Today I want to tell you all about a wonderful website I came across while taking a nutrition class at the University of Michigan called Fit Day! The website is dedicated to helping is users journal and keep track of their healthy behaviors for each day. During my semester of school, I did my best to keep track of the foods I ate, my exercise, and other behaviors for each day. Today I want to encourage you to log on and try it out. At least give it a week. The site can really help you see from a distance the kinds of foods and nutrients you are consuming. Therefore, it gives you the tools to pay attention to what you should be eating less, and more of. Best of all, the website is free!
Once you log on, go to the food tab. Here you can record the foods you eat daily. You can either browse for the food or, if you have the nutrition facts for something, you can create a custom food. The food log will help you keep track of the fats (and kind of fats), carbohydrates, and proteins you are consuming. Also, if you scroll to the bottom, you will find some tables that come in very handy! The first will reveal the number of calories and the percentages of these calories you get from different sources; including fat, protein, carbohydrates, and alcohol. The second table will breakdown your meal into specific vitamins and minerals. It shows the recommended amount you should have each day, and what percentage of the recommended amount you are actually consuming that day. Another table will tell you the balance of calories in your day: the number of calories consumed compared to the number of calories burned (once you put this information into the site as well). Finally, the last tab allows you to enter specific nutrition goals and then to see how you are doing on reaching them.
Under the Activities tab, you can enter in your daily activities along with the calories you would normally burn by just living a certain lifestyle. It is preset to have everyone living a strenuous lifestyle. The tables at the bottom of this page allow you to see how many of your calories burned come from your lifestyle and how many come from your activities. You can once again see the calorie balance on this page, and it gives averages on the distances you cover during your activities over time.
The weight tab is a good way to keep track of your weight loss over time. It allows you to record your weight everyday and see how you are progressing. You can also input your current weight and a weight goal under the weight goal tab. This will help you to see what your goals are and when you reach them.
The Body tab allows you to keep track of your body measurements, so you can not only see your weight loss, but also your loss of inches!
The Moods tab is where psychology steps in. It helps you to record how much of each mood you felt in the day, in order to see your average moods. This can help you by seeing when and how you can relax yourself to reach the highest optimum moods.
Finally, for those who want to remember specificities from each day, Fit Day also gives an area to journal and record your thoughts.
So today I want to encourage you to use this site! Give it a week for best results and then analyze how you can best improve your daily habits!
Today's Workout: Gather up your running gear because today is a running day!
Start out by warming up with a fast pace walk for about five minutes. I set my treadmill to a 15 minute mile pace.
Next, run a solid mile. I did my mile at my typical ten minute mile pace.
Slow down back to your original warm up pace for another five minutes.
Run a second solid mile at that fast pace. So if you're like me, a ten minute mile pace.
Finally, complete a five minute cool down.
My total mileage today was 3 miles in about 36 minutes!
Today's Food Tip: In honor of the delicious birthday Mexican feast I had tonight to celebrate the birthday of my boyfriend's grandpa and sister, I want to share a quick and delicious recipe with you for guacamole! For a large bowl to serve a family, take about four or five ripe avocados and mash them up in a bowl. Then add in about a fourth of a red onion, some sour cream, some of your favorite salsa, and a bunch of salt to taste. Then just keep mashing it all together until you get the consistency you are looking for. Grab a bowl of whole wheat tortilla chips and enjoy!
Today's Relaxation Tip: Today spend more time at the dinner table after eating to simply talk amongst your family and/or friends and enjoy their company! You won't be able to feel the time fly by and will be happy for the extra time you can spend with those you care about!
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