Calories In, Calories Out

Posted by in Blog, Eating | 3 comments

Several months ago as I got dressed for a business dinner, I felt disgruntled. My clothes were not fitting well. Not horrible, but not well. As happened with Laurel, after I stopped nursing Violet (which for both voracious babies was particularly handy in helping me drop baby weight) I didn’t reduced my intake accordingly. I subsequently was developing a cozy layer of padding.

After that dinner (during which I ate more burrata than I probably should have), I decided to stop grousing and do something about it. I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app to experiment with tracking my calories in, calories out. I didn’t want to get obsessive about it, but I felt like I needed a reality check on portion size and what I was eating.

And it was, I dare say, life changing.

Even though at some level I knew that I shouldn’t be mindlessly grazing, I was shocked to see how quickly snacking on my kids leftovers and indulging in dessert every day racked up the calories. Because the numbers were right in front of me (and plugging in my intake was a constant reminder), I started eating better and being more mindful of portion control. Using the app also inspired me to be more active. Because the thing is, I’m not into deprivation and the days where I would go for a run (even a short 10-15 one) would earn me back calories so I could have a treat. Or a big burrito.

If you’ve been struggling with extra padding and are looking to do something about it, I highly recommend trying out this (free!) app. I used it for a couple of weeks just to become more mindful about my daily eating patterns and portions and then I periodically use it for a day or two if I feel as if I’ve fallen off the wagon and have been indulging in too many treats.

And yeah, my clothes fit again. Yay!

3 Comments

  1. Marie / October 11, 2012

    I too have My Fitness Pal. It’s a great app for tracking. Sometimes it’s shocking just how many calories we are putting in!!

  2. Heather / October 17, 2012

    You guys, I want a treat right now. I’ll get the app tomorrow.

  3. Heather / October 17, 2012

    Alright. I signed up.

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