I can’t deny that after Monday’s weigh in I was a little disappointed to see so little change in my measurements, especially with such a crazy difference in my fitness level. When I looked in the mirror, I would have sworn that I looked fatter every day. Has anyone else had that happen? Start a new program and feel like even though you’re doing well on it, that your body is only changing for the worse? We all know that women are often their own harshest judge, and today I realized I’ve been doing just that.

Out of nowhere, I had two people at work ask me if I’m working out, “because it shows”. Being a little bit crazy, I went straight to the bathroom and dissected my appearance in the mirror, noting every ounce of visible fat. They must be crazy…or lying…or crazy. Could I really be that wrong about how my body looks? Apparently yes. I still couldn’t quite believe it, so I called my husband. Of course, men REALLY hate questions like this, but my husband has always been brutally honest with me (yes, even about how much weight I’ve gained) so I had to know if my coworkers were just messing with me. (I know, I’m a little crazy) According to him, I DO look different! I know it’s only 3 weeks of really intense working out/eating well, but it’s so exciting to know that my efforts are starting to pay off. Success is the best motivation!

In other updates, I really stink at calorie counting. It’s an absolute pain to enter every single thing I eat into an app, especially when I’m at work. This is part of why I’m not a fan of programs that require long-term calorie counting–it’s just not realistic to have to measure and track every single thing you eat for the rest of your life. I’m still trying, and the days I get almost everything in the counter I have a much better idea of how successful I’ve been. I think deep down I know exactly how much I should be eating, the calorie counter just helps me stay aware rather than mindlessly cleaning my plate. Hopefully soon I can ditch the counter and still stay within the proper daily range to keep losing weight. That’s the goal anyway! I want to be in tune enough with my body that I don’t need my phone to tell me how much to eat.

How do you keep your overall calorie intake in check? Any tricks that don’t involve using a food journal?