Hitting My Stride

Well folks, I am 5 days off sodas, 4 days into my diet/lifestyle change, and 3 days since weigh in #1. It is going pretty well. I have seriously cut my carbs, and am instead filling up on lean protein and veggies, a few of which I kind of like. Today was a bit rough because my planning still needs work and I didn't have a good between meal option to keep my metabolism going and my stomach from grumbling, but I haven't really been hungry otherwise. Don't get me wrong; I am not on Atkins and I refuse to avoid carbs like the plague, but so many of them are sugars and I have been focusing mainly on excising those from my diet while retaining high fiber and whole grains. I still miss the sodas, but the headaches are pretty much gone, and with a little math I realized that I was drinking on average 1000 or so calories a day. If 3500 calories is a pound of body fat that is two pounds a week. It is also about $20 or so dollars a week saved, so all around I feel great about my decision.

Tools, Redux

I talked last time about some of the things I had purchased to aid me on my journey, but I left out some important stuff. The biggest tool I forgot, and one that is rapidly becoming my best tool, is my iphone.

Specifically I have found two great apps that help me stay on target and keep track of what I am putting in my body. The first app is "Lose It". The app does many things that help keep me accountable. It counts calories, but it does it in a way that keeps it from being incredibly difficult, thereby making sure I actually do it. It has a large database of supermarket foods and ingredients and restaurant dishes from many of the most popular fast food or casual dining chains. If anything is not in the database and you have the nutritional facts you can add it to the app permanently. Once something is in you can pull up the item in the future. The app also calculates a rough approximation of your BMR, the basal metabolic rate or how many calories your body burns just by living, and adjusts it to reflect the average (i.e. sedentary) American lifestyle. With a simple selection of a weekly weight loss goal the app sets a daily calorie target. The app also has a database of exercises which can reduce your caloric impact for the day. Eat less than that and you lose weight. That's science. The best part of the app though is the price. It is the most popular health and fitness app on itunes and it is absolutely free.

The other app is also free and is as simple as it gets. It is called "8" and it is a countdown clock for how many glasses of water you have a day. Previously it only had eight little animated water glasses for you to count down, hence the name, but now you can have as many as twelve and that is where I set it. It is simple, and like so many works of simple genius it works like a charm.

I don't have anything pithy to end it with so I will ask you to keep up the comments and support. It may be the narcissistic actor in me, but the support (or attention) really helps. Thanks.