Last time I told you about my decision to start taking control of my weight and health………

Here’s the path I took to lose those extra pounds this winter:

I finally decided that in order to cut back on calories and get on track to losing the extra pounds I gained in the fall, I needed to know just how much I was actually eating. I’ve read every health article out there about how keeping track works, and until now was never motivated enough to actually do it.  The tool I chose as a food log is called Calorie Count. It’s online, free and insanely easy to use, and at first, the “free” is the main reason I chose it.

On the first day, I used the tools on CC to determine what my ideal calorie target would be based on my height, weight, desired weight, build, and activity level. The magic number turned out to be 1900 calories, which I’m actually still sticking with today. Here’s what amazed me: I input my calories for that day, thinking I’d been exceedingly healthy and lowcal. Turned out I’d actually consumed almost 2300 calories! Well, that got me thinking about the fact that healthy doesn’t always mean lowcal. As I’ve also read a million places, it’s all about calories in vs. calories out, and if I eat 3,000 calories of fruit or 3,000 calories of candy, my body will still treat it as 3,000 calories. Granted, the fruit is more nutritious, but when it comes to weight loss, calories are king.

So, 2300 calories was what I had considered to be a light day - that was a HUGE eye-opener! I started being VERY conscious of every bite I put in my mouth and most importantly, kept track of every one of those bites. I started making many substitutions (which I’ll share in future posts) and realized that cutting 400 calories/day wasn’t very difficult once I started paying attention to just how many calories were in all of the foods I was eating.

CalorieCount that has an ENORMOUS database of foods and allows you to tag and keep track of the foods you eat the most and enter your own if they are not in the database. The initial set-up takes a bit of time, but after that, I’d say that I spend max about 15 minutes per day. I try to enter foods throughout the day so I can plan my meals & snacks, but if I don’t have time or access, I make sure to mentally or on paper keep a running total. Sound obsessive? Well, it’s all about balance - if I keep track, I won’t feel guilty about my snacks or indulgences. I budget for them throughout the day and have NO guilt about sitting down on the couch with my popcorn and candy corn (don’t ask) in the evening.

I’ve learned SO much about how to best fuel my body by following this strategy and make much healthier choices for the bulk of my meals and snacks. I’ve learned that the best breakfast for me is about 200 calories and fiber- and protein- dense, accompanied by a Starbucks (how I love thee) nonfat Misto. Then, a fiber- and protein-dense 100 calorie morning snack, a 200-400 calorie lunch, snacks to bring me up to 1,000 calories by supper, around 500 calories for supper, and then plenty left over for snacks in the evening. Does this formula work for everyone? Nope, I’m sure not. However, it’s what works for ME and leaves me feeling full and satisfied and lets me eat the foods I want. That’s what’s truly important - making sure I don’t feel deprived and making sure I’m in control. On the days I don’t keep track, I always feel guilty about any indulgences because I automatically assume they’re putting me over - when I keep track, I know if they fit in or not.

Here’s what kicked me in the butt hard enough to do this and make room for the 15 minutes each day: feeling in control of my weight and health makes me happy and when I’m happy, my family is happier. That’s enough incentive right there! My kids and husband deserve a happy mom and wife, and I definitely deserve to be as happy as I can be! Of course there were a bunch of adjustments I had to make, but overall, they’ve all been worth it.

In the future I’ll be sharing more tips & tricks, recipes, food substitutions, and ways I’ve overcome obstacles!

- Also published at Counting the Weighs -

So, after my Vitalicious post, you now know I’m trying to lighten up on calories and be healthier, right? Well, I’ve decided to share my journey and in the process, share my tips, tricks, and recipes with all of YOU! Why you? C’mon, who doesn’t want a guilt-free way to enjoy all of their favorite foods!

I’ll start off by telling you the very short version of my weight gain-gain-loss-gain-loss-gain-loss story:

1) Weighed X in college

2) Weighed X+6 when I got pregnant with first child

3) Gained 55 lbs with baby #1

4) Lost all but 15 before getting pregnant with baby #2

5) After baby #2, I somehow managed to drop down to X-20 (I KNOW! Crazy, huh? I chalk it up to breastfeeding, not sitting down EVER, and forgetting to eat) within about 7 months - the new benchmark, Y

6) Held steady there for about 9 months, then it began to creep back up

7) In January of this year, I was back up to Y+10 - yuck.

