Back on Track

As much as I hate to admit it, I think I am going to have to be a life-long calorie tracker. Around the beginning of this year I stopped entering my daily food and exercise in Myfitnesspal- not because I had stopped eating healthily, but rather because I am a creature of habit and was eating a lot of the same foods every day and since I already had the calorie count of those foods in my head, I figured I would be fine.  For most of January, I was pretty consistent- however, in February I started to notice that I was not feeling the same in my clothes or that my body felt just a little bit different.   It was not that I had abandoned my healthy eating habits – I was still eating mostly clean and organic and nutritious foods- but rather that I was no longer measuring out my portion sizes or tracking the calories. Combine this with the fact that my birthday, my boyfriend’s birthday, Valentine’s Day, and my girls vacation with Lexy and her mom were all in February- let’s just say that it was not difficult for an extra 7 lbs to creep back on.  

I will be honest- at first this really bummed me out.  I love the feeling when the scale is going down – the sight of it going up is definitely not fun. My very first inclination was to fall back into old patterns- I would tell myself, “I will get on the scale next week after I have been back on track for a week.”  But if I have learned one thing during this weight loss journey (and in life in general), it is that ignoring the problem only makes  it worse- and I am bound and determined that I am going to be proactive and take care of these extra pounds NOW instead of LATER- because 5-7 lbs is a lot easier to deal with than 20! 

So, as tedious as it may be sometimes, I am going back to tracking- for the following reasons:

•  When I track, I am more diligent about measuring out my foods and sticking to portion sizes.  It is so easy to have an extra bowl of cereal, only to realize that you just wasted 600 calories on GRANOLA!
•  Knowing that I have to write down everything that I eat makes me think twice about all of the extra nibbles or handfuls of things- I am less likely to grab a handful of almonds if I know that I am going to have to go online and track those 110 calories.  Those small little bites or snacks add up fast! 
• When I am tracking, I am way more likely to ask myself whether I am really hungry or whether I just feel hungry because I am tired or stressed- because I know if I eat then I have to write it down!
• Tracking helps me feel like I am in control- that I have a plan that I am working towards and executing on- and I am much more relaxed and confident when I am working towards something than when things seem chaotic.

Both Lexy (lexylily) and I (carrie2139) use myfitnesspal- I think it is the easiest and most comprehensive calorie tracking system- and it is free! Feel free to follow us as we recommit to daily tracking- and if you use myfitnesspal, please leave us your username in the comments- that way we can be motivated by you as well!