Comparing Two Popular Online Nutritional Calculators

When I first started considering the impact of nutrition on my weight, I focused entirely on a combination of calories and fiber as the drivers for weight loss, with the idea that consuming less than 2500-calories and 25-grams of fiber in a day would lead to weight loss.  That formula has worked well for me, but lately I’ve been considering the impact of protein, fat, and carbohydrates on overall health.  With that in mind, I’ve been comparing two popular online nutritional calculators for their usability and effectiveness at helping me achieve my fitness goals.

We should start by stating what I have been looking for out of an online nutritional calculator.  My hope has been to find a tool that would allow me to readily tabulate the caloric content of the food I consume.  Furthermore, I hoped to break out the distribution of calories among protein, carbohydrates, and fat.  I’ve been wanting to track this information in the hopes of gaining an understanding of how modifying food consumption may impact my overall health.  Having said all that, two of the most popular online nutritional calculators that seemed as if they may fit the bill were Fit Day and The Daily Plate (now part of LiveStrong.com).  I’ve been testing these two sites for a few weeks now, and thought I would share some of my initial impressions.  (Note:  I’m using the free versions and have not received any compensation for trying these sites.)

Both sites allow for free registration, and users can enter foods consumed.  A table is generated that displays calories consumed per day, and the calories are broken out by percentages into fat, protein, and carbs.  The information can be easily displayed in a graphical format.  So, from that perspective, both sites are very functional for the casual user.  Note that both sites have quite a bit of other functionality that I am not currently considering in this comparison.  Having said that, there are some differences that are worth noting.

Fit Day

Fit Day has a very generic pre-populated database of foods from which to draw.  For instance, searching for “Welch’s Grape Jam” does not yield an exact match, but rather a generic pre-pop of jams.  Having said that, it is very simple to enter nutritional information for your own “Custom Foods,” which can be easily included in your totals from that point onward.

Users have the option to purchase desktop software that will (presumably) sync with the online information.  I have not tried this feature, but can certainly see the advantages for serious bodybuilders.

Another observation about the Fit Day site is that it is very, very fast.

The Daily Plate

The real strength of the daily plate’s site is the size of the database from which information can be drawn.  After two weeks of use, I have yet to have searched for a food that was not in the database.  Quite frequently, even generics are included, which is a huge advantage for someone like myself, who is trying to squeeze in fitness among all the other responsibilities of life.  It makes entering information quick and simple.  It is occasionally true that the information may be dated, but I’ve found it to be accurate about 90-95% of the time.  Another neat feature I’ve discovered is the ability to enter entire meals for quick addition to my “plate.”

On the con side, The Daily Plate’s site is substantially slower than Fit Day.  Although I haven’t checked into it, I would guess it’s heavy in javascript and other bandwidth – heavy tools that tend to drag the site down.  I’ve even occasionally had pages hang and stop loading entirely.  Nothing a quick refresh doesn’t usually cure, but still annoying.

My Conclusion

For the moment, I’m finding The Daily Plate to be more useful.  Although the site runs slower, the huge selection of pre-populated foods generally makes it very simple to collect nutritional information.  I’ve started to learn a bit more about how my calories are distributed.

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