Hello Calories, I See We Meet Again...

Today, I have started counting calories again. While it is time consuming and a little bit annoying at times, I saw great results the last go round. Not only did I lose a significant amount of weight when I was counting calories (and exercising) but I learned a lot about portion sizes and about healthy and non healthy foods. I started actively comparing items I purchased based on the nutritional facts and making healthier choices.

Overall it gave me a much better sense of what I was putting in my body. The nutrition facts on products can be scary, and I have literally tossed products back on the shelf after reading them, thinking to myself, there is no way I am ever going to eat that. If this is your first attempt at counting calories beware it can be a little shocking at first!

Personally, I use the Calorie Counter app by MyFitnessPal on my android phone, however there are dozens of different apps and websites available for you to choose from. I like MyFitnessPal because you can track as little or as much as you like including weight, workouts, and more. It also has a neat little feature where the app tells you that if you do this good everyday you should be down to so many pounds in 2 weeks.

So here is back to reading nutrition facts and logging every sip and bite, may it be well worth the effort!

Getting back on the Wagon

I haven't posted in a year!! It was probably one of the roughest years I have ever had and things seemed to have calmed down now, so it is time to get back on the wagon. At one point I was down a total of 51 pounds, however I have put about 5 of it back on in the last 6 months or so. Now it's time to finish what I started and get myself healthy and in shape. Lately my eating and exercising habits have been less than stellar, but they are improving. I started slowly adding cardio workouts back into my life a month ago and yesterday did a mile in sixteen and a half minutes on our elliptical. Think it is time to start counting calories again too!

Stress and Weight Loss

As we all know, stress can have a real impact on weight loss. For some people stress can lead to emotional eating, or cause someone to lose weight from not eating.

This last week I was dealing with the latter. After the dissolution of my 8 year relationship with my former fiance, I lose 8lbs in one week. This is NOT healthy. Believe me I was thrilled to see the numbers, but it's time to get back to eating right and getting back to my exercise regimen.

I have lost a total of 34 pounds now, and dropped my BMI by over 4 points. Let's see what some exercise does to those numbers!!

Past failure, future sucess.

Finally worked out for the first time in over a month. Not beating myself up, glad I am getting back into the swing of things. I've lost 28 lbs now and feel great, but I wonder how much I would have lost if I had exercised the whole time. Legs are a bit sore since it's been awhile but I feel good in general and that's what matters. Have also developed a daily habit of actually taking my vitamins which helps too. So keep on trucking, don't let your past failures stop you from future sucess.

Thank You Readers!!

I just want to say thank you for reading my blog, and being with me as I try and create a human transformation. To date we have had over 1,000 hits on my site and it thrills me that people out there are enjoying the topics I'm covering.

To date I have lost 26 pounds and they keep falling off each week. I hope you readers have found tips and suggestions to help you as well. If anyone has a specific topic or subject they would like to know more about please let me know. Suggestions are always welcome.

Again thank you to my readers, and I hope you stick with me!

Calorie Counting vs. Weight Watchers Points Plus

A few weeks ago, I decided I would try counting points+ and calories and see how I felt about the two. I will start off by saying I HATED trying to calculate points. I have a handy little app on my phone that did most of the work for me and I still felt it was a pain.

I only counted WW Points+ for a few days, but it just irritated me. I was, however, not irritated by simply counting calories. For me, this was just much simpler, and admittedly, I may not be getting as much information about what I eat, or percentages; but the results still speak for themselves.

I have lost 5lbs in the last 2 weeks, counting calories alone. I have slacked off on working out but still the scale dips lower and lower. I have now lost nearly one third of weight I am striving to lose and my pants keep getting looser.

If Weight Watchers isn't your thing, give calorie counting a shot. I know it takes some effort but if you track as you eat, but this will help keep you from over eating during the day. When I see I only have 500 calories left at the end of the day for dinner, I plan a dinner that's right around 500 calories.

Try my favorite Calorie Counting App! Available on the iPhones, Blackberries and Android Phones.

Ghirardelli Chocolate and Caramel Squares

In my quest to lose weight I am trying to cut back on my sweets. Finding treats that are low in calories and still leave me feeling like I got my sugar fix are hard to find.

Yesterday, I tried the new Ghirardelli chocolate and caramel squares. It was a variety back that features a dark chocolate with caramel, a milk chocolate with caramel and a milk chocolate with a a vanilla caramel.

Oh My Goodness! So delicious! They just melt in your mouth. The vanilla caramel was my favorite, I tries the regular caramel in milk chocolate too. I don't like dark chocolate very much, and usually only when accompanied by mint, like a Klondike bar or Junior Mints.

The bag specifies that 3 squares is a serving, and consists of 220 calories. However, these puppies were so sweet I was able to eat one, and like half an hour later try another one. Therefore, I had two small 75 calorie chocolates :)

If you need to keep a small, utterly rich and delicious treat around, grab a bag of these. Just remember to eat one at a time, and savor it so you don't devour the whole bag.