Sometimes it's easier to accomplish a project, if you have a buddy to help out and keep you focused. Now when it comes to losing weight, imagine a pal you can carry along with you, that will keep track of what you eat, and how much you exercise,
WTAJ chief videographer Brian Shoenfelt relies on My Fitness Pal. He admits "I thought it was kind of gimmicky at first and I didn't think it would work."
But for several months, Brian's used the app to record everything he eats, and all of his physical activities. He's dropped 20-some pounds he gained after back to back knee and neck injuries. Brian says, "you'd be surprised and you're looking at your calories at how much your consume everyday that it changes your habits."
Registered dietitian Susan Foose counsels patients on diabetes and weight control at Blair Medical Associates. Guess what she has on her phone? My Fitness Pal.
"You scan the bar code of the food you're going to eat," she explains. The app shows oatmeal has 150 calories, per serving. That's the easy way. You can also type in everything you eat.
Susan says, "I don't think most people know how many calories they actually do eat in a day and I think it's shocking if they do actually take the time to look at what they're actually taking in."
My Fitness Pal is free, but for about a hundred dollars, you can get a gadget some folks swear by, FitBit It does what My Fitness Pal does and more.
"When you get on the scale it automatically uploads your weight and your body fat percentage to the FitBit web site," explains Blair Medical CEO Dave Duncan, a dedicated user of the device for a year. He says it helped him lose five pounds.
You wear it and it tells you how much exercise you're getting. The detail even surprised Phyllis Baker, a personal trainer at ProCare in Altoona.
"It tells me 6000 stairs, 8 floors 876 calories and my goal weight." Wear it to bed and it'll record how much you sleep---because lack of sleep can affect your weight...
But even the FitBit can't keep you from overdoing it on high calorie fast food. That's what the calorie counts on menu boards at restaurants like McDonalds are for.
Heather Harrington says, "some people are here for their Big Mac and they don't particularly care, but other people are suprised by some things that they really like that aren't as high in calories as they thought they might be and a few people, maybe you'll see them switch from maybe a crispy chicken sanwich to a grilled chicken sandwich once they see that calorie count.
If you're really health conscious look online at Mcdonald's My Meal Builder and build your meal from the ground up with an eye toward calories, sodium, fat and other nutritional information.
It could be that you're running out of excuses.
WTAJ chief videographer Brian Shoenfelt relies on My Fitness Pal. He admits "I thought it was kind of gimmicky at first and I didn't think it would work."
But for several months, Brian's used the app to record everything he eats, and all of his physical activities. He's dropped 20-some pounds he gained after back to back knee and neck injuries. Brian says, "you'd be surprised and you're looking at your calories at how much your consume everyday that it changes your habits."
Registered dietitian Susan Foose counsels patients on diabetes and weight control at Blair Medical Associates. Guess what she has on her phone? My Fitness Pal.
"You scan the bar code of the food you're going to eat," she explains. The app shows oatmeal has 150 calories, per serving. That's the easy way. You can also type in everything you eat.
Susan says, "I don't think most people know how many calories they actually do eat in a day and I think it's shocking if they do actually take the time to look at what they're actually taking in."
My Fitness Pal is free, but for about a hundred dollars, you can get a gadget some folks swear by, FitBit It does what My Fitness Pal does and more.
"When you get on the scale it automatically uploads your weight and your body fat percentage to the FitBit web site," explains Blair Medical CEO Dave Duncan, a dedicated user of the device for a year. He says it helped him lose five pounds.
You wear it and it tells you how much exercise you're getting. The detail even surprised Phyllis Baker, a personal trainer at ProCare in Altoona.
"It tells me 6000 stairs, 8 floors 876 calories and my goal weight." Wear it to bed and it'll record how much you sleep---because lack of sleep can affect your weight...
But even the FitBit can't keep you from overdoing it on high calorie fast food. That's what the calorie counts on menu boards at restaurants like McDonalds are for.
Heather Harrington says, "some people are here for their Big Mac and they don't particularly care, but other people are suprised by some things that they really like that aren't as high in calories as they thought they might be and a few people, maybe you'll see them switch from maybe a crispy chicken sanwich to a grilled chicken sandwich once they see that calorie count.
If you're really health conscious look online at Mcdonald's My Meal Builder and build your meal from the ground up with an eye toward calories, sodium, fat and other nutritional information.
It could be that you're running out of excuses.
