So, I am keeping up with my food journal. It seems so odd to have to write down everything I eat so that I do not eat too much, when there are people all over the world who don’t have anything to write a food journal down on, much less food to journal about.

That is awfully deep for a Thursday afternoon.

The point is: I am actually consistently keeping up with my food journal. I use “My Plate” on the LIVESTRONG.com website. I like that one because it will actually break down my carbs, protein and fats on a pie chart. Ummmm…… pie…

Now I have gone from mentally adding up calories based on how many I think should be in foods, to tracking and analyzing them. Oy. This is a big leap. Actually tracking and paying attention to- not judging- what and when I eat every day is paying off for me. No really. I have a much better idea of where the wasted calories are coming from.

I am also painfully aware of how much I have miscalculated how many “bonus” calories I can eat after a workout. My Plate has a workout calculator, too. Yeah, I have concrete proof that eating the largest size Blizzard Dairy Queen makes is probably an overcompensation for a 5 mile run-walk- especially when I pair said Blizzard with a Fred Flintstone-sized cheeseburger and fries.

Who knew? Well, actually, a lot of people. I have not only read and heard this food journal advice for years, I have written about it and encouraged people to do it. I was probably eating a reward cupcake while I was writing- one that I was also not going to physically log, but mentally track.

Again, my addict brain will try to tell me that this whole process is ludicrous, “the world is too focused on weight. You should be walking abandoned puppies, reading to sick children or taking a CPR class or something productive with all of your extra food log time.”

That may be true, but I also know that I feel better. I am not just talking about the obvious physical benefits. I am seeing this goal setting and reaching process with my weight pay off in other parts of my life. I am losing some of my fear of expecting to achieve what I set out to do. I have always been terrified to expect a miracle- or any of that hyper-optimistic stuff, because I consider it some kind of jinx.

The truth is, people do this all of the time. They do it every day. When I get in my car and back out of my driveway, I expect to achieve my goal of getting to work. (Let’s not get into the whole “on-time” thing and ruin my little analogy… k?)

If I set my mind to something reasonable and come up with a plan and truly do the work it takes to achieve something, I will be successful. It may not be anyone else’s idea of success, but that does not matter. In fact, the more I judge my outcomes on what I think someone else’s idea of success is, the more I set myself up to do just the opposite.

So, here I am, a solid 800 calories into my day. I am down 6 pounds, and working out at least 30 minutes each morning. I know what I was doing a year ago at this time- and, trust me, I am a huge success.