Newbie's thoughts about monitoring.
After 25 days of measuring weight with my first scale ever, it went from 202.2 to 198.5. Incidentally it is the 40th day without any alcohol, which certainly helped.
Slimming down is way more difficult than I thought, even in complete isolation. I had never tried before and now gained a lot of respect for my friends trying to follow a diet while still living in normal society.
It is a very long process and I find that tracking an important tool to not give up. Day to day data can be very disappointing and counter intuitive, but they seem to make more sense in the long run. Tracking a seven-day moving average nicely smooths the ups and down, so do not despair if numbers are not always going the right way.
Columns of numbers are not very easy to interpret, but a chart is certainly a nice way to visualize progress. For me, a loss of 12 lbs does not show in the mirror, but I hope that if the curb keeps that trend, the layer of rubber around my waist gets less obnoxious.
Disclaimer: People say it is unhealthy to stay so long with so little caloric input, but I think everybody is different and have their own metabolism. I would not recommend that to anyone, so do not pay attention to the exact numbers. What matters and is motivating I think, is to find a way to feel well through eating better and still see progress through monitoring this long process.
Finally, when one sees other stories on TV, it is easy to think they are not realistic, but here on FS they feel real and often very motivating. They make you feel the goal is reachable finding the behavioral change that fits you. Also, I do not suppose you want to bug your friends all the time about the nutritional benefits of cauliflower, so it is good to be able to vent or joke with people with similar interests.
Done with the soap box, please forgive my broken English.
