Meg vs. The Machine (Part I of II)

As I write this entry… my iPod is syncing to a laptop, while my iPad alerts me to the fact that ‘I should drink 11 oz. of water RIGHT NOW’, my Zac Morris cell phone is transmitting a client text to confirm training on Sunday, and my desk top computer looms before me with a blank sheet of ‘paper’ upon which to ‘write’ a ‘blog’ that will be transmitted via Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, Google+, Blogger, etc. to the world at large… (and I should probably stop right there, because I have absolutely no idea what I am talking about, and my little brother manages my social media accounts until I can wrap my head around 21st century technology!). It is, quite simply, a sign of the times… technology that we love to hate to depend on. Across the restaurant you see a couple, out to dinner, presumably on a date, heads bent over their individual iPhone… not a word uttered between the two for 10-20 minutes! Are they texting each other?! ;) ← And here is another one! Simply by adding a semicolon, followed by a parenthesis, you know that I am smiling and winking at you in mutual understanding. We have come SO far from DOS prompts and ‘The Oregon Trail’ (and now you can probably pinpoint exactly how old I am). It all still seems so new… how did it all become so necessary?

Alright, technology… I will give you credit for saving my shoulders.  No longer do I have to carry a Franklin Covey planner, pile of stationary, rotary phone, pens, pencils, journals or calculators around with me from day to day.  Technology- 1, Megan- 0.  However, a quick Google search (see what I did there?) of America’s obesity rate will tell you that we are spending WAY too much time staring blankly into the glowing orbs.  While our hands are well defined (we can text a transcript of War and Peace in five minutes), our waistlines are not (how far can we run in five minutes?).  Yes, technology is helpful… but how are we using it to improve our health?  Can it be done? 

If you read my last blog, “The Big 7”, you may remember my strong endorsement of online food journaling.  One of my favorite food journaling apps is My Fitness Pal, and I use it pretty religiously.  However, I have finally reached that tender age when metabolism grinds to a screeching halt.  I have found that despite my relatively clean eating (hey, the M&Ms are clean when I eat them!) and insane workout schedule (I am training to qualify for the Kona Ironman in 2015)… I have to work harder than I ever have in my life to lose a measly 10 pounds!  What the crap happened!  I log in my last meal of the day, hit ‘complete entry’, and My Fitness Pal triumphantly announces that “If every day was like today, you would weigh ___ in five weeks”.  Honey, every day has been like today for the past five years… why isn’t my body doing what you are telling it to?  Are there gnomes living under my bed that stuff mashed potatoes down my throat while I sleep?!  I’ve had it… and I am fighting back.  I am going to put electronic food journaling to the test, for a total of (you guessed it) five weeks.  I will behave myself, log absolutely everything I eat (or drink), and try to ‘leave a grand on the table’ (1000 calories) after a particularly long workout (trust me, even I struggle to eat the 3,000 calories I am allowed on some days).  I will keep track of what the jubilant voice tells me each day, average all of the ‘you would weigh ___’s after five weeks, and just see who wins this epic battle of machine vs. metabolism! 
  

Come along with me, Friend (virtually, of course).  Challenge yourself to participate in online food journaling for 5 straight weeks (no cheating!).  Be completely honest with yourself about what calories are going in (don’t forget to log in your beverages!) and how regularly you are burning them away.  Check back with me in 5 weeks (same bat time, same bat channel), and let’s see how we did.  Until then… oh wait… I’m getting a text…