Dino Diet Gone Extinct?

I'm not one to say I told you so, but... Okay, I am one to say I told you so.  The problem with any diet that advocates eliminating entire food groups from one's diet is that you'll miss those foods.  And now that Lindsey has seen the error of her ways, it's time for the victory dance!

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Okay I'm done.  Like Lindsey told you in her last post, we just got back from our road trip, and we cheated a lot, to the tune of way way too much fast food, and not nearly enough healthy food.  I swear they must put something in those french fries because they are really addictive!  I lost all of the progress I had made thus far, and so I'll basically be starting over.  Note to self: do not cheat for a week and a half.  However, it does present me with an opportunity.

At the insistence of both EJ and Mark, I've started using a website called MyFitnessPal in place of Weight Watchers.  It essentially functions in a similar fashion, calculating calories to determine what you need to eat to be healthy and lose weight.  The main difference is that while Weight Watchers assigns point values to different combinations of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and fibers, MyFitnessPal monitors calories directly and makes suggestions for different nutrients as well.

In addition, there are several other features that sets MyFitnessPal apart from WeightWatchers.  For one thing, it's entirely free.  To take advantage of the official WeightWatchers, you actually have to pay a membership fee.  I was previously following it unofficially, and didn't have access to their official applications.    I don't know if the official application for WeightWatchers includes a database of point values for various foods, but MyFitnessPal has a user developed database, and for many foods, simply typing in the name will bring up its nutrition information.  Furthermore, MyFitnessPal takes into account exercise to adjust an individual's allotted daily calorie intake.  In other words, if you exercise more, it allows you to consume more calories.

One thing that MyFitnessPal and Weightwatchers have in common is that they both stress the importance of community.  WeightWatchers, if you're paying for it, actually has meetings where members regularly support each other.  Of course, as an unofficial user, I wasn't part of that.  MyFitnessPal instead uses social networking to put that same support and pressure behind its program.  If your friends are using it, you can see what they're eating, what sort of exercise they're doing, and you can compare their progress to your own.  Let me tell you, it's a real pain in the ass when your friend is doing an hour long workout and you're winded after a brisk walk around the neighborhood.  It's a real eye opener.

Anyways, at my preliminary weigh in this Sunday I was back at 304 lbs.  Today, I did an unofficial weigh in and found myself at 299, but I attribute that primarily to just not stuffing my face with McNuggets all day.  I have high hopes for MyFitnessPal, because it seems to have all the important attributes of a successful program.