#trackingcalories

Question of the week.

So, the next installment in this breathless series...

A couple of friends and I decided to change what we ate, exercise, and track our progress using the LoseIt app. LoseIt's cool because you can add friends and see each other's progress. You can leave encouraging notes and also GRILL your "friends" when you see they're slacking! If you're unfamiliar with it, basically it justs counts your calories. You can enter food calories and calories burnt working out. The bottom line is that it totally schooled me on what I was eating.

I'll talk about eating in this post. Next time I'll talk more about exercise.

This is what the log page looks like: 

At the beginning I had a super hard time keeping my calories where they needed to be to meet my goal (initially, to lose 1.5 lbs each week so I could get back to my wedding weight). But I understand how shrinking and stretching your stomach work so I knew it would only be a matter of time before smaller portions would fill me up. Of course, within a few weeks I was able to eat less and not want to punch a hole in the wall.

But I was never in this just to get skinny. Yes, I have a goal weight. But my focus is more on being fit. Specifically, I want to be STRONG. I want to make the most of my mid-20's hot body! I want to be as strong as I can be without this taking over my life. There's a difference between creating a new lifestyle and letting fitness take over my life. I want the former.

I've learned a lot in the ten(ish) weeks since starting this. I've learned not to demonize any food groups. There's not any one thing that I don't touch unless it's super gross or I already didn't like it. I do eat less rice, potatoes and wheat products thanbefore. I've reduced my sugar. I still have a sweet tooth but I've found other ways to satisfy it. There are some great frozen yogurts and a protein shake sometimes seems just as good as ice cream. I also have an amazing recipe for skinny brownies that are so packed with protein that you can eat them all day and not feel bad. 

One major change is the amount of protein I aim for. I've always said that you can't have a bad day when you start it out with eggs. Now, I've amped up how many eggs I eat and I usually discard most (if not all) of the egg yolks. With the right seasoning, egg whites are freaking delicious. I've added in protein shakes now that I understand their purpose. Beans, chicken, and fish are my friends. I eat meat more often than I used to, but it's in the place of the carbs and starches I used to fill up on. I try to eat strategically-- like what will keep me fuller longer and build my muscles back up after a workout. 

Sidenote: Throughout this process I've been very thankful for my cooking skills (ahem, skillz). Some "fit" people that I follow on Instagram basically season everything with Mrs. Dash. Or they buy those pre-made meals. Or just eat tuna. Weird.

The picture above from LoseIt isn't the best example because I ate cereal for breakfast but I had a craving for it so, you know what... I ate the cereal. And it was delicious.