Watching What I Eat

I have been monitoring my diet for about six years now - ever since being told my blood sugar levels were high.

My doctor sent me on a course on how to change my lifestyle: balance my carb intake with fiber (found in whole grains), take 10,000 steps (or walk for 45 minutes) a day. My life changed: I began to eat more salads at work instead of sandwiches, which - in turn - helped me lose weight and lower my blood sugar levels. By wearing a pedometer, I discovered that the large building I worked in was forcing me to walk quite a few of those 10,000 steps. I started to go to Curves, a circuit training program for strengthening muscles. The situation improved.

When I retire, I'll walk more, and monitor my diet more carefully, I told myself. Maybe I'll even be able to conquer this Type II Diabetes thing...

But I've discovered that retirement doesn't guarantee getting in shape! For some reason, I'm often "too busy" to walk - unless I'm visiting a new place - and then (thanks to Curves) I have lots of stamina. But at home, apart from gardening and attending Curves three times a week, I live a pretty sedentary life.

I've also discovered that monitoring what I eat can become very boring, too, after a while, if it goes against the grain... (and it does go against the grain for me to eliminate chocolate from my life!)

Concerned that I was again eating too many calories - and too much carb (which converts to sugar in the blood), I recently began to hunt for an online food journal, a tool to help me keep track of what I eat.

I found a wonderful resource in Fitday, a free diet and weight loss journal.

When I enter the information on how much I have eaten, the program totals not only the calories I have consumed, but how many grams of fat, carbohydrates and protein are in the food I have listed.

My first reaction was: WOW! I had no idea I was eating so many carbs!

But then I wondered: How many grams of carb should I be eating?

I found an answer to that on Sparks, another diet website.

Comparing how many grams of fat, carb and protein I should be eating to what I actually eat, I discovered that it wasn't my carbs - but my fat intake that was cause for concern, thanks to a bratwurst I had for supper and several cookies I ate for a snack.

I can also enter my activity level into the program and see how many calories I have consumed compared to what I have utilized. That, in turn, is motivating me to get out and walk!

Fitday is making the UNPLEASANT task of watching my food intake (and exercise) a little more PLEASANT... and informative.

Watching what I eat - and seeing how my exercise affects my caloric use - I have a sense of control... (as I try to balance the two!)

So there it is - my new diet aid... that adds a useful new dimension to food tracking... (Now my next challenge is to try not to think too much about food, since I've discovered that: The more I think about food - the hungrier I get!)