So, the title of this blog may be a little deceiving. My writing today will not focus on how to afford good food on a low-income (so sorry to disappoint) but, before you hit the back button and continue scrolling through your Facebook news feed, give me a few sentences to try to peak your interest. I guarantee if you enjoy budgeting your money as much as I do, you’ll enjoy this blog.

Here it goes.

For the past 5 or 6 months, I have been consistently and tragically gaining weight like I never have before. I had heard about the “Freshmen 15” and the inevitable weight gain after marriage so I was expecting the scale to go up slightly during those seasons of my life but I was not prepared to struggle on an uphill battle of weight gain immediately after graduating college. And I could not determine the source of the weight gain. I felt like I was eating the same (a lot) and working out the same (none) and there was no big change in my life that should have spurred a sudden weight gain. It was quite frustrating to say the least.

So I started dieting (yuck). And then I started exercising. I was pretty much bound and determined to do whatever it took to get back to my pre-graduation weight. But NOTHING WAS WORKING! I was constantly sore from working out and never enjoyed the food I was eating plus I always wanted to cheat on my diets or sleep in a little late and I was getting SO discouraged that I could not maintain a healthy lifestyle. I felt like such a failure.

Finally, I decided to try something different. My husband had bought me a Fitbit for my birthday and I had already entered in my weight and how much I wanted to lose on the app so it was giving me feedback on how many calories I was burning and how many calories I should be eating each day in order to meet my goal. I knew it synced with MyFitness Pal app so I decided to start tracking my calories religiously. I was going to do it faithfully for at least a week and see if I noticed any change.

Starting July 25 through July 31, I entered every single thing that I ate in my app down to the condiments and I made sure that the amount of calories I ate was at or below the limit set for me by my Fitbit app. In that first week, I lost 2.5 lbs and I literally jumped off the scale with joy!

I realized that this type of diet could work for me. I have always been able to manage my money well and budget wisely and thinking of my calories as a “budget” just clicked with me.

Just like I earn money at my job, I also earn calories throughout the day. And just like I spend money, I also spend calories anytime I eat. Once I realized this, it was so much easier for me to say “No” to a bacon cheeseburger because I hadn’t earned enough calories to spend on eating it. At the same time, it has encouraged me to take more steps and do more exercises because I know exactly how many calories I am earning when I do. There is a much greater incentive for me to stay active when I know that the more I earn, the more I can spend on eating the things I enjoy.

This may not apply to anyone else out there but it has helped me immensely. Since July 25th, I have lost 7.5 lbs and surpassed my original goal.

This mindset works! (Well, at least for me 😉)

Thanks for reading.