Progress!

Well, ladies and gents, I think it's pretty safe to say that I'm back on the path to a fitter, healthier Stace; although my designs of going to the gym on Friday 3rd Jan were scuppered by the ruddy place being closed for refurb, I have been 3 times a week since then, and have been pretty good with my eating too (aside for the fish and chips I literally just ate, but hey, I'm allowed a treat every now and then!).

The Christmas damage was nowhere near as bad as I thought; 4.2lbs gain, which is by no means good but much better than I'd expected (0.8lbs less than the average Chrimbo weight gain, ahem...). I can happily report that 7.7lbs have been shed since, so IN YER FACE, CHRISTMAS!

Ahem, so I thought I'd chat a bit about one of the secrets to my success (which is actually not a secret at all); MyFitnessPal. MFP is a website/mobile app that allows you to count your calories, track your progress and make friends with other people trying to lose weight or improve their overall health. Before I started using MFP, I had literally no idea about the calorie content of stuff. Let's take my most ridiculous example; potatoes. They're a vegetable, right? I know they're a bit more substantial than other veg, but I assumed that potatoes would be about...I dunno, about 100kcal for a big baked jacket potato. HAHAHAAAAAAAnope. Maybe this is a bad example as, despite the higher calorie content than I'd anticipated, baked spuds aren't particularly unhealthy, but it does illustrate how easily extra calories can worm their way into your diet without you even noticing. Using MFP made me realise just how much I was scoffing and adjust my diet in small, sensible ways to be a healthier me. The one thing I will say though; avoid the MFP community forums at all costs. It's basically full of people talking nonsense. A lot of it entirely unhealthy nonsense, like "I'm only eating 700kcal per day and losing pounds, it's great!" or "One tip to weight loss success; eat nothing but lettuce for every meal!" OK, I'm exaggerating a bit, but there really is a lot of bad advice given by Average Joes with absolutely no knowledge of nutrition or healthy eating whatsoever. As I mentioned in my first post, I'm not a professional, but I do have a basic knowledge of what's healthy and what's not, and what's healthy is making small, sustainable lifestyle changes, not bonkers fad diets or starvation etc. Forums aside, the site is a really helpful tool for watching what you eat, getting (and keeping) motivation and inspiration, and tracking how you're doing. I found out via my MFP progress page the other day that I have lost 20.7% of my original body weight. Which is CRAZY and makes me stupidly proud of myself.

Anyhoo, remember when I said one of my weight loss New Year's Resolutions was to fit back into my Dotty P size 16 shorts? I think I need a new resolution...

Current Weight: 80.6kg (177.7lbs)