A much needed diet.

I am on a diet.   What a bore.  There is nothing worse, than someone 'on a diet'.     

During the past year I have tried to convince myself that the trousers that have been slowly mounting in the bottom of the drawer have shrunk in the wash.   But when the stomach started to hang over the remaining trousers I realised that I had a problem.   And it was not good, and getting worse.   I was also carrying around extra kilos.   Why?   Just when I wanted to walk lightly and freely.

But how to do it.   I am not keen on soft drinks, chips, takeaways, fried food, ready meals or too many cakes either.   So no good giving up those foods.   I also did not want to take on any diets that result in digesting large amounts of chemicals.  Or pay to attend a slimming club.  And adding up calories using my trusty little book was just too arduous.   But the extra kilos just had to go.

One morning I discovered an app for the mobile phone called 'My Fitness Pal'.   Anything that is a bit technical always acts like a magnet.   So I could not resist downloading it.  The app contains English foods available in supermarkets plus meals available in chain restaurants. And there are plenty of homemade alternatives.   All I have to do is press on the relevant food, and up pops an array of food items to choose from, and the calories.    Of course the temptation is to click on the item with the lowest calories, but no cheating here.    The app adds the calories up, and deducts it from my daily allowance.    And the benefit of exercise is, that the more I do, the more I can eat.   All the dog walking is really going to pay dividends here.   Fantastic.   

The app does all sorts of other fancy calculations, such as calculating fat, sugar and carbohydrates in each meal.   However I am only really interested in the calories and exercise.   The app is free, and paid for by the advertisements that appear at the bottom of the screen.   This was a little off putting on the first day, as the advertisement was for funeral plans.  Did that mean that if I follow this app, go on a diet, then I will need a funeral plan!   Most appropriate.  I also mistakenly accrued an extra 1,800 calories due to walking up hill for two hours.   Unfortunately, I had pressed the wrong key, as I had only walked uphill for ten minutes.  A pity.

The best thing about this diet is that I can eat all foods, just in smaller portions, which is obviously where the problem started for me.   Oversized portions of food.    

After years of resisting the temptation to weigh myself, I went out and bought scales, just to keep track of progress.   Scales with a magnifying glass, so that I can see the weight loss clearly.   

Every onwards, with this diet.   Boring I know.