Fatty McFatterson

Well, I've got about 30 pounds I need to lose. I delusionally (yes, I know that's not a word) call it "baby weight," although I've been overweight since age 0 and Norah is 3 years old, and at some point, baby weight is just fat.

So, I started MyFitnessPal.com, and I have to say, I love it. I've lost 5 pounds in 15 days. And I also know this blog doesn't usually promote products, but I'm going to. You've been warned.

MyFitnessPal.com is, at its most basic, an online calorie counter. But it's much more sophisticated than that, while remaining user-friendly. Here's how you do it.

1. Register and create a password and profile. A profile is optional.

2. Enter your weight and your goal weight. It will set a daily caloric intake just for you.

3. Enter what you eat into your food journal. Every bite. This is where it's super easy-- if I type "Fiber Plus Eggos" into the search field, I can find that product, click "add," and the calories, fat, carbs, and protein automatically are entered. So easy!

4. Enter in exercise, if you actually exercise. Apparently, exercising is good and what normal, healthy people do. I plan to try that someday soon.

5. When you're done for the day, click "Complete" and it will tell you, "If every day were like today, in 5 weeks you'd weigh ____." That is motivational.

6. Weigh in whenever you want and record it. You get a nifty chart to look at. You want your line to go down. The downward pointing line is a happy line.

Other sweet things about MyFitnessPal:

• It's similar to Weight Watchers online, but their food database is more comprehensive (as far as I can tell), and it's... wait for it... FREE! 
• They have a community area and you can check out people's success stories, or just chat about nutrition and health and all that jazz.
• They have an app, and it's easy and free.

I'll check in occasionally and report my successes or failures. So far, so good. Fat mom, no more!