I’ve been talking A LOT on my social media about how much I love calorie counting with MyFitnessPal and you’re probably getting sick of hearing about it #sorrynotsorry but I just can’t believe that I’ve finally found something that works for me.
I was starting to think I was broken, I couldn’t lose weight, I couldn’t stick to any sort of diet for more than a week and I was no where near getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight after almost a year and it was really starting to get me down. I’ve tried a whole range of diets in my adult life; Weight Watchers, Fasting, Slimming World more times than I can count and I’ve never managed more than a couple of weeks for the following reasons:
- I am such a fussy eater that I don’t have enough to variety to make my meals interesting
- I get stuck in a rut with my food choices and eat the same thing over and over again
- I find it too much hard work trying to calculate syns and points when I’m hungry
- With Weight Watcher and Slimming World I have really struggled if I ever wanted to eat something that wasn’t home made from scratch. Eating out and on the go has always been a nightmare
I know that other people thrive on these plans and it really works for them and that’s great, its just never really worked for me and I don’t really know why I kept trying at it. I couldn’t stick to 15 syns a day to save my life, and there’s only so many jacket potatoes a girl can eat for lunch and so I gave up. I stopped dieting all together and was starting to expect that I would never lose this damn baby weight at all.
Until my mama friend Hannah told me she was calorie counting with MyFitnessPal and I took a look at her meals on her Insta feed. It was like the light came on inside me, my head was suddenly completely engaged and I 100% wanted to do this thing! It took me a few days to get to grips with the app and weighing every single thing you cook can be a real pain in the arse but you know what, I’ve lost weight by following this plan so taking a little extra time to pop my food on the scale is 100% worth it.
I have control! Control over what I eat, how much I eat and I feel empowered to say ‘yes’ to things I could never have had before. I have a much better relationship with food now, I don’t feel the need to binge or to have a ‘cheat day’, I don’t need a ‘cheat day’ because I’m never deprived of the things I like. If I want a chocolate bar then I can have one, as long as I feel that it is worth the calories and I have the allowance then I can have it. I might not have the one I would have chosen a month ago, now I will check the calorie information on the packaging, I’ll decide that it’s not worth 200 calories and I would rather have something lower in calories but I can still have something.
The same goes for meals, suddenly I can eat a shop bought sandwich for lunch; I might choose to have the 280 low calorie sandwich or I might splurge and have my favourite one that’s 400 cals. I can make that choice and by being honest and logging every single thing I eat I make sure that I stick to plan every day.
In the month of August I was able to lose more weight than I had done in the whole year since my baby was born, that’s madness isn’t it. I lost a total of 7lbs; 3 of those from being unwell and not able to eat and a further 4 pounds from starting calorie counting part way through the month. It’s blown my mind that I can actually enjoy my food and still lose weight. I’m not broken after all!
In order to keep myself on track and to be accountable I’m posting all of my lunches and dinners to my Instagram feed (my breakfast is always the same as I am on the train to work so I don’t post that as it’s so boring) and I’m completing a diary each month to show that I have stuck to my calorie allowance each day. I don’t want to over indulge or secretly binge because I want to stand proud and say that I have ticked off every day of the month on plan with no cheating.
So, how does calorie counting make me feel? empowered, free, conscious, in control, in charge, like I can still enjoy myself and have treats and still lose weight. This diet has completely changed my mind set and at this moment I feel like I can 100% achieve my weight loss goals.
Anyone else out there found a new diet that is changing their life? let me know how you find it and what inspired you to keep going every day.
Rachel xx
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