Is MyFoodDiary.Com Really Worth It?

It seems that everywhere you look, there's some new story or gimmick about the latest weight-loss tool or the newest fad diet. And I guess when it comes down to it, MyFoodDiary.com may appear to be one of those, as well. But I'm here to give you one user's experience that may help to change your outlook.

I'm usually not one to tote the latest weight-loss fad. I've always struggled with my weight, and I refuse to put myself on any kind of extreme diet. If I'm feeling large, I know it's my own fault and my own bad habits. But a few years ago, I was in the midst of wedding planning and wanted to look and feel my personal best for those professional photo shots (not to mention I wanted to look good in a bikini for my honeymoon, too).

So as luck would have it, I was talking to a friend at a party about 6 months before my wedding and I was telling her about how I was hoping to lose just a little more weight before my wedding. At my height, I was about an average weight, but I personally always felt sluggish and big, and wanted to make myself happy. She listened intently and then was so excited to tell me about this website she was using called MyFoodDiary.com. She gave me some quick details, like it's a calorie-counting site and costs about $9 a month to use. I have to admit, it wasn't sounding too good to me at first. I mean, a dieting site? And you have to pay for it? No, thanks. But she was so enthusiastic, that I just had to check it out for myself.

I started by visiting the site.

After signing up, I started poking around. Before being able to enter in any foods or exercise, a short questionnaire is presented to you to find out more about your current physical status and your goals. Afterward, on your personal homepage, there are many tabs up top to click through, but the most used (in my opinion) are right there in the middle of your home page - your food diary, your exercise log, and your body log. The food diary itself is really easy to use, and The Fridge is a tool that will quickly become your best friend. You start by entering a food name into the search box, and when you find your food, you have the option of adding it to The Fridge so that you can quickly add it again to your day later. The best part? No one else ever sees what foods you've eaten or what's in your fridge at any time. And even if you have to add a new food, the process is really easy and the site is set up to match a food label for easier inputting. You can also build your own recipes on the site and save them in your fridge for later use. And don't forget the Help tab at the top of the page that will help you navigate the site.

As you enter foods in throughout the day, the site keeps track of your calories. On most of the pages on the site, there is a green 'Daily Report' button on the right of the screen. If you click this, it brings you to your most current daily report. This is the best page, in my opinion, and the one I used most often. It gives you the calories you've taken in so far, how many you have left in the day until you've hit the max healthy amount for your weight and height, and other stats like how much fat you've had so far, etc. When you are done inputting your foods and exercise for the day, you can hit the orange 'Daily Entry Complete' button at the top, and the page updates to tell you the details of everything you did for the day. The best part about this update? The section on the page that gives you a time frame as to when you'd reach your goal if every day was like that current day.

At first sight, maybe this sounds like a lot of work, but when you think about it, this is just a training tool, and well worth it at that. Think about the amount of effort a person will put into the latest diet and half the time, they're not even sure if it's working. MyFoodDiary.com doesn't tell you how to diet and what you should eat. Instead, it's exactly what it advertises it is - a food diary. What makes it so convenient is that it's online and it calculates everything for you. Now for a person like me who has no willpower or patience, I would think it wouldn't fit my lifestyle. However, with it's ease of use and with my competitive nature, it was perfect for me. I found myself excited to input my food and exercise, and I was constantly trying to one-up myself as far as how much exercise I was getting each day. It also made me scarily aware of just how much I was eating. If you are totally honest with yourself and mark down every little bit of food you put in your mouth all day, this site can make you completely self-aware.

Also, let's not forget the forums that are available on the site. Here, you can reach out to other members and talk about your goals and obstacles. There is a great group of people on here who are hitting the same road blocks as you, and overcoming them and sharing their stories. Everyone is very supportive, and encouragement from others in the same boat is even better than therapy.

After 4 months of using the site and exercising, I lost nearly 30 pounds. And this is without any fad diet or extreme activity. I simply became more aware of my eating habits and changed them slightly. I started eating healthier and feeling better. I started learning small but effective ways I could sneak in some exercise throughout the day. And I gained so much confidence and gratitude in getting to know my body better. When people saw me dropping the pounds and asked what kind of diet I was on, I was glad to tell them I wasn't - I was just on a lifestyle change, and MyFoodDiary.com helped get there!

So is MyFoodDiary.com worth the effort and the $9 a month subscription? Absolutely. Will it change your life? Yes, if you let it. Remember, nothing works as well as for weight loss as your willingness to change yourself. It's just nice to know that there are tools out there that will really help you reach your goals.

You can actually find a lot of information about the site right on the home page. There are 5 tabs right at the top of the page, including 'Learn More', which gives you details about the site and how it works, and 'Resources', which gives you information about healthy foods and exercise (without even having to be a member!). I clicked through a lot of the 'Learn More' links and was convinced that I wanted to try it to see if it was worth my time. The final convincer for me was the fact that they refund your first payment if you cancel your membership within 5 days. So what did I have to lose?