Diapers And Weight Loss

[Guest Diapered Jeff]

(this may need to be moved to a more appropriate area of discussion, but I just thought this was more a general discussion topic, so... moderators, move as you see fit. Thanks!)

So I'm going to try losing some weight before the winter months set in. I'm doing this for two main reasons, one is to get into clothes that no longer fit (some of my favorite shirts I might add) and admittedly be at a more healthier weight, and the second is so that I can comfortably put on my diapers without feeling ... um... like it's some major chore that requires a lot of effort. There was a time in my life where I was able to put on a diaper in less than 5 minutes, and now I'm lucky if I can get into one within 20 minutes.

FIrst off, I'm an adult picky eater. What this means is that I cannot (even if it meant my life depended on it) change my dietary intake. No matter what, this is NOT going to change. I can't eat fruits nor veggies (I won't explain why, because that's just irrelevant here). Second, I'm looking for alternative solutions, i.e. workouts, possibly alternative things like protein shakes or meal supplements that might help aid in the weight loss quest.

Lastly, I want to be able to fit comfortably in a Medium Molicare super brief instead of the L/XL Depends that I've been using over the last 7-9 years (ever since the "American Fare" brand of K-mart stopped selling their "Large" adult diapers/briefs).

I'd post a picture, but I'm a little shy about posting my face, especially for privacy reasons. I know this largely has nothing to do with diapers, but when it's hard to put one on let alone masturbate in one (Yes, I admit to masturbating, and I don't care), it's time for a change (pun is intended). Ideally, I'd like to lose 30 pounds, but realistically, I'll settle for 15 and work my way down from there.

So any tips or suggestions other than dietary restrictions would be wonderful. Thanks!

[Diaper_Lover_HI]

Aloha Jeff,

Good reading. i can relate to what you are saying, I have managed to lose a lot of weight since December 2010. I was once 380 lbs, and was told to either change or die at a young age. Was told I would not make it to i was 45 years old. So what is one to do, I asked for help. Nutrition, followed by life change like writing down everything I put in my mouth. As far as exercise goes, I never had an issue, I did the outdoors, hiking, swimming etc... it is what i was eating is what was killing me.

So yes I was in extra large diapers, had hard time tying my shoes, or even holding a normal conversation. I had to relearn to eat for nutrition. Writing down everything I ate held me accountable and help me out a lot. Today I weight 175lbs. I burn more calories then I eat daily, get in 75 protein a day, eat 5 small meals each day to include a snack. I watch my sugar intake, i do not eat junk food. Sound boring, well today i have more energy than I did before.

Myfitness pal.com is the program I use to count my calories and log in my exercise daily.....

Best of luck

[Guest Diapered Jeff]

Aloha Jeff,

Good reading. i can relate to what you are saying, I have managed to lose a lot of weight since December 2010. I was once 380 lbs, and was told to either change or die at a young age. Was told I would not make it to i was 45 years old. So what is one to do, I asked for help. Nutrition, followed by life change like writing down everything I put in my mouth. As far as exercise goes, I never had an issue, I did the outdoors, hiking, swimming etc... it is what i was eating is what was killing me.

So yes I was in extra large diapers, had hard time tying my shoes, or even holding a normal conversation. I had to relearn to eat for nutrition. Writing down everything I ate held me accountable and help me out a lot. Today I weight 175lbs. I burn more calories then I eat daily, get in 75 protein a day, eat 5 small meals each day to include a snack. I watch my sugar intake, i do not eat junk food. Sound boring, well today i have more energy than I did before.

Myfitness pal.com is the program I use to count my calories and log in my exercise daily.....

Best of luck

Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it. I have started making some significant changes to my diet. For example, pizza is one of my favorite foods, but I've gone from eating pizza every day (sometimes multiple times a day) to eating it just one or two times a week, if that. I've also changed some of my preferences in food, like buying WHITE american cheese rather than that Orange/yellow cheese. Leaner meats, more protein in foods, and have cut down, WAY DOWN, on my soda intake. I used to be able to down a 24 pack (cans) in a day, but now that's down to like maybe 2-3, maybe four at most. I try to drink more water, eat smaller meals, and try to keep the whole "let's make [this] and [that] simultaneously for dinner tonight." Example, my mother LOVES to make steaks with potatoes, or mac n' cheese with Tuna/Chicken patties, etc. I've got her down to only making ONE main course meal. If we're going to have potatoes, that's all I will have for dinner, or the steak. Same with Mac N' Cheese or Tuna/Chicken patties. I've had to communicate to her that I can only do one or the other, not both.

