Tools

The more we know, the more control we have.
We can make better decisions about how to handle situations. I willfully ignored nutrition because I knew I wasn't eating well but didn't really want to know how bad it was. It was a big step emotionally to start recording things – even things that made me look bad – but it’s been invaluable.

First is Weight Chart at www.weightchart.com. Seeing the downward trend over time really helps keep me from getting upset when I’ve gone up a pound or two or am on a long plateau. And when I lose a pound, I can’t wait to plug in the number and see the little line go down. It also provides monthly and weekly averages of weight loss. WeightChart has another neat feature that lets you calculate your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and how many calories you need per day to lose or maintain your weight. You can set goals and it will tell you if the goal is reasonable and reachable.
For example, here is my daily record for the last 10 months and the monthly average. You can see that I'm on a 6-week plateau.







Which leads us to counting calories…
Lose It! (www.loseit.com) is available both as an iphone app and online. Honestly recording EVERYTHING that goes into my mouth was a big shock and it’s helped me identify the calorie bombs. (Mmmm... fresh peanut butter... I can eat it with a spoon, a lá Homer Simpson eating mayonnaise.) Recording everything keeps me honest. I hate seeing the calories pass into the red zone for a given day – that in itself is a motivator to stop eating. I think of calories as cash I spend on different foods and when it runs out, I’m done. (Except on the days when I go over, of course.) I’ve also become much more aware of the calorie content of different foods and I tailor my choices accordingly. For example, there’s no way I’m going to waste 350 or calories on a smoothie (that’s the same as a huge bowl of chickpea curry at dinner) - I'll have a plain tea or coffee instead of the smoothie. I track calories almost every day.

When I was running more I would use the Nike run app to record runs – it was very rewarding to see the miles add up. As my injured ankle gets better I’ll start doing that again.

Does anybody else track calories daily? I worry that I’m getting a little obsessive.
What tricks and tools have you found useful, my fellow fast-fivers? Basically,
How do you stay motivated?

Good luck to everyone!