I've seen many +1, +2, +3 to people praising the Fitday website as it helps them lose or maintain weight.

In an effort to inspire those of us who lament about the new, bigger pants we had to get, or how the damn washing machine keeps shrinking our shirts and underwear, how about telling a short blurb about with maybe a graph as proof about how fairly easy it is. I don't want this to be a "congrats" post. I want this to be an inspiring post.

I started really losing weight early January when my school nurse did a weight loss contest. I used fitday every after every meal and weighed every morning. I taught myself discipline and was able to see progress as a reward. I still ate almost whatever the hell i wanted - just less of it. I won 2nd place. The giant drop from Xmas was because the weeks leading up to Xmas I was happily snacking on everything everybody threw at me. Then during my two week break, I wore sweatpants the whole time. Halfway through I realized my fat-pants didn't fit anymore!!! Thus the first drastic drop so I could go back to work. I'll be damned if I'm going to get even BIGGER pants! The rest is purely from monitoring my intake. I also take a multivitamin every morning to make up for anything I may be lacking on with the calorie restriction. I am wearing pants that I haven't worn in 6 years now. About 15-20 more pounds and I have three more brand new pairs of pants that haven't been worn in over 10 years. I'm shaving off my "beard of shame" in 5 more pounds. The only reason I have it is to hide the fat rolls on my chin.

Less fat = MORE HP!
Less fat = your leathers will feel better.
Less fat = little kids won't make innocent comments about your "looking like Santa Claus"
Less fat = you can walk up stairs without stopping at base camp #1 for oxygen at an elevation of 8 feet above ground level.

I use fitday pretty regular. Sometimes the numbers aren't quite right, but I make do between that and calorieking.com if I go out and get something from a chain restaraunt and want to plug in a close estimate.

I love it. I am still fat (to me) but 2 things are abundantly clear. 1. I eat too much empty calories (including sugary coffee and the occasional cocktail). 2. I eat more calories than I need, sometimes to a suprisingly loud alarm.

I am only about 20 lbs from my ideal weight, and I am lifting to increase mass/decrease fat ass. What I have found and am working on to improve in a 'daily lifestyle' kind of way is that I go out with company or to visit family and I blow the diet out by over 1500 calories in a single shot. I am trying to find the self control to stop with the drinks, fatty foods and sugary snacks that are laid out for company as a matter of course. I bring diet soda and bottled water when I know it will help me avoid drinking alcohol and sugary cola. As for alcohol, between the empty calories and the sudden lack of self control, I am finding it better just to avoid it completely in social settings. I can control it very well at home when I am playing guitar or hanging with the gf. Since I tend to drink my liqour straight, it's easy to see how hanging and playing cards for 4 hours can lead to the consumption of say 4 1.5 ounces of bourbon, with a diet coke. Forgetting the chips and dip, or pizza, the alcohol alone in that time is 420 calories, or almost a foot long turkey sandwich at subway.

I now know the main reason I am where I am is that I do what I do. No lying to yourself when you sit down to record everything and you realize you took in almost 5000 calories in a day when you really should be consuming close to 2400. (Pizza bad!) I worked in construction a lot in my younger years, as well as time in the military. Such an active lifestyle gave me the tolerance to put away close to 8000 calories a day and stay at about 200 pounds. Because of this, my face is a gaping hole and I can literally pour food down my face all day with almost no discomfort. Between that and my amazing ability to cook, it's a wonder I don't tip the scales at close to 400 pounds.