Counting Calories

OK, so we've established that I've got diabetes, what do I do next?

The most obvious answer is to watch what sugars I eat.  Since this is the age of the Internet I immediately went to Google, looked up calorie tracking tools and decided to use MyFitnessPal.  Why MyFitnessPal?  A number of reasons:

1. A website/mobile app combination.  For me it was important that there was both a website that I could go to and a mobile app that I could use.  My family eats out a lot and being able to see where I am with regard to following my diet was extremely important to me.  MyFitnessPal has both a smartphone app and a web site that sync with each other.  While the reporting out of MyFitnessPal is limited depending upon the platform, I have high hopes that there is a mechanism whereby I can pull the data out and do my own reporting.  What reports I need I'm not sure, but I'm confident that I will find something I want that MyFitnessPal doesn't provide.
2. A large database of foods.  MyFitnessPal says that they have over 2 million items in their food database.  I believe them.  However, in many cases the foods are duplicated because someone couldn't find the other entry that was in the database.  In some cases, because the information is entered by users, not all of the nutritional information is valid/correct.  I wish there was some way to weight the information and if it is wrong get it removed from the database.  Or, maybe there is and I just haven't seen it.  (I am getting old you know.)
3. A suggested guideline that I could modify.  I wanted to have the ability to change the ratio of carbs/fats/proteins without having to following someone else's prescribed percentages.  Everyone is different.  Everyone has different requirements.  Something that wasn't flexible enough for me to change to meet my criteria was not going to suitable for me in the long term.
4. An enthusiastic community.  The community boards on MyFitnessPal are filled with people who are having issues and need help and they are getting that help by other MyFitnessPal users.  Whether it is just someone to talk to, compare notes with or help with issues, someone is always there to provide assistance.  While I have never been a "social" person, I find myself contributing to the conversation even if it is just to submit a "Proud of you, keep up the good work" type of comment.  Seeing those comments actually helps more than I had originally thought.

So, I had a tool.  Now all I needed to do was use it.