A more serious approach to getting in shape

For the past couple of years I’ve been struggling to get back into shape.  Not that I was ever the picture of Adonis, I have over the years taken to mountain biking, backcountry skiing, rock climbing and even running.  But not recently.  A series of injuries, nagging colds and rich foods and drink have taken their tolls.

A few months ago, the last of my symptoms finally gone, I decided to get a little more serious about getting in shape.  For the first time in a LONG time, I went to a gym.  I joined a gym.  I chose 24 hour fitness because of their proximity to work (and home) and their cheap price.

I was only slightly familiar with the equipment in the gym, and it took me a few sessions to feel comfortable, each time branching out to try out a larger variety of the items provided.  But I kept to the basics (lower weight, multiple reps) and split the workouts between cardio and weights.

This went along just fine, but I quickly saw the need for a little record keeping.  I’ve found that tracking progress in itself can be a good motivator – and in particular, when dealing in unfamiliar terrain.  Seeing how new I was to the world of weights and heartrates and calories, I felt that keeping track would help me understand the benefits of what I was doing.

I did a little searching around and eventually came upon the site Daily Burn.  This site allows you to track your workouts, caloric intake, and weight.  The interface is pretty straigt forward and allows one to easily enter data and view reports, which I like.  The database of activities and foods is pretty comprehensive, though this (as in many of the sites that I checked out) is definitely one of the weaknesses.  Specifically, I find myself constantly having to *fudge* the food that I’m eating as their database is better aligned to pre-packaged foods rather than freshly-cooked.  I do find the numbers to be good enough for my purposes though.  It gives me a rough idea of the calories (and other nutritional factors) of the food I’m eating and allows me to check out different kinds of foods to better understand some of the choices I could be making.

So just today in the Wired news feed I see this article (with the included sidebars) talking about how Nike’s ipod-integrated tracking system has been a big success.  To me it’s no surprise.

6 Replies to “A more serious approach to getting in shape”

  1. I've been using http://thedailyplate.com for similar purposes. Got my ass kicked on a backcountry ski trip and decided I needed to train. I think the calorie counts for exercise tend to be optimistic, but the food database is extensive and have some neat features.

  2. I just recently checked out http://thedailyplate.com as I was writing this post yesterday – it looked pretty decent (though the interface was definitely rough around the edges). Plus (minus?) was all of the food options – it seemed pretty complete, though for some reason there were lots and lots of duplicates and they still don't solve the problem of dealing with more home-grown meals.

    I saw that they have an iPhone app too – are you using that? How well integrated is it into the whole experience?

  3. Pretty much any ingredient you can imagine is in there, so you can create meals pretty accurately. And if it's something you eat often, you can save a meal. that's what i do.

    i also like the “things i've eaten recently” list, since it seems I eat a lot of the same stuff, so it makes it fast to look stuff up.

    No idea on the iPhone app. I've got a sweet, unlimited minute T-mobile plan for a good price. (long time customer) and I'd love an iPhone, but my plan is just too good.

  4. I just recently checked out http://thedailyplate.com as I was writing this post yesterday – it looked pretty decent (though the interface was definitely rough around the edges). Plus (minus?) was all of the food options – it seemed pretty complete, though for some reason there were lots and lots of duplicates and they still don't solve the problem of dealing with more home-grown meals.

    I saw that they have an iPhone app too – are you using that? How well integrated is it into the whole experience?

  5. I just recently checked out http://thedailyplate.com as I was writing this post yesterday – it looked pretty decent (though the interface was definitely rough around the edges). Plus (minus?) was all of the food options – it seemed pretty complete, though for some reason there were lots and lots of duplicates and they still don't solve the problem of dealing with more home-grown meals.

    I saw that they have an iPhone app too – are you using that? How well integrated is it into the whole experience?

  6. Pretty much any ingredient you can imagine is in there, so you can create meals pretty accurately. And if it's something you eat often, you can save a meal. that's what i do.

    i also like the “things i've eaten recently” list, since it seems I eat a lot of the same stuff, so it makes it fast to look stuff up.

    No idea on the iPhone app. I've got a sweet, unlimited minute T-mobile plan for a good price. (long time customer) and I'd love an iPhone, but my plan is just too good.

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