I have very little willpower. There are both positive and negative elements to this. Positive: I am easily led into nonsense and chaos and as a result I am generally a lot of fun. Negatives: I am easily led into nonsense. See what I mean? I am useless at dieting. I am an all or nothing sort of girl – not good at restraint. If I were an alcoholic I would be able to not drink, but not able to have a single drink. Now translate this into cupcakes. I love cupcakes. I cannot say no to a cupcake. Unless it is gluten and sugar free, then I might still take one and use it as a weapon or a door stop. (Ever had one? No? Then don’t bother unless you have never eaten a proper cupcake, then you won’t know any better and may think it delicious.)

I have decided to try and improve my health. Part of the impetus is that we are going to the UK in April and I do not want to be a blubber monster in the photos. There is nothing quite like spending the day thinking you look the bomb and then to discover after you see the pics of the event that you look more like you ate a bomb. So I have started a healthy eating plan and am trying to work in some exercise here and there. I hate sweating. Or glowing. Glowing is just sweating pretending to be glamorous.

In the past I have always used Weight Watchers when I want to lose. I have probably lost the contents of a small human over the years. But the little devils keep coming back. I do not want this to be a temporary change – I want it to be a lifestyle change. I do not have the time or interest to attend a weekly meeting. I discovered the My Fitness Pal app by accident, created a profile and never used it. Then a friend posted she had lost a huge amount of weight and mentioned the MFP app so I thought I would give it another go. That lasted about a week and then Christmas and NY and I realised I would never be committed over the hols. It was my trip which was my impetus to getting back on board.

I am no longer having pastry or muffins for breakfast most mornings. I am not having milky cappuccinos every morning. Instead I am trying to keep my food as close to source as possible. In other words, I am trying to avoid eating processed foods and where possible eating raw food. But if I do have processed food then the app can scan in the barcode for most items and you get exact info on carbs and calories etc. on the contents. This is how I discovered that my fake-accino instant coffee sachet is the same amount of calories as the bowl of fresh juicy watermelon I had that day for breakfast. So the app is also teaching me more about calories – I do understand nutrition and food; I have a medical background and studied anatomy and physiology and am married to a coach. However this knowledge is useless unless applied.

I also love the wee support network I have on MFP a group of women I have ‘known’ on social media for about a decade – we have remained in contact in the virtual world, but I am getting such support from them. We all need a cheerleader, someone who does not knock you when down, try to tell you what to eat or do or how to do things, just to be supportive. We are all similar ages and we all have the same desires – to get healthier.

Caitlin is also using the app so we are trying to eat healthy as a family. I am trying to not automatically cook a carb to accompany our meals. Last night I did baked chicken and had to really resist making rice, instead I did carrots and a big salad. I normally cook my carrots in copious amounts of butter and sugar, last night I changed this to a small sliver of butter in a huge pan of carrots, and a teaspoon of sugar for the whole pot. This is far less than a quarter of what I normally use. I’m cutting down the sugar in my tea and generally just trying to be more conscious of what I am consuming.

The one form of exercise I do enjoy is dancing, so last night we had a dance party moment. This is where we put on music and dance around wildly like fools for 15 minutes while the dogs bark and jump around with us. A girl’s gotta work it when she can – however she can.