Slimkicker - Cool New Website

Like every middle aged American woman, I'm overweight and I fret about it.  I could stand to lose about 30 (50) pounds but I HATE dieting.  I know how to do it.  I know I have to eat different foods than would be my first choice, but come on, when I'm craving salt and vinegar kettle chips, can I settle for rye crisp instead?  No way.  I'd rather eat nothing.  I hate that.  Part of the problem is that dieting is so lonely.  If you talk about it with people not dieting they are bored out of their skulls because nobody cares if I got up early and did a workout, or if I ate half a jar of pickles instead of a sleeve of Ritz Crackers.  But when I'm dieting, it's almost all I can think about.

Things I've done in the past to lose weight:

1.  I once did nothing but count calories and I lost about 25 pounds.  I didn't exercise, and I ate whatever I wanted but stopped when I hit my calorie limit.  There were days when I only ate chocolate chip cookies and drank pop.  I gained all the weight back plus more.

2.  I exercised so hard for a few months that I lost weight and changed the shape of my bod, but there is no way I could have maintained that level of exercise for the rest of my life.  It was brutal.

3.  Found some apps that track food and calories.  That was kind of fun because there is no way I can lose weight unless I keep track of what I am eating.  It's like trying to do accounting without knowing the dollar amounts of what you are actually accounting for.

The first option was stupid.  There is nothing there worth adapting. I probably lost muscle and gained fat.  The second option was good, but like I said, being who I am, I could never keep it up.  Moderation is the key for me when it comes to exercise.  The third option was fun, but got kind of tedious after a while.

I got an email from a woman a while back that said she was on a team developing a weight-loss website and would I be interested in reviewing it on my blog?  I told her I would try it out and write about it.  I am not really in a dieting mode lately, but I thought I'd join the site and go through the motions anyway just for the review.  I LOVE the site.  It's called Slimkicker and it's at Slimkicker.com.

Its more like social networking than keeping a food log.  I joined the site, made a profile, entered my ideal weight and we were off.  It calculated what I need for calories and nutrition.  I have to enter food into a log, and I think almost every food - brand name and restaurant included - is in the database.  After I enter my food in I can click onto a nutritional allowance page and see if I got enough of the nutrients I need.  I think this is fascinating.  I never get enough fat or protein.  I always go way over on carbs and sugar.  I'm pretty good at getting the right amount of calories, fiber, and cholesterol, but I'm way out of whack on the rest.  I never knew that before.

I like how this site is more like a game than a diet.  You get points and can move up levels when you earn enough points.  You get points for entering food, exercising, eating good foods, doing challenges etc.  I get a little thrill when I eat some peppers or something and get a bunch of points.  When I earn enough points to go up a level, I get a treat.  My treat that I chose is a cupcake.  (Holy counter productive!)  You can get friends on the site too.  I have a bunch already and they check in with me and ask how I'm doing.  I love it!  I'm still not in a dieting mood and don't really feel like reaching any kind of weight deadline or goal, but I'm having fun playing on the site and I feel good when I meet my nutritional needs and don't go over or stay too far under.  It's fun!  You should check it out.  If you decide to join, friend me!