Thinking some more about what is making this time work for me...

I slept in a bit this morning; it was almost lunch time when I got up. I ate my usual breakfast and then came up with something to have to fit in as a lunch shortly after. It occurred to me how different I am thinking of food lately since I have been tracking everything and shooting for a goal. I am looking for things to fill out my required calories instead of trying to figure out how to squeeze things in. I wish I had the magic instructions for how to shift your mindset into thinking that way. I hope it sticks once I get to goal. I think I will always track at least some of my days. Knowing exactly where I stand in terms of what I have eaten and how much I have left makes a huge difference. I prelog some things, like a nice dessert I am planning to have later, so that I then make the day work in what's left. It's okay to borrow between days but I almost never do it.

I have lost weight in the past without tracking, but I was dieting by eating very light and cutting back so severely that when it came time to maintain, I didn't adjust properly. I had no clue what my intake was to lose and what it should be to maintain. I didn't slow my loss toward the end so that only a minor adjustment was needed to go into maintenance. I blindly made major adjustments to how I ate. This time I have the blinders off. I use myfitnesspal.com's web site and phone app. It's pretty good. The point of this is that I strongly encourage others to start tracking everything every day to get a feel for what your intake is to start with and what it is to establish a rate of loss. Even track when it goes off the rails. You don't have to post it for the world to see; you really only need to be accountable to yourself.