有时，看似普通的评论引发了意外的事件链。对于布里奇特·麦克雷（Bridget McCray）来说，那一刻出现在2012年，当时她的丈夫随便提到他可以听到她在整个房间的呼吸。
Since she was only 45 years old, the observation made her think seriously about her health and she decided to check a few health markers. She didn’t like what she saw.
Her resting heart rate was 100 — the high end of the recommended range — and her blood pressure came in at 188 over 100. According to theAmerican Heart Association, that classified her as having hypertension. She also recalls her body fat percentage coming in at 34.
麦克雷还想知道她几十年来一直处于严重的偏头痛和痤疮。她在新奥尔良长大，并不是特别活跃，因此营养和健身从未成为她生活的一部分。当她回忆起丈夫的评论并考虑了她的健康状况不佳时，她意识到自己需要做出重大改变。
She began walking every day and joined a gym, which improved her resting heart rate. But the results felt slow. One of her new gym buddies suggested jotting down what she ate for a few days, and McCray was struck by the amount of sugar and sodium she regularly consumed.
那时她决定认真对待自己的食物跟踪。作为一名受过训练的会计师，麦克雷喜欢收集数据并看到可以代表进度的数字的想法。她开始使用MyFitnessPal来计划自己的餐点，跟踪蛋白质，脂肪，碳水化合物和卡路里。
麦克雷（McCray）现在50岁。我可以一目了然地看到我的数字是什么，这使我能够做出明智的选择。”她说，跟踪并不能阻止她偶尔有待遇，但这使她可以更加注意这些放纵。
The effect of her nutrition tracking has been profound. She hasn’t had a migraine in five years, and her acne has cleared up to only the occasional outbreak. McCray says she’s also more aware of how specific food choices make her feel. For example, she noticed she had more acne after a few days of eating dairy — an insight made possible by skimming through her meal log on MyFitnessPal.
She tracks her activity, too, and that’s helped to kick off major changes. Just a few years ago, she described her life as very sedentary, but now McCray teaches Zumba classes, helps seniors with strength training and works as a weight-loss coach. She also recently became a certified personal trainer.
“With MyFitnessPal, I love that I can do everything in one place,” she says. “I can track my food, water and exercise. I can import recipes, I can change portion sizes to adjust for how many calories I want. It’s really helped me to see progress over the years.”
Now, her resting heart rate and blood pressure are within normal range, and her body fat percentage has dropped to 22, she notes. She’s lost 20 pounds, representing 10 inches off her waist, and went from a size 10 to a size 6.
Even her kids, ages 11 and 13, are benefiting from the tracking. McCray showed them her numbers, and her son recently decided not to have a Sno-Cone at school because he saw the amount of sugar listed on a nutritional chart.
McCray has faced challenges over the past five years, particularly when she felt like there wasn’t enough time to plan and shop for healthy meals and that getting more active would be too difficult. But she never gave up and appreciates how far she’s come in just a few years.
她说：“对我来说，引起我的注意力的潜在健康危机。”“现在我在这条赛道上，我比以往任何时候都更健康，我迫不及待地想知道接下来的事情。”
Written by Elizabeth Millard, a freelance journalist specializing in health and fitness. She’s also an organic farmer, yoga teacher, obstacle course aficionado and 5K junkie. Her work has appeared in SELF, Men’s Health, CNN and other publications.