Anyway, that’s the backstory.

I’ve always been very active (ran/walked several half and full marathons, used to work out every day) and didn’t pay a whole lot attention to what I ate, but tried to be healthy with the exception of my insane candy habit. I always had the mindset that I would work it off with exercise. My lifestyle this year, however, has been super INactive due to weather, time, kids, etc.

I decided that since I’ve reached the ripe old age of 28 and all studies show that women start to add a pound or so a year, I could very quickly become very unhappy with my weight. I mean, 10 pounds in about 4 months - that’s NOT good!

So, I lost the weight.

10 pounds in about 2 months.

I’m back down to Y and fully intend to stay here……..don’t want to lose more, definitely don’t want to gain. I’ve held steady here for almost 2 months and for the first time in my life, feel fully in control of my body.

Want more?

Next time in “Lighten Up”, I’ll tell how, and then after THAT, I’ll start sharing my fun tips, tricks, and recipes!

(This is also published at Counting the Weighs)

As a mother of 2 toddlers with an extremely busy life and a constant struggle to maintain a healthy weight, I’ve always had trouble finding foods that a) don’t have a million calories and b) actually fill me up for longer than 20 minutes. Sure, I could eat a gigantic bowl of cereal for breakfast, but it would end up having 500 calories and I’d be hungry again in no time! I know all of the rules - I need fiber and protein to stay feeling full - got it. Easier said than done! However, I’ve found my new favorite breakfast and snack EVER……

Vitamuffins and Vitatops from Vitalicious!

Yup, I’m a VitaMommy

These muffins and muffin tops (think Seinfeld, not the fat at the top of my jeans!) have only 100 calories each, are all natural, have oodles of protein and fiber and best of all, taste AMAZING. I eat 2 of them for breakfast every morning on my way to work and am more than full all the way until my morning snack at 10:00, and often have one for part of my lunch or for an afternoon snack. There are a huge variety of flavors, including many chocolate ones, and others including a bunch of bran varieties, corn, and banana nut. So far my favorites have been the Cranberry Bran and Golden Corn, but I’ve just ordered a bunch of the BananaNut and Triple Chocolate Chunk to try out.

The only bummer is that I can’t get these at any stores near me, but the shipping is great right from the company’s website and the product arrives still-frozen, ready for me to throw in my freezer. I just pop them in the microwave in the a.m. and I’m ready to go!

Oh, and another great bonus is that there are a bunch of great coupon codes that you can find in magazines or online, making these that much more affordable. If you’re really strapped for cash, you can actually buy the mixes and make them yourself! I haven’t done that yet, but may have to if I keep eating as many as I have been.

The best part? These make me feel SO good about myself in the morning after a late-night turtle cheesecake episode………..

(Also published at Counting the Weighs)

Note: This isn’t a sponsored post - if only it were, maybe I could’ve gotten some free product - yum! I wasn’t approached by the company to write this, I wasn’t offered free product……I just LIKE it and want to share it with you, one mom to another.

- Blogged with Scribefire -

No matter what, I’ll always be able to tell my kids that I beat them to Facebook.

Granted, they’re only 2 and 3 right now, but STILL, I was there FIRST. My latest online reading/giggling obsession has been Oh Crap. My Parents Joined Facebook.

If you haven’t been there yet, go! Now!

I’ll wait……..ho hum. Twiddling thumbs. Getting some coffee.

Ok, back now.

Funny, funny stuff, people. Right?

And my poor, poor children.

I’m such a geek that no matter what tech thing is hot when they’re teenagers, I’ll have been there first.

Guaranteed.

Evil laughter……….

We’re on day 5 of my son’s horrendous stomach bug and to put it mildly, our house and everyone in it is in shambles. That sets the scene for:

1) My husband taking 2 unpaid days off this week

2) Me taking 3 unpaid days off this week

3) 3 gazillion loads of laundry

4) A shopping trip to buy 3 extra bedding sets because I can’t do laundry fast enough

5) 2 VERY tired parents, a frustrated healthy little girl, and a miserable, leaking-from-every-orifice, sick little boy.

