Lance Armstrong wants to turn you into a nutrition expert with a few clicks of your mouse. The Daily Plate, an online calorie-counter, food diary and nutrient tracker, is now operated by Livestrong.com, the Web site of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Despite a couple of drawbacks, this free tool is almost as awesome as Armstrong himself.
Once you register on the site, you can easily and quickly figure out a daily calorie allotment and enter the foods you eat. Once you get this virtual food diary going, the software tallies the exact calorie count and breaks it down by the basic nutrient analysis, such as fat, cholesterol and sodium. The tool can also track your daily exercise and how many calories you've burned.
Here are our raves:
We love the "challenge" aspect of the program. You can set a personal goal and get that herd mentality going by seeing how many others are also trying to meet the same goal. You're suddenly part of a team and can get support and reinforcement through discussion forums on the site.
It's personal, free and relatively easy to use.
It's hard to hide (or sit on the sofa swigging soda pop) when the numbers are staring you in the face. The feedback is immediate and as constant as you'd like it to be. (There's also an iPhone companion application.)
A couple of rants:
The site is free, but there's a targeted advertisement with every click. Ad links are scattered so thoroughly among the site links you have to click to enter daily food consumption that you're bound to get sidetracked sometimes — whether you like it or not. (We hope the foundation is using this ad revenue to fight cancer!)
The site is a bit difficult to navigate and appears to be still a bit "buggy" as Livestrong.com tries to integrate the Daily Plate, which used to be an independent site. For example, we couldn't find a one-click button to return to Livestrong's home page from our Daily Plate page. Bookmarks are a must with this tool.
Some of the features that used to be free on the Daily Plate site, such as the ability to link a photo to your discussion-board posts, now require a "Gold" account upgrade.
$45 for a year when we researched this column. Gold members get other perks that create a "priority class" of site users. Time will tell whether the two-tier approach affects the site's community attitude.
The bottom line is this: The Daily Plate at Livestrong.com is a useful tool in the eat-better arsenal. Try it and tell us what you think!
Menu suggestion
Chili-Rubbed Chicken Tenders
Ranch Slaw
Corn on the cob
Chili-Rubbed Chicken Tenders
Start to finish:
3 tablespoons chili powder
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste (see Cook's note)
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 1/3 pound chicken tenders
Cook's note:1/2 teaspoon makes a mildly spicy chicken. If you like it hot, add up to three times as much.
Mix together the spices and sugar on a plate. Set aside. Rinse the chicken, and pat dry with paper towels.
Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat.
Press each chicken tender into the spice mixture on both sides so that the mixture adheres to the chicken, and place into the skillet. Discard the remaining spice mixture. Cook the chicken until no longer pink inside, about 3 minutes on each side. Serve immediately.
Yield: 4 servings
Approximate values per serving: 210 calories (11 percent from fat), 2.6 g fat (trace amount saturated), 89 mg cholesterol, 35 g protein, 13 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, 184 mg sodium
Ranch Slaw
Start to finish: 3 minutes
1 1/2 cups light Ranch salad dressing
2 tablespoons skim milk (see Cook's note)
1 bag (16 ounces) coleslaw mix
Cook's note: Low-fat or whole milk could be used.
In a large bowl, mix together the salad dressing and milk. Add the coleslaw mix, and toss to coat well with dressing. Serve immediately. (Keep slaw refrigerated in an airtight container for up to two days.)
Yield: 6 servings
Approximate values per serving: 176 calories (71 percent from fat), 14 g fat (1 g saturated), 17 mg cholesterol, 2 g protein, 11 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, 625 mg sodium
Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross are co-authors of "Desperation Dinners!" (Workman, 1997), "Desperation Entertaining!" (Workman, 2002) and "Cheap. Fast. Good!" (Workman, 2006). Contact them at Desperation Dinners, c/o United Media, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. Or visit the Desperation Dinners Web site at www.desperationdinners.com. © Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross. Distributed by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.