Snacks I keep down to a light one. Some slices of cheddar cheese (usually about 8 small bite size slices) and a few crackers are what I usually have for a bedtime snack.

The exercises though are what's going to be the challenge. Having lower back problems, arthritis in my feet AND back, alongside joint pain in my hands and wrists are going to make for some PAINFUL exercising. I'm hoping once I get started with that, it'll help resolve those medical pains. But being partially blind, I have to be careful what kind of exercise I get into doing, because I cannot afford to lose my only good eye. But what concerns me is the fact that since I quit smoking, I've gained the weight I want to lose, and despite these changes in eating habits alongside vitamin and mineral supplements, and walking around everywhere to doctor appointments, shopping stores, etc, I've not lost a pound.

Though that site "Myfitnesspal.com" might be a big help. I'll try that and see what my results are and post them here.

If there are any other suggestions, let me know. Thanks again, bro!

[puffybedwetter]

You can also try cutting down on salts. I weighed a healthy 240 but after hanging out with alcoholics I gained 60lbs on beer n junkfood. Now i've lost half of that in three months. And am looking for more. I went to a nutritionist and I got a low sodium diet as I got 30+ lbs of water weight to loose. Good luck

[rusty pins]

As much as I would like to say to change your diet and eat some healthier foods, fruit and veggies, I respect your OP and won't tell you to eat different foods. I'm overweight myself, so what advice I can give you might help, even though it's not the best weight loss advice you could get. If you are unwilling or unable to change your diet, try eating less of those foods at each meal. Try some pills that will help you feel fuller when you eat lessor amounts. If you bake or cook things that call or sugar, use Splenda sweetner in place of sugar. It will help keep weight down and it will also keep your blood sugar in better numbers. Likewise, if you drink soda pop, get Pepsi One or Diet Rite cola. Both of them are made with Splenda and not Aspartame (which is also used as an artificial sweetner in most diet soft drinks but is not good for you!) Just eating lessor amounts and using a healthy sugar substitute like Splenda will help some.

[pullupsboy89]

I strongly recommend pool workouts. It relieves pressure on achy joints and allows you to have a total body workout no matter what youre doing!

[CDLover]

One thing I did was to use a pedometer to measure my steps daily and to write down everything I ate for a week. After the week, calculate the average number of steps per day and increase the number of steps / day by 2000. As you are doing the new step count you can eat the same foods as before, BUT eat only 3/4 the portion.

The formula was pretty simple - exercise more and eat less... I was able to loose 1-2 pounds a week over a 12 week period.

[drynot]

As a big guy I've also struggled to put my diapers on. The method I use now works quite well for me. I assemble the diaper before hand, putting the tapes in place and whatnot and then pull it on like a pull up. It takes some tial and error to get the fit right but it doesn't take too long before you can get it on properly. I've had a few tapes pop off but if that happens, I just re-inforce the tape with some clear medical tape.

As for weight loss. I can't offer up much in advice. However I can offer up tons of support. I wish you all the success in the world while you're on your weight loss journey

[Diaper_Lover_HI]

When i was heavy, i went in the pool and walked a lot. Actually to be honest with you I have probably jogged 3 times in the past couple of years. I walk a lot now. I bought one of those pedometers and started walking. Maybe you can walk short distances, but if you can try the pool like pullupsboy suggested. Start out slow and slowly build up, talk with the lifeguards see if they can give you suggestions on what exercise to do. Soda is a killer, I had to give it up 3 years ago. I do not drink alcohol, so soda was a crutch for me a couple of years ago, it was hard to stop drinking. I drink home made tea, crystal light, water. Even for me I had to give up coffee, crud the head aches were a killer but it has been over a year. Guess when I do not drink something for a period of time I do not crave it.

You like Pizza? Have you ever tried Cauliflower Pizza?

I have friends that say things like "Cauliflower Pizza? are you crazy.... The first time I tried it I could not even tell it was Cauliflower. Let me know I can send you the Recipe. The cauliflower is the crust and you add your toppings. It is

Healthy and believe it or not it is darn good.

Have a good diapered day!!!!

