I Am What I Eat

I don't remember who first told me about MyFitnessPal.com, I think it was my friend Amanda. I signed up for it, but never used it.  On Friday a student I work with told me I should get it.  I looked into the website again and decided to start using it.  MyFitnessPal tracks what you eat, the exercise you do and the water you drink.  When you sign up, it asks for some of your information and gives you a calorie goal, the amount you should strive to eat each.  I have used it for two days so far...and it has been eye opening.

I never wanted to count calories, but recently have thought about starting to count calories, just to see how I'm doing.  My previous mindset was as long as I am getting in my fruits and veggies and only taking small portions of sweets sparingly, I would be okay. In using MyFitnessPal the pass two days, I have seen how poorly I'm eating. As you can see from the charts, I have been over my goal in calories both days.

Using MyFitnesPal has shown me that I really need to start watching what I'm eating.  Not only for my daily calories, but also what I'm eating for each meal.

 Above is my first day of snacks.  Now I don't always eat all these snacks. Some days I don't have snacks at all.  However I wouldn't say that this is a really random odd day and these snacks would never occur like this again; they would. Which is a problem since I had over 700 calories just in snacks! And when your calorie intake goal is around 1500, 700 just in snacks is a problem!

Breakfast today.  Mike and I went out.  I love breakfast food, so when I go out I want everything. The above chart is a typical going-out-to-eat breakfast for me. I almost died when I saw the calories.  For those of you reading from the Grand Rapids area, this is a Mr. Burger #3.  Not paying attention to what I'm eating is definitely part of the reason why I have gained back part of the weight I lost.

I'm really excited to have such a great and easy tool to use to help build my knowledge on what I am eating.  MyFitnessPal also has an app for your phone.  It gives you a daily report about your calories and your vitamins, so you can see where you need to improve.  It's free and effective - the best kind of program!  I'm not saying I am going to use this forever.  I currently envision it as a learning tool, until I have a decent idea about what I should and should not eat and then trusting what I learned to steer me, but who knows.  I might just use this forever.  Also if you are on MyFitnessPal, add me - username Seifkat.

Disclaimer:  If you are looking to start a diet program, please speak to your doctor first. I am not a nutritionist or doctor, so my word is not professional advice.  I also have no affiliation with MyFitnessPal, except that I have used this product.  I am not being compensated to write about it, I just really like it and thought you might too!

Do you count calories?  If so do you have a program you use?