Seriously, I should get commission from MyFitnessPal, a website and smartphone app that helps track calories in and calories out. I can't stop talking about how great of a tool it is for providing an at-a-glance view of your food intake. IMO, there is no better or realistic way to lose weight than to set a goal for your calorie intake and to stick to it by recording the foods (and drinks) you eat. Just two rules accompany that: move your body, and don't eat fewer than 1,200 calories in a day.

When I started LittleCalorie.com way back in 2008, I tracked my calorie intake by looking up the calorie content of foods using the CalorieKing reference books and website. Then, I would record my daily intake in a pocketsize notebook. (Check out this now-ancient form of a food diary from my archives by clicking here.)

It's crazy how calorie resources have changed since I started writing this blog. But I'm quite pleased that calorie tracking has become more efficient and attainable for everyone. In fact, I now have my husband, sister, brother-in-law, mother-in-law, and a few co-workers hooked on my fav calorie-counting app. And I believe Chris has turned a few firefighters onto it, as well. Does that mean we get more commission?

These are the best features of the MyFitnessPal smartphone app

• It has a ridiculously huge food and beverage database, including thousands of restaurant foods. It's a rare occasion when you can't find the exact food you ate or at least something quite similar that will give you a good estimate of calories (because all calorie counts are estimates anyway).
• The Droid version has a sweet barcode scanner to scan packaged foods you eat, which is great for newer foods that aren't yet in the database. Note: sorry, iphone users, last I checked the barcode scanner was not part of the iphone version of this app.
• It's simple to adjust for the portion you eat.
• You can view a recap of your day or week, including where you land on intake of important nutrients to watch.
• It also includes a "calories out" function, which essentially increases your calorie allowance based on activities you do. Note: I don't use this function, and I would suggest you don't either if weight loss is your goal and you are not running a marathon. 
• Start by creating a realistic goal for weight loss (no more than 1-2 pounds/week), and it will spit out your calorie intake goal based on how much weight you want to lose by when. Note: If you want to lose 10 pounds by next week, you are crazy. Your calorie intake goal will be too low and you will not be able to stick to your plan. Life will not be fun. You will end up yelling at your husband and then you'll go on a crazy Oreo binge. 

Have fun my fitness pals!