MyFitnessPal MAY! Intro

Jenny:

Ok, so the name isn't exactly chosen, but I think you get the point so far.

For the new challenge in May, Courtney and I will be Meal Planning a little smarter, lowering portions and tracking all of our meals on MyFitnessPal.

Something I've heard a hundred times is "abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym" or the "80/20" rule about food effecting our weight more than working out.

Because working out has brought me great results, but no weight loss, I'm taking some of this to heart and deciding that I need to plan out when and how much I eat better.

I'm excited to get to work with this challenge and I will be posting my results right here each day.

Here's Monday, which was day 1 :)

I try to keep myself within 100 calories under or else I'm not eating ENOUGH calories. 1370 is what was assigned to me based on my age, weight, and how often I work out.

Obviously I try not to go over the calories either, but with exercise, I tend to always go over, like you see here. I want to get to the point where I'm not going over the allotted calories for eating, but still burning those calories working out. That way, the deficit is higher and I lose weight.

So here's to May! I'm excited and nervous, but I know it's gonna be good!

Love you all...
Be happy and healthy!

xoxo Jenny


Courtney:

Gotta make some changes in order to see results!

So I am in LOVE with this new challenge :) I wasn't at first, because I've counted calories before and I hated it, I though it was the most monotonous boring way to live EVER. Plus I like to eat whatever I want and not have to be accountable for it, but that's what got me here in the first place ;) so I downloaded the app on my iPhone, which I was never really impressed with before, though I did use it, since I rarely have my laptop on me these days. But Jenny told me the website is so much cooler - and it is! You can still track everything on your phone, but the website is much more user friendly. But since I've returned back to the gym, and I can see the calorie-in/calorie-out ratio, I know that I do need to watch more of what I eat. And this is a great way to do it!

As for my first day of the challenge and using the MyFitnessPal website, I'm actually surprised at how close I got to my calorie intake level for the day. I thought it was gonna be blown out of the water. But it's great to see what exactly I'm taking in, because they break everything down for you, and I now know that a majority of what I eat in a day is carbs, so that's what I need to cutback on, and replace it with other energizing foods. I know that this has probably had a great deal to do with why my weight has been so wonky. The scale has maintained a 10 pound range since we started these challenges, but it's never been consistent. Now that I'm paying more attention to the intake, and I'm more focused on the outgoing, I'm hoping there will be a consistent downhill motion on the scale. So not only am I accountable for WHAT I eat, but also HOW MUCH. Portion control is going to be a huge goal of mine this month. And I just keep thinking back to my mission and what I was doing there, and while I wasn't on a very strict diet, there was just a lot of movement every day. So I need to get back into the habit of doing that.

Another thing that I really love about this website is that you can also track your water intake! Which is great, because I know it's something that I've been needed to work on. Having grown up in Florida, I'm just naturally a fish, and water has always been my drink of choice. I rarely drink sodas, and I randomly enjoy a good lemonade, but seriously, I just always drink water. But when I lost my job, I also lost my water bottle (I'm assuming I left it there), so I stopped drinking water all the time. And I know that is really good for your body, and boosts your metabolism. But I finally got a new water bottle (come on, Courtney. It wasn't really that hard...) and it holds 32 oz, so I think it's safe to say if I'm repeatedly filling that thing up, I'm gonna have to pee all the time! :P But on the website, there is also a place for notes, which is where I'll keep my vitamin/illness records. They seriously thought of everything for this website! :)

So whatever goals you have this week or this month, I hope you stick to them! Kinda like Jenny said, she might not have seen the scale move, but she has noticed other great healthy attributes in her life, which has made the eating right and calorie burning parties at the gym all worth it :) So I hope that you all keep a positive attitude about your weight, your habits and your goals.  :) best of luck!

<3 Courtney