LIVESTRONG! :)

I'd also like to take this opportunity to promote a fantastic weight loss resource website that I have been using for quite some time now: www.livestrong.com

It is a fantastic and inspiring website which helps people who want to make a difference to their lives, whether it be changing their diet, exercising more or stopping smoking. Set up by the Lance Armstrong Foundation. 

For someone like me who has no idea what is in the food she is eating it is a great resource. Once you sign up for your FREE account you can track your weight, your fitness and the food you are eating everyday with a handy tool called MyPlate. It's one of the easiest things to use ever! You just go to MyPlate and type in the food you have ate that day, and this interactive tool searches the food for you and tells you how many calories, fat, sodium etc etc are in it. Had weetabix and a banana for breakfast, type it in and it gives you various search results - click the one that matches your food choice and voila! This is great as it tells you how many calories you have had each day, and helps you to watch your food intake. You also type in your age, weight and your weight loss goal (say you want to lose 2lbs a week) and it calculates how many calories you should be consuming each day to reach that goal. Before I was paying attention to what I was eating I was consuming near to 3000 calories a day! Now I eat just over 1000, perfect to help with weight loss. It never sets a calorie goal that is too low to be healthy.

Out and about? You can download the MyPlate app to your phone, I have one on my Blackberry and it is linked to my online account! Brilliant!

You can type in your weight and measurements online and it makes graphs of your progress for you. On your "Dashboard" it shows your weight graph and also shows a trend line, based on your weight loss/gain, it shows what weight you could be in the next month if you keep up the routine - a fantastic motivator.

I've noticed they also have a MyPlateD, for people with Diabetes. As well as a community, success stories, a facebook page, twitter account, You Tube channel, recipes, body fat calculator, bmi calculator etc. So loads of support for someone wanting to lose weight/get healthy!

All in all - it is a fantastic site and everyone should give it a try! I have lost eight lbs by using the site (which is a lot for me as I don't have that much weight to lose) and that's with barely trying! Just being aware of the calorie content of my food has clearly helped big time!

So give it a try!