Never, ever did I think MY healthy journey would include counting calories. As I tell my students, never say never. After doing some research, I've discovered that counting calories is not what it used to be. With today's technology, it's so much easier! Basically, this got started because a good friend of mine and her husband were actually concerned that when I started eating better and adding exercise that I might not be eating enough calories for what my body needed to lose weight. Ironic, huh? This actually ties in with some other news I've seen about women who have the "fat gene" and PCOS. Anyway, I digress. After checking out sites such as Livestrong.com and Loseit.com and I found that free websites make tracking calories easy and eye opening. While I think both sites have great information, Loseit is a bit more user friendly for me. Both figure out how many calories you should be eating a day based on your age, weight, height and gender. Both have phone applications if you want to download or if you do not have that type of cell you can enter all your meals via computer. Their database of foods is large so all I have to do is enter in what I eat and how much and it figures out the calories for me! Yeah! Trust me, I hate math. Believe it or not, I also like the accountability of logging in what I eat all day. I may not do this forever, but for now it's important.
I am learning I work best as a grazer. Seriously. I need to eat a little bit all day long. My body and brain function much better this way. I stay happier and more focused and I'm less likely to binge or have rash cravings. I'm fine without traditional "meals" per say. So, I graze and I keep track of everything I munch on. The other cool feature about Loseit.com, for example, is that in addition to adding food, I can log in exercise. It has a big list of exercises to pick from and I can select how long I did it and at what intensity. Based on my age and weight, the program calculates how many calories I burned and logs it for me! Love it.
Every week of this journey I am arming myself with one or two more pieces of knowledge followed by an action. Each small step is important. Here's another example: knowing we eat out at least once a week, I downloaded a few applications that provide nutritional information for many restaurants so I can know ahead of time what to order. I'm not going to deprive myself. I can still eat good food...I just need to be aware. What I sometimes think is the healthy option is not always the best way to go!
As I said in my previous post, I get tired and overwhelmed at times. I feel like I'm a journey that is never ending. In a sense it is. But, at other times, I feel empowered. I'm feeding myself with knowledge and strength. Want to know new exercises, I'll share. Interested in brain food, let me know. Curious about high fiber snacks, I got your back. This is how I keep my magic bag full of new skinny chick treats so I can graze... And now here I am, a math hater, a calculator carrier, counting calories. Thank God for modern technology!
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