My friend dropped me an email with the above line and I replied, "Me too!" ...well, I'm not on WW myself, but me too as in I'm committed to losing weight by following a sound exercise program and nutritionally balanced eating plan.
More and more I'm convinced that each of us must find our own way of losing weight and getting in shape. Generalized answers work up to a point. A good low cal recipe is helpful, general guidelines for healthy eating and exercise help. But a "one-size-fits-all" program does not work for me...believe me, I've tried most of them, one at a time!I found an online program that does for me what WW-online used to do when I belonged to it. It's called FitDay and it's $29.95 to buy and download. I didn't want to be at the mercy of my internet to access my online journal/calorie tracker with WW-online...so it was good finding this program. This is their site if you're interested in checking it out, http://www.fitday.com [note: neither CCF nor I make any money if you purchase the program. I mention it in this post because it's a program that's actually helping me figure out how to track my weight loss]. The program tracks not only what you eat but how much you exercise and the effect that various types of exercises have on your overall plan of getting healthy and losing weight.
Other tracking programs I've joined in the past made me feel like I was being denied. I reached my daily points or calorie limit too early in the day and then felt like giving up. But FitDay is awesome because it clocks not just calories eaten but charts them compared to calories I planned to eat and also against calories I burn just by being, just by breathing, doing absolutely nothing, being a total couch potato, which I really am not, even though I list myself as sedentary on the program because I work in front of a computer 16 hours/day. So when I eat more than my allotted number of calories, with FitDay I can see that even with what I ate I actually burned more by breathing (background calories burned through digestion, sleeping, just being alive) than I ate. On those days I then know I will at least maintain for that day. This knowledge keeps me from giving up. The picture gets even better the days I exercise so I'm making an effort to walk every day and plan on introducing strength training to my weekly routine real soon. If you're lucky enough to belong to a gym then keeping an exercise routine will be easier for you than it is for me. After all, why would you pay monthly fees and not take advantage of everything the gym has to offer?
I'm staying with the calorie intake that FitDay recommends for a healthy weight loss program, one where you do not lose more than 2 pounds a week. I have started walking 2 miles several times a week. The program tracks my water intake, fiber, fat, and it also tracks my moods so I can then generate reports that show what mood I'm in when eating. It tracks reason I eat and I'm discovering (duh!) that a good 50% of my eating is "triggered by food." I'd like to get to the point where most of my eating is triggered by hunger and not food or emotions, etc.
By and large, the most encouraging thing about this program is its one-time price of $29.95, the fact that it's always available in my computer whether or not my internet access is working or not, AND the wonderful way it charts Calories Eaten vs Calories Burned on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Since I bought the program I've consistently eaten less than the number of calories my body normally burns. So it makes sense that I'm loosing weight, slowly but surely.
FitDay's website is full of other good information on weight loss, nutrition, and diets. If you just want to use their program online, then it's totally free. I did find that having it in the computer allows for faster inputting of foods eaten, etc. But it's nice they offer it for free off of their website.
I'm going to build a set of resources and make them a part of the "MyDiet4Life" program that's helping me get healthier. I'd love to hear what's working and not working for you. Blog your ideas alongside mine.
Taco Bell: heaven comes with a high price tag!!! I had lunch yesterday at Taco Bell and it was absolutely delish! YUMMY!!!! Then sticker shock hit me when I came to the office and logged onto my FitDay program. My delicious stuffed steak burrito, nachos, and the to-die-for apple-caramel empanada were a whooping 1,400 calories all together. My daughter laughed at me, "Mom, don't you know the only way you can eat at ANY fast food place is to order their broiled chicken whatever, hold everything, including the bun?"
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! Thanks so much for posting. It's helpful for me to see what you're doing that is working... a little protein several times a day, lots of veggies & water, some fruit and all in moderation. Hhhhmmmm.... do you count calories at all? or points? I was on Weight Watchers online for a while and there I learned that my eyes can't be trusted when it comes to portion control. They talk me into thinking 4 ounces of cheese is really only 2. ha!
ReplyDeleteI like the simple balance you mention for every meal. I've started using smaller plates for my meals so they don't look empty of food. Isn't that sad? Isn't it true that your stomach is the size of your closed fist? So why do my bad eating habits tell me I've got to fill a dinner plate to overflowing? In my case I feel this fear of starving came from me being traumatized as a little girl growing up in Cuba. After Fidel came into power food was very scarce. My parents bought things in the black market all the time so we never really lacked food but the specter of the possibility of it not being available I know did affect me. You'd think that now that I've lived in the "land of milk and honey" all my grown up years I would have gotten over that, wouldn't you?
I agree with you... it's a struggle, at least for me it is. But I don't want to give up. Posts such as yours encourage me to keep on going.