Let me first say that I am not on a diet. I am purposefully and willfully still eating what I want to eat. I did not set out to modify my intake in any way whatsoever. Additionally, my only increase in activity is a less-regular-than-I’d-like morning walk. No gym membership, no weights, no exercise machinery or videos.

That said, my Hawaiian shirts are now too big and my tighter pants fit. The previously-comfortable pants now threaten to fall off, even with the belt. Pants that I had no hope of fastening are now snug. My comfortably-loose shirts… I’ve never been able to say that clothes “just hang off of me,” but now I can. I fit into my LiquidWeb polo shirts, which I couldn’t do when I worked there, nor any time between. I’ve dropped about seventeen pounds (I won’t go on my rant about focusing on pounds as a metric of getting healthier… this time).

What’s changed? I’m paying attention to what goes in my mouth, and how much. I’m paying attention to how active I am. As I mentioned before, I’m using MyFitnessPal for the former and FitBit for the latter. Being able to see it and to track it has triggered a change in my behavior.

I’m saying no to seconds, and finding that I dish up less for firsts. When I don’t immediately feel full, instead of getting seconds, I wait a bit to see if I feel satisfied. I drink coffee (black) and water (often with Mio).

None of these choices were conscious. I don’t consider the benefits, weigh the pros and cons, before I make these decisions. Just like when I started tracking my food and added a FitBit to my wish list, these all seem to come from my gut.

I worry, sometimes, that this is a flight of fancy rather than a change in my lifestyle. I really like the results – how I feel, less pain in my knees (noticeable already!), not having the urge to finish the food my kids didn’t eat. If this isn’t a conscious choice, will I backslide as easily as I got into it?

Only time will tell. For now, I really need to get the Hawaiian shirts out of my closet. They look terrible.