Track before the food is ingested

Yesterday, I didn't track my dinner until after I'd already eaten it. I ate a large burger, some sweet potato fries, and two apple jacks (not the cereal, a delicious concoction of a hard cider with honey reserve whiskey added).  I thought for sure I would be well over my calories with just the burger, but it wasn't as calorie-heavy as I thought.  I added in the sweet potato fries and I was still under.  One apple jack, still under!  15 calories were left.  At this point...I could fib and say, no I didn't have a second apple jack.  Totally stayed under my calorie goal.  Yep.

Now, for the past three days, I've been over my calorie goal.  It was a lot to do with eating out and eating more than I should, but I am surprised at how tempting it is to fib.  Like really tempting.  Which is weird, because no one sees my food log but me. It's password protected and is only for my own records, but I really want to see "under her calorie goal" for some reason.

Ideally, I would be tracking food before it's in my face, but I was eating while working on something and thought, I'll have time to track it later. I assumed I'd be over my goal because, duh, cheeseburger.  So might as well eat whatever I want.  If I had stopped and tracked the food before I ate it, I guarantee you I would not have had  a second apple jack.  I would have been delighted to be under my calorie goal and would have happily had water.

Moral of this story: Track before the food is ingested.

Tracking foods

I've been doing pretty well at tracking my foods in myfitnesspal.com, and I've made some progress.  I've lost five pounds over the last two weeks, even without counting calories last weekend.  I'm pretty glad with that.  If I can keep my weight going steadily downward, that would be great.

So what have I learned since my last post?  I can have a cheat day.  I can even have a cheat weekend, if I want, as long as I don't go crazy.  If I make it the new regular to track my calories, and not-tracking is odd, I think I'll see my weight continue to go down.

I am much more accountable for what I put in my mouth if I put it down on paper (so to speak) first.  I know this.  Everyone knows this. It's, like, elementary dieting.  But it still surprises me how much of a difference it makes over a couple of weeks. Now, if I can commit myself to doing it long term, that would be just awesome.

It's easy to do when I'm at home, but it's harder when I'm on vacation, or out with friends, or whatever.  But even if I don't track for a day or a meal, that's okay.  I'm not perfect, try as I might.  Dropping the ball gives me the chance to pick it up again.

Love,

Rachel

It's a new year.

It's a new year, and I'm seven pounds down from last year.  It's not much, and my weight has fluctuated all year, but it's a downward trend I'd like to keep up.  Anytime I weigh myself, I am disappointed, but when I look at where I came from, I know that I am making improvements.  My weight is going down.  Slowly, surely. 

Again, this year, I am committing to myself to reach for healthier foods and work my body more.  I am adding to this by committing to also get up each morning, get dressed in flattering clothes, put on my makeup, and fix my hair.  I don't know why this makes a difference, but for me, it certainly does.  I get more done, feel better about myself, and I feel like I'm better prepared for emergencies.  If Matthew calls me at 11:45 to meet him for lunch at 12, I'm ready.  If I need to go to the grocery store, I'm not worried that I look like a slob the whole time I'm shopping. 

This year, I want to lose 13 pounds.  I want to lose at least a pound a month and at the end of the year I want to look back and say I'm down 20 pounds from two years ago.  Slow and steady.