I track my food on SparkPeople. I have about 170 pounds to lose, so taking it slow is the way to go, as much as I don’t want to 😉 Anyway, what I do is take down the allotted number of calories each week. I think I started at 2800 calories allowed per day (to maintain my current weight) and now I have taken it down to 2300. It’s nice to gradually go down, because each week gets easier.

After years of not doing any daily exercise, I’ve developed a strategy for choosing physical activity over the couch.

1. When I come home from work, I make sure I’m not ravenously hungry. This means bringing lots of healthy snacks for me to munch on during the last hour at the office and on my commute home. So I come home feeling satisfied and ready to run.
2. I love technology and social media, so I make my exercise routine more exciting by using apps that let me track and share my progress with family and friends.
3. I created motivation and accountability by telling my BF that if I skip my running routine for (previously established and agreed upon) unacceptable excuses, I owe him $100. This clause exploits my thrifty nature!
4. I keep my standards relatively easy and achievable: minimum 20 minutes of activity is all I need to achieve to feel personally successful.

I’m trying to find similar motivation to get myself to cook, period. And possibly cook healthy. I find cooking so tedious and annoying! I like the point that was made earlier to learn to cook 3 recipes off by heart, may give it a shot!