That's my weight for the last month. The yellow line is my actual weight while the blue line is my goal weight. One is not like the other. . .

When I first started with Spark in January 2008, I tracked my weight daily on an Excel spreadsheet. From January to October, I went from 198 to 166. My chart looked like a bumpy ride downhill.

That was 2008.

It's interesting. When I stopped tracking my weight and logging my food intake, my weight flatlined. It would go up a few lbs. and go back down but never got much below 166.

That's been 2009.

I think I enjoyed that bumpy ride downhill in 2008 much more than I've enjoyed the rather flat terrain of 2009.

In a fit of frustration, I started logging my daily weight again in September. This time, instead of Excel, I am using the www.medhelp.org trackers because the resulting chart appears every morning when I pull up my gmail account. (The charts are Google gadgets.) I plug my weight into the little box provided and the chart is revised. I actually have two charts, one with the typical line graph and then another with a moving average.

Every single time I check my email or calendar the charts are staring at me.

More importantly, I've begun logging my food again on my Spark nutrition tracker. My nutrition tracker has always been public but it's only been recently that I've encouraged people to look at it and comment. Please feel free to take a look whenever you wish! Knowing that people might be looking at my nutrition tracker makes it easier to say "no" to some foods. Did I really want to log the dark chocolate pretzels I ripped into last night? No. But I did. And I'll remember how it felt the next time I rip into something unhealthy.

In the one month that I've restarted tracking my daily weight and logging my food, I've learned a few things:

1. When I stopped tracking at the end of 2008, my weight essentially flatlined. I got bored, I thought I could do this on my own and it didn't work. I learned I could maintain my weight. Unfortunately, it's the wrong weight.

2. Logging food and making it public is helpful. It's the same as sitting down at a table with a plate of food and having people stare at you while you're eating. It tends to make you more aware of what you're putting into your mouth because somebody may call you on it!

3. I like and respond to data. I need to SEE where I've been and charts are the visual cue I need to keep me somewhat in line, or rather, in the present.

4. See my weight go up over the course of two weeks or so? I spend probably a third to half of each month adding chocolate/chips/crackers/mocha
s/lowfat ice cream to my diet. I rationalize every. single. bite. And I rationalize AFTER the fact, not a second before. "I'll exercise more" or "It's only a little bit" or "I deserved it" or "I am PMSing and it doesn't count". Whether it's my mood or my period, it's this mindless snacking followed by guilt-induced rationalizations that make me go up a few lbs. each month. Each month I gain and lose the same few lbs. Over and over again. The good news is that I know I am not alone. So many Sparkers have said the same thing.

5. Exercise is not the panacea to weightloss. It's the secret to maintaining however. At least it is for me. For most of the last year I've thought, "I do so much running! How can I NOT be losing weight?!" The reality is I lost weight in the beginning because exercise was new to my body. Now my body is used to it. Indeed, it CRAVES it and I feel so much better since incorporating it into my lifestyle. But it's not the end-all-be-all I think it should be.

6. Most importantly, the quality of my calories continues to suffer. When I focus on fresh fruits, veggies, lean proteins and variety, I feel better and my weight goes down. And, if I stick with it long enough, my palate changes to the point processed, sugar- and sodium-infused foods don't appeal to me. It's that simple.

I'm not sure what the secret to weightloss is but I am still here and that's probably the secret right there. Every day I start new. Lately, I've restarted my trackers and tried to wrap my head around my data and what it means to me. That's the route I am taking in my efforts to be more mindful in my eating. When I want to kid myself about the food I am eating, the trackers, charts and my Sparkfriends show the real story.

For now, that's my strategy and I'm sticking to it.