So I'm no stranger to calorie counting, I've been using the LoseIt! app since 2012, and successfully lost about 20 pounds in a year. I recently decided to ramp up my efforts to lose the last 20. In addition to tracking my intake, I also rely on my Fitbit Charge HR to tell me how many calories I burn. I know it's probably not 100% accurate, but it's the tool I have. I maintain a spreadsheet with my calories consumed and burned, and my weight. I calculate my calorie delta, figure out my "expected" weight loss, and compare it to my actual weight loss.
So anyway, on February 9, I weighed 160.6. Today, I weighed in at 160.3. In the past, I may have been frustrated, quit going to the gym, become more lax in my logging because "it doesn't matter, this is too hard, what am I doing wrong?" But guess what- with my dedication to logging every morsel of food as accurately as I can (In the past I would perhaps not log "cheats" or days I eat with abandon and just put an estimate in and move on), combined with my Fitbit data (I've had one for a few years, but I never paid it much attention), I know that the reason I haven't lost anything, despite FEELING like I'm putting in my best effort, is that in reality over the past month, I've maintained an average deficit of 26.5 calories per day, leading to an expected loss of... .2 pounds.
So thanks, data, for keeping me honest, being real with me, and not allowing me to lie to myself. This has helped me hugely. Even though the data was always there, and your body never lies to you, just paying attention to what you're doing over the long term helps to make the process more clear and well-defined. I'm not discouraged, I just know I need to take control of my eating on the weekends, and continue to burn more calories through gym-going and long walks on rest days.
Sorry if this is rambly, but I just wanted to share this for all the winners out there who might not be seeing results and getting discouraged... perhaps you need to take a step back, like I did, and ask yourself "am I really all in on this thing?" Not saying plateaus don't happen, but you can't complain unless you're honest with yourself and giving 100%. Thanks for reading.
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