a Calorie Counter just increased its awesomeness.

Hmmm, where to begin. How about the stuff you guys will probably only barely care about? Yup, sounds good.

First, a Calorie Counter is now on Twitter. If you happen to be down with Twitter, you can follow me here: http://twitter.com/aCalorieCounter

Second, after going live with the ability for you guys to create accounts and track your diet on a daily basis in December, I am pleased to announce that a Calorie Counter now has well over 10,000 registered users. Pretty sweet. And that number continues to grow significantly by the day.

Now for the stuff you guys will actually care about. I’ve gotten a nice amount of requests for new features you’d like to see on the site, and now a bunch of them are here and ready to be used. Let’s run down the list:

  1. Frequently Eaten Foods
    Easily the most often requested feature I get. Now it’s here. Once you log in, you’ll now see a list of your most frequently eaten foods. This list will serve 2 purposes. First and most important, it allows you to quickly add the foods you eat most often without having to first go and search for them every single time. Now you can conveniently add them right from there. Second, it also serves as a way of showing you what foods you are (and are not) eating most often. So, if your list tends to be comprised mostly of junk, it’s a good sign that it’s probably time to make some improvements to your diet.
  2. Daily Calorie Goal
    The second most often requested feature. When you log in and look at your diet’s total nutrition facts for the day, you’ll now see a little area right below this info where you can see and set your daily calorie goal and then be told exactly how much over or under that calorie goal you currently are. So, if you set a daily calorie goal of 2500, and you’ve eaten 2000 calories so far that day,ย  it will tell you that you can still eat 500 more calories. If you ate 3000, it would tell you that you’re already 500 calories over.
  3. a Calorie Counter’s Diet Widget
    The third most often requested feature I get asked for is some way to put your diet info on your own site or blog. Well, now you can. Just log in and look under the “My Account” heading on the bottom right. Click the “Get Your Diet Widget!” link, and then follow the quick and simple instructions (just a matter of copying and pasting a small bit of code). You’ll then have your diet’s daily total nutrition facts showing right there on your own site or blog. And yes, it will update in real time.
  4. A bunch of other little things.
    And then there are a few smaller things that you might not even notice. For example, the USDA’s database of foods that this site uses has been updated. Also, all of the dates on your calendar are now clickable, making it much easier for you to go back and edit days that you’ve never added any foods to before.

So, log in and go play with everything and let me know what you think. Still don’t have an account? Go get one already, it’s free.

Also, if you have any other ideas of any kind for ways to make a Calorie Counter even more awesome, let me know in the comments. Your suggestions (assuming they don’t suck) will very likely be part of the next batch of updates. So, talk to me. If you can think of anything that you wish a Calorie Counter had or just improved in some way… anything that would make this site as perfect as can be… I want to hear it!

Oh, and feel free to follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/aCalorieCounter

35 thoughts on “a Calorie Counter just increased its awesomeness.”

  1. Just started using this site. Thanks for putting this together. I was going to keep track in a notebook, and so glad to see your site, it’s fantastic, fast, etc. I hope I am consistent with it.

  2. I was one of the people who requested the frequent foods thing. You got it just right! I’m also liking the calorie goal and widget too. Thanks!

  3. I noticed the changes the other day – thanks! I love how you can put in your calorie goal and how it tells you how many you have left! No more subtracting, yay!

    I would like to say that I have been using this site since may and have lost almost 13 lbs. Female, 5’4″, 24 years old. Started at 150 and now I’m at about 137.6. I also exercise, and have for a long time, but not until I cut some calories did I start to lose weight. Thank you!

  4. Rhea: Very cool, glad to hear you’re liking it.

    Keith: So it all passes inspection? Awesome. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Nicole: Ha, yeah… the calorie goal thing appears to be extra useful for people who are bad at/lazy with math. Congrats on your weight loss, by the way. That is some very good progress.

  5. I am interested in your site however, I really need a way to calculate recipes that I make up myself or recipes that I get from other sources that do not show nutritional info. I tend to do a lot of my own cooking and that often means I cannot find accurate counts.Can this be done as an update to your website?

  6. Susan: With recipes, really all you need to do is search for (and add) each individual ingredient.

    And if this recipe is something you eat often, here’s an even better idea. Search for and add each ingredient on a day where you haven’t yet added any other foods. This means the total nutrition info shown for the day would really just be the total nutrition info of this recipe.

    Then, write down the key nutrients you want to track (calories, protein, carbs and fat would be the basics) and then save this info as a custom food.

    You’ll then be able to quickly and easily add this recipe to your diet whenever you want since it will now be saved as a custom food.

  7. Hey, I just started this, and I love it. But one thing I would like to see, or maybe I just can’t find is something like a weekly list of what I’ve eaten, and where I’m at, where I can also add my weight as the days go by.

    Thanks for the site!

