Accountability

In March of this year I got on the scales. I was shocked at what I saw. It had been years since I last checked my weight, party because I knew I would not like what I saw. I cried a lot that day but luckily for me the REASON I got on the scales that day was because I had recently found a website that allowed me to track the calories in the food I ate every day and I had been doing it. I wanted to see if tracking my food would make a difference over the course of however many days I decided to track.

My unhappiness with my weight had been growing for many years. I guess it finally came to a head when I started to see actual consequences. For years I had been making excuses not to do things because it was hard because of my weight. Things that might have helped me ... Not getting on the scale allowed me to eat what I wanted, when I wanted ... with no consequences ... right? RIGHT?

Wrong.

In the past 2 years I have been experiencing increasing mobility issues. Back pain that was so debilitating I could barely make it around the grocery store. Going to a mall was out of the question .. and even walking into the post office was something I dreaded. I was having to PLAN my outings to manage my pain so I could at least get the basic chores done. I couldn't even stand long enough at my kitchen counter to peel potatoes. I would even have to take a break while doing DISHES!!!! Going up AND down stairs was difficult. I was having to take them one at a time and was out of breath at the top, having to rest for several minutes to get it back. My legs, which always swelled in the hot months were starting to swell in the colder months and my ankles were itchy ALL the time. I knew these were signs of bigger trouble looming but STILL I was reluctant to take action.

I was killing myself. Slowly. Surely.

Then I found a website that literally changed my life.

The Daily PLate at Livestrong.com

The daily Plate is a FREE calorie counting website that allows you to chart everything you eat in a day. It has a HUGE database of foods that is totally searchable and you can even add an item if it isn't there so it is growing all the time. It remembers what you eat so you can easily find it again to add to your daily plate. It keeps a running tab of your calories so you can easily see how many you have left in a day. You can track your exercise and the calories burned thru daily activities as well! You can create personal *meals* of foods you eat together often. You can add private recipes to make tracking home cooked meals easier. You can even access many popular restaurant's nutritional information so you can preplan some of your outings. It even has an iphone app for tracking away from home! It shows you charts and graphs of your progress and there are forums and groups you can join for online support and encouragement. I cannot sing the praises enough.

After I found the site, I started tracking the food I ate EVERY DAY ... EVERYTHING that went in my mouth. It was FREE. It was PRIVATE. It was EASY and it was FUN! After 2 days I bought a year subscription figuring if I put my money where my mouth was, I would have to continue. I needn't have bothered, I was already hooked but I am glad I supported the site because I want it to be around for the rest of my life.

I had tried weight watcher's in the past ... which was ok but I didn't like having to pay huge amounts of cash to lose weight and I wasn't all that fond of the meetings either. If that's your thing it's ok but I STILL recommend The Daily Plate because it fits really well with WW or any other weight loss program. I also am not a fan of other fad diets. I figure if I am going to lose weight and more importantly KEEP IT OFF I needed to learn how to eat the foods I love and have always eaten and will continue to eat in a way that for now allows me to lose weight and in the future maintain it. Since I don't plan on eating only grapefruit for the rest of my life it's silly to expect a diet of only grapefruit to teach me how to live in a normal world eating normal food ;)

It is now exactly 6 months from the day I first found The Daily Plate and I am now 42 lbs lighter. I no longer have trouble shopping, or walking. I no longer have to take the stairs one at a time and I no longer get winded at the top. I am more active and I sleep better than I have in years. I am happier. My clothes are loose and I have started to wear clothes I had packed away as too small. I still have slight edema in my legs but it is nowhere near as bad as before. My feet are no longer swollen and my bony ankles are BACK!

My life has turned around 180' in the past 6 months and for that I can thank The Daily Plate at Livestrong.com. All because I decided to stop lying to myself. All because I decided to take control. All because I decided to be accountable. If I can do it ...

You can too ...

IA

PS: No I am NOT going to tell you how much I weigh here. Being honest with myself is a big enough challenge for me right now but i will say that I have only begun my journey.