Trying Again?

Okay. This project sort of turned into a chore, and I think I need to simplify it a little. I also need to be a little clear about the goal.

Initially, the goal was to track calories and reduce the amount of them I intake in a day. I think the new goal needs to be focused on cleaning up my diet. Too many of my meals come from restaurant, which is almost entirely fast food. As an American, this is probably par for the course.

One thing I am trying to do now is only have about two main meals in a day: a large calorie breakfast meal, and a smaller evening meal. Why? Well, I am eating enough "snacks" in a day for snacks to qualify as an entire third meal. The change here is a mental and behavioral one. By focusing on the habits and behavior, rather than the numbers, I think that will help me make the change.

Also, I need to "clean up" my meals. The way I think I need to do it here is to allow myself one "bad meal" and one "good meal." This is also a largely behavioral shift. I hope to gradually make the change from fast food to good food by incorporating a good food habit in the evening when I have the most time. It's not a sudden from dark to light, flick-the-lights-on change. It is a slow waking up and arising from bed gently change. The successes will accumulate over time, I hope.

To recap:

1. Two main meals, one big, one small. (With snacks in between)
2. One main meal is "bad." The other is "good."
3. Document what I am eating focusing more on the things than the calories. 

One thing I have not mentioned yet is exercise. That probably needs to be a part of the solution, but I do not feel that, at this stage, I am ready to tackle that problem. It is one of my major physical health goals, but I feel that diet has to come first, at least until I have several successful months of change under my belt (so to speak).

Effort and perseverance is the real challenge. If I use this blog to help me keep track, maybe I will develop the habits I need to accumulate progress.