![]() ![]() The meal plans taught me about portions in a REAL way. I needed to stop the math game I was playing with My Fitness Pal. (See episode 2 of the Shortcut to Slim podcast for more info here.) Like those rats whose calories stayed exactly the same but gained weight when researchers puffed their kibble making them less chewy. Some foods even use fewer calories to “digest”, leaving savings or expenditures on the backend that throw the whole “counting” thing off. Not only is it hard to really know how many calories are in an apple, but food labels can be off by as much as 10%. You can't “count” calories with any sort of exactness anyway. Not just for my sanity but also because I don't want to count for life. It’s a fine line and you can accidentally cross it without knowing it. ![]() My Fitness Pal definitely illuminated some bad habits (AND it was a great teaching tool), but I started using My Fitness Pal in an unhealthy way which ultimately led to some backtracking. My weight loss resumed and I felt less like a crazy person. I decided to stop tracking and just follow the meal plans. I then obsessively counted until I couldn't stand it any longer. This was INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING to me because what had been working so well now suddenly wasn't.ĪND according to My Fitness Pal, I wasn't “going over my calories” ALL because My Fitness Pal gave me a false sense of security, and the “justification” or “excuse” I was seeking.Įventually, I stopped losing weight (and then I started to GAIN it back). I started reintroducing foods I’d sworn off, and fell back into poor habits and varying degrees of self-sabotage. “I have 200 calories left? I can eat a vegan COOKIE!” “Oh I have 50 calories left? Better go eat something!” In order to justify eating, typically junk not on my meal plan, and often when I wasn’t even hungry. ![]() I NEEDED to get honest and hold myself accountable.īut then this practice took a less helpful turn, I started checking My Fitness Pal to see how many calories I had left. Logging my intake and learning caloric values also helped me make better choices.įor example, seeing ¼-cup of almonds has the same calories as 2 CUPS of blueberries? WOW.Īll good things. I realized I had no clue how many calories I was actually eating per day…OR how often I “forgot” I ate something. When my friend Alison lost 7 lbs in one month using My Fitness Pal, I decided to try it. ![]()
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