  8. Just started my first day of calorie counting which worked well. The whole site’s good and what I was looking for. The one thing I had difficulty tracking (daily)was my personal protein/fat/carb ratio in terms of calories. I can do it but not easily. I’m sure it will be easier for me in time.
    I guess what I suggesting is an automatic p/f/c ratio % calculation on the daily intake. Maybe I’ve missed it.

    Thanks for your great site,
    Daniel

  9. I would find it very useful to have a way to edit the frequently eaten foods list. Example: I want to take some foods off the list. Thanks.

  10. Hi,
    I love this site and it’s easy to track my calories with. The only thing I’d like to see is being able to alphabetize the foods that I create myself. The list is getting pretty long and it’s hard to find a specific food I created.
    Hope this is something that can be improved on! Thanks for the healthy help! ๐Ÿ™‚

  11. Just signed up today. Like how fast the search is and how accurate. Yes, I would like to see a weight loss progress chart added and and exercise/activity counter too. Nice to the point articles. Thanks.

  12. I love this site. I have Celiac Disease (wheat, barley & rye allergy) and I am “prediabetic”. Looking up carbs, protein & fats is a must and your site makes it much easier. It’s nice being able to add my “weird” flours like tapioca, rice, sorghum etc. for my own use. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

  13. Hi, Thank You so much for this wonderful, easy-to-use, clean, efficient, helpful, FREE site!!! Yay!!! I’m so glad I found this! … I only just started here, but I was trying to do percentages of an amount : for example, .5 cups : and this system didn’t seem to be able to do that. Wondering if it could be re-worked so that it would accomodate something like “.75 x 1 cup” for example.
    Thank You!!!

  14. Ok so I do love this website. But I think it should include a way to count calories burned. I am not even close to an expert and I have no idea what daily routines or exercises burn how many calories!

  15. I love the site, it’s really helped me track calories, but it would be really nice if there were some way for members to add the information about food they ate that they new the calories of. For example, I ate a tomato soup that isn’t on the site. It has nutrition facts on the container. It would be really cool if I could them myself.

  16. Just found this site about a week ago. I recently got into lifting and really enjoyed you’re article on building muscle. I was thinking that maybe you could add something on this website or another website that could track progress on weightlifting as that would be a Tremendous help.

  17. I just found this website as well and think it’s very helpful
    I’ve done Weight Watchers for years and am a Lifetime member so am just trying to lose a few of those holiday pounds that crept up.
    Thanks for giving me a new fun tool to try.

  18. Just found your site a few days ago. I absolutely love the calorie counter. I’m not on any program or diet. But I am looking for balance in my diet. It’s so much easier to track the calories, fat, carbs and protein. I was going to go for the old notebook and paper method, but was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled on this. Awesome stuff! I’ve already recommended it to a few of my friends.

  19. This site is pretty cool. Wanted to see if there was a way to download or obtain an extract to use in a spreadsheet (excel) of the calorie information by day. Looking to chart the info – also could help if you wanted to take the info to a nutritionist/doctor – just a thought.

  20. Your site is a Godsend for people needing to watch their calories. I have an incurable cancer and have lost over 40 pounds in the past 7 months. Your site helps me keep track of my calorie goal each day to make sure I’m getting or exceeding my minimum. Thanks so much!

  21. I just discovered your site yesterday, and after playing some, realized that this will make my life so much easier. I have a long term goal of losing 124 pounds, and this has already helped me to plan my menu for a few days and I can shop for only what I need and leave the rest of the junk at the store! Again, thank you.

  22. I’ve been following my calories for the past 4 weeks and have seen a 7 pound weight loss. This is a terrific sight!! I just wish I would have found it sooner. Keep up the good work….

  23. Found your site yesterday and joined up. It’s been very easy to add my own foods, and you have an exhaustive list of pre-loaded foods from which to choose.

    I would like to see an option to alphabetize the food lists. Also, it would be nice to have an option input food in Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks, catagories so it would be visually apparent where one is eating the bulk of their food.

    Thanks for such a great site and I hope to have success in losing weight here!!

  24. This is my first day using the calorie counter and hope it is useful in helping me reach my goal of losing 50 lbs in a year. I guess the biggest challenge for me is knowing exactly what I am eating as far as measurements and weight. I have another idea for a tracker…how about a weight loss tracker? just a suggestion.

  25. I love this site. It’s the easiest one on the web and you have way more foods listed than most sites. It has been such a huge help to me the last few weeks while trying lose a few pounds before that beach vacation ๐Ÿ™‚ Thank you!

  26. I just came across this site today! How wonderful! This is exactly what I’m looking for. Easy to use and free ๐Ÿ™‚ Thank you so much. I’m hoping to make some great strides in weight loss with the assistance of this site!

  27. I love this site. I lost 14 lbs last winter using this site…Easy to count your calories and stay on track….I’ve gained a few lbs back and have decided to try it again. Also I have two of my friends trying out the site I’m sure they will love it. Keep up the good work

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