Finding a suitable calorie counter website which is adaptable, and going through feels like diet transition phase and side effects.

[becky3344]

Hi there.

I hope someone can inform and give me some other suggestions for suitable calorie and exercise counter website.

I've been using LoseIt website counter. Which until now i've been very pleased with.

But as i get more serious about wanting to lose weight, the one issue which i have with LoseIt and i'm not sure if it's the same as other websites.

When i cook an amount of food which will last me a few days say 3 at the most. LoseIt only gives me the option to add all the ingredients at once. So i find it hard to keep a record of exactly how many calories i've eaten each day.

And more importantly when you break it down to how many carbs, protein, salt, and fats eaten for each day. LoseIt does do that as well, but it doesn't let me portionalise (Is that a word! :-)) my larger meals so the nutrients they record aren't accurate for each daily meal portions.

I have only been using the basic LoseIt subscription. Maybe the paying subscription would offer me this option. I haven't actually looked into it yet.

Does anyone now of a free or paid subscription website which can offer what i need. Does MyFitness Pal offer that option?! I did try the free MyFitnessPal but i preferred LoseIt.

I have a vegan diet for many years, and recently i've started to cut down on my carbs, wheat (no bread this week) and increase my protein intake, and my fats intake. I feel this week i have gone through what they call Keto flu. I had terrible stomach aches and constipation, and less energy/ more fatigue. I'm also trying to take more fibre. But i haven't made the transition yet to very low carbs, as being on vegan diet i'm still trying to find my way and listen to what my body says. I'm worried about keto diet, as from what i've been reading there is alot to take consideration about. And i don't want to get really ill by not taking the right things.

I'm not sure i want a keto diet as i don't know if it's too extreme for me and if i'll be happy on it and be able to keep it up long term. I just want to eat less bread, and loss more weight. And be healthy.

Any advice welcome.

Becky

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

Sorry Becky I've never used anything like that, have a look in the apps and trackers topic, to see if you can find anything there.

To my mind, all you have to do is divide the totals by the number of portions, then add your meals individually.

[becky3344 2 stone in reply to moreless]

Moreless. Thank you for the suggestion. I will have a look.

[cheritorrox]

This one is basically a database which you can manipulate in various ways - may be of interest even if not quite what you're looking for

tools.myfooddata.com/

[becky3344 2 stone in reply to cheritorrox]

Cheritorrox. Looks interesting. Thank you.

[Cosmo501 Restart May 2024]

Hi becky3344!

I use loseIt, and just adjust the amounts - after you’ve added the “meal” and clicked “add” you can then adjust the amounts of everything. Works fine as long as you do know the original amounts to subdivide. I’ve got the subscription version, but I’m sure that part was the same as the free version. I bought the subscription so I could track more macros and set personal goals for protein carbs salt etc.

Good luck with the research about Keto and low carb. I eat Keto or very low carb most of the time, and I don’t think it’s anything extreme, as if it’s done well you can eat a really varied healthy diet. It’s not the piles of fat and meat that some people think it is 😂 For me it’s more about loads of veges and salads, olive oil, avocado, and whatever protein I fancy. I do have some off days though when I think I fancy something carby and eat some new potatoes or similar, but, hey-ho.. !

[becky3344 2 stone in reply to Cosmo501]

Hi Cosmo51. It's good to be talking with you, as you have been doing keto diet longer than me.

Thanks for your reply. With LoseIt, yes i do add and adjust the portion sizes of the ingredients, into grams, or teaspoons etch, if that's what you mean?!

I just wish there was an easier way when making a a meal for 3 days, to be able to divide it in relation to each ingredient and size for each of those 3 days without it being logged in for just one meal. It just means it would save me alot of effort if i found something which did it instantly for me, instead of me having to guess and divide portions and every ingredient and it's nutrients.

Thanks for saying about you don't think the subscription version of LoseIt offers that option. That's good to know.

How much does it cost for the paid version if you don't mind me asking.

Did you go through keto flu? So you don't eat bread, or many veg grown under the soil?

Do you find you have enough variation in your diet to keep you happy or contented?! This is what i'm not sure about.

