I just started last week after reading the article in the Wall Street Journal by their health & nutrition writer Tara Parker-Pope about how diet tracking software can be very beneficial. Parker-Pope is my favorite health writer: so sensible. She mentions the free tracker at mypyramid.gov and some commercial ones. I ended up buying one of the commercial ones, Diet Power, for $50 because it's very customizable. So far I like it quite a lot. I hate obsessing over pounds to lose, so the tracking software is a good distraction. It makes me focus on the quality of my diet, not just quantity, and exercise. All I have to do is meet the daily goals. Better than fretting over scale that never changes fast enough :)

Heidiho, You would list 150 calories as your total caloric intake for that particular food. If using Fitday, it will figure everything else out for you. If it's not a food on the Fitday list, You have the option to go to "specialty foods" or some such title... ( I can't remember the exact heading) but it's the option to enter a food and it's nutritional value into the data base. When a food label says "50 calories from fat" that just means that the OTHER calories are from proteins, carbs etc. but ,unfortunately, they still are part of your total calorie count for that food and you have to count them. I hope that was clear. Feel free to e mail me with fitday questions. Their customer service is very good at responding as well. Good luck! Tikanas

I'm home, and sadly didn't do really well at the beach. We went out to eat only twice and I did have grilled amberjack so that wasn't bad, but the key lime pie was not so good (actually it was wonderful, that was the problem). We did have fresh fruit and salad with each meal and I avoided fried foods all week, but I did break down and have a wine cooler on the beach at night. Managed to get lots of exercise walking up and down the beach. They have dredged sand and replaced most of the beach and it was just full of shells. We collected 30 each of 5 kinds and 20 of another for SIL's sisters 2nd grade class. We got many, many others but not enough for each student, so those will go on a display for the room. It was actually hard to get into the water for the shells on the beach. By Wed most of them had been covered with sand and you could walk better, so we did. Laura you seem to be doing so very well. I'm proud of you. Keep up the good work. Isn't Splenda the greatest stuff!! Glassquilt, you sound like me. When I worked for the Air Force I would fix at least 10 cups of coffee a day, and only get to drink 1 or 2. But mine was mostly just an excuse to get up from my desk for a while. How did you do Jennifer? Did you make it thru the week? There are many books available to help with the calorie counting and the diet organizer is a really good aid too. You can put in your own recipes if you want and it will figure the calories for you. Way to go scraphappy. Only 7 more pounds. I do hope the other 3 didn't find you. I do find it easier to take my own snacks. Those fast food ones are killers. I guess I need to weigh and see just how bad I was last week. I'll check back in later. beverly

