Day 63

I don't know if it was a result of the diet, or just a nice sweater but I got a surprising number of compliments today.  One of the great parts of getting to this point in the diet is that the changes are actually quite noticeable now.  My normal clothing is a lot looser, my gut seems to be shrinking slowly but surely, and generally people seem to be mentioning the changes more. 

Early on in the diet I think the people who didn't know I was actually trying to lose weight were hesitant to mention anything.  It's understandable since the corollary to "You look like you've lost weight," is "You think I'm fat?"  Now personally, I'd like to think that even if I weren't dieting I'd still say thank you if someone told me that, particularly since I am fat.  There's no guarantee of that though, and I can certainly understand holding off saying something unless I'm certain of the facts (it's the same reason I don't ask someone if they're pregnant until I'm absolutely certain).

Why does this matter?  It ties into a point I've mentioned many times before.  A sense of accomplishment is really important to staying on a diet, and after that first big burst of weight loss (the water weight as people usually call it) it can feel like you're plateauing very quickly.  Early on, of course, your friends and family are hopefully supportive and complimentary.  In some ways though, their compliments and observations mean less than those of strangers. 

If my sister or cube-mate at work tell me they think I'm losing weight, well I've told them I'm dieting, and they're nice people so of course they're going to say something nice.  When the person in the elevator who I see for 60 seconds a day tells me that I'm losing weight, well they barely know me from Adam.  If they think I'm losing weight then it must be true.  Yet at the point that we need that kind of encouragement most, those strangers aren't very likely to mention it at all.

Personally, as much as I look forward to my weigh-ins, I can't imagine someone getting a real sense of accomplishment from a scale alone.  It's those compliments that provide the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.  So to everyone who complimented my sweater today (and to the one gay friend who complimented my butt), thanks!

Food today:  egg and cheese sandwich with milk again (300 calories), PB&J (600 calories), granola bar and a couple tootsie rolls as snacks (150 calories), penne, sauce and garlic toast for dinner (1000 calories).  Exercise was a walk at lunch and a trip to the gym after work (100 and 661 calories respectively).

Today's Results:
Daily Food Total:  2050
Exercise:  761
Points Earned:  1711
Total Points Earned:  82906
Points to go:  117094