Another dose of inspiration

As I mentioned before, it is important for me to remember the little bits of inspiration and the things that are helping me along the way. I wholly believe I am fighting a long, tumultuous battle to get to the point where I need to be, and keeping both an accurate record of my feelings and emotions as well as my actual nutritional progress is key to ensuring that I’m staying healthy throughout the process.

One of the tools helping me to track all of this is a free calorie counter, diet and exercise journal called My Fitness Pal. I realize now that I was probably the last person on earth to discover this amazing community, but regardless of my position in line, I’m definitely glad that I did. I joined at first with the intention of doing nothing more than tracking my food. During previous diet attempts, I had used a similar website called Fit Day. It’s not that I have a problem with Fit Day, but I couldn’t remember my login information, and I tried several times to reset my password, reclaim my account, etc. to no avail. Frustrated, and not wanting to let something small and trivial detract me from my end goal, I simply searched the internet for another free calorie counter.

When I joined My Fitness Pal, I was immediately impressed with the user-friendly layout. It’s set up much like a Facebook news feed, allowing you to see updates and achievements from your friend connections, join groups, participate in discussions, and share your stories through blog posts and progress reports. It has a very easy food tracking system, with pretty much any food you can imagine (seriously…I’ve found Laura Lynn brand hamburger buns, cheese, sour cream, milk…it’s great!) Like many of these trackers, it analyzes your current state of fitness and your goal weight to determine your daily calorie intake and suggested breakdown of nutrients, and it is all just so simple.

You can create custom recipes for later use, incorporate your exercise right into your food diary to show you the breakdown of calories burned versus calories consumed, and has a nifty water tracker with a cup that fills as you drink more water throughout the day. There is an app for smart phones that even allows you to scan in food as you eat it.

Needless to say, I am a fan. But when I first joined, I really didn’t expect to get much more than a daily log out of it. As I looked around the site more and more, I quickly realized that MFP is so much more than a calorie tracker or food journal. It is a community. A home away from home. I shoulder to cry on, and a pat on the back. It is a network of thousands of individuals who get it. Who have been there, or who are there. It is success stories, before and afters, friendly contests, questions and answers, experience, wisdom, friendship. It is understanding on a deeper level.

The best part about this amazing resource? It really does help. It keeps you accountable to yourself, and others. It lets others share in your journey in the most personal way imaginable. You let these people in and they know what you eat and how you exercise and when you slip up and when you can finally button those skinny jeans. They get to know the most personal, intimate parts of you and they make it impossible to fail.

If you, like me, are late to the My Fitness Pal party, be sure to check it out today! It’s kept me honest, kept me real, and kept me motivated.