And THAT sets the scene for my trip to the clinic today.

A trip made right after a naptime “incident” in which I almost had a heart attack thinking that my son had vomited blood. Nope, just red juice - heart rate slowed again.

The doctor walks in as I’m changing J’s diaper and gasps.

“Is that BLOOD?”

I stare down at J’s socks where she’s pointing and just. about. die.

Nope, that’s puke. Puke on his socks. Which I forgot to change when I was changing the bedding, his clothes, washing the carpet, and dealing with the general chaos of it all.

Yuck.

And I’m the mom who took her kid to the doctor with red puke on his socks.

I have no secrets, I guess. I’m just that mom. All the time.

I just scored a gift-giving home run with a friend of mine who recently became a father (to a beautiful baby girl - I can’t cuddle that kiddo enough, I swear). What could possibly be more exciting to him than the set of purple and brown onesies? Well, I lent him my review copy of Jenna McCarthy’s brand-spankin’-new book, “Cheers to the New Dad!” and his wife  just told me he finished it within a day of getting home from the hospital and LOVED it………..

Do you realized the magnitude of what I just wrote? A parenting book. For Dads. And the dad actually found it useful……and relevant………and READ IT! Not knocking men at all, but from my experience, most guys like to go in and just DO parenting and skip most of the nonstop-parenting-book-reading stuff that women find addicting when newly pregnant and then again when the baby actually arrives.

Whoops, forgot to mention the other half of the book that my friend is dying to start now that her husband is finished with his half - the book flips over and is……….voila……..”Cheers to the New Mom!”

How cool is that? 2 books in one!

This book would be perfect as a gift for new parents or to buy for yourself when you’re getting ready to head to the hospital………I think all parents would agree that we can use all the help we can get!

Check out my review of Jenna’s first book, “The Parent Trip” - another great parenting read!

We’re so excited to welcome our newest contributor!

Ann Handley is an 11-year veteran of creating and managing digital content to build relationships for organizations and individuals. Ann has a demonstrated ability to develop content strategy and to fully execute on it. She has a passion for building community, particularly in using new media tools to broaden and build value.

Currently, Ann is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, which provides strategic and tactical marketing know-how for marketing and business professionals through a full range of online media. Ann writes at the MarketingProfs Daily Fix, a blog in the top 20 of the Advertising Age Power150 and in the top 10 of The Viral Garden’s Top 25 Marketing & Social Media Blogs. She also writes at her acclaimed personal blog, Annarchy and is a contributor to The Huffington Post.

Previously, Ann was the co-founder of ClickZ, one of the first sources of interactive marketing news and commentary. Prior to that, she spent 12 years as a business editor and writer for both local and national trade and consumer publications.

She live nears Boston in a slightly creaky, comfortable house with 2 kids, 4 dogs, good coffee in the kitchen, decent wine in the cellar, a stack of New Yorkers by the bed, and an occasional field mouse in the laundry room.

Sigh.

So last week we were wondering if girls work, and then this morning:

Me: Ok, hop in the truck so we can get to L’s house!

Maggie: No, Mom - we’re taking the CAR!

Me: What? No, Daddy’s taking the car, we take the truck, remember?

Maggie: No! Trucks are for BOYS and cars are for GIRLS!

Say what?!?!

I drive the kids to daycare almost every day in the big pickup because daycare is close by and there’s no reason for my husband to waste gas on his drive to work, so he drives my Honda Civic. This is the usual thing and I only take the car on days that I need to go do errands or make a longer trip. So what in the world caused her to say that trucks are for boys?

Huh?

It’s finally hitting me that I’m just ONE of the influences in my children’s view of the world and it fascinates me to try to decipher where the crazy-talk is coming from. Enlighten me!

Kate Olson is a mother of 2 toddlers and lives in rural Wisconsin. She balances motherhood & working from home in a semi-functional fashion - you can read more about Kate on our contributors page. She blogs about education and lots of business/tech stuff at Kate Says . Want more? Read all of Kate’s posts!