My Fitness Pal = My Hero

Holy Moly, it's been awhile. And don't you worry....plenty of folks have managed to call me out on my silence in the blogosphere. My brain has been working but my motivation and drive to actually create and execute full-fledged ideas into read-worthy posts have been lacking. However, I've journaled some moments over the last several weeks and I think I'm back and ready to share.

I don't make New Years Resolutions but I have vowed to take better care of myself in 2012 so that I will hopefully be a more pleasant person to be around, more fulfilled by life, and just generally happier. As you know, this blog is supposed to keep me on track with my 50 pound weight loss goal and so far, I'm not even close. I am, however, enjoy the attention to health and my actions that it has provided to me.

So far in 2012 I've managed to stick with my initial goal of logging my food and activity through My Fitness Pal (referred to as MFP from here on out..) both online and through the app on my iPhone. For those of you who are unfamiliar with MFP, it is a free....that's right, FREE....online and mobile tool for tracking your calorie consumption and activity level. You basically enter your current weight, weight loss goal, and how much weight you want to lose each week (max of 2lbs/wk) and it tells you how many calories you are allowed. When you track your exercise or daily activity, calories are dumped back into your allotted amount for the day. The food and exercise database is EXTENSIVE and it's been extremely eye-opening for me. It wasn't until I actually had to track everything that I realized how much little stuff that I was consuming throughout the day. It really really adds up. Also, knowing that if I go and workout, I will be "allowed" to eat more really motivates me. I'd like to say I'm motivated by how great a hard workout feels but the truth is, this lady likes to eat.

There are lots of other tools on MFP that I have yet to use and I am sure they are also extremely useful. Go and check it out and let us know what you think!

Until next time...