The Beauty of a Calorie Deficit

Sometimes you come across a blog/article that is full of information you already know. And sometimes you are in just the right frame of mind to soak all that goodness in and internalize it into a force for change in your own life.

That happened after I clicked on a link posted by someone on Fitocracy. It presented the simplest of all weight loss summations. If you want to lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit every day. In the back of my mind I'd known for quite awhile that I needed to start tracking my food to get a hold of my overeating. As a scientist, I have firmly understood the thermodynamics of energy in vs. energy out. Nothing in the article was new research or new to me, but it hit me like a high-speed train just the same.

Why do I get caught up in this or that new book on weight loss?
Why do I base my weight loss almost 100% on fitness/competition?
Why do I suddenly decide that if I change the time of meals it will solve my problems?
Why do I get so wrapped up in not eating some carbs while I do eat others?
Why do I become convinced that I need this or that supplement to help me?

Because believing it's as a simple as calorie deficit makes me look dumb. If I just have to log my food and watch the scale go down, then why don't I do it?
Because I tracked food for so long and got tired of it.
Because it doesn't work when you only log successful days.
Because you can't log 3 out of 7 days and expect to see loss week after week.

So I'm here to share the blog with you and tell you that I am committing to achieve a calorie deficit as many days a week as I can muster. But my main commitment is to track EVERY SINGLE DAY. I do not care if I down an entire jar of Nutella, I will log it. Seeing the harsh reality of my choices before day's end can only do me more good in the long run. Rather than doing the naughty things repeatedly until my pants don't fit, I can see the damage sooner in the numbers on the screen.

Please feel free to check in (aka stalk) me to make sure if I'm keeping my word. I appreciate some verbal abuse and hounding! I really need to be held accountable.

Here is the link to that blog.

www.leighpeele.com/the-d
eficit-how-we-lose-fat