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!

Apps, Apps and More Apps!

So I have an Android phone with no phone service, but it does everything else and we have it set up on our wireless network. I have been downloading apps like a mad woman.

You are probably wondering, "What does this have to do with weight loss?" There are dozens and dozens of weight loss, exercise, calorie and point counting apps out there. Some apps cost moolah, but I have been sticking with just the free apps.

One of my favorite apps I downloaded is Restaurant Calorie by Reza Shay. This app has the nutritional facts list for 50 of the most popular fast food restaurants nation-wide. What a great tool for when you are out and about and want to find the healthy choice.

I also downloaded a few different Weight Watcher Points Plus calculators. I've decided to track my calories and use the points system to see how they compare. I will figure out which app I like best and post about it in the near future.

There's also pedometers, exercise workouts and routines, and even Gps software that can track where and how long you ran. If you have a smart phone you should check out some apps that can help you stay on track, or just make it all a little more fun!

Food Journals and Calorie Tracking

So why is keeping a food journal or calorie tracking so important? Because keeping a record of what you consume will tell you a lot about where your specific issue lie. Your calorie consumption might be fine and you need to increase your exercise, or you may find you need to cut back your daily calories with, or with out exercise.

Calorie tracking is a great way to monitor what you are putting in your body on a daily basis. Consider creating a food journal as well, in place of just tracking calories. Track what time you ate each item, how hungry you were at the time, how did you feel when you were eating each item, and how long you felt satisfied from what you ate.

This can help you get an even more in depth look at your habits and can really help break emotional eating cycles. The more you are aware of, the more you can fine tune and make changes where they are needed.

Tracking and logging, admittedly, are time consuming but it is definitely worth the effort, and I promise you will learn something about your eating habits you didn't know before. Honestly, I had no idea how many calories I consumed in an average day, until I spent two weeks keeping track and wow is it an eye opener.

There are some really great tools on the internet for tracking calories, or creating a food journal or log. Some websites offer printable pages for keeping logs, and some websites have fully interactive online calorie trackers that allow you to enter your calories and track your progress all in one place.

Here's a few websites that offer calorie tracking:


My Calorie Counter by Everyday Health

Calorie Count

My Pyramid

There's many options available online and I highly recommend checking out a few sites and trying one out for a while and see what you learn.

One more really great site for calorie tracking is Calorie King, they have an impressive database of nutrition facts for all sorts of foods, whole foods and pre-packaged and restaurant foods. They do offer paid programs and services for weight loss, but the actual food database is free to use and is a great resource.