[thixk]

Well, use smaller plates and don't eat while watching TV or at the computer. Other then that, I was going to give the same advice as the others.

New Advice: An important thing is to keep thinking positive and imagine yourself eating better and exercising. It is hard to think like that, but eventually you will start to see ways of eating healthier and exercising that you normally didn't.

I too am trying to lose weight for the same reason you are. I want to start wearing medium diapers again, as well as feel confident in my body around others. While I have a hard time with eating right and exercising some days, I keep thinking about doing stuff while wearing medium diapers...and it helps me get my mind back on track as well as think of better choices when eating out.

[dlover49]

I have lost about 15 lbs in the last 4 months. I started at 235# and am now 220. I use the moderation technique.

A little less food. I seldom eat a large dinner, some nights only a small sandwich or snacx.

A little more exercise. For me, I now walk when I golf instead of riding. Walking is low-impact and can be started slowly. Don't overdo it at first or you will be sore and less likely to keep it up.

Drink less alcohol. I drink light beer (less carbs and calories)

Good luck and remember it is a long process. You might get discouraged when your weight is "plateaued" but all of a sudden you will lose 2-3 lbs in a short time.

[jeremy12312]

The easiest thing you can do is to cut out the soda. Full stop. One can of Coke is 140 or so calories. You need to jog for 15 minutes just to burn off one can of Coke.

Losing weight has a lot more to do with diet than exercise. Diet gets the weight off, exercise makes you look better. You usually don't burn more than 500 calories during an exercise, which is a drop in the bucket compared to what you eat every day.

[Guest Diapered Jeff]

First off, I'd like to thank everyone for their suggestions. Secondly, there are some suggestions being made based on assumptions that I'd like to clear up. With that in mind, here is my response. More importantly, I value everyone's feedback so far, and hopefully I can incorporate some of the suggestions here. But the following is my responses to your suggestions. Keep in mind, I'm not being an arse, or trying to make excuses. These responses are what REALLY happen in my daily routine. Another thing to keep in mind is that I get very bad migraine attacks that put me out for the count at least 3-4 times a week. They've lessened in intensity over the years due to my use of a CPAP device (which has helped my blood pressure and feeling more alert). When I get them, exercise is the least important thing on my mind .... literally.

1) Cauliflower pizza - Nope, never tried it, don't have any inclination to try it either. Cauliflower (like the fruits and veggies) give me some awful stomach and digestive issues that.... well, I'll just stop right there because it gets pretty gross in description. Needless to say, it's not an option for me

2) Less Alcohol - This I think was based on an assumption that I drink a lot. Although I do enjoy an occasional beer, it's just that. Occasional. Meaning I drink a beer (ONE beer) every 2-3 months. In fact the last beer before today was back in late May. So drinking less alcohol is NOT a problem. My brother on the other hand? He's the alcoholic, and if anyone can stand to benefit from putting down the bottle, it'd be him.

3) Less food - Contrary to popular belief and misconception, fat folk or big belly folk don't always eat LARGE portions. The fact is that I actually eat WAY less than any average individual. You might catch me eating a burger here and there, but as far as sides like fries, or say having Steak with potatoes and gravy with another side of either corn or peas... NOPE, that's not me. Give me the steak by itself, and no one gets hurt! LOL Besides, i refer back to having absolutely NO fruits or veggies in my life except for the potato, which is about the only veggie/fruit I'll eat. Interestingly, I used to be able to eat bananas (as I LOVE bananas), but no longer can tolerate what they do to my stomach.

4) Cut soda cold turkey - While I cannot completely cut out my soda intake, there have been some instances where I've completely gone to drinking water and gatorade for weeks at a time. I saw no benefit to this as I continued to gain weight, and I got a really dry mouth because of the water. Don't ask me why, it just happens that way. Though I will say this much. I do occasionally drink a bottled water or a gatorade in lieu of soda, but generally I keep my soda can drinking to about 2-3 a day. This is a fact.

5) Eating better and exercising - Already I've mentioned that I have made changes to my diet, and as one person suggested was to try and cut down on Sodium/salt intake. This was another assumption that I've not already done so. I check labels regularly to see how much sodium is in a product. If it's anything more than 200mg, I put it back and look for something else. Oppositely, I look for products that have a higher fiber, low fat, high potassium content (or at least try to find a good trade-off where it might have a slightly higher than 200mg sodium content, but the potassium totally out does it). I eat WHITE american cheese now, eat leaner meats, and try to stick to eating smaller portions than my mother whom, in fact, eats WAY more than I do, and she had gastric bypass surgery. So in essence, she should be eating LESS than I do, but eats a lot more.

