Fooling Myself

You know I love my new app for iPad, MyFitnessPal. It has been a real eye opener for me. I have been working in the weight loss and wellness field for several years and thought I couldn't learn anything new..I was so wrong ( I'm choking again...that seems to happening a lot lately)!   Two things struck me right away when I started using my app so I'll have to write this in two parts. Part 1 is called "I need to take my vitamins!"

I've always been hit or miss when it comes to taking vitamins. I keeps them in a kitchen cabinet and when I open it I'll take them! The operative phrase here being "when I open it!". If I feel a cold coming on, I'll take my vitamins. If someone reminds me, I'll take my vitamins. I've always thought I was OK because for the most part I eat very well. I eat my veggies. I eat fish. I eat a spinach salad almost every day. I'm good. Or so I thought.

After a week of food journaling on my new app, I clicked on the nutrients icon and low and behold...I was DEFICIENT. The app calculated everything I had eaten for the week and gave me the nutritional profile and then had the nerve to compare it to the USDA recommended amounts of key vitamins and minerals. Yup, I came up short. Not just in one area either. I was missing calcium. I was missing fiber. I was missing vitamin D among a few.  So much for that daily spinach salad.

So now I'm not just an app convert. I'm a vitamin convert also. I've taken my Total Family Healthcare vitamins out of the cabinet and put them on the counter where I can see them. And take them. Every day!  This is something so many of us want to do, and somehow it just gets away from us.  Don't let it.

Build It

We all have goals, right? Or at least we should. Goals help keep us focused on what we want, which is a good thing...sometimes. I've had weight loss goals since...well, since forever. An endless parade of New Year's resolutions, swimsuit seasons, high school reunions, the list doesn't end. The goal is always the same. Lose weight. I've wondered what I would work for if not for losing weight?! I've had to revamp my goals and my thought process to get off the weight obsessed bus. Trust me, it has been a process.

The first thing I did was minimize my goals. Of course I still wanted to fit into my high school jeans and look fabulous but that goal was rather daunting. I've switched to small manageable pieces. For example, for my daughters choir performance on March 1st I would like to be two pounds less so I can sit comfortably in my jeans and not cut off my air supply...because you know that gym is going to be hot and crowded!!! This kind of goal I can manage. Plus I get to pat myself on the back on March 1st because I'll be successful. AAH Success. How sweet it is!

Not only did I make my goals smaller but I've had to dive into the byproduct.  What?!  Let me explain. If my ultimate goal is to fit into my high school jeans and look fabulous, the byproducts of that goal would be; a good fitness routine,  eating wholesome foods and getting decent rest etc. Instead of setting my goals on the weight, I set my goals on the byproducts. Thinking small, manageable pieces again, my goals are; exercise 3 times a week (mostly), get to bed by 10:30 at night (mostly), eliminate junk food (mostly).  You get the picture.

I am simply building the background set for the best version of me.  Once I get the background details built...I figure the best version of me will be in my high school jeans and looking fab.  It is a building process, a project.  But on this project I get to pat myself on the back for all of my successes and take the focus off the weight. So try it.  Build a better you.

Diet Tech

I'm a bit tech challenged.  So it goes without saying that I don't have a smart phone and all the doodads that go with it.  Yeah, I said doodads.  I am so out of it but my keen sense of denial allows me to call it retro...or old school:)  I turned 45 last week and my sweetheart of a husband gave me an Ipad for my birthday.  Well, for a tech nerd this was the equivalent of getting a vacuum cleaner.  "What am I suppose to do with this?"  I said this to myself, of course.

OMG.  Within 24 hours I was converted.  Crazy.  I am app mad.  For all of you that are like me (tech stunted), an app is a program you to download to your device to help you with....well, with whatever.  There is an app for EVERYTHING!  There is even an app for managing your apps.  I love it.  My new favorite is My Fitness Pal.  It's free.  They even have it on the web.  Myfitnesspal.com.  You KNEW it had to be a health and nutrition app, right?

First I'd like to say to all my tech savvy friends out there, I know I'm about 3 years behind and this is old news.  Diet apps are everywhere.  I know.  I just didn't think they could help ME!  I consider myself conscientious and diligent about what I eat.  I AM conscientious and diligent about what I eat.  But wow, what a difference having an online food journal makes. 

I am all about the food journal.  Every time we give a patient a food journal to fill out for the week, they nearly always lose weight.  It works.  But writing out a food journal can be time consuming and frustrating.  But with my new app it's a snap.  It has all types of food to click on, from restaurant selections to grocery items.  It adds them to your daily log and keeps track of calories and nutrients for the day and for the week.  It also includes exercise selections and tells you how many calories you burn for each and adds them to your daily calorie allowance.  Who knew?  Well, everyone but me apparently!

So I was wrong.  (I'm choking as I say those words!)  There is an app for everyone...even me.