My Fitness Pal

Tomorrow night will bring about a lot of New Year's resolutions, one of the most popular is to lose weight and get healthier.  I purposely decided not to make a resolution and instead started on a fitness plan about a month ago.  I decided to count calories and to choose high fiber foods.  I also hired a personal trainer to help me be "accountable".  I work out with him twice a week.  These workouts focus on weights and strengthening exercises.  I also do cardio exercise six days a week and take just one day off.


To help track my calories, exercise and amount of water I drink, I've been using a free food tracking application called "My Fitness Pal".  My daughter, Holly told me about it; her mother-in-law is using it and she's had quite a bit of success in losing weight.  It's available as an Android application on my cell phone and online.  (I'm not sure if it's available on the IPhone but I would imagine it is.)  It's a simple way to track what you eat and helps you stay within your calorie range in order to lose weight.  It seems to have quite a large database of foods and if it doesn't have a particular food, you can add it to the database.


I am the world's leading expert on diets and exercise plans as I've tried just about all of them.  I was most successful over the years on Weight Watchers and I am using a lot of the food knowledge that I obtained while on WWs at various times throughout the past 30 years.  But now, I'm focusing more on whole grains and high fiber foods, protein and limiting sweets and cheeses (and wine, too).  I know exercise can't be an every now and then proposition.  No, even my doctor told me I needed to exercise six days a week!


So, I realized that I had no excuse.  I could not continue to complain about my weight and not do what needs to be a part of my daily life.  There is no way around it...exercise must become a part of my daily activity.  It's not easy but it's a must!  I look at it like it's my job.  There were days that I didn't feel like going to work, but I did.  Just as I was a responsible employee, I know I'm responsible for my own health.  There are no quick fixes, no magic pills or supplements.  Once I made up my mind that it takes consistent, hard work to succeed, my whole attitude changed and I've made a permanent lifestyle change--not a January resolution!  


At the bottom of this blog, you can follow my progress with the My Fitness Pal bar graph.  And, if any of you decide to use the My Fitness Pal application yourself, add me as your "friend" and we can help each other as we move on in our health and fitness journey for life!