Showing posts with label myfitnesspal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label myfitnesspal. Show all posts
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Calorie Calculator - if you really want to lose weight
If you've read anything of mine previous to now (considering I published my first post about 10 minutes ago, you probably haven't) you know that I have lost weight simply by counting calories - and not so much worried about <i>what</i> I'm eating. To track my calorie intake, I use MyFitnessPal. I found out how many calories I should be eating in order to lose weight by punching in my height and weight, and telling MFP I wanted to drop 2lbs/wk. For those of you who don't use MFP because you don't want to sign up, or don't have a smartphone (MFP has a Droid, Blackberry and an iPhone app) and don't want to have to login to a website to log your calories every day, you can use FreeDieting.com's calorie calculator to find out how many calories you should be consuming per day in order to lose weight. MFP is what I will always suggest, but I know that something like MFP may not be for everyone. You should note, however, that as your weight changes (and it will!), so should your calorie intake - and when you enter your new weight on MFP, your calorie intake will automatically be updated. If you don't use MFP, you should check back after you've dropped a few pounds to see if a new calorie amount is suggested.
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.
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
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.
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)