Getting Fit

Originally posted to myfitnesspal.com on 8/7/11

I've been using myfitnesspal.com for about 2 months and have found the calorie counting and activity logging tools to be invaluable in helping me continue to get fit and lose weight.  But it has also become obvious that one of its most valuable resources here is the community.  I haven't been participating in that much (partially because I'm a guy) but decided to change that this week and become more involved.  And, if no one reads this but me, it gets my commiment and thoughts in writing for my own review.

My commitment is to fitness and health, not weight loss.  The weight loss is a by-product of getting healthy.  Weight loss has become a good indicator of health for many of us but the NSVs (non scale victories) are even more critical.  Things like not being winded walking up stairs, feeling like you have energy at the end (and beginning) of the day, the compliments and comments, the appreciative spouse (or equivalent).  I've appreciate those much more over the past months than the drop in numbers on the scale.

I've become my commitment to a healthy and fit lifestyle and live into it every moment.   Here's what I'm doing:

• Eat the right foods in the right amounts at the right times - myfitnesspal.com has been instrumental in helping with the first two parts of this and I'm hoping they build "time of day" fields into the activity logging in the future.  I'll talk more about my diet in future blogs but the short version is that I'm lacto-ovo-veg following the basic tenets of Fit-for-Life.  
• Be physically active - This includes at least 30 minutes of moderate cardiovascular exercise 5 days a week, mostly on an elliptical machine, and I've recently added some light strength training to build lean muscle mass.  I've also made modifications to my desk at work so that I can stand to work.