eTools to the Rescue?

It's time for me to get serious about tracking. Before the debacle of the Detoxx Diet, I was doing OK without strict tracking. I detest tracking, courtesy of the calorie counting I've done in years past.

Then the Detoxx Diet put me in a holding pattern for two months. After I killed the Detoxx Diet, I went on a carbohydrate spree for a week, followed by a week's visit to my family. When I visit my family, I stay with my dad and we go out to breakfast every morning. We also go out to lunch and dinner a few times. And snack at home.

I weighed in the day after I arrived and had lost 0.8 pounds. Respectable, considering the carb-fest I'd had that week.

My trip to Michigan coincided with a snowstorm, which led to multiple canceled flights. It was nearly 3:00 a.m. when I got to Dad's house and nearly 4:00 a.m. when he and I had wound down enough to go to bed. The long day of travel set off four days of fatigue that made it hard for me to exercise good eating habits. I knew what I was doing but I decided not to beat myself up for it. And then I had more delays on my way home.

I was not surprised on Saturday when the scales showed an increase of 1.8 pounds.

So now I have to get serious about tracking because I know I'm not going to moderate what I eat otherwise. The Detoxx Diet debacle disrupted my progress so thoroughly that despite the fact that I've lost 17 pounds, I still feel like I'm starting from the beginning.

That's where eTools comes in. I've pledged (to myself) that I'll track my eating honestly for this week and see how I do at weigh-in on Saturday. Entering my weekday breakfasts and lunches was an eye-opening experience because it made me realize just how far over my daily points limit I've been going. I've modified the blue-cheese salad dressing I've been eating to cost me fewer points at lunch and I've cut back elsewhere -- I'm still going to go over my weekly limit but I need to see how hungry I am and whether I lose any weight.

I knew what I was doing when I signed up for a full year last October.