Normal BMI

Brag post….274 days ago I was sitting at the dinner table enjoying a large #1 value meal from McDonalds. I did not give a second thought to the calories or what I had already eaten that day. I was just enjoying the special sauce and frys. Angie was talking about an app she had on her phone that tracked her calories and it sparked my interest. I downloaded MyFitnessPal to my phone and put in my personal stats. For fun I set it up to lose 2 lbs a week. To do that I had to keep my net calories under 1530 per day. My dinner was 1300 and when I added the rest of the days food I had around 3k for the day. It made me think so the next day I used the app to log everything I ate. Day two I starved myself and ate 2100 calories. For some reason the challenge was on for me and I started to log everything I ate before it went into my mouth. I also decided to try and drink a gallon of water a day!!!! It’s a good think I work from home because I spent a TON of time in the bathroom doing that.
Nine months later I stepped on the scale and I am in the “normal” BMI range. I have lost 67.7 lbs and have 2.3 lbs to go to reach my goal. I have learned a ton on this journey but the most important thing is that diets don’t work. I know that cliché but it’s true. I was able to eat food I enjoy every week if not every day. I never cut out Pizza, Café Rio, Ice Cream, Betos, or any of the other foods I really enjoy. I just had to plan on the calories and adjust so I could still eat what I liked. I was also able to make it through BBQ season, Halloween, and the eating Holidays. For me MyFitnessPal really works. I did not find it hard to log and track my calories. It worked great with my Fitbit (I have been using this for several years) to track my movement and give me extra calories per day.
I have tracked my calories, exercise, and caloric deficit the entire time. On average I have eaten 1442 calories per day. With my exercise which was nothing more than walking more per day (tried to average 13k per day) I was in a 1076 avg caloric deficit per day.
I’m not done because I really want to hit my goal weight of 70 lbs lost but I also don’t see myself not logging my food going forward. Being accountable to something (my app) made all the difference in the world. I saw something last week the biggest enemy to weight loss is calorie amnesia. I realized early in the process how many calories I would eat and not give it a second thought. 2017 has been a good year. I am healthier and added the final member to my family. Calories in/Calories out…. it’s that simple or at least it was for me. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and thanks to those who have dropped of treats at our door. I still eat them!!!!!