Keeping online food diaries helps shed pounds
Leanna Payton
Issue date: 1/16/09 Section: Lifestyles
"When you are eating, you don't think about it, and it's helpful because it makes you watch what you eat," she said.
Cook recorded every food item she ate and the Web site informed her how many vitamins she took in and what she needed more or less of, such as fat and sodium, Cook said.
"In a way, it was fun to see what I was eating, and I would do it again because it was helpful," she said.
However, not every student agrees with the idea of online food diaries.
"It doesn't sound detailed enough to provide you with accurate information," senior Justin Hall said. "It doesn't [seem to] give a fair assessment."
By default, other people can see another individual's food diary, but a user can make it private in the settings tab, Ressi said. In the future, users also will be able to comment on other users' diaries, he said.
"Making a user's food diary public allows other users to see and gather suggestions on how they might be able to eat better," Ressi said. "It also helps keep you accountable for what you're eating."
Although Cook said she thinks online food diaries are motivational, she would not want people to see what she has eaten. She does, however, think it has the potential to help with dieting, she said.
TweetWhatYouEat.com is a free Web site and currently has 3,000 users after running for one year.
Cook recorded every food item she ate and the Web site informed her how many vitamins she took in and what she needed more or less of, such as fat and sodium, Cook said.
"In a way, it was fun to see what I was eating, and I would do it again because it was helpful," she said.
However, not every student agrees with the idea of online food diaries.
"It doesn't sound detailed enough to provide you with accurate information," senior Justin Hall said. "It doesn't [seem to] give a fair assessment."
By default, other people can see another individual's food diary, but a user can make it private in the settings tab, Ressi said. In the future, users also will be able to comment on other users' diaries, he said.
"Making a user's food diary public allows other users to see and gather suggestions on how they might be able to eat better," Ressi said. "It also helps keep you accountable for what you're eating."
Although Cook said she thinks online food diaries are motivational, she would not want people to see what she has eaten. She does, however, think it has the potential to help with dieting, she said.
TweetWhatYouEat.com is a free Web site and currently has 3,000 users after running for one year.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Louis
posted 1/16/09 @ 11:45 AM CST
I agree with the student Justin Hall, there is so much more to tracking foods than just calories. For example, I use the website FoodsDatabase.com to log my foods. (Continued…)
Ginkgo
Losing Weight
posted 1/21/09 @ 2:17 AM CST
There is a lot of bad information out there. It has made America the fattest society ever. But it makes food companies and diet companies rich. Learn why salt, black coffee, salt, lean meat, salt, non-fat yogurt and salt are so fattening. (Continued…)
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