I never thought I would ever “count calories.” I mean, how diet obsessed…I also never thought I would “go on a diet.” I never thought I had a problem with food, we’re friends.
Through high school and college I was very active. Playing water polo, swimming, riding horses. My appetite was also very active. Ask anyone that’s ever played polo…you can eat whatever you want all the time and you’re still hungry. all.the.time.
So my idea of portions and serving sizes was wayyyy outta whack. A single serving of pasta isn’t 5 cups? Lame. I didn’t gain a gigantic amount of weight after I graduated…I just got fluffy. My muscle tone was gone so I noticed my tummy had a little bump…strange, where did that come from?
Fast Forward to Jan 31, 2011. I broke my ankle and was off my feet for 12 weeks! Sure crutches is an awesome (read: horrible) workout but that wasn’t helping the fact that I was depressed and eating Wendy’s French Fries for lunch twice a week. Fail.
I started to get myself back in shape shortly after I moved to Burbank in May, and got the “all clear” from the doctor that I was totally healed. I took spin classes and knew that my bionic ankle needed to get over it and get on board.
In September I realized that I needed to get more serious when I went to see my doctor for my annual exam. I’ve never been one to weigh myself, I don’t even own a scale. So the only time I see my weight is when I go to the doctor. It wasn’t just the number. It was everything about being confined for so many months. I was anxious and edgy. And I knew my diet and exercise needed to change. I’m happy when I exercise. It keeps me sane.
So I decided to sign up for Weight Watchers Online. I liked being able to track my meals on my phone or computer. I also liked that I got a smokin’ deal and got 50% 3 months of the plan. I lost 10lbs. I found counting the points to be tedious and annoying, I also didn’t like that when my deal ended I was going to have to pay $17 a month for the plan. no.thank.you.
In all my Fitness Blog reading I learned about an alternative called My Fitness Pal.
It’s a similar system that allows you to track food, exercise, and weight loss. And it’s FREE!
You enter your meals into the system, and I think the database is better than WW. You can also scan the barcode of any item and it will load it. My favorite part!
I also really like that at the bottom of the page it tracks the breakdown…especially the protein. Since I’m pescatarian I have to work harder to make sure I’m getting enough in my daily diet.
It keeps a running tally of what your remaining calories are for the day.
It takes some extra effort, but when you really know how many calories are in certain items you start to think twice. I’m not depriving myself of things I like, I’m just trying to be better about how MUCH I have.
I’ve started measuring things when I’m cooking. It’s really interesting to compair what you THINK 1 cup of pasta/cereal/rice is compared to what a real MEASURED cup is.
In other related news…W1D2 of C25K done! Wheeee!
Happy Friday :)
The Merfett 