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Food diary, app or bracelet – which is better? We bring to your attention three ways to control the energy balance. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages.
It is important for a person leading a healthy lifestyle to know how many calories he consumes and expends. We bring to your attention three ways to control the energy balance of the body. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. See also: How many calories do you need per day?
Diet and workout diary to calculate calories
Food diaries are a great way to always have useful information on hand about what you eat during the day. Typically, a nutrition and fitness specialist consults with a client to recommend an individual nutrition plan and give personal advice on a healthy lifestyle, including exercise.
- If you receive such recommendations for prescribed food, water intake and exercise, a food diary will allow you to collect and analyze all these factors in one place.
- If necessary, you can always share the collected or already analyzed information with a professional – an attending physician, a trainer, etc.
Advantages:
- low cost (even a regular notebook can be used);
- possibility of individual choice of parameters;
- the need to fill, which disciplines the diary.
Disadvantages:
- wasting time filling in the diary manually;
- the negative impact of the “human factor” – errors, omissions, handwriting incomprehensible to the specialist, etc.
App for Calorie Calculation
In fact, the application is the same diary, only functioning as a computer program. The ability to record food, water consumption and activity through a mobile application allows you to automate the process of assessing your energy balance.
- Digital solutions like Nutrium allow you to get daily insights into your diet and activity based on your input. In addition to this, you can also compare the results with the schedule you set. The analysis is based on data on nutrition, physical activity and water consumption, as well as weight measurements.
- Many of these apps have a tracking feature that checks for the latest updates and lets you see how well you’re following a set routine and how well it performs under certain conditions. Also, the application can remind you of the need to follow a particular diet rule or do physical exercise on time.
Advantages:
- portability;
- minimal time spent on filling out an electronic diary;
- improved control and analysis functions.
Disadvantages:
- the application does not function without a computer or mobile device;
- you cannot enter some individual parameters if it is not provided by the program.
Bracelet for calculating calories
Fitness bracelet fits comfortably on the body. It is supplied with data built-in heart rate monitor, accelerometer and gyroscope. In addition, information about the user’s energy balance can be entered into the program that controls its operation.
Advantages:
- portability;
- convenient location;
- ease;
- use directly during exercise.
Disadvantages:
- relatively high cost;
- approximate measurement of physical activity.
The calories burned are calculated using special algorithms. When registering movements, the terrain, wind direction, random motor activity, etc. are not taken into account. Read also: Advantages and disadvantages of fitness bracelets