Old Habits Diet Hard: An Introduction

I love the new year. Gyms are overcrowded, grocery stores stock up on diet soda and other fake healthy items, and absolutely everyone is obsessing about their weight. Well, I never stop obsessing about my weight, but I suppose the hype gets to me a little more in January than the other months of the year. It surrounds us all. My family is a little bit more health-obsessed than usual right now; there's this little event coming up that we're all wanting to look our best for. Now, I know everyone in my family reads this so I'm not gunna go into their specific reasons and concerns, but suffice to say that we all want to look marvelous.

Last night I was looking through old pictures with my sister to find adorable baby pictures of her for the Rehearsal Dinner Slideshow, and I realized something about myself. I have had this tummy since the day I was born, and it's never gone away. I have struggled with my weight my entire life. Now, I've never been obese, and I don't claim to know what it's like to be unhealthfully heavy or feel mocked when I enter a room. But I certainly know what it's like to feel self-conscious in a bathing suit or worried that my summer clothes won't fit every year. I've wanted to lose 20 pounds for as long as I can remember... and I did, one summer, when I was really ill, and of course the minute I got better and stopped living solely on Rice Krispies, the weight came back. 

This year is going to be different. No more empty promises. I'm starting a new feature on this blog. I am going to hold myself publicly accountable for my weight loss. Today is Wednesday, January 5th, 2011 and I weigh 141 pounds. This is the year I'm going to get down to my goal weight, which has always been 125 pounds. By April 2nd, 2011 (my sister's wedding date), I will weigh 130 pounds. This is my year. Welcome to my new blog series.

I have a couple tools of the trade. This morning I downloaded the MyFitnessPal iPhone app. Now, I've tried calorie counting before, and I always fail within a week. But with this app, I not only have access to all of this nutritional information on the Internet but on my phone... which is on me at all times.

Source

I know there are a million calorie counting apps and websites out there. Here's why I picked MFP:

• It starts by asking you your current weight, goal weight, and how many pounds you want to lose per week. Based on this information, it gives you a daily calorie budget.
• It has a ton of brand name and restaurant food items stores in its system.
• It allows you to input new brand name, restaurant or home made food items into your personal food library.
• It tracks not only your calories, fat and protein, but also your other things like vitamins, iron and sodium... and the amount of water you drink! Hydration is magic.
• You can create customized meals so that if you eat something often, you don't have to add each ingredient individually
• You input exercise in addition to food - it even gives you credit for simple daily things, like carrying household items and slow walking. No one burns 0 calories a day!
• It's FREE! And comes highly recommended on the App Store.

I know it's only been a day, but so far I really like it! Got any weight loss tools that have really worked for you?