@Ivanbfit:

Thanks Ivanbfit. fitsync.com looks great.

mikem497

@boracle: Fixed link: Exercise Log on FitLink.

boracle

I've tried afew of the sites mentioned. Found sparkpeople too simplistic - looks like they cater to not so active older women. Tried traineo and found that they don't have the functionality for tracking weight training. Got real frustrated with gyminee because I couldn't create my own exercises and share my workout with my mates. Best one that I would recommend is fitsync.com. The online version is free and you can pick free workouts. They do charge about five dollars a month for handheld-mobile accessibiity. Apple made them a Featured Web App and Staff Pick a couple of weeks ago. So check them out.

Ivanbfit

Can someone please recommend a way of tracking a weight training routine, besides Excel.
Thanks

mikem497

I think t

shadowfirebird

I too use the Hacker's Diet, but the online tools -vs- the downloadable spreadsheets.
[www.fourmilab.ch]

joecode

Check out SportsTracks

I have used this in the past for weight training and running. Works with your GPS to collect workout data. Works with my Garmin perfectly. I will look at the others and check them out - thanks for posting.

[www.zonefivesoftware.com]

E_Merlin

I agree with others that The Daily Plate deserves a closer look here - though SparkPeople has an excellent interface and Fitday is clean and easy, TheDailyPlate is a step above the others in two important ways:

(1) Biggest food database which is user editable (and unlike Fitday and most others, when one user adds a food or meal, everyone else can search for and add it "to their plate") Just give it a try with a few less than common foods and you'll see TDP does much better.

(2) TDP also adjusts activity (any activity) to your body type/size/gender (i.e., "light walking" for 30 minutes is calculated differently for myself and my slimmer, younger, and, clearly, female girlfriend. This is not accounted for in your daily intake/output by other online programs.

I reviewed these various sites (tdp, fitday, sparkpeople, traineo, calorieking, calorie-count) here:
[unclezeb.blogspot.com]

And as always, you can't get enough hacker's diet!
[tinyurl.com]

Life Hacker's reader poll on weight loss:
[lifehacker.com]

And "What does 200 calories look like?":
[www.wisegeek.com]

jbrams

I use MyFitnessPal.com to track both my diet and exercise. I've tried just about all of the above sites and find MyFitnessPal to be the easiest to use by far.

sark28

Great list! I had not heard of tweetwhatyoueat, reminded of another Twitter fitness mashup, [www.tweight.com] ... Track your weight loss by tweeting your goals and current weights.

brightmix

@FrankGrimesJr:
I second that recommendation. I've been using MMR for almost a year now to log training runs for my first marathon (two weeks!). Three great things:

1) They have a reward program where if you log enough runs, you get discounts/gift cards to outdoor stores.
2) Their customer support is fantastic. I've emailed them suggestions and comments before and they respond within a day or two!
3) You can easily share runs/bikes/what-have-you with others via email.

jrmontag

You may use this:

[www.gtdagenda.com]

dannielo

I like Nokia Sports Tracker ( [sportstracker.nokia.com] ) Which helps me to keep records of my exercises (GPS mapping, time, length, max speed/pace etc.)

On my phone it also mentions the amount of calories lost for some exercises like running.

Jahmon

I should amend the above to make it a little clearer - sparkpeople.com does allow you to add your exercise calories, but will not deduct it from your food calories like TDP and CK. This drives me crazy and I've emailed them about it before, but they haven't changed it.

WhereForArt

I've used Sparkpeople.com for years and liked it, but it's not as good as mixing up your food and exercise intake as others - for example, thedailyplate.com (free) and calorieking.com ($7/month) both allow you to add in your exercise calories, which automatically subtracts it from your food calories that day. Sparkpeople doesn't - and it's a little bit more user unfriendly than the others in that it requires a 3-step process to add food. However, it does have a fantastic support system built into the site - loads of articles, forums, etc.

The best gadget I've used is an electronic kitchen scale to weigh food - portion control is the biggest contributor to weight gain, and eyeballing it usually results in bigger portions. I also use the Omron HJ-112 pedometer, which is one of the most accurate pedometers I've found. It's easy, too - you can clip it to your waist, or carry it in a pocket or purse, and you get accurate readings every time.

WhereForArt

I use FitDay.com when I need to track diet and exercise and I highly recommend it, though I do wish they would let you measure foods in grams as well as ounces for the benefit of us foreigners.

Speaking of Wii Fit, does anyone know if Wii games are region coded? $90 is a bargain compared to the £60 RRP it has in the UK, so I would totally buy it from the US if I knew it would work on my machine. The NTSC v Pal thing doesn't bother me, since I use it with a computer screen rather than a TV but DVD-style region zoning might be a problem.

Niltiac

There is also [istats.com.au] which is great (and Australian!).

cbiggins

I was a little shocked not to see www.thedailyplate.com listed as a viable solution for weight management. You can track everything you eat and different fitness exercises so that you can identify how many calories you burned.

I highly recommend it.

jeromy

MapMyRun [mapmyrun.com] is a great tool to figure out how far you've run or biked without driving it (and with today's gas prices...oh wait, that's consumerist.) You can even track your total distance over time.

FrankGrimesJr

I have daily exercises set up as daily reminders in Mozilla Thunderbird or Google Calendar. Use Joe's Goals [www.joesgoals.com] as a checklist as everything gets completed. (You don't want to break the chain of good habits.) Calorie Connect to help make wise food choices. [www.calorieconnect.com]

spanktastic

Not really a fitness/diet tracking program or service, but if you really want to get hardcore fit, CrossFit is what you want.

Go to www.crossfit.com, do the workout of the day (WOD) posted on the site (or do a version of it that you are capable of), and get hooked on extreme fitness. The site is also an awesome resource of exercise/workout videos and a great community. Think olympic weightlifting meets gymnastics meets Navy Seal training.

For tracking, I use old-school excel spreadsheets.

brianwahl

I have been using www.fitday.com for a while now. The free online version has worked very well for my needs, but some of these alternatives look very good too.

dostillevi

I use SportTracks ([www.zonefivesoftware.com]) to log all my runs/rides which I capture using my Garmin Forerunner, but it also has a logging function to keep tabs on lost of other fitness stats.

mmccoombe

I recently came across MyFoodDiary.com. It's got about a 55,000-food database, and after a day will tell you what you did right and wrong nutritionally. Quite useful. Not free, though, but about $9 a month.

Mike

sparkpeople.com is my favorite!

jimforcy

I'm a big fan of RunningAhead ([www.runningahead.com]). It's oriented around running, but you can input cross training data, sleep data, health notes, weight, etcetera. By far, it's the best runner-oriented training log out there right now, and the guy in charge keeps updating and adding features upon request. Plus, you can share your training log with others, which will encourage you to keep training.

george

www.fitday.com - tracks exercise and calorie intake. I used it for a year until I got too lazy to detail what I ate every meal.

HoneyCadoodling

I use the Exercise Log on FitLink to track my workouts.

You can create templates for your favorite workouts, then just fill in the details like weights & times after your session.

Oh, and it's a social network so your friends can follow your progress and keep you motivated.

boracle

I like FitDay ([www.dietfacts.com]) used with dietfacts.com

FitDay tracks your calorie intake and workout regiments while tracking to a specific goal.

DietFacts is a nutritional lookup tool that feeds into FitDay.

Hope this helps.

fishlips20

I'll have to check those out, though I still prefer the OpenOffice.org spreadsheets I made for following "The Hacker's Diet".

I lost over 100 lbs. using them: The Hacker's Diet with OpenOffice.org.

Whatever you use, the point is that you are using something external to keep tabs on your health, which only reinforces healthy decisions.

Jon

Personally, I love SparkPeople (www.sparkpeople.com), a free set of tools including food and exercise trackers as well as excellent motivational and informational articles. Its food database includes almost every food I can think of, though it can be a little US-centric (easily fixed by adding your own food the first time you eat it).

If you sign up, tell 'em arachne42 sent you.

Kelly42

Gyminee is definitely the best. You can track your goals, nutrition and fitness program. They keep adding to it all the time, and it's free.

rscrsc

Great list. I also like the addition of Gyminee adumbguy; a friend of mine uses that and she likes it. I may have to try out Cron-O-Meter.

I regularly do weight lifting as part of my fitness goals. However, and as many can attest to, you have to vary your routine or else you'll stop seeing gains and risk not working out the full breadth of all the muscle groups.

A tool I like to combat this is the mind-mapping tool Freemind (which you've featured before on Lifehacker). I'll start a cell with a muscle group in it (biceps, calves, etc.) and then branch out from that with all the exercises I can find that work that particular group. Many exercises also work multiple muscle groups, so it is as simple as connecting that exercise to the other muscle groups. This way, you have a visible list of exercises you can do, and can thus choose the areas you need for your session, as well as have much needed variety.

I know that things like weight and reps matter too, but these can be changed on a per-set basis during the workout. The mapping method above is a handy way I can feel more "involved" in my workout routine.

AbrogatedOrder

I built a custom form using Google Spreadsheets to track my weight, food consumed, and exercise. Works well.

GeoffCJ

I have been using the weight-loss community over at www.traineo.com for a couple weeks now, which offers free tracking of weight, diet, workout and other logs that you can define for yourself. Their site will aggregate the data and present it in a nice, easy-to-read graph and the community is helpful in answering questions and motivating you to keep up the fight! (as much as someone over the internet CAN motivate at least :D)

DarKobra

Don't forget Gyminee ([www.gyminee.com]). Awesome tool that tracks nutrition, workout, etc.

adumbguy