Let me tell you something about counting calories

It's awful.

I don't like having to look up every food I eat and make an educated guess of which calorie amount is maybe, probably the right one. I don't like keeping track of every morsel and crumb that goes into my mouth. I don't like staring at My Fitness Pal at the end of the day and seeing that I went over my calorie limit. I don't like having to decide whether to lie about what I ate so I can fit in that extra Girl Scout Cookie at midnight, or just go ahead and eat it and face the calorie consequences in my food journal.

I think I understand now why yo-yo dieters and food and fitness experts seem crazy: because they are. No one willingly subjects themselves to this particular kind of torture and enjoys it. If you do, there's something seriously wrong with you.

Okay, I guess it isn't really torture. But still. For years, I've been heavily resistant to calorie counts or point systems like Weight Watchers because the whole process seemed maddening, and I'd seen too many friends and family members fail in their goals and beat themselves up about it. Now that I'm the one in the doctor's chair and I know that doing these things is all part of the plan, it's hard to do it with a smile on my face. At least not this weekend, when there are food temptations everywhere I turn and I can't bring myself to add everything up at the end of the day. This process wasn't hard at first, but the longer I go, the more it annoys me.

I guess I'll continue writing everything down and tapping away at my phone app (because I have to), but I'm still not convinced this is the best way to go about losing weight or living life. What do I know, though? I mean, have you seen me?

Alright, I'm done complaining. Sorry for subjecting you all to my frustration. This definitely warrants me to start reading The Happiness Project tomorrow, since it finally came in the mail! Maybe there's something in there that will help me change my attitude.