Orange Floats (makes 1 serving) For each serving, place a 1/2 cup (88 g) scoop of fat-free no sugar added vanilla ice cream in a tall glass. Fill the glass with 6 ounces (180 ml) chilled diet orange soda Add a couple of straws and serve. Per serving: 85 calories (0% calories from fat), 3 g protein, 0 total fat (0 saturated fat), 19 g carbohydrate, 0 dietary fiber, 0 cholesterol, 73 mg sodium Exchanges: 1 carbohydrate (1 bread/starch) Peach\-Banana Smoothie (makes 2 servings) 1/2 cup (56 g) peeled, chopped fresh peaches 1 ripe banana, peeled and cut into chunks 1/2 cup (120 ml) unsweetened pineapple juice 1/4 cup (35 g) fat\-free, no sugar added vanilla ice cream In a food processor or blender, combine all ingredients. Blend until smooth. Pour into 2 tall glasses and serve. Per Serving: 128 calories (2% calories from fat), 2 g protein, trace total fat (0.1 g saturated fat), 32 g carbohydrate, 2 g dietary fiber, 0 cholesterol, 18 mg sodium ++++Diabetic Exchanges: 2 carbohydrate (2 fruit) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hot Orange Spice Cider (makes 12 servings) 1 cup (240 ml) fresh orange juice 5 whole cloves 6 cups (1.4 l) apple cider 6 apple cinnamon spice tea bags In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients. Simmer for 10 minutes. Strain out whole cloves and tea bags. Transfer hot cider to pre\-heated thermos containers. Serve hot. Per serving: 68 calories (less than 1% calories from fat), 0 protein, trace fat (0 saturated fat), 17 g carbohydrate, 0 dietary fiber, 0 cholesterol, 4 mg sodium ++++Diabetic exchanges: 1 carbohydrate (fruit) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peach Smoothie (makes 2 servings) 1 medium fresh peach, about 5 ounces (150 g), peeled, pitted, and chopped 1/2 cup (120 ml) skim milk 1 4\-ounce (120 g) carton nonfat vanilla yogurt 1 cup ice cubes ground cinnamon Place the peach, milk, yogurt, and ice in a blender. Blend until smooth. Turn off machine and scrape down the sides of the blender with a rubber spatula. Blend again. Pour the mixture into 2 glasses and sprinkle each with a little cinnamon. Serve at once. Per serving: 101 calories (0% calories from fat), 5 g protein, 0 total fat (0 saturated fat), 1 g dietary fiber, 3 mg cholesterol, 65 mg sodium Diabetic exchanges: 1 1/2 carbohydrate (1/2 fruit, 1 skim milk) Spa Bloody Mary (makes 2 servings) ice 1 cup (240 ml) low-sodium vegetable juice cocktail 2 tablespoons (30 ml) fresh lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) Worcestershire sauce 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) prepared horseradish 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) Tabasco sauce, or to taste 2 celery ribs with leaves freshly ground pepper Fill tall glasses with ice. Combine remaining ingredients except celery and pepper. Pour over the ice. Garnish with the celery and sprinkle generously with pepper. Serve at once. Per serving: 35 calories (~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Strawberry Shake (makes 1 serving) 1/3 cup (47 g) frozen low-fat, sugar-free vanilla yogurt 1/4 cup (40 g) crushed ice 1/4 cup (60 ml) skim milk 6 large fresh strawberries, stemmed and cut in half 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) vanilla extract In a blender, combine the frozen yogurt, crushed ice,and milk, turning the machine off and on several times until blended, about 1 minute. Add the strawberries and vanilla. Blend for another 30 seconds, until strawberries are finely chopped. Pour into a tall glass and serve with 2 straws, if desired. Per serving: 114 calories (4% calories from fat), 5 g protein, trace total fat (0.1 g saturated fat), 23 g carbohydrate, 1 md cholesterol, 66 mg sodium Diabetic exchanges: 1 1/2 carbohydrate (1 bread/starch, 1/2 fruit) Root Beer Float (makes 1 serving) 1/3 cup scoop (78 ml) fat\-free no sugar added vanilla frozen yogurt 6 ounces (180 ml) sugar\-free root beer 2 straws Place yogurt in a tall glass. Pour in the diet root beer. Stir lightly to mix. Add the straws and serve. Per Serving: 57 calories (0% calories from fat), 2 g protein, 0 total fat (0 saturated fat), 13 g carbohydrate, 0 dietary fiber, 0 cholesterol, 55 mg sodium Exchanges: 1 carbohydrate (1 bread/starch) Iced Coffee Floats (makes 4 servings) 4 cups (960 ml) brewed strong coffee 2 cups (400 g) vanilla fat free, sugar free ice cream Cocoa powder for garnish Fill 4 tall glasses with ice cubes. To each glass add 1 cup (240 ml) coffee and top with 1/2 cup (100 g) scoop of ice cream. Sieve cocoa powder over the ice cream. Serve immediately. Per serving: 90 calories (0% calories from fat), 3 g protein, 0 total fat (0 saturated fat), 20 g carbohydrates, 0 dietary fiber, 0 cholesterol, 55 mg sodium ++++ Diabetic exchanges: 1 1/2 carbohydrate (bread/starch) Cranberry Mist Adapted from The Joslin Diabetes Gourmet Cookbook (makes 8 servings) 4 cups (960 ml) low\-calorie cranberry juice 8 cranberry clove tea bags ice about 4 cups (960 ml) chilled club soda mint sprigs for garnish In a large saucepan, bring cranberry juice to a boil over medium heat. Add the tea bags, remove from heat, and let steep for 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature. When ready to serve, fill 8 tall glasses with ice cubes. Pour about 1/2 cup ( ml) of the cranberry juice mixture into each glass. Fill the glasses with club soda and garnish each with a sprig of mint. Per serving: 23 calories (0% calories from fat), 0 protein, 0 fat (0 saturated fat), 6 g carbohydrates, 0 dietary fiber, 0 cholesterol, 28 mg potassium, 28 mg sodium ++++ Diabetic exchanges: 1/2 carbohydrate (fruit) Fresh Fruit Slush (makes 4 servings) 1 1/2 cups (225 g) chopped fresh fruit or unsweetened frozen fruit of your choice 8 to 10 ice cubes 1. Using a food processor or blender, blend the fruit until smooth. 2. While machine is running, add the ice cubes one at a time until the mixture takes on a slushy consistency. Pour into glasses and serve immediately. Per serving: 25 calories (6% calories from fat), trace protein, trace total fat (0 saturated fat), 6 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 0 cholesterol, 0 sodium ++++ Diabetic exchanges: 1/2 carbohydrate (fruit) Hot Orange Spice Cider (makes 12 servings) 1 cup (240 ml) fresh orange juice 5 whole cloves 6 cups (1.4 l) apple cider 6 apple cinnamon spice tea bags In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients. Simmer for 10 minutes. Strain out whole cloves and tea bags. Transfer hot cider to pre\-heated thermos containers. Serve hot. Per serving: 68 calories (less than 1% calories from fat), 0 protein, trace fat (0 saturated fat), 17 g carbohydrate, 0 dietary fiber, 0 cholesterol, 4 mg sodium ++++ Diabetic exchanges: 1 carbohydrate (fruit)