Here I am 47 years in and I’m new to counting calories.
I’ve never quite bought into the calories in calories out theory but think I may have been a bit hasty to overlook the simple maths.
Yes it’s true that as you lose weight your body needs less calories, this is the point that makes people on the lower end of the height scale shiver. Less calories is always a bad thing. I have always been a bit jealous of taller people getting to eat more food than me!
Suffering from a Covid-comfort-eating induced padding on my tummy I needed to make a change.
I started to track my calories in My Fitness Pal.
Boy was I wrong about some foods. Having become vegan for the past 5 months I’ve established the need for a significant amount of daily protein in order to keep hunger at bay, you can smash through calories with the smallest bit of peanut butter! Based on some basic information, height, weight now, goal weight and exercise levels the app told me how many calories I should eat (1200) daily to lose a pound a week.
Learning about the food composition and the macro nutrients each day is very helpful. I have changed things up to find my natural rhythm. I used to routinely skip breakfast and lunch then after being vegan I found that impossible, now through protein I am getting back to a few days of delayed eating (I have dabbled with intermittent fasting and fasting for years).
Being very value driven I am using the app entirely for free having not yet signed up for the premium service. Because I like it so much and find it to be very helpful I’m likely to sign up soon as a way of showing my gratitude rather than for the extra benefits.
The piece I find most motivational about the app is when you ‘log’ your food at the end of the day a very simple message pops up,
‘If you continue to eat like this, in 5 weeks you’ll weigh XXX’
I’ve seen 9 stone 11lbs and 9 stone 1.5lbs. You can see which message has the biggest motivating effect.
I am very lucky, I don’t gain calories just by looking at food, I can eat a lot and know when I am full, when I go on a diet my body responds by losing weight. I am not hungry all the time (when I eat enough protein). I don’t like to eat between meals, not a constant grazer. I do not take this for granted. I have seen heavy people gasp at the size of my plate. I am lucky that my genes help me and I have always been able to maintain a healthy weight in a range I am mostly satisfied with (apart from the three times I gained 63lbs when pregnant, yes EVERY time!).
My Fitness App is a great learning tool and a great motivator to help make good decisions today for your best tomorrow.
Isn’t that a great idea!
MrsSlimmer 