Slowly but Surely Part 2

The next part for getting healthy is my diet. I didn’t eat horribly before but I had no sense of portion control. I’d eat until I got full but my sense of full was almost painful. I needed to get my portion sizes and calories under control.

I’m using the My Fitness Pal app to track what I eat. As I said, I’m not changing what I eat but actually keeping track of the calories and measuring my portions. While this part takes a bit of time, I’m finding it well worth the effort. Since I’m making myself workout, I don’t want to blow that by eating too much or what was the ducking point?

I like this app because it’s easy!! I can type in the calories, look up foods from the huge list, or scan the barcode on a label. Easy Peasy! I add my workouts and it tracks my steps so I get the benefit of those calories too. I can also plan my meals out in advance so I know how many calories I’ll use in a day so I can plan for my glass of wine (or 2) or my bowl of ice cream. A girl’s gotta have priorities!!

I’m not cutting anything out of my diet, I’m just paying attention to how much I actually eat. I’m in week 4 and still going strong. Tracking stuff hasn’t gotten on my nerves, shockingly. It’s almost turned into a game for me to get the numbers to balance.

Another item that’s helped with tracking is Skinnytaste (skinnytaste.com). I talked about why I love Gina and her site in an earlier post (go check it out!!). She gives you nutrition information for all of her recipes. But wait…there’s more 😉 Her recipes are healthier versions of some classic dishes. So I’m getting food I love but for less calories. Dude – that’s a win!!

I can also track my water consumption on the app. I don’t drink nearly enough but I’m getting much better. The app keeps my conscious of my fluid intake so I’m drinking more than I normally would.

Finally, the app has some accountability built in too. It notifies when I haven’t logged my meals. That notification helps when I’m busy working and can get distracted. And if you really want to, you can connect with other to share your information for the day. I haven’t gotten to that step just yet 😉

Those are my reasons for using and liking the app. How do you track? What works for you? Should I add anything to this routine?