There, I said it!  And I’ll say it again, “Counting calories sucks!”  However, everything that is good for us doesn’t necessarily feel good for us at the time.  Like going to Zumba last night didn’t feel good, but it was good.  I’ve been wondering, with much naïveté, why I wasn’t losing any pounds when I was working out.  Well, now that I’m counting my calories, I know why!  I am simply maintaining my weight.  I put in so many calories that the workout only cancels out the extra calories that I am consuming.  What I should be doing is consuming less calories AND exercising.  I know that most of you bright people out there have already figured this phenomenon out, it just took me a little longer.  So, with the help of my LiveStrong.com app, I’ve been counting those stupid little calories AND trying to exercise.  The LiveStrong app is cool because you tell it how much you weigh, how much you want to weigh, and when you want to get to your goal.  Then it calculates the amount of calories you should take in per day to reach your goal.  And when you add exercise to that, you should, in theory, lose more quickly – but do it safely!

Now why do I want to lose weight?  Yes, to look nice.  But mainly because I want to live a healthy life & be around to see my children grow.  I also want to instill in them what it means to be healthy.  Not that it’s necessarily looking a certain way, but it’s feeling good in your skin, feeling comfortable, and having a healthy, properly functioning body.  So, as I embark on the last year in my 20s, I feel now is the time to do this.  This is one of my “New You” goals.  I feel it will help with stress, aches, pains, headaches, body aches, sickness, and overall health.  Wish me luck, because I’m a total food addict & I hate exercising!  If you wanna join me, I’ll be at Big Vanilla, in my basement on Wii Active, or running even when no one is chasing me.

Photos: Ansel Adams….ahhh!