MyFitnessPal - My Savior! ...or... If I can do it, so can you!

People are always shocked when they ask me how I lost my weight and I simply tell them "By counting calories....".  Many of them say "So you are just exercising now or...?" to which I always reply "Nope, not exercising at all - just counting calories.".  Of course, many "health nuts" out there wouldn't recommend not working out - and yes, I do fully intend on doing so once I drop more weight (more on that later) - but right now, I have made nothing besides counting calories my number 1 priority - and so far it has treated me quite well.  I began using MyFitnessPal on May 13 - at the time of writing this, I'm down around 25-30 pounds.  For those who aren't good with math or calendars, that's less than 2 months - about 7 weeks.  For those wondering if I'm 400lbs, no, I'm not.  The last time I weighed (which was extremely rare) before I started dieting (in April), I was 238 (fully clothed) - this was at my son's doctors office.  I just checked the other day and found out that I was actually 241 during my last doctor's visit.  Yesterday I was at 212 (again, fully clothed) - for a total loss of 29 pounds!  I can thanks this all to my newfound will power and of course, MyFitnessPal.
MyFitnessPal, or "MFP" as its abbreviated by it's many, many forum members, contains thousands of foods built-in so its easy to add the calories that you eat.  If you want to track other things like sodium, carbs, vitamins, cholesterol, and so on - you can do that too!  I spent the first few days, or perhaps even week, with a calorie allowance of 1800.  Then, I discovered that I had the default setting of losing 1lb per week set.  1lb???  No way!  I don't have 50 weeks to lose this weight!  If I don't start seeing some major changes quick, I'll lose my fire and will very quickly.  I changed the setting to the max (2lbs per week), and it dropped me down to 1630 calories.  Still very doable now that I have found some awesome snacks that are perfect for a calorie-counting-dieter.  Once I entered my first weight loss 2 weeks ago of 19lbs, it dropped me down to 1510 calories!  Fortunately at 1630 calories I very often had leftovers, so 1510 has not been too difficult for me, and it continues to work!  The doctor's office visit I mentioned earlier, I was down another 7-8lbs from only 3 weeks ago.  I am currently at around 207 (without clothes), but I won't be satisfied until I hit 185-195.  When I reach my goal, I will be the smallest I've been, literally, since I can remember.  I don't think I've fit into pants smaller than 38 since I've been 16 (I'm 26 now), and I do believe next time I try on some 36s they may just fit - and I may shed some manly, manly tears (not really).
I sincerely, sincerely hope FIRST, that I will actually stick with this whole blogging thing,  SECOND, I sincerely, sincerely hope I can inspire you to start taking care of YOURSELF too.  Trust me everyone - at the time of writing this, I am 26 years old - and have been overweight since I was about 13 years old.  Weight issues are in my blood - but it's time to stop making excuses.  I do not come from a family of fitness  nuts - I do not come from a family full of fit people in general (I'm just saying it doesn't come naturally, not that I don't have fit family members).  I saw everyone on TV who lost weight and thought "That's not me!" and I would literally go to the store and buy pants with "room to grow" in them so they would last me for a long time and I wouldn't have to get upset when I "grew" out of them within a few months.
You can do it, and we can do it together!  Booyah!

CNET article about MFP

MyFitnessPal iPhone app screenshot