I track everything. I find it very helpful to track progress and look
back and figure out why a pattern occurs(such as reactions to certain
foods).

http://www.fitday.com

free online use
or buy PC software to download

I guess the parts of the book(like phases 3 & 4) that talk about
Atkins as a way of life and not a short bus ride to get on and off of
didn't connect with you. If you don't learn to permanently adjust your
eating to your body you will just gain weight back--sometimes very
quickly and often get even heavier than when you started.
DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)
350/318/Mar-315/200
Atkins since Jan 12, 2004

Welcome back, Alan, and good for you for showing your dad "the way."
LOL!

--  
Jean M.
New food of the week: black olives.

Do away with flipfloping to e-mail.

Hi Alan, welcome to the group!

Yes, I started out using Fitday.com, but found it tedious and it didn't some
things I wanted, so I made my own Excel workbook.  I still use Fitday, however,
to gather the info I need.  I have several worksheets in the workbook:  Summary,
Foods, Monthly Diary, Recipes, Stats, Exercise, and a monthly blank to start a
new month with.  The main page is each month (Mar04 at the moment).  I record the
basic info you find on food labels -- I used to include more, but decided I
didn't need ALL the info, so now I track calories/fat/saturated
fat/cholesterol/sodium/potassium/carbs/fiber/protein.  That's the order you'll
find on US food labels (except potassium, which is kind of hit & miss).  The
first numbers column is for carbs minus fiber.  I gradually built up a worksheet
for Foods and their accompanying nutritional info for various weights & measures,
either from their labels or from Fitday.  As each month ends, I move the Month
page to a separate workbook where I archive the Diaries and start a new one.  
I've referenced the 2003 & 2004 archived diaries many times, usually when a
question comes up here.  

I find that keeping the diary (something I had NEVER done in 33 years of on-off
dieting) makes a TREMENDOUS difference!  I KNOW what's going into my body now.  I
know if I need to eat more or less protein, fat or just plain calories for the
day (that doesn't necessarily mean I'll DO it, but at least I'm AWARE of it).  I
also note "fiber" and "fat" in my daily food log as part of the template to
remind me that I need to either eat or take fiber and to take my vitamins.  Once
I do, I remove those reminders for the day.  

My summary page is linked to the daily totals and it is very helpful to spot
trends based on carbs and/or calories.  The Stats page tracks my weight, total
weight loss, and occasional measurements.  I used to make a chart from it (just
for the hell of it), but it bored me, so I stopped charting it (although I could
easily make one at any time based on the gathered stats).  On the Stats and
Summary worksheets I color code days for PMS and periods, which has been VERY
useful in spotting and keeping track of hormonal trends.  

By making my own spreadsheets, I have control over the info I want to have and
VERY good control over how I calculate things.  I can easily link info among the
different worksheets.  For instance, the recipe page might have a list of
ingredients for a meat sauce (not directions, just all the ingredients and their
nutritional info).  In the same worksheet, I'll have a recipe for Eggplant
Lasagna, neatly linking the info for the meat sauce.  On the Month worksheet, I
can then easily link to the serving size line for the lasagna on the Recipe
worksheet.  Or maybe I'll make a HUGE pot of Turkey Vegetable Soup, most of which
goes into the freezer.  Two months later, I still have the serving size info on
the soup and I also have a reminder of what went into it the last go-around.  I
always include the date of the most recent batch of whatever, especially if I
have more than one version of it.  

It took me a while to fine-tune the workbook and build up a database of foods,
but at 9 months into it, I'm quite satisfied with it.  I could get one of the
programs offered here or commercially, but this way I get exactly the info *I*
want.

About the only fudging I do with it is where Fitday and/or the USDA nutritional
database doesn't break down into the quantity type I prefer.  For instance, if a
veggie is listed only in terms of cups (despite the fact that it does not easily
FIT into a cup and doesn't specify whether it's mashed or loosely packed), but I
want to measure it in ounces, I might start off measuring it by the cup or piece,
but then weigh it to determine how many ounces go into that cup.  THEN I have my
OWN quantity-specific info to work with, which may or may not be accurate, but
neither is measuring it by the cup if it doesn't easily fit.