"If you bite it, write it!"

That's Michelle's mantra for me. She's referring to Sparkpeople.com Anything that's consumed needs to be recorded on that website. What's amazing is how it breaks down each food into its component parts - fats, carbs and protein. Two foods may each be 300 calories, but one may have a higher carb composition, or maybe it's higher in fat content. Who cares, you may ask. It's like a pound of feathers vs. a pound of nails, right? Wrong. Look, you could eat nothing but say 12 twinkies in a day (4 per meal) and have that add up to about 1,800 calories which isn't bad. But you haven't supplied your body with the proper nutrients like protein and without that one in particular, over time, you will lose muscle and possibly add fat, having a net zero effect on the scale. is that a desired outcome? No! So technically, all calories are not equal and a pound of feathers is not equal to a pound of nails. The beauty of the website lies in how it allows you to critically analyze everything. The problem is that you probably don't know how much of each element (carbs, fat and protein) you need in a day and that's key information. Michelle told me what my range is based on my goals (gaining muscle, losing fat) and activity level. It might require a consultation with a nutritionist or a little independent research to get your numbers, but once you have them, you can steer yourself properly.