I tried freezing, cherries, grapes, strawberries the other week as i read online you can do that. But when i dethawed them, they were soft and wet. So it didn't work for me.

Have tried that yourself, if so were you successful with the dethawed results.

[Caz28]

I use MFP, you can create your own recipes and number of portions it makes so when you add it to your daily diary it just adds the details for one portion. I eat everything in moderation as I don’t want a strict diet I couldn’t stick to, I try and err on Mediterranean and have cut down on bread too.

[becky3344 2 stone in reply to Caz28]

Hi. Thanks for your reply. Thanks for your thoughts about how you get on with MFP. Do you feel better with cutting down on bread?

[Caz28 in reply to becky3344]

Yes, less bloated x

[becky3344 2 stone in reply to Caz28]

Do you eat bread at all anymore, like make bread with for example almond flour instead of using wheat flour. I was contemplating trying to bake almond bread, but with cutting down on carbs and increasing healthy fats. My appetite has decreased anyway, and i haven't thought about bread. Although i cook it for the birds every day in the bread maker.

[becky3344 2 stone]

Hi. Yes i did buy a vegan keto book after i wrote the post, realised it would be a good idea. Thanks for your reply.

[monday1957 2kg Restart Jan 2025]

Hi becky3344.

Re vegan keto diet, I’ve been following this myself for 4 weeks now after my initial weight loss stalled. I’m generally having good results.

I don’t monitor everything as well as you do & generally ‘go with the flow’. I get recipe ideas if I’m stuck from dietdoctor.com.

I get my fats from nuts, seeds, avocados, coconut products, tofu, tempeh etc Once I reach my goal weight of 61.5 I plan to reintroduce brown rice & pulses.

So basically no bread, rice, pasta or potatoes for the present.

Loads of salads, green veg, hummus if I fancy some. The odd veggie burger, marinaded tempeh etc

I rarely feel hungry which has been a huge surprise to me.

I occasionally get leg cramps at night so started taking magnesium & ensuring I have enough salt.

I make my own granola from nuts & seeds and a mashed up banana all baked & crunchy. Have that with coconut yogurt & a few berries each morning.

Let me know if you’d like any other vegan keto recipe ideas.

All the best! 🙋🏽‍♀️

[becky3344 2 stone in reply to monday1957]

Hi Monday1957. I've just bought online a vegan keto recipe book, hasn't arrived yet. I hope that will have some good recipe ideas i can try.

Glad to hear you've been it for a month, and getting on okay with it. Always nice to hear back from a fellow vegan, and on a similar diet.

I was reading today about coconut cooking oil. Says that all the fat in it is almost all saturated. So that has put me off buying that, i will stick to Extra Virgin Olive Oil in my salads. I'm only a newbie turned to olive oil, and i like it. And it's so good for you, and high in fat and has only a very small amount of saturated fat in it. So i will stick with it for the time being.

Yes i'm finding that i'm just not as hungry as i used to be when eating more carbs and more bread.

Yesterday i found myself not wanting the spaghetti pasta i made. As i've been slowly cutting down on main meal carbs.

So far i still cook 40grams of carbs for main meal. But yesterday i left most of it on the plate as didn't want it.

Nice to hear about you making your own granola. I ended up buying some oatibix cereal the other day. As at the moment, i find there is nothing else satisfying i want for supper. Old habit of cereal before bed. I was looking for one without wheat in it. But i hadn't thought about the carbs, and quite alot of carbs in it.

Have you managed to cut your carbs down to 50 grams or below?

[monday1957 2kg Restart Jan 2025]

Hi becky3344.

I don’t really monitor the carb content (or calories etc) so maybe I shouldn’t call my eating plan ‘keto’, just low carbs/high fat.

It’s interesting what you say about coconut oil: I do tend to use olive oil for frying and on salads, but I do use it in the granola.

Avocado oil, although v pricey, is lovely drizzled over a salad btw.

The other day I ‘made’ some lovely chocolate ‘discs’ - melt a bar of Belgian dark choc in a bowl over boiling water; when melted, stir in some toasted nuts (eg macadamia or chopped Brazil nuts) with a tiny pinch of Himalayan pink salt. Spoon a dessertspoonful of the choc mix into 6 small paper cake cases. Leave to cool, place in fridge then when v cold, peel off paper cases - then store in a jar in fridge. Yum.

