My Fitness Pal

I just got an iPhone for the first time EVER at the beginning of the month. Yeah, we're a little behind on technology, but that's old news. Anyway, as some of you might know, I am on a quest to lose weight. It seems like this has been a life journey for me! Now, I really know that I need to lose weight and KEEP it off! No, I don't have heart disease, or diabetes, or anything like that, but I am at high risk for those AND for strokes if I DON'T LOSE THIS WEIGHT!

I have a "Biggest Loser" style challenge going on Facebook, and it starts on September 10th. This is round 3 for me, and I need to do well this time, especially since I am the one who started this! (By the way, if you're reading this, you're a woman, you have at least 30 pounds to lose, and you're on Facebook, we'd love to have you join us!!!)

So, back to the reason for this post. I have just discovered "My Fitness Pal", and app for iPhone, that allows me to track my calories in and calories out (exercise), based on my weight, height, gender, and age. That photo you see above is actually my breakfast entry for today.

The thing that I got really excited about as I did this for the first time today, is the fact that you can SCAN the barcode on a container of yogurt, and it will put in ALL of the information FOR you! You don't have to type all that stuff in and try to find which yogurt is yours! I'm SO excited about this, because it means this could be a LOT easier than doing WW online! Well, except for the fact that I do a LOT of our family cooking from scratch. I guess that's still going to be tough, but instead of typing on my tiny iPhone keys, I can enter everything online too. Pretty cool!

This app shows how many calories I've used, and how many I have left for the day, based on the number of calories I should be eating to hit my goal weight by a certain time. I haven't done this yet, but I can enter my exercise, and it will show me how many calories I burned for however long I did the exercise.

I'm thinking this could be a GREAT tool in finally helping me to get into a weight loss way of life! What do you think? Do you use any weight loss apps on your smart phone? Please share!

By the way, I am not being paid by My Fitness Pal or Apple, to do this "review".

Have a blessed day!

Mama Bear

Our Dessert of Choice

Papa Bear and I have joined Weight Watchers. There! I said it! Yep, we're trying to get a lot healthier and lose weight too! Papa Bear craves fruits, which is good. I crave sweets, which is not so good. No, I don't crave sweet fruits...I crave SUGAR!!! But, we have found a great way to get around the sugar, and enjoy dessert for VERY few Weight Watchers points! One of my favorite desserts now, is Sugar Free Fudgsicles from Popsicle. I crave chocolate, so this is a GREAT choice for dessert! (I don't totally ban chocolate, but now I am learning to count the points, and watch my portion sizes.) A Sugar Free Fudgsicle only has 40 calories and less than 1 gram of fat! You can have two of these frozen delights for only 1 WW point, so I definitely choose to indulge in the yummy creaminess that Fudgsicles offer.

We also like the Tropical Sugar Free Popsicles, regular Sugar Free Popsicles, and Sugar Free Creamsicles (which can be found in the Healthy Pack).

Try one! Then, let me know what you think!

Mama Bear

My Weight Loss Coach

Papa Bear just ordered this for me, to use with Brother Bear's DS. Not that he is thinking "Boy! She really needs to lose weight, so I'll buy her a practical gift to aid her with her efforts.". No, he knows how much I really want to stay focused and have accountability. Not that a "game" is really a lot of accountability, but it will help.

Today is my first day using the pedometer that comes with the game. If you have this too, I'm sure you know that the pedometer is NOT accurate! I took it off while driving, and it bounced around a couple of times, and added a few extra steps to my total. Oh well. I wasn't wearing it all day, and I was walking, so I don't mind.

I will be starting a weight loss program at my gym too, so that's going to be great! I'm excited about it. I will be able to work with 3 personal trainers, get some nutritional advice, and work out with other women who are wanting to lose weight. The class is for 8 weeks, twice a week. I'm kind of bummed that the classes are in the evening from 7:30 to 8:30, because that's really time with my family, but I think this will be worth it. Papa Bear will have to tape The Biggest Loser for me!

If you are wanting to lose some weight too, I have a blog just for women who are really wanting to lose weight and need some (private) friendships and accountability to help out. Just email me, and I'll give you the details. Anyone can join the blog at any time. There's no fees to join. There's no minimum time required. The gals who are there now are super friendly, open and honest, and working hard at losing 15% of their weight. The name of the blog is The 15% Club, but you can only find it if I give you an invite. Yep, I told you it was private. No one else can see it, except for those who have the secret handshake. :-)

This is going to be an intense journey, but my baby brother is getting married one year from this coming Saturday, and I plan on being about 50 pounds lighter by then...if not more. Are ya with me?

Mama Bear

I Am Sorry to Say...I Am NOT the Biggest Loser.

UGH! Today was weigh-in day for The 15% Club, and I didn't want to weigh in. I thought I had been doing pretty well, because I have been walking nearly every day! But I didn't lose anything. In fact, I GAINED one pound!!!! NOOOOOOO!!! I really need to push the envelope. I need to walk more. I need to do some weights and some cruncehs to go along with it. And I really need to get serious about what I eat!

I have this cookbook:

And I want to get THIS cookbook, because it says it's a budget-friendly cookbook:

If you click on each picture, you'll go to where you can purchase these on Amazon.com. The reviews on Amazon are really good, and we put a lot of stake in those reviews. I would love to hear if anyone else has the Family Cookbook, and if so, how you like it.

I am ready to try some new, yummy, healthy recipes! So, if you're trying to lose weight and get healthy, I challenge you to get one of these books, try some of the recipes and then let me know what you think! I'd love to hear from ya!

Mama Bear

Mariani Premium Ultimate Apricots

There used to be a time when I thought I didn't like dried fruits like prunes and apricots. That was a LONG time ago. Now, I'm so glad my tastes have changed. We have a super tasty, healthy superhero when it comes to helping us lose weight and get healthy....Dried Apricots.

Here's what the back of the bag says: "Bursting with flavor, Mariani Premium Ultimate Apricots are specially prepared and slightly sweetened with a natural fruit essence. Sun-ripened to full maturity, our apricots are tender and juicy. Spectacular in color and flavor, no other Mediterranean apricot can compare!"

That's kind of what I said too, when I first tasted one. Seriously. I actually told my husband "It feels like I'm biting into a bit of sunshine." I know. Corny. It's ok. These apricots are SO yummy that I have to be careful how many I eat. I will sit there and snack on them, not thinking about how much fiber I'm taking in!

The Mariani apricots have no added sugar, have 0g of fat, 400mg of potassium, 6g of Dietary Fiber, and even 1g of Protein! And that's just for a 1/4 cup serving.

I would encourage you to try some Mariani Apricots too. We got ours at Costco. YUM! YUM!

Mama Bear