I have been wrestling with sharing this personal information with the world,and my weight is never anything that I like to talk about. Many always want to lose weight, especially after the holidays. It's a month of sugar and food fest and it takes a toll. It's now time to get it under control and maybe if I share it I will have more of a chance to stick to it. My husband Tom is my partner in this life altering endeavor. He wants to lose weight also and we can be each others support.
I think that losing weight is one of the hardest things to do and then keeping it off. A person needs to be in the right frame of mind, not having a lot of turmoil and stress helps. It takes alot of planning. It also takes time and tenacity, to make sure that one gets in some sort of exercise each day. There are many things out there to help document your daily food consumption. 15 years ago there was the fat free rage. I documented with paper and pencil everything that I ate, added the figures up and it worked. But life happened and I eventually went back to my old eating habits and gained the weight back and more.
I know that food needs to be documented because it makes you think about what you are putting in your mouth. The fat, salt, sugar, it makes you know when to stop to meet a goal. I found a great app that is easy and gives you information on the nutritional elements that you need for a healthy body.
You can add friends for support and they can see your exercise, your calories and share the recipes. Every time you log something like a recipe it will automatically go to their inbox. All positive comments. This app is called My Fitness Pal and it is free. Like anything, the more you use it the easier it gets because it keeps a list of foods that you search for and use in your journal.
We have been doing this for a week, since January 1st. Tuesdays are weigh in days and I am thrilled to say that both of us lost 3 pounds each. I really like this app because I have a tendency to have low potassium in my body and it tells me how much I have eaten of potassium each day. I also realized I was not eating enough iron and that could have been a reason why I was tired in the middle of the day along with not getting enough sleep. I am amazed at how fast the sugar allotment gets used up and I can't imagine how much sugar we were eating in December. I have arthritis and deterioration in my knees and they feel so much better since I have not been eating much sugar. My knees are another reason to lose weight, they need a break.
As for exercise, I just walk. It's best for my knees. I have been walking on the treadmill and watching movies. The first one was the older version of Ice Castles. Now I am into the first disc or North and South. It's been enjoyable and today I walked 1 1/2 miles. When classes start next week I will be walking across the campus. Tom got for me this great pocket pedometer. so I can keep track of my exercise. It's very accurate and it just stays in your pocket.
So stop back by on Wednesdays to see how we are doing. Leave me a message of encouragement, cause I am going to need all the help I can get.