If I’ve got the munchies, I also occasionally make a smoothie from a glass of almond milk, dessertspoon of almond butter and some protein powder (I have the chocolate orange one from Wyndsonns?(need to check name). I chuck a few strawberries in, too.

Do let me know details of vegan keto recipe book!

😎

[becky3344 2 stone in reply to monday1957]

Hi Monday, interesting that you don't feel the need to count your calories and carb intake. Says to me that maybe you have things under control?!

Where are you based, in the U.K? You talking about you melting Belgian dark chocolate melting and adding nuts to it sounds lovely. Yes i read that eating dark chocolate is good for keto. I've been eating dark chocolate for along time. But since last month i've stopped eating it, as i thought it's not good for me as it is filled with sugar.

Yes i've read about Himalayan pink salt, although never tried it. Do you recommend it?! I still use table salt to add to food.

Do/did you suffer with bad constipation when you started to cut down on your carbs?!

I've just bought some 'Organic Psyllium Husk Powder' which i see people use to help aid digestion from cutting down on carbs.

I've never used protein powder before, do you find you get on well with it? How much protein do you try and include in your diet each day?

I just did a weight in on the 'Weight loss' forum on here, and i've lost 3.8 lbs this week. Which i'm surprised i lost that much. If i calculated it right.

The book i bought is called 'Vegan Keto Cookbook: 30 Day Meal Plan and 100 Vegan Ketogenic Diet Recipe Book.' Bought it from Ebay. The link is below.

ebay.co.uk/itm/Vegan-Keto-C...

[monday1957 2kg Restart Jan 2025]

Hi becky3344 - I live in London.

No problems with constipation or keto flu or anything really other than the odd bout of leg cramps that I seem to have under control.

Although I am quite disciplined about what I’m eating at present, I’ve never been one for counting as whenever I’ve tried I’ve set myself up for failure, if you know what I mean!

Re protein, I have nut based granola at breakfast time, hummus with my salads, coconut cream in a curry, marinaded tempeh, tofu, the occasional veggie burger.

I’m going to order that vegan keto book I think!

[becky3344 2 stone in reply to monday1957]

Hi Monday. You're London gal. I live in Wiltshire.

It's good that you didn't get the keto flu, although leg cramps can be one of the symptoms, i read.

I like counting calories, as it helps me. And using LoseIt.com makes it's pretty simple to logs all your macros and nutrients that you've eaten for each day.

I've not tried tempeh before. I agree, coconut in vegan curry makes it really tasty.

[becky3344 2 stone in reply to monday1957]

Hi Monday. Thought i would give you a low down on the The vegan keto book which arrived yesterday and had a quick look this morning to the inside.

My initial thought, I would say, if you're wondering if you should buy it, i would say, do it.. It's very informative (I've learnt so much more already with reading the first 25 pages. She talks about what a keto diet is and then vegan diet, and what it's like putting them together.

Then has a great section called ; 'Everything you need to know to succeed on the ketogenic vegan diet.' It has Breakfast, soups and salad recipes, lunch, dinner, dessert recipes.

Section on pesticide and what are dirty and clean veg to eat. A measurement conversion tables, index and 30 Day Meal Plan.

Set out in 3 columns and box rows, showing Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Each box contains a food an how many calories for each food.

The recipes, i had a quick look through, i see i'm going to need to buy some other things which she uses in her recipes and don't think Sainsburys will stock many of them. But there's always the health shop, or online to buy them.

There are no pictures/photos in the book what so ever. But each recipe is clearly written out and looks neat and easy to read. At the bottom of each recipe it tells you ; per serving, net carbs, calories, total fat, saturated fat, protein, carbs, fibre, and sugar. It also tells you percentage of calories, total fat, protein, and carbs.

It has 151 pages long and it was written in 2019. Normally i love recipe photos, but i didn't feel disappointed when i realised there weren't any.

I hope this brief book review convinces you to buy the book, if you haven't already.

[Never2L8]

I use Myfitnesspla. Its free and can be linked to your fitbit/phone for exercise tracker. You can log food and drink and it records calories if you are calorie counting.