My Fitness Pal

The world has gotten so virtual, hasn't it? Back in the day, a fitness pal would have been someone I walked with every evening. My mom has a fitness pal. They ride their bikes to the park every day and then walk a few miles. I had fitness pals when I wanted to get up at 4:30 a.m. and drive 20 minutes into town to go to a class at the Y at 5:30 in the morning. I don't want to do that anymore. Rick and I aren't even fitness pals because I prefer to work out in the mornings and he prefers to work out in the evenings. I guess I do kind of have a walking fitness pal in Crusoe, but I spend more time pulling him away from things he needs to smell than engaging in encouraging conversation. What's a girl to do?

My friend Elizabeth had a beautiful baby girl a few months ago. She has four children ages 7 and under. As usually happens, she has put on a few pounds with each baby and now is ready to get rid of it for good. She has a goal to lose 15 pounds by Christmas. My weight loss goal is slightly smaller. I'd like to lose 8 pounds by Christmas so I can eat lots and lots and lots when we go to Florida.

Elizabeth is using the MyFitnessPal app on her iPhone. I don't have (nor want) an iPhone, but I do have a computer. So, I signed on to MyFitnessPal and "she" is going to help me lose those 8 pounds and get in shape. It is one of those basic websites that has you log the foods you eat, the exercise you do, and the water you drink. After inputting your information and desired pounds to lose, it tells you how many calories to eat each day, including the total number of carbs, fat, and protein grams.

But here is the part I really like. It tells you how many extra calories you have earned by exercising. For instance, this morning I did the elliptical for 10 minutes and earned 88 extra calories. I like that the initial total calories you can eat for the day do not assume a specific amount of exercise. Instead you earn extra calories. I like the idea of working ahead of time for a future reward. It makes me want to run back out later today and do 10 more minutes on the elliptical to earn another 88 calories so that I can have a bowl of cereal before I go to bed tonight. That's my favorite bedtime snack.

I have also devised a workout plan based on an anti-diabetes workout schedule (I do not have diabetes) I got out of Prevention magazine and a simple strength and stretching schedule I pulled out of another magazine.

I want to lose these pounds by Christmas, so I can thoroughly enjoy Christmas guilt-free, then do the schedule again to get myself ready for Spring. (I keep looking at those pictures of me from 2010 when we were in Hawaii. Wow! I looked good!)

Do you have any pre-holiday weight loss or fitness goals?