Anyone using Cathe's nutrition software?

story1267

story1267

Cathlete
Hi all. I'm coming off a WW online subscription and looking for an alternative.

Right now I'm using SparkPeople for tracking...and it's fine, but cluttered.

I know Tom Venuto is supposed to be coming out with a nutrition plan online...in May I think.

But I wanted to hear from anyone who has used Cathe's nutrition program and how they found it to be...user-friendly? specific enough? NOT specifi enough?

My goal is to lose another 10 or so pounds...maybe. It's more to lose the remaining body fat I have and keep and/or build muscle. I want to be able to dial in on my macros since I feel my fat/protein piece is what's been holding me back.

And beyond that I just want to keep myself on track, eating healthy and reasonably clean. I did watch the demo and I like the suggestions on how to use food to round out what nutrients you might be missing.

So, please weigh in. Thanks!
 
I having been using Cathe Nutrition Manager for 27 days and have lost 10 pounds and am currently 3 lbs. from my goal. I had never counted calories before. I didn't look into any other options either. I figured it was 9.99 for one month and that I'd give it a go. I like it. It let me know my basic problem was, I wasn't eating enough. I've asked myself since then many of times why didn't I do this sooner. For me, its been great and I would do it again.

Sarah
 
Funny that you are leaving WW in favor of calorie and macro counting and I am leaving behind years of mostly UNsuccessful calorie and macro counting in favor of the simpler approach that WW offers.

I successfully lost my pregancy weight plus a few extra pounds after my son was born 6 years ago using FitDay to track my cals and macros and I was ecstatic! :D

I tried several more times, with several different programs including Cathe's to lose weight since then and it hasn't worked for me :( hence my switch over to WW which seems to be working quite well! I lost 3 pounds int he first week on the program! *happy dance*

But I digress, Cathe's software is very detailed. Lots of great information in there. The report card is very useful in putting together a balanced diet but I found myself OBSESSED with getting A's so I would spend far too much time planning meals just so I could get the highest score possible. :eek: But regardless, the software is great. It's the best I've seen as of yet. If cal/macro counting is what works for you then it's definitely worth the money! :)
 
Thanks Sarah and Wendy for getting back to me.

Can either of you (or anyone) answer this......are there brand name foods listed or would all those be custom foods?

I'm thinking of my Bob's Red Mill hot cereal and my beloved Lifeway Kefir, etc.

Wendy - congratulations on your weight loss! I truly think WW is great and I really did enjoy it and got a good benefit from it. Certainly kick-started my own weight loss. I just did online and loved the website and the recipes.

I looked at FitDay earlier...they have their free site and you can also pay. And there's software you can purchase.....

I also kinda like the idea of one-stop-shopping. I log all my workouts here so it would be simple to also add nutrition.
 
IIRC there are some brand named items in the data base but unless it's a very common name you would probably need to enter yours as a custom food. I've always found I needed to enter a lot of custom foods no matter which site/program I used.

I chose WW's online membership as well. I knew I would never go to the meetings plus I just prefer to track online instead of on paper/in a notebook or whatever.

BTW, since you mentioned it-when I used FitDay, I purchased and used the software. Worth every penny at the time. :)
 
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I haven't tried Cathe's nutrition software, so I can't speak to that, although I'm anxious to hear your reviews after you try it. I just wanted to say that I have also tried WW online and SparkPeople (along with many other methods like dailyplate, calorieking, fitday), and wasn't 100% happy with either of them. With WW I was always having to enter my own foods, because there's a lot that didn't have. Also, like you said, you couldn't really see more detailed nutrient info. I found SparkPeople way too cluttered and cumbersome to use. It took so long to enter foods because of all the different screens that opened and all the ads. It did, however, have a pretty extensive database.
I think I finally found the best of both worlds with MyFitnessPal!! I'm currently taking a break from counting, but I used it for several weeks and loved it. First, it's pretty simple to use and not at all cluttered, so I can enter foods quickly and easily. Second, they have the most extensive food database I've ever seen. I don't think I ever had to enter anything myself including restaurant foods, national brands and store brands. The reason the database is so extensive is that they allow users to share foods with they enter them. Of course, this theoretically means someone could be inaccurate, but I haven't found that to be the case. It also has a good recipe builder and allows for you to track your workouts. It also tracks more than just calories (carbs, fat, protein, sugar, and calcium are the ones I track, but you can easily customize it to track what you want). There is a community aspect as well, if you'd like to use that. (You can share your food diary with others if desired or have "friends", etc, but you don't have to use that aspect.) The best part, it's free!
 
I look at the top 4 for the report card which is, calories, fat, protein, and carbs. Beyond that I really dont look to much (except fiber). There has not been one day where I got all A's other than the big four. I looked for your Bob's Red Mill cereal and the other specific brand you gave me and they aren't listed. My rule that I have used is if it is somethjing I eat everyday or almost everyday I take the time to enter it in the custom foods (it doesn't take to much time maybe a couple of minutes. If its just something I occasionally eat I just use something that is pre-listed and more general. I hope this helps.

Sarah
 
I have not used Cathe's software, but I have been using MyFitnessPal for 3 weeks and I LOVE it!! I used to do WW online, and that was good until they went and changed up their plan. Did Sparkpeople for a while, but I agree -- too overwhelming. I stumbled across MyFitnessPal and it is great! It is absolutely FREE, there is an app I can use with my blackberry (apps for iPhone and Andriod too), it tracks whatever you want, the food database is phenomenal (haven't had to enter anything!), and did I mention the best part...it's FREE!!
 
Hi. Been playing around with it for a little while today. Had a problem that I solved.....when entering a multivitamin you need to enter something for the weight of it.....so I put in 1g per. Otherwise the system freaks out.

It's always a bit of a pain putting things in but worth it for the things you eat often.

Outside of that I really like the suggestions for helping with missing pieces.

Thanks for the info on MyFitnessPal.....if this doesn't work out I will definitely look into that next.

Sarah - thanks for your feedback. I think I am also pretty likely to use something close rather than go to all the trouble of adding.

I'll be back after I've played around some more. Thanks everyone!
 
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