Join Me on MyFitnessPal!

Instead of trying, with difficulty, to take several pictures of my good diary and exercise log to post on here, I wanted to encourage my fellow Yo-Yos to join me on MyFitnessPal (www.myfitnesspal.com).

I am 100% honest with my food and exercise log, and I publish everything so that it’s fully transparent to my friends.

Doing this keeps me accountable, as I’m far less likely to eat an entire bag of cookies if I know my family, friends, and coworkers are going to see it! The more people who join and add me as a friend, the more accountable I feel.

Here’s my handle – look me up!

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As a note, I do not gain ANYTHING for mentioning these apps/sites; they’ve just been a huge personal help on my health/fitness journey so I’m a big fan. Feel free to skip if you have a system that works better for you; or, even better, share it with me in the comments!

On that note, bon appetit!

Tori

Normal

All my life, I’ve been above average.

For some areas, that’s been a good thing. Above-average intelligence, above-average drive, above-average socialization.

In many areas, however, it has been a bad thing:

Above average weight.
Above average body fat.
Above average BMI.

I’ve always wondered what it would be like to just be “normal.” In all aspects of my life: average.

Well, I can’t change my height, my looks, my intelligence, or my personality, but I can officially say my weight, BMI, and body fat are “average” for a woman my age and height.

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Something feels really good about being average.

Bon appetit, my friends!

Tori

I’m Alive!

For anyone that follows my blog with any consistency, you’ve probably noticed the sudden – and unannounced – silence.

First things first: I’m totally OK!

No melt downs, no binge/purge episodes, nothing.

I’m totally fine.

After weeks upon weeks of my Daily Accountability Reports (sharing with the world EVERY bite of food I ate and exercise I completed), I realized that I needed a few days off to give my brain a break.

I needed to take a few days of NOT tracking what I ate and letting my body tell me what it wanted again. Any time I catch myself becoming obsessive with something, I try to put the brakes on quickly: it’s very easy for me to slip back into my old behaviors. If I obsess too much about my food log or my gym attendance, I’ll start to let that cloying guilt sink in… you know, that weighted pain in the back of your mind that tells you each bite you take is BAD, BAD, BAD.

The moment I start to sense the voice returning, I do whatever I need to do to shut it down. FAST.

In this case, as I was writing my Thursday Night Accountability report, I could hear that voice again… it was mocking me as I typed. It was reading my food log over my shoulder, criticizing every snack. It laughed at my measly 45 minutes at the gym, and it made me feel guilty.

That’s when I realized I needed a short reprieve from the accountability reports.

Don’t worry – I’m still alive, positive, and kicking butts. 🙂 More posts to come!

T-Minus 10 days until my Dirty Thirty Birthday!

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

Making Money, Getting Fit!

OK, I know I’ve bragged about the GymPact App in the past, but I must tell you:

This thing is the BEST!

Why do I say that?

Because not only is it helping me stay on track with my diet, my workouts, and my fruit/veggie consumption, but I’m making REAL CASH from it.

Don’t believe me? Take a look below:

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By committing to a set number of workouts, food diaries, and veggies/fruits per week, I’m earning money for following through on my obligations. I’m basically “betting” the millions of other users of the app that I WILL workout and eat right, and I’m putting my money where my mouth is.

If I fail to meet any element of my pact, I’m responsible to pay out.

Here’s my usual weekly wager:

$50/day for my Food Log, for which I commit to all seven days of the week.

  • I do this because I am RELIGIOUS about my food log (I haven’t missed a day in almost a full year), so this is something I trust myself to do, even on the busiest of days.
  • I use MyFitnessPal for a food log, which autosyncs to my GymPact, making it simple to keep everything in one place and not doubling my work.

$10/day for my Workouts, for which I commit to five days of the week.

  • I’m pretty consistent with hitting the gym 6-7 days per week, but I commit to 5 days to account for sick days, fatigue, and “just not feeling it” moments.
  • GymPact works with RunKeeper, TrackMyRun, and many other GPS-apps, so you’re not limited to working out in a gym. I use RunKeeper all the time for my walks/runs, so it autosyncs back to GymPact.
  • You must log at least 30 minutes – either in a gym or moving outdoors – to get credit.

$10/item for my Veggie Pact, for which I commit to seven fruits/veggies per week.

