MyFitnessPal

A great tool to aid in weight loss that a couple people told me about is MyFitnessPal. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ If you don't use it I would highly recommend it. It helps you to keep track of your calorie intake and calories burned during exercise.

To get started you input your weight, your goal weight, height, exercise goal, and how much you would like to lose a week. It recommends 1lb a week but you have the ability to choose and I chose 2lbs a week. MyFitnessPal takes the information and gives you a custom dairy where you input your information on a daily basis.

MyFitnessPal has a large data base of foods however it is important to double check the information because it is entered by people using the site and I have found some misinformation. But you can also enter your own information. Here is an example of one of my days.

Your Food Diary For:

Prev Monday February 11, 2013 Next

Breakfast	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein
Cereal - Honey Bunches of Oats-Honey Roasted, 1.5 cup (30g)	240	50	3	4
Great Value - 1% Milk - 8 oz, 4 oz	55	7	1	4
Add Food	295	57	4	8
Lunch
Ball Park Hotdogs - Ball Park Bun Size Beef Franks, 1 hotdog	190	4	16	7
Great Value - Hot Dog Buns, 1 bun	100	19	2	3
Castleberry's - American Original Hotdog Chili Sauce Classic, 2 Tbsp (16g)	20	2	1	2
Add Food Quick Tools	310	25	19	12
Dinner
Birds Eye Voila - Alfredo Chicken (Data From the Label), 2 1/4 cup frozen, 1 cup cooked	420	41	20	21
Pepperidge Farm - Garlic Bread - Texas Toast, 1 Slice	140	17	7	3
Add Food Quick Tools	560	58	27	24
Snacks
Sunbelt Bakery - Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bar, 1 Bar 30g	140	21	5	2
Pepperridge Farms - Baked Naturals Cracker Chips, 39 pieces	210	33	8	2
Eddy's Slow Churned 1/2 the Fat - French Silk, 1 cup	260	38	9	6
Add Food	610	92	22	10
Totals	1,775	232	72	54
Your Daily Goal	1,820	243	63	66
Remaining	45	11	-9	12
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein
	*You've earned 220 extra calories from exercise today 

This is helping me not only stay in my calories but teaching me to eat more healthy by trying to also stay within the other categories as well. I haven't mastered this part yet however. You also need to update your profile once a week because as you lose weight your calories allowed will go down. I updated my profile and I lost 50calories a day after just 9lbs.

MyFitnessPal also has many other resources as well including apps, reports on your progress, your own blog, and a community. The community is where you can ask questions and chat with other people trying to lose weight.

If you are trying to lose weight and not having the success you want then I encourage you to try MyFitnessPal. It has helped me so much and without it I know I would not have lost 9lbs in my first week.