I am wasting away. It's true- and for many that follow me on Twitter and Facebook, this is not news. As with most of us Americans, my waistline has been increasing gradually over the course of my adult life. As with a few Americans, I am finally putting an end to it.

A few of you who read my blog a couple of years back, may remember my stint with the Jillian Michaels workout. You know- the devil woman that makes you do scorpion pushups... evil! Well, I lost upwards of 20 pounds in a month and a half, and was probably the most fit I'd ever been. Unfortunately that lifestyle was unsustainable for me. I eventually crept back to the weight I was before, and was headed higher.

Of Calories and Counting

So, after trying various workout routines, resolutions, and even Atkins (boy, that was an interesting diet!) I've simplified things. The old tried-and-true "more calories out than in" diet. Also this "diet" is a lifestyle- something that does not have an end (per-se). Once I hit my target weight of 165, I'll shift my calorie count to a maintenance level.

I have a helper, though. In this modern day of apps, there is an app for this called "LoseIt!" Like most apps of this variety, it has a vast library of food, with nutrition and calorie info, as well as bar code scanner (for quick lookups), fitBit connectivity and goal setting/tracking. I have a few friends that use an alternative app "CrashPlan" and vouch for it's awesomeness, but side-by-side comparison showed them virtually the same.

When starting the app for the first time, you put in your weight, age and goal. It then gives you 3 options, with the calorie allotment for each option- 1 pound lost a week, 1.5 pounds a week, or 2 pounds a week. As you can imagine, the more aggressive the goal, the less calories you're allowed a day. This time, I chose the 1.5 pounds a week.

Each day, you type or scan the food your eaten and it subtracts that food from your daily allotment. It gets really depressing at first when you see how quickly that allotment gets depleted. Here's the cool thing though- whenever you work out, you input the exercise and it adds to your daily allotment! Therefore, encouraging foodies like me to exercise :)

This app has kept me honest and trained me to know what foods are good for you and what foods are calorie sinks. It's nice to see your progress in this graph.

I started at 196 and am now at 178 pounds. What's more, is I've come down from a size 36 pants size to a size 32 :) This time, I'm hitting 165 pounds and staying there!