6) Walk or exercise more - The thing I think I forgot to mention is that I do a lot of walking, but as far as pool exercise? I'd love to except our apartment pool keeps getting closed every summer due to some brat kid that decides he's gonna throw rocks, furniture, and shards of glass into it. So we almost never get to use it, and nearby recreation centers charge $5 a day to go use their facilities, which isn't bad, but on a limited income $5 a day turns out to be $150 a month roughly. Sure, discounts can be obtained, but only for up to $20 off regular price. On a fixed income, $150/month is just not an option, especially when medical bills and rent are due, not to mention expenses like groceries, electric and phone bills. Again, not much of an option. As for the walking, let me just say this much. Have any of you shopped with a relative, say... your mother? Ever shop more than 3 hours? Yeah, I do that. And after 3 hours, normal exercise including calisthenics are just so unappealing that even thinking about them is just so.... painful.

So, again, the suggestions are great, but I think some assumptions were made that were not researched or questioned. The diet is a little challenging since my body has certain issues with certain foods, and we're just not going to get into the whole mechanics of that. Let's just say very bad things happen when I eat a food my body usually rejects. It's not pretty, it's socially not acceptable, even if the reason is valid, and it's not fun to go through.

The pool workouts are excellent ideas.... If I could afford them. One last thing, I do take vitamin supplements and have previously been helping my mother in and out of her wheelchair, and pushing her in it, and mind you, she WAS at over 300lbs before her gastric bypass surgery, so pushing her in a wheelchair was a workout all its own. I'm surprised I never passed out.

jeremy12312

Posted Today, 04:36 PM

The easiest thing you can do is to cut out the soda. Full stop. One can of Coke is 140 or so calories. You need to jog for 15 minutes just to burn off one can of Coke.

Losing weight has a lot more to do with diet than exercise. Diet gets the weight off, exercise makes you look better. You usually don't burn more than 500 calories during an exercise, which is a drop in the bucket compared to what you eat every day.

My mother's doctor actually said the opposite. He said, and I quote "You need more exercise than a good diet." He actually went on to say, "We want you on a good diet, but it's more important to get you moving, get your heart rate up, and get you burning calories." To me that made more sense than trying to manipulate body metabolism by simply changing diet. Unfortunately, it has to do with a combo of both, and a diet that fits an individual's needs. In other words, I don't believe in a "one size fits all" kind of diet.

Also, I'll add the fact that although I love eating sandwiches with whole grain white bread, I don't eat nearly as much bread as I once did. I am hoping that once I start college, I can take Martial Arts courses that might help me shed some poundage. Because right now, the arthritis in my feet and the cracks in my back (no joke, I saw the x-ray of my lower back with cracks that the doc said stemmed from birth) are absolutely PAINFUL!

Anyway, any other suggestions are welcome, but please keep in mind I do have limitations not just physically, but physiologically as well.

Thanks folks!

Edited September 1, 2012 by Diapered Jeff

[jeremy12312]

Exercise certainly is good for the heart and circulatory system, and you should be doing it regardless of whether you're trying to lose weight or not. But, running a 12-minute mile will burn only 600 calories per hour. So, if you ran for a whole hour, every day, you'd just be breaking even on your soda consumption at 4 per day. You aren't going to lose weight that way. You need a deficit of 3500 calories to lose one pound. One.

Best of luck in your endeavors, but getting results will be tough if you limit what changes you want to make.

[Guest Diapered Jeff]

@ Jeremy - It's not about limiting my changes, it's about working with what my body CAN handle. It's that simple. And as I've pointed out, I am working on incorporating more water and gatorade into my routine. But I would like to point out one other fact. I used to drink 24 cans of pop a day (a former sister-in-law has said this to me), and now I'm down to four at most, and that's not even every day. Sometimes I only have two. But I can't cut caffeine off altogether without some SERIOUS headacahes that rival even my worst migraines. So I have to be careful about how much withdraw from it I want to go through. Slowly getting myself down off the soda pop is not gonna be a thing where one day I just say "NOPE" and stop altogether. It's like any other addiction, it has to start SLOWLY and PROGRESSIVELY changing the body's mechanisms and not putting it into shock. But I appreciate your suggestion, nonetheless.

