Cathe Nutrition vs. Sparkpeople
- Thread starter baylian
- Start date
Jess_jugs
Cathlete
I haven't tried Cathe's, but I love http://www.myfitnesspal.com much better than sparkpeople. I've also used fitday but didn't like that one either. MFP is really easy to use and has a HUGE database of foods!!
Jess
Jess
I use Cathe's Nutrition Software. Switched from SparkPeople. The driving force behind it for me was the fact that Cathe's version shows a quick break-down of all the vitamins and minerals, not just calories, fat, protein and carbs. For me, it's easier to get a balanced day's worth of food. So I switched. Having access to other's meals is nice. I really use the favorites a lot. Once I got my favorite foods in there, it's so nice to just pick foods I like that I need to eat for one reason or another to make my day's food more balanced. I usually start with a certain meal I want to eat (usually dinner with DH) and then fill in my lunch, breakfast and snacks with food to balance dinner.
There are some improvements I'd like to see, but over all, I liked Cathe's better enough to pay for it. I started with the 1 month to preview it and then got the year's version.
I also want to get the workout blender and some iPod video, so that factored into my decision to go ahead and get the year's version since the WB and 3 hours of video comes free.
ETA: I use Cathe's much more as a planner than I did with SP. SP was a diary, Cathe's is a planner. At least the way I use them.
April
There are some improvements I'd like to see, but over all, I liked Cathe's better enough to pay for it. I started with the 1 month to preview it and then got the year's version.
I also want to get the workout blender and some iPod video, so that factored into my decision to go ahead and get the year's version since the WB and 3 hours of video comes free.
ETA: I use Cathe's much more as a planner than I did with SP. SP was a diary, Cathe's is a planner. At least the way I use them.
April
Jess_jugs
Cathlete
I know!! I got so sick of manually entering everything at SP. And for some reason, I hated fitday! They have everything, just double check to make sure it's correct. One thing I eat regularly was listed as 40g fat instead of 4g!! That will screw up your daily totals fast! I've been using it for maybe 6 mos? I can't remember but I love it!
jennifermaria
Cathlete
I just checked myfitnesspal.com (thanks for recommending, Jess!) and I had a question: did anyone else find that their recommendation for the daily calorie intake was really low? I put in my stats and said that my goal was to lose 1 pound a week (5 pounds total) and inputed my weekly exercise totals, and considering the fact that I'm training for a marathon right now, the weekly totals are HIGH, but it told me my daily intake should be 1200! Wow, I don't think I could subsist on that, let alone fuel properly for my marathon training.
Did I do something wrong?
Did I do something wrong?
Mine came out at around 1300, although my lowest estimated BMR is 1342! So...1300 could conceivably cause me to slowly starve! 
Fortunately, once you add in your exercise, your calorie intake ramps up substantially. I recorded my workouts and my calorie intake is now at a much more reasonable 1700-ish number.
It's clearly not perfect. It wants my protein to be around 50 grams, which I have tried and found to be REALLY inadequate. But it provides little nutrition reports and breaks down all the macronutrients for you, so combined with a little of your own know-how it seems like a really useful tool.
Lisa
Fortunately, once you add in your exercise, your calorie intake ramps up substantially. I recorded my workouts and my calorie intake is now at a much more reasonable 1700-ish number.
It's clearly not perfect. It wants my protein to be around 50 grams, which I have tried and found to be REALLY inadequate. But it provides little nutrition reports and breaks down all the macronutrients for you, so combined with a little of your own know-how it seems like a really useful tool.
Lisa
Jess_jugs
Cathlete
I manually put mine in and don't go by the default. Go to My Home, then Goals. Yes, 1,200 cals is WAY too low. Especially with marathon training!! Just change it to where you feel comfortable. I know I've said before that I would gnaw my arm off if I had to live on 1,200 cals!! BTW, what marathon are you training for?? Good luck!
Jess
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jennifermaria
Cathlete
LOL Jess! Yes, even when I'm getting enough calories, I STILL feeling like gnawing my arm off after a particularly long run .
I'm training for the Nike Women's Marathon, which is in 5 weeks, gulp!!
.I'm training for the Nike Women's Marathon, which is in 5 weeks, gulp!!
Jess_jugs
Cathlete
LOL Jess! Yes, even when I'm getting enough calories, I STILL feeling like gnawing my arm off after a particularly long run
I'm training for the Nike Women's Marathon, which is in 5 weeks, gulp!!
Oh yeah, those long runs will get ya!! How fun, have a great time! I'm running a 10K tomorrow, that's about as far as I'm going lately. I like the shorter runs and they aren't as hard on my body as marathon training was!
Jess
jennifermaria
Cathlete
I am for sure taking a loooooong break after this event. I usually train only during the summer/early fall months (June-Oct), and then fall back to once-a-week (if even that ) running for the rest of the year because I find I need the physical AND mental break from the hard core training. By the time summer rolls around, I find that I've really missed the training regimen, so I'm pumped and ready to go .
) running for the rest of the year because I find I need the physical AND mental break from the hard core training. By the time summer rolls around, I find that I've really missed the training regimen, so I'm pumped and ready to go .
berry99
Cathlete
Jess, thanks for posting this. It's awesome.
punka274
Cathlete
I got addicted to this site about four weeks and I absolutely love it! Thanks agian Jess....Hugs to ya!
Jess_jugs
Cathlete
Woohoo, glad I could help. I LOVE that site, the datebase really is huge! Very user friendly and free.
Jess
Jess_jugs
Cathlete
complik8td
Cathlete
Thanks so much for posting this recommendation Jess!!
MFP is simple to use and I agree that it's much better than FitDay. I NEVER used these online diet & exercise journals until I started reading these boards, but I have to admit that I find them very useful for keeping me on track..... just what I need!! 
princessbear
Cathlete
Has anyone ever used my-calorie-counter.com? I just signed up for that because it's free - seems relatively user-friendly, but from the sounds of it, maybe I should check out myfitnesspal.com