Oh the Catch-22 of Weight Loss...

    I have noticed that I am ridiculously hungry lately. Like an "I wanna eat my sofa" kind of hungry! And I must confess, I am a snacker. I like to munch and crunch. I like the mechanics of it. I like the sound of it. And frankly, it gives me something to do with my hands while I am at work or sitting around since knitting at work might be wildly inappropriate. Therefore, I have had to learn to control my snacking habits, and when I do snack, I (try to) reach for healthier options: nuts, fiber one bars, fruit, you know, the usual.
    Sounds like I'm doing fine, right? Well, here is my predicament: I have been working out pretty frequently lately, my goal being at least 4x a week. And I have noticed such a dramatic spike in my hunger that it is almost mind-bending. I literally am thinking about food ALL THE TIME. And even though I am terrified of returning to my old ways, I cannot focus on other things when I'm SO DAMN HUNGRY! Sounds ridiculous I know, but I was reading BariatricGirl's blog (you should check her out... she's done so phenomenally and she looks INCREDIBLE!) and she kept discussing her (our) relationship with food as an addiction. Though it's hard to comprehend that something like food has such power over us mentally, I have to hope that there must be a way to beat it.
     So far, my way of "beating it" is to fight fire with fire, mental power versus mental power by repeating my mantra, "I am NEVER going back!" And it works. (Most times.) But it also helps to know that there are so many of us out there that are struggling and have struggled with obesity or weight issues. We need to use each other as a support network, as a source of inspiration and a reminder that we are in this together. So gear up brain, cause we have a war to win!

MyFitnessPal Where Have You Been All My Life?!?

    So the MyFitnessPal App is a GOD SEND. I am ordinarily terrible at tracking my food intake, especially when it comes to writing it down as I'm consuming the food in question. But thanks to this AWESOME app, I have been sticking to this calorie counting pretty diligently. I downloaded it on my iPad and log in as often as I can.
    I had hit a plateau in my weight-loss voyage and was in desperate need of a motivational-swift-kick-in-the-ass, and this was just what I needed. I actually have a good friend who tracked her calories and activity using this app and she lost about 50 pounds. (Yay her!)
    And best of all? IT'S FREE!!! So what are you waiting for?? Go download it now - you'll be happy you did!