[Guest Diapered Jeff]

Also, seeing a therapist will probably help that.

[jeremy12312]

I'm writing to you out of experience, here. Since cutting my 2-a-day habit, I dropped 20 pounds doing absolutely nothing else. (But you can't replace the calories with something else). If you still need the caffeine, there's always black coffee, tea (unsweetened), and diet soda. Just stop drinking anything with sugar, that's what's bad for you. There's a great PSA campaign going on in LA right now. "You wouldn't eat 20 packets of sugar, so why are you drinking them?"

Also, while I've never tried to kick the caffeine habit, my understanding is that the headaches only last for a week, then everything gets back to normal. Apparently you'll sleep better too.

[Honu]

Jeff,

Everything in moderation, okay? There is no such thing as bad food or healthy food. It's all food and the most important thing is checking your relationship with it. Do you eat because you're hungry or because you think you are "supposed to"? Do you eat what you are hungry for or what you are "supposed to"? The key to any sort of change is getting into your head first.

As for exercise, you already walk a lot and swimming (which is recommended because it's almost impossible to hurt yourself) isn't affordable. Okay, do you have any stairs in your life? Pretend the elevator doesn't work and take the stairs EVERYWHERE. Do you have a bicycle? If you can commute on a bicycle you could save a lot of money in gasoline costs and get in a little more exercise.

Good luck and stick with what you find works for you. We are all individuals so tune into what your body is telling you.

[Guest Diapered Jeff]

@jeremy - I drink them because drinking water or gatorade as my two main drinks instead of Soda pop has not worked to my benefit in the past, and coffee? I don't drink it. I found out through research that coffee actually has MORE calories and caffeine than a can of soda. So I avoid that altogether. Tea I'm not opposed to. I like drinking tea, especially Earl Grey with two spoonfuls of sugar, no more no less.

@Honu - here's the thing, I don't eat breakfast anymore. That used to just drag me down something fierce, even cereal. I only eat what my stomach can handle, and believe me there are certain things I can handle a lot of, but then there are other things that (my parants had to learn this) will make me full after only a few bites. Do I eat emotionally? Do I eat just because I have to? No, and no. I eat when I'm hungry, and a lot of times, I don't even do a full meal sometimes, I just do small snacks throughout the day. This keeps my appetite low for a big meal which I hate having big meals, and if say I'm not hungry for dinner, I just grab something light like low-fat butter on some bread and keep it that way. I don't always need a big meal.

Stairs in my life? Not really. Everything is so "mom-proof". She's got a really bad ankle, that's why for a long time she was in a wheelchair, and guess who's job it was to push that 300lb bohemoth? Yeah, THAT is a workout. But I do like the bike idea.... if and when it gets fixed, which I don't think is gonna be before winter. Still is a good idea though.

back @Jeremy - it's not just really bad headaches, they're AWFUL headaches, so I at least have two soda pops a day, but like I said before, I've been incorporating more water and gatorade in my daily intake. And like I said before, I've gone on kicks where I've drank NOTHING BUT water and gatorade and STILL get migraine headaches, and they are AWFUL to deal with. Those few days that they last? They feel like a whole few WEEKS even though yeah, it doesn't last the whole week.

Besides, I think if I just find a reasonable avenue to workout and exercise, those "bad little calories" will burn one way or another. But as I said, I do A LOT of walking, not just for 15 minutes either. If it were just for 15 minutes, I wouldn't be effing exhausted and have my feet begging for a break almost DAILY.

[Guest Diapered Jeff]

There also was a time, in my youth, before starting smoking (and quitting) when I would eat the tiny-est bit on my plate, and that would be enough to satisfy my appetite, but mom (along with society) felt that wasn't enough and I got pressured into eating MORE than I could handle. That's been my biggest downfall I think is not saying "STOP, I've had enough, I won't eat more!" Just another tidbit there.

[drynot]

@jeremy - I drink them because drinking water or gatorade as my two main drinks instead of Soda pop has not worked to my benefit in the past, and coffee? I don't drink it. I found out through research that coffee actually has MORE calories and caffeine than a can of soda. So I avoid that altogether. Tea I'm not opposed to. I like drinking tea, especially Earl Grey with two spoonfuls of sugar, no more no less.

