The Daily Plate and other calorie tracking

I have done okay this week. I am trying to write down what I am eating daily. Since I dropped my Weight Watchers membership, I have been looking for alternate means to keep track.

I used a Pocket Mod first to keep in my purse. I also was working on a WW pts. system still, since most of the frozen entrees have WW points values on them.  But then I remembered that I signed up for The Daily Plate, which is now part of LiveStrong.com.   It’s a really handy tool, so I am going to try to keep it up.

When I signed up, I did a little survey to see how many calories I needed to take in per day to achieve my “weight goal.” So now, when I add in my foods, it keeps track and lets me know how many more calories I can eat that day.
It’s free, but of course there is an upgrade with more bells and whistles.

Check it out.  It has virtually every food you could want to search.  Members have the ability to add products if they are not already on the site.  This is mostly good, but it does make for a lot of unnecessary repeats to wade through.  Not only does your page keep track of the calories you take in, it breaks it all down into a pie chart showing carbs, proteins, and fats.

The exercise options to log are also extensive.  I don’t think that I am going to take credit for every little move I make – like brushing my teeth.  But it’s fun to look at.  Check it out!

Costco Items

I am trying to get back on the wagon (again!), but before I go to the store and fill my freezer with frozen, convenient goodies, I am trying to use the foods that I have. I also need to take the brownies and cupcakes I made for Easter to school to be eaten by others!

While I was on Spring Break, I made a pass through Costco. If you are looking for inexpensive frozen meals, they usually have at least two bulk items of four. Mostly, it’s Lean Cuisine, but I have also seen Kashi meals there – a really good deal!

Here is what was there last week:

Package 1 -
Lean Cuisine Spa Classics Ginger Garlic Stir Fry with Chicken – 5 pts.
Lean Cuisine Spa Classics Sesame Stir Fry with Chicken – 6 pts.
Lean Cuisine Spa Classics Grilled Chicken Primavera – 5 pts.
Lean Cuisine Spa Classics Butternut Squash Ravioli – 7 pts.

Package 2 -
Lean Cuisine Comfort Classics Roasted Turkey Breast – 5 pts.
Lean Cuisine Cafe Classics Sesame Chicken – 7 pts.
Lean Cuisine Comfort Classics Sweet & Sour Chicken – 8 pts.
Lean Cuisine Cafe Classics Glazed Chicken – 5 pts.

Package 3 -
2 Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers Chicken Margherita – 5 pts.
2 Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers Grilled Chicken Marinara – 5 pts.

This time, they didn’t have the panini, but often they do. All three of the above were around $8 or $9, making them between $2 and $2.25 apiece. The plus side is that most of them are 5 Weight Watcher points each. The downside is that there is not too much variety – most of it is chicken-based. Also, I have actually scored cheaper Lean Cuisines and Smart Ones meals at Walmart and Publix.

In the canned goods aisle, they also carry the Progresso and Healthy Choice low calorie soups, but I am not a big fan of canned soup. I usually have to doctor up canned soups, so I might as well make my own.

Other convenience foods I was looking at were frozen fruits and vegetables. There were two interesting fruit blends:

Spectrum Blend – 6 colorful fruits: yellow peach slices, pineapple chunks, red whole strawberries, white peach slices, green honeydew chunks 10 svgs (1 cup each)- I don’t recall the price – probably $7-$9.

Kirkland’s Trader Farms Triple Berry – Raspberry, Blueberry, Marionberry (Blackberry)

There are also many vegetable blends, including Asian Stir Fry and Normandy Blend (carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli). Right now, I am really into the steam in the bag blends, but I might need to check those out, too.

Chobani Nonfat flavored Greek yogurt – 12 – 4 each of blueberry, peach, and strawberry. Now, I bought these, and they are fine. Greek yogurt is all the rage right now, but it is not as sweet as regular yogurt. And, although it is 0% fat, it must contain sugar, because it is 3 WW pts. per serving.

Other things I saw were fruit cups (pkg. of 12 tropical blend), Weight Watchers Oreo Cookie popsicles, individual portions of hummus, individual portions of apples, and probably the Healthy Choice Fudgesicles. Those are great, if you don’t mind eating the same thing over and over.

I haven’t even mentioned the produce – salad greens and all. Maybe I will plan a one week Costco menu next.