I’ve had a reality check this week. I AM NOT AS HEALTHY AS I THOUGHT. I have been consuming far too much saturated fat and I’m embarrassingly deficient in Iron and Vitamins A, D and E. Wow. Here I thought I was doing so well, but as it turns out there are problems with my diet that I never considered.
I’m glad I found out, because NutriMirror has changed the way I think about the food I buy and eat. Faced with having to log a fun-sized Snicker bar and it’s 1.1 g of sat fat, I skip the candy jar at work. On days when I log as I eat, I can make decisions about later meals based on what I’ve already eaten. If I’ve overdone it with the fat at lunch and need more Iron, I’ll head for the lentils and spinach for dinner. There’s an educational component, too. When I’m a deficient in a nutrient I’m not that familiar with (what the hell is Vitamin K?), I can click on the nutrient and NutriMirror tells me what it’s good for and what I can eat to get more of it. I decided that until I can figure out how to get enough of all nutrients in my diet I will need to take a few supplements.
Because NutriMirror graphs dietary trends over days, I get an idea of how my diet overall is adding up. We all have those days when we indulge in birthday cake at work. By looking at trends in my diet those birthday cake days get balanced out with those days when my will power is made of steel.
If I sound like a commercial for NutriMirror it’s because I believe consistent use of this FREE tool is going to change my eating habits in a way I could not do on my own. I enthusiastically encourage anyone to try it out for a week, just to see how everything adds up. Even if you don’t make drastic changes, I think some of that knowledge will seep into your unconscious, helping you to make better decisions.
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Sandra Fernandez Says:
drmiggy Says:
I think logging your food intake absolutely helps you reach your fitness goals. You can’t un-learn that you are consuming too many calories. Those numbers are the hard facts.
LKH Says:
KarynD Says:
