Help When I Needed It

I'm trying to get back into shape. I've been exercising and now want to pay close attention to what I eat, because truthfully, I have no idea how many calories I need in a day, nor how many I have been eating.

In an effort to look up how many calories were in something I ate today, as well as find what the maximum calories, fat, etc. should be for my goal, I ran across this site:

The Daily Plate

Not only was I able to see how many calories were in my lunch (because the EXACT item was listed in detail) but I was able to put in a reasonable weight loss goal and have the program tell me what my maximum calories should be for each day.

In addition to that, there are countless exercises to enter on the chart to fit anyone's workout routine. It figures out how many calories you burn and subtracts it from your caloric intake for the day to give you your net calories taken in. (I noticed that you can go so far as to deduct the calories burned while attending class if you are a student! Of course, there is a caution included with this entry, if you chose it, but I still found that one kind of funny. I was also semi-impressed with the detail these people have gone to in order to compile all of this for people like me to use.)

I can enter any food item on there by clicking on it (It says, "I ate this!") and telling it how many portions I had of it. So, even the creamer in my coffee is accounted for! (80 creamer calories in a large coffee!! FUCK! I may as well skip it and have a Coors Light at the end of the day at that rate!)

I entered my measurements and weight and there is one point on each graph to start me off today. If I stick to this, and if it is accurate in all the math, then I should be back to where I want to be just in time for Thanksgiving!