Things learned in the past 13 pounds

Context: Seven weeks ago, I started to modify my food habits, mostly along the lines of Michael Pollan's guideline of "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." I'm down 13 pounds from where I started, and feel that I can keep this up long-term. However, this is only incidentally about food. The following lessons learned are about how and why.

Assertion: Willpower is a finite resource in the short term.
If I require willpower for every decision I make, I will guarantee failure.
If I require that the decisions I make require no willpower, there will be no change.
I focus my willpower only on my most destructive food habits; I have enough for that.

Observation: The kitchen scale is my ally, but it only became my friend when I viewed it as allowing me to eat things in moderation (e.g. "10 grams of honey? I can do that!"), as opposed to keeping me from eating things at all.

I weigh myself every day, and graph a moving average. Some days will be up, others down, but I've found that I can handle that as long as the trend is in the right direction, and this is a song in the key of Trend.

I have been much more forgiving of myself. Yesterday, I didn't make the best food choices. Today I will make better ones. That is all.

I'm doing a wardrobe re-assessment with every 10 pounds lost, including things that I believe fit now, since most will fit better. Things that don't fit yet are just 10 pounds away from being tried on again.... but not until then. I'm doing an equivalent thing, mutatis mutandis, with furniture.

Realization: My body is me, and I am it. This is not penance. This is not punishment. This is change.