I did think ahead and had every intention of staying on the diet. I even ordered the books that list PointsPlus values for almost everything you can think of. And a special journal to record those PointsPlus values in. After all, I had used this pencil-and-paper method years and years ago. In fact, the first time I joined Weight Watchers, there was no online version.
Then, the snowball effect went into full effect.
It started innocently enough: Someone offered me popcorn at a movie. I have a weakness for popcorn. And movies. And one without the other just makes me feel a little sad. So, I gave in.
I tried to be "good" and measure by handful, but as I reached in for, what was probably the third or fourth, I convinced myself I had conveniently lost count and I said out loud, "What the heck, I won't worry about PointsPlus values today."
For some reason that I've yet to discover, sitting down at my computer and typing in all those foods and beverages and see their values on my screen made it "real" to me, it made me feel like I absolutely had to be accountable. For some reason, going off-line caused some sort of disconnect and I lost my discipline completely: That one slip-up suddenly became my license to eat with wild abandon.
Old habits came back really quickly. I don't even remember having a second thought about that coffee drink I had later that day. With whip? Why, yes, of course. And then it was an order of fries at dinner instead of veggies. And, gosh, was I so tired of diet soda; just one ice tea wouldn't hurt, right? And then the next day happened. And another. And they were all filled with poor choices and empty journal pages.
After all, I was on vacation!
Well, my vacation from my diet has lasted nearly three weeks. Each Sunday I've promise to buckle down come Monday, but I haven't. In the first three months of my review, I lost just over 20 pounds; in a few weeks, I've already gained back two of them. I can see the way this is headed and that snowball effect is going to happen to the scale really soon, too.
I think it's time for my vacation from accountability to be over.
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Weightmania is a fitness journal that tracks exercise, meals, measurements, dieting progress and medical information. Track up to 24 measurements daily including blood sugar (diabetes), blood pressure, cholesterol, sleep and body fat. This includes body fat caliper measurements. It supports both cardio. and weight training, accommodates any workout or diet plan, and tracks up to two people (other versions track more). Visualize your progress, judge the effectiveness of diets and workouts, and reach goals sooner. Includes a simple journal for recording information and five major tools to view and analyze progress. We also added 10 fitness calculators, an 8000-food database, plus tools to create meal programs, workout programs and your own custom food database. On top of this, there are tools to track and manage recipes, grocery lists, favorite Web links, equipment and routes. Look up nutrients in almost any food and view percentages on a pie chart. Edit and store digital photos for any calendar day (makes it easy to visualize progress over time). Calculate calories burned for hundreds of activities, daily calories required, percent body fat, body mass index (BMI), basal Metabolic rate (BMR), target heart rate, distance-time-pace-speed and splits. A 42-key calculator performs numerous calculations and conversions (such as Metric to English). There is a full size color-coded calendar, report maker, statistics tool, nutrition tool and chart tool. Create line, bar, area, and moving average graphs. Compare data on multiple graphs simultaneously. Provides multiple ways to minimize data entry time, including copy and paste, drag and drop and input wizards. Enter meals and workouts in one mouse-click! Great for tracking any diet plan or exercise including running, cycling, weight lifting and walking. Designed for anyone interested in improving their health and well being. Take charge of fitness and get results! Shares data with our Palm version, Weightmania Mobile.