A Year of Gratitude #119

 

A Year of Gratitude #119: Smart Choices

I'm thankful that my friend Kristina told me about the Lose It app for the iPhone. I downloaded it (for free) last weekend (Sunday) and started monitoring my caloric intake and exercise. 

This entire week I've logged each thing that has gone into my mouth. Yes... everything. It's actually not as difficult or time-consuming as I thought it would be. The app has a built in barcode scanner, so all I have to do is scan a barcode and it'll give me the calories. There have been a few food items that it didn't have stored in the system, so I had to use the internet to search for caloric information.

This week I've also realized that pop is a waste of calories. I'd rather save the 170 calories for something filling, rather than a Mt. Dew. Don't get me wrong, every now and then, it's a treat to allow myself to have one, but I've decided to just switch over to diet pop instead. I don't really like the taste of diet pop, so I am starting off by drinking Dr. Pepper 10. It has 10 calories and tastes so much like regular Dr. Pepper that I actually forget that it's not regular.

I'm going to get some Sprite Zero too this week. For some reason, Diet Coke and Diet Mt. Dew just taste disgusting to me. So I'm going to save the transition to those for a later time. For now, I'm just drinking a lot of water.

It's amazing that the more I'm walking and exercising, the less crap I want to consume. I don't want to burn calories only to throw my hard work out the window by eating something that's full of fat and calories. It's amazing that my thoughts and eating have aligned. I'm so thankful for it.

I'm thankful that tomorrow I'm starting my preparations for running my first 5K on September 15th. I am turning over a new leaf and trying to get healthier. I feel more determined than ever before and I don't know where all my motivation and inspiration is coming from, but this time really, honestly, feels different. 

I just downloaded an app called Dotti's Food Score. It goes with the website that I used to use when I was doing WW. I like it because not only does it have WW points for everything (I am not doing WW), but it also have calories and fat info. It has just about every restaurant that you can think of, and I think this app will be really helpful when we're traveling north in a few weeks.

I'm thankful that I have been able to find the tools to help me reach my goals.