  • I actually just joined this pact, as I was hesitant that it would require me to eat dozens of fruits/veggies per day. Come to find out, it’s much simpler than that.
  • You can log up to FIVE individual fruits/veggies per day. You have to take a picture of it that PROVES you’re eating it (or about to eat it). Think a bowl of chopped fruit with a fork in it versus a picture of the produce stand at Publix. It needs to be obvious that you’re going to consume it.
  • The “community” – AKA, the other users of the app – verify you picture with a Thumbs UP or a Thumbs DOWN: was it really a fruit or veggie? Did it look like you were going to eat it? Taking a picture of Starbursts made with “real fruit flavor” won’t cut it, bub!
An example of the type of thing you load to meet your "Veggie Pact."

An example of the type of thing you load to meet your “Veggie Pact.”

On average, I make between $2-2.50 per week.

So, where does this money come from?

The users that didn’t follow through on their pact!

Yes – if you commit to 5/week for the Gym and bet $10 per day, you’ll get charged $20 if you only make it to the gym three times. It’s a real pact, guys! You put your money where you mouth is, so you’ll risk losing it if you’re not consistent.

The app connects to either a Credit Card (you provide) or PayPal, so you have to be serious about your health and you commitment to using the app before you dive in. It’s helped me a ton with accountability and progress – and, to date, I’ve made over $150 from using the app for 9 months. Yeah, that’s serious money, folks.

I’ve told a lot of friends about this app and many have started using it. Some make money, some lose money (once or twice) and then get SERIOUSLY motivated… or delete the app. It’s not for the faint of heart, so only sign up if you’re prepared to follow through with your PACT!

Bon appetit, my friends (and don’t forget to put it in your FoodLog)!

Tori

 

Tuesday Accountability Report

What a great day!

I had a blast at work today, accomplishing surprisingly everything I set out to do (even with those surprise, time-devouring, pop-up meetings).

I was good almost all day, except for my afternoon snack (a coworker walked around passing out bags of candy) and the dessert at dinner (how can you resist frozen yogurt?).

Despite a sore knee, I got in over 2 hours of cardio (elliptical trainer!) and feel pretty good right now. A good day!

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Overall, it was a successful day!

Bon appetit, my friends!

Tori

Saturday Accountability Report

Man, this has been a weekend of ALCOHOL!

I’ve been getting a hefty chunk of calories every day from my drinking – almost 700 alone today! Yikes. Definitely need to tone that down a bit.

Here’s today’s report:

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Way over my calorie allowance, but the workout helped to ease the deficit.

I hope everyone had a stellar Saturday! Hoping for more self-control on Sunday!

Bon appetit,

Tori

Friday Accountability Report

A few glasses of wine, a couple of cocktails and BOOM! Out like a light.

Out as in slept like a log – not anything bad. Haha!

I went out with girlfriends last night and ended up falling asleep the second I got home, so here’s yesterday’s report:

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The tiramisu (and lunch!) were killers, so I really hit the gym hard. My liquid dinner wasn’t the healthiest, but it definitely made for a fun night.

Hope everyone is off to a great weekend!

Bon appetit,

Tori

Wednesday Accountability Report

Thanks to a bout of severe insomnia, I’ve been up since 3:15 this morning (having gone to bed at 12:20am, this wasn’t much).

Since there is very little to do at this time of day, I opted to hit the gym right when it opened: 5am.

I did 75 minutes on the elliptical, only heading home because the morning hunger pangs had set in.

The good thing about morning cardio? It wakes you up.

The bad thing about morning cardio?
You’re hungry ALL DAY LONG.

Check out my food diary for proof:

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Feeling guilty for my heavy consumption, I hit the gym a second time from 9:30-11pm to perform another round of cardio.

It was a good day! I’m exhausted, so let’s hope I’m not revisited by that insomnia a second night.

Bon appetit, my friends!

Tori

Tuesday Accountability Report

Whew. I am POOPED.

After a long day at work, I killed it at the gym today: two hours on the elliptical!

It was actually unintentional: a movie came on and sucked me in. I almost stayed for the whole movie (3 hours!), but I had homework to finish for the Leadership Academy in my office.

Too tired to write more; I have to be up on six hours!

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Have a great night, and bon appetit!

Tori