Diet & Exercise: Calculate Calories In and Calories Out
Already giving up on your resolutions to eat healthfully and exercise? A new website launched this week by the American Heart Association might help keep you motivated. The free Start! program features a tool that lets you compare the energy you expend at your daily activities with the number of calories you consume. You'll also find healthful recipes and nutrition advice on such topics as what to put in a nutritious salad (dark–not pale–greens and colorful vegetables) and what to avoid (croutons, sour cream, and taco chips). Have trouble fitting exercise into your day? Sign up for a wake-up call.
The idea sprang from a realization "that so many Americans spend most of their day sitting at a keyboard," says Alex Barbieri, AHA spokesperson. "On average, people work 164 hours more each year today than they did 20 years ago, which leaves less time for exercise." More than two thirds of Americans are now overweight or obese–and thus at greater risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and some forms of cancer. By putting people a click away from the truth about how their food intake compares with their needs, said cardiologist and AHA President Raymond Gibbons via E-mail, the website should help Americans really see the need to get active.
Using the site requires some work. Instead of typing in "pasta primavera" and having the calories calculated automatically, you have to figure out how many servings of grains and of vegetables were in what you ate, for example. You can try out the Start! website by going to http://www.americanheart.org/start.
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