My Fitness Pal!

Hey y’all… we’ve been pretty busy up in here, so it’s hard to keep up with this thing. It’s kind of at the bottom of the to-do list. Whoops.

I haven’t seen even Willow in 3 days! Le sigh.

On the plus side, Shannon took her first baby steps yesterday! She took about half a dozen to from her Auntie Lainey to my Mom. I’m a proud Momma! She hasn’t seemed interested in replicating the adventure for her father today, but I’m sure that as she gets more comfortable she’ll be happy to show off her moves. I was honestly hoping that she would wait until after we moved, because the last thing we need is for her to be MORE mobile than she already is while we’re in the middle of the whirlwind that is moving our entire household 900 miles away, but alas, I don’t think that there is any avoiding it.

Speaking of being mobile, I decided that now that Shannon is getting started up and running, and Willow is in a good place, I really need to start getting focused about what I’m eating and doing for exercise. I’m not overweight, but in no way, shape, or form am I fit.

So. I started (and will be making Mike start too…hehe) a My Fitness Pal account. I didn’t do it to lose weight, because I’m comfortable where I am now, but it’s a handy food and exercise diary, that I can track either on my computer or on the iPhone. You can add ‘friends’ and join groups of other to help motivate. each other. It’s pretty handy!

To start, you plug in your current height and weight, then your weight goal with how quickly you want to lose (or gain! There is also an option to help you maintain your current weight). It tells you how many calories you should aim for each day, and then subtracts the calories that you use during exercise.

It also breaks down WHAT you are eating, so that you can see what you need more/less of. For instance, yesterday I went over my goal in both total fats and sugars. Ok. Fine. Fiber too. SEE! It holds you accountable.

. One of the other things that I like is that is lists not just the food, but the brand. So I can’t weasel out by just saying I had a cheeseburger, when really it was a Big Mac. I can use it as a quick break down of food for Shannon as well, so I know how much she’s getting of what she needs when I make her a meal. Bonus!

It’s a great tool, and we’ll see how it turns out. Often enough I seem to get gung-ho about these sorts of things, and then the excitement just kind of peters out until I forget about what I was excited over in the first place. I really want to start focusing on a healthy life style, not only as a good example for Shannon but also for Willow. It’s not fair to ask her to carry my behind around if we both aren’t in great shape.

My only thing, with this app is that while I can add things like, doing chores, into my diary and it will give me calorie credit for the exercise, I’ve been doing chores for so long, it isn’t really an effective workout. I almost feel like it doesn’t count towards my fitness goals.

So whose with me, y’all? If you want to join in on the fun, leave a comment with your username or be my friend! My username is CateJ974. I’ve opened up my diaries to the public, so y’all can get an idea of how it works. The best part… it’s FREE!

I also get a lot of my workouts from this (www.fitnessista.com) website. She is a GREAT read, and a GREAT resource for quick, effective workouts. She has the most adorable little girl as well.