understanding my intake and output

When I jumped on the "get fit" bandwagon, I decided I would be really, really serious about it.

Like, super serious.

So I spent an hour perusing all the possible BMR and BMI and Daily Value calculators that exist.  I did that thing where you enter all the possible variations of yourself to see how it changes. You know?! Like, ok, here's me NOW.  Ok, here's me THREE YEARS AGO. Ok, here's me where I want to be in a year. Ok, here's me if I got REALLY chubby.

Am I the only one who does that?!

My first favorite site was Runner's World's BMR calculator.  After entering my {real} info, this is what I got for my Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR: calories I expend if I do NOTHING except sit and let my organs and body function normally. No eating, no moving, nothing.)

 

I like the breakdown of what daily caloric needs are, and how they change based on the type of lifestyle I lead.  It made me realize why it was possible for me to eat like crap when I was 18 but still be thin - when I was playing soccer and running cross country nearly every single day but Sunday, I was pushing my body HARD. Not to mention how much faster my resting metabolic rate was at 18! Le sigh. Those were the golden days.

When committing to getting fit this time around, I also was interested in learning about the amount of vital nutrients my body needed, and being more aware of giving those to my body. I used the USDA's calculator (designed for medical professionals but who's looking?) to see what kind of levels of carbs, fats, and proteins I should be getting each day.  (I was also able to find the levels of vitamins and macronutrients too!)

 

 

By far, my favorite online tool was one that Topher sent over with the email subject line "because I know you love this stuff."  It is WebMD's BMI calculator plus (!), which also finds your waist ratio, your BMR, your targeted heart rate, and helps you develop a strategic plan for accomplishing your goals, whatever they may be. Plus, it has colorful graphs, which, in my seriousness, I love!

But, all of this was just the precursor to the best thing that's happened this week in terms of serious eating well business.

I took my twitter friends up on their suggestion and joined MyFitnessPal.

Friends, it's fantastic.  Even better than the online tool I used for WeightWatchers a while back.  Even better than DailyBurn that I used a while back.  Even better than LoseIt, which I checked out.

It's the best.

MyFitnessPal takes all of the information that I spent hours culling and organizes it for me.  At any time, I can use their BMI or BMR calculator.  I can check to see if I'm getting the right amount of calories for my fitness goals, AND the right amount of carbs, fat and protein.  And the site's recommendations for these nutrients is exactly in line with what the USDA recommended: 250g of fat, 68 grams of protein, and 60 grams of fat.

It's truly wonderful.  

Almost as wonderful as the three pounds I've dropped as of this week, after FOUR WEEKS OF NO CHANGE but buttloads of exercise that didn't seem to make a difference.  When I finally saw those three pounds gone - all at once it seemed too! - I gained the much needed energy boost to barrel headfirst into this week's workout schedule.  And it's feeling good!

Thank you to friends who suggested a variety of fitness tracking tools!

Do you keep track of your carb/protein/fat intake?