Cue the Top Gun music...

Man, I am sticking to this plan like a boss.  I've been on it for 28 days, and every single one of them except for one, I've hit my calorie target.  The one day I did go over, (day #4), was because I ate at night, which has in the past been one of the toughest things for me to resist.  Furthermore, day #4 was the only day I've eaten something after dinner.  Exercise has been right on track, and I'm down another 3 lbs.

However, I'm reaching what I would call a "danger zone".  (There it is - anyone who is a child of the 80's just had a Kenny Loggins song start up in their head while envisioning Tom Cruise land on an aircraft carrier.  By the way, this song will haunt you for the next 7 to 10 days.  You're welcome.)

I feel I'm in a danger zone because even though I remain upbeat and hyped, I know the pounds are going to start coming off slower now.  Those first "honeymoon" weeks of lightening fast loss are past me, and now it's time to dig in for the (extremely) long haul.  Motivation may be in short supply at times.  I've got to be ready for this so I don't fall off the wagon.

I'm about to reach a somewhat significant milestone, though.  I know this because since 2008 I've used this:

to log all my food and exercise.  Well not all of it, only when I've been on a plan for a consecutive amount of days.  Sadly, it's more a log of my failures rather than my success.  However, from the log I do see that once I finish this week, it will be the longest I've been on plan since 2009.  In 2008 I was on plan for 130 days, and in 2009 I was on plan for 122 days.  Both of those streaks show a lot of cheating towards the end, so I'll really have to be aware of that when I near the 100 day mark this time.

It's interesting the things some find to be motivators while others find them to be just the opposite.  I really need to keep a log to feel like I'm in control of my plan.  I like paging back through it to see how well I'm doing,  or what adjustments I need to make to do better.  My wife absolutely hates to keep a log, and finds it tedious, depressing, and demotivational.  She actually does better and is happier when she tallies things in her head and doesn't keep a log.

By the way - a funnier title for this post would have been "Yee-ha, Jester's dead!", but I'm not sure how I could have related it to weight loss/fitness.