500 Days and still going strong!

This has been an amazing 500 day journey with My Fitness Pal. I am still surprised that I made it this far. My first month of My Fitness Pal was a miserable failure because I wasn't keeping up with my food diary and I wasn't really exercising and I was depressed. I had just given birth to my second child and I put on so much weight. I was 246lbs the day I gave birth and a few months later I got on the scale and I was 197lbs. I felt disgusting and I didn't feel sexy and I didn't know what to do or how to lose the weight. And that fact that I was carrying weight from my first child didn't help my situation or self-esteem either.
I found My Fitness Pal on my android device and installed the app immediately thinking that losing weight would be as easy as counting the calories of my daily meals. But that proved to be very difficult because I was eating way to much and wasn't exercising enough or even effectively. Plus, my kids were taking up so much of my time during the day and at night, I was terribly tired. I would log in and forget to log my workouts and my meals or snacks. When I was depressed or in a bad mood or even bored, I found myself in the kitchen looking for snacks. I wasn't eating very well when we were out and about, I was making bad choices when we went out to dinner. The My Fitness Pal app was being neglected and my weight was getting worse.
Soon things just got so out of control that I started to cry. I got on the scale and saw the number and broke down in the bathroom. Nothing was working, not even the new app I had recently installed on my cell phone. Then I thought for a moment about why things weren't working. I stood up and while looking in the mirror, I made a list in my head of all the things I was doing wrong and why I wasn't losing, but gaining weight. The list goes like this:
-I wasn't being consistent with my exercise
-I wasn't eating the proper diet: Not enough fruits and vegetables and protein
-I was being an emotional eater
-I was making excuses
-I made an unrealistic goal: I wanted to lose 50lbs in 6months
-I was eating junk and too may pre-made and prepackaged meals
-I wasn't sleeping enough
-I wasn't putting me first
-I wasn't using my new Calorie Counter App consistently (My Fitness Pal)
-And last, but no least, I wasn't drinking enough water
All of these and more went down on a note pad and I placed this notepad in my desk drawer to make reference to it later. That same evening I went for a brisk walk around the park with my family and ate a much healthier meal. I logged it into My Fitness Pal. The next day, I got up early enough to eat a healthy breakfast, waited about 45 minutes and did my Leslie Sansone walk at home DVD. I logged it and ate as healthy as could for the rest of the day. I started doing research about how to build lean muscle and what protein would do for me. I started working out longer and harder. I started eating more salmon and veggies and when we went out to eat, I made excellent choices. I started making small changes, like no mayo and no oil. Also no juice and sweet tea and no cheese. I started taking a multivitamin and starting drinking protein shakes. And with all the changes, I logged everything into My Fitness Pal. And that's when the weight started coming off.
I started to amp up my workouts to Tae Bo, Power Yoga, Jillian Michaels, and HIIT (High Intensity Training) on the treadmill. The weight kept coming off and I started to see changes in my body, such as smaller arms and more muscle tone in my legs. I also started to see changes in my belly area. I continued to log my workouts and food in My Fitness Pal and it became a everyday routine. It has been 500 days straight that I have used this wonderful app and I have lost 51lbs without the use of crazy gimmicks and dietary supplements and I have worked my way to workout challenges like INSANITY and Focus T25. I am very happy and very healthy. My blood pressure is 96/68 and I drink at least 10 glasses or more of water per day.
I am very thankful to My Fitness Pal for helping me to see the error of my ways. But the support of my family, especially my husband joining in the challenge with me has helped to make being healthy and active not only a lifestyle, but fun! And with everything I have learned, I will continue to use My Fitness Pal and teach my girls the importance of being active and healthy for the rest of their lives.