Um...no. Coffee is extremely low in calories. I don't know where you got your information but regular ol drip coffee has around 10 cals per 8 fluid oz. Now one of those high test frapachino sweetener fests from Starbucks might be right through the roof in calories but regular coffee out of a regular ol coffee maker is practially calorie free.

Don't believe me? Look it up.

Now caffeine? Yep. I believe a cup of coffee has TWICE the caffeine as a can of cola.

[Creepymouse]

There is no such thing as bad food or healthy food.

Well... There are a good number of things you can eat that are NOT food. Most of the packaged goods at your grocery store are not food.

As for your problem with veggies and such, my wife had the same issues until she started eating them daily. Things quickly sorted out. Another possibility would be digestive enzymes from a health food store. It's quite likely that you have a major imbalance in your gut flora, possibly all your life.

[Guest Diapered Jeff]

Um...no. Coffee is extremely low in calories. I don't know where you got your information but regular ol drip coffee has around 10 cals per 8 fluid oz. Now one of those high test frapachino sweetener fests from Starbucks might be right through the roof in calories but regular coffee out of a regular ol coffee maker is practially calorie free.

Don't believe me? Look it up.

Now caffeine? Yep. I believe a cup of coffee has TWICE the caffeine as a can of cola.

I got that information from www.doctoroz.com. So .... look it up there if you like. To be fair about it, I may have misinterpreted what I read.

@Creepymouse - Yeah, I've never been able to stomach veggies or fruits at all. I've never been able to understand why and my doctors are baffled. They're even surprised at the fact that I still breathe. LOL Now as far as packaged food being "Not food" from grocery stores, unless one owns a farm, that person is going to starve unless they do go to a grocery store to buy food products. Admittedly though, as I have mentioned MULTIPLE times, I've tried changing my habits dramatically, but my diet (like physics) cannot change. I can, however, change HOW MUCH I eat from that stationary diet. What I am looking for in this discussion are workouts and exercises that are gentle to people that have disabling issues.

The bike idea - GREAT! I just need to fix the bike I have and then use it, but winter months are coming, and so it won't be as easy to just take a spin around the town with slick slippery sidewalks and roads, especially being partially blind.

The pool idea - Wonderful idea, but it does have drawbacks including financial drawbacks, but still a good idea nonetheless.

Walking - NOT my favorite idea since on any given day (which is usually most days in a week) my mother and I are shopping and running errands that require me to walk WAY MORE than 15 minutes, like 8-10x more than that (or even more depending on how frisky mom gets with her frantic need to shop or do a bunch of running around). So if anyone is getting their walking in, I sure am, even after she's been out of her wheelchair (which is awesome btw!)

Plus, like I said in another post, I am seeing a therapist that might help me change some habits even more. But I still believe a proper exercise routine is the best way to go. In my early 20's, and working, I did A LOT of workng out and exercising even though I did smoke, but my dietary restrictions haven't changed all that much, just the habits. Back then I weighed about 150 lbs at 5'5". Now I'm about 190 lbs, and I'd love to be down to at least 160lbs. That I'd be happy with. Even just 20lbs of weight lost would be excellent. I'm not greedy, just being realistic in my goals.

[ppbenn]

My suggestion is resistance exercises, you can start with your own body weight and progress from there. Do a circuit (i.e. push-ups, squats, sit-ups no rest between each exercise.) After you finish a round rest for 90-120 seconds and then repeat. Watch your calories throughout the day and before you know it, you are doing more than you did when you started.

I love working out and pushing myself. I am still overweight according to most standards ( damn beer!) However, I will put myself up against any "average" person out there. The trick in weight loss and exercise is finding what works for you. You didn't balloon to 300+lbs. overnight or whatever the case may be. Please do not expect to shed all your excess weight overnight either.

There are plenty of alternatives out there for shedding weight find what works for you and screw the rest.

BTW @OP coffee in and of itself has 0 calories, it is only grounds and h2o.When you add extras to it that is when calories add up, and they do add up quickly.

( damn beer.)

[thick and dry]

A DailyDiapers mod turned me onto MyFitnessPal.com. It's pretty accurate at counting calories and proteins.... it'll give you a general layout at how many you need to eat to lose weight, and even if you don't stick to the goal, will show you how many you're wasting on things like soda, chips, ect. Trust me, I wasted a few yesterday at the movies