Health Check in: Week 1

Well, I got through the first week and it's been really good! Weight loss total equals (drum roll please): 2.5 lbs! Yahoo!

Joining MyFitnessPal has been great - I log in absolutely everything I eat which I thought would be really annoying but it's actually been good. They make it very easy since they have a huge database and I also downloaded the IPhone app so that I can just do it on the fly. It also makes me think before just popping something into my mouth because I have to ask myself if it's really worth the hassle of having to log it.  

I love that MFP keeps running totals throughout the day of your Cals, Carbs, Fat, Protein, Sodium & Sugar along with your target numbers so I can see how much more I'm "allowed" to eat after dinner so I can plan accordingly. One of my biggest issues was night-time snacking and this has totally solved that problem for me since I see it as a challenge to keep the numbers under the target each day (except for protein).  The biggest eye-opener for me regarding diet was the amount of sugar I had been eating!  There is seriously sugar in EVERYTHING. The target per day is 30g which is nearly impossible - I hit that number just with fruits and cereal most days! I've been focusing on lowering the sugar intake and I've had headaches the last 2 days because I think I'm going through sugar detox!

Regarding exercise, I bought a Fitbit which is like a pedometer but better. It's little and cute and it counts steps, distance, how many "very active" mins I had that day, and how many calories I burned all day (even when not exercising).  It syncs with my laptop wirelessly so that I don't have to log in anything AND it connects with MFP so whatever extra cals I burn that day are automatically added onto my "target total" in MFP so I know that I can eat more and still reach my goal for the day.

I believe I heard that you're supposed to strive for 10,000 steps per day - I did not reach that this week but came very close yesterday and have been able to keep it above 7K every other day. It was an eye-opener to see how few steps I take on days when I'm in the office so I now know that I should plan for designated exercise on those days.

Ok, I'll shut up now and post the overview. Thanks for reading!

Weight loss this week: 2.5 lbs

Best health moment of the week: Put on a shirt this morning that I wore a week ago and didn't see a muffin top through it today!

Goals for next week: 

1. Continue healthy eating - focus on lowering sugar intake (try for under 50g each day)
2. Work on planning dinners in advance
3. More planned exercise instead of just random walking/playing with the pup