It seems as though everyone always wants to get into better shape, be less stressed, save more money, eat less crap, etc. especially this time of year. Rather than make a lofty, unattainable resolution, this year I thought I'd try something new - not make one at all! Most times unrealistic expectations are set we're left feeling disappointed and not very encouraged to make great strides to be 'better'. I'm sure I'm not along one this one.
Rather, I decided to make more of a lifestyle change rather than a resolution. Honestly it started with a goal to get into better shape. This is one of the goals a lot of people my age (younger and older for that matter) have worked on with some failure and some success. Props to everyone who's able to incorporate it into their lives with ease but truthfully I need to work at it; as I'm sure a lot of others do too. I have my lazy days or days where I want to eat McDonalds (Lord knows this is true!) but I'm attempting to incorporate it into my lifestyle which makes it just a little bit easier.
Anyway, one of my colleagues at the VON ventured down the same path towards better health and wellness; and she's made amazing strides! She has lost loads of weight, feels and looks great! (Cecelia, I hope you don't mind but you're doing so well I had to drop a name). She discovered a great web resource and it's helped us keep on track. It's awesome!
My Fitness Pal: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ is great for tracking food and fitness progress. From the first time I logged on (for FREE!) I was hooked. It allows you set realistic goals, track food, add exercise, monitor progress and create reports. The site also has a forum feature where people post great recipes, exercise programs, tips, tricks for general support. If you're anything like me, you need to know that what you're doing is going to make an impact and get results. This site has the capability to create reports so for instance if you consume 1400 calories throughout the day (using the food tracker) and go for an hour long moderate paced walk; you would have the option to view reports based on Nutrition, Fitness and Progress. The reports obviously have better data if you enter the information regularly. The site also highlights portion sizes and accurately captures what you're actually eating vs how many calories you think you've consumed. My goodness they should pay me for all of this praise!
One of the downfalls I found that may not work for everyone is in order to use the site in all its functional glory, it's best to enter your info each and every day. That way all the information is current and reports can be accurate. This is where I sometimes fail, understandably. The only other downfall I found when using the site was the Food Tracker does not always have the capability to accurately calculate homemade meals especially salads and stir fry's as these meals need to be entered individually by ingredient only on the first time you enter that meal into the site. It's just a pain in the ass. After that, you can select one of the meals you've eaten and entered beforehand. Many of the food options on the site are for food products you would commonly find in the grocery store.
Either way, for a free web resource it's pretty amazing. Check it out and use it for all it's cool features. I'm sure tons of people would benefit from it! Let me know how it pans out!
I'll end with a song that should absolutely be a regular iPod selection for your workout. Listen to my favourite 'Hamiltonian' band, Junior Boys, "In the Morning" (2007):
Sarah
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