Butter Butt

Time to resurrect the old blog - what do ya say?

So, I found myself at www.blogger.com today, perusing blog templates, mulling over catchy blog titles in my head. And, okay, I confess - I technically started a new blog. I thought I was being cute calling it "Meuniere Derriere," a little play on words courtesy of the French language. Meuniere being a cooking term meaning to lightly flour (fish, usually) and then pan fry in butter. Derierre meaning, of course, hindquarters. So basically, 'butter butt.' Unfortunately, butterbutt.blogspot.com was already taken (props to you, buddy) so I had to settle for another monicker. About point five seconds later, I realized that it was stupid to start a new blog when I had a perfectly good one lying in the shadows. And here I am. Viola.

So, why the sudden inspiration to pick up the pen (er. . . keyboard) again? Oh, you know, just ready to make another life change. Ready to turn it all around, start from scratch, kick it into shape. Gotta have an outlet for all this energy!

Mostly, I'm here because I'm tired of being fat and miserable. I used to joke that I was going to die of delicious causes. I guess the joke's just not that funny anymore. Now, the Lord's got a wacky sense of humor and He might take me out of this life just as I sink my teeth into a deep fried Oreo, but I'm just not gonna provide Him so many opportunities anymore. Treats are not treats when you eat them every day.

The Captain and I started making better food choices at the start of the year and, by and large, we've done pretty well. But we've started to lose our mojo and, well, we just spent four days in a fried green tomato haze in the beautiful Hostess city, so it's time to get our rears in gears and refocus.

After work yesterday, I was making a snack and talking to the Captain. Then I dropped this bomb on him:

Me: Hey, you want to lose some weight with me?
Cap'n: *crickets*
Me: {big, stupid smile}
Cap'n: Of course I want to lose some weight with you, baby.

*Five minutes later*

Me: Will you take me to Publix and buy me a cupcake?

He's a good man, y'all. The good captain's at work now and doesn't know how motivated I've gotten in the past 8 hours, so he'll be in for a surprise tonight. It's back to MyFitnessPal to log every morsel I eat and back to pounding the pavement with the Couch to 5K app.

It's gonna take lots of love and cheering on to get where I want to be, so time to get to it, gentle readers. LET ME HEAR YA SAY 'YEAHHHHHHHHH!'

[In case there was ever any doubt, yes, I am a huge dork. But I'm okay with it.]

My Fitness Pal

About a month ago, I got connected with a fancy pants personal trainer (FPPT hereafter) in hopes of improving my health and boosting my fitness level. FPPT and I have been meeting once a week, going over nutrition and strength training. Overall, it's been a good experience, but I'm ready to branch out on my own and save my money. At the end of the day, FPPT isn't giving me anything I can't get for free. I did already cut a check for another month, but after this month, I'll be cutting ties and going it alone.

Sometime in the past year, everyone in my family got turned on to a great web site - My Fitness Pal. My Fitness Pal is essentially a calorie counter, but it has lots of other cool features, too. When you first sign up for your FREE account, you can fill in information such as your age, current weight, height and activity level and receive a daily calorie goal in order to lose weight. The database of foods is seemingly endless; I almost never have trouble finding the item I'm looking for. Best of all, they have an awesome mobile app so I can quickly log my foods all throughout the day. The mobile app even has the ability to scan barcodes. How cool is that?! I love opening the fridge, pulling out an item and scanning it with my phone. Talk about simple.

Aside from being a food tracker, the program can also track your exercise and show you the calories you've burned. It will even give you credit for the calories you've burned in your daily calorie allowance - reminds me of bonus points in the old Weight Watchers program. For optimal weight loss, you would ideally work out and not eat any of these bonus calories, but now and then it's nice to have a little wiggle room to indulge in something you really want.

One other aspect that I like is that My Fitness Pal also functions as a social networking site. You can 'friend' people you know, follow their progress (such as pounds lots, exercises complete) and then you can cheer them on by leaving a comment. I'm only friends with my parents, my aunt and my cousin, but maybe I'll soon be friends with you, too. The site also boasts lots of message boards and personal fitness blogs which are always helpful for extra motivation or just new recipe ideas.

If you haven't checked it out before, head over to My Fitness Pal and sign up for your free account!