We'll have to see if that title actually becomes a regular occurrence (given my inability to consistently blog as it is - regardless of theme!) but it is at least appropriate for today!
Starting on Father's Day, my family and I embarked on a commitment to eat healthier and exercise regularly - an interesting take on a Father's Day gift, but we want Daddy healthy for years to come, so a group effort seems appropriate. Plus everyone could always stand to learn a little more about portion size and get into an active routine!
I personally have never enjoyed the idea of being on a 'diet' -- I played soccer almost every day of my high school career, averaging 2-3 hours of running, playing, and drills each day. So it goes without saying that I ate what I wanted and never felt the consequences. And I'm not one for self-motivation (unless it involves crafting or architecture) and thus getting myself to stick to a workout plan during college has proved to be a challenge. And I am most certainly not a fan of running (hello, soccer - that is running with a purpose. there is a ball. and a net to score it in... but cross country? running for long distances?? that used to be our punishment for playing poorly!) and it doesn't help that I have more of a sprinters build than a distance. Oh how I wish I had inherited my mother's long legs!
But enough about me. The driving force behind this post is a gem of an app that I have become addicted to. It is probably well-known, but since it's new to me, we'll pretend you haven't heard of it. This awesome iPhone app? Lose It! (the excited embellishment is their own)
Lose It! is a weight-loss app where you enter your personal stats (age, height, weight, etc) and put in your goal weight. It then determines what you need to do to reach that goal - limiting your calories (to a healthy minimum) for a certain amount of weeks, and giving you a projected date as to when you will achieve your goal weight!
Lose It! tracks the calories you've eaten, allowing you to choose foods from a vast library with everything from grocery items to restaurants (um - did you know an order of boneless buffalo wings from Applebee's is over 1,200 calories? Yeah, me neither! And don't even think about that blue cheese!). You can also create foods when you can't find what you're looking for, and you have the caloric information on the box - a common practice for our family!
You can also include your exercise (from yet again a vast library, ranging from running to mowing the lawn) and you earn back calories for that day. There have been multiple occasions where I actually needed to go for a run in order to be able to eat dinner and stay under my calorie limit... talk about motivation!
But perhaps the best feature of this app is that you can 'friend' people and go through this weight loss journey together (read: creating competition between my dad and I as to who has stayed further under the calorie limit, who worked out more, etc etc)
Two weeks in, I am feeling much better - less tired, less distain for my body, and for once I am actually excited about eating healthy and consistently going for a run (it's even gotten easier to run - it's been a long time since I could honestly say that!) For me, this is less about weight loss, and more about re-learning how to eat and hydrate and hold myself responsible for my own body.
It might not be for everyone, but I am completely enamored - and it's making me feel lovely :)
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