I am able to determine my personal current calorie burn
because of my personal data that is now stored
in my computer software food journal, DietPower.

Every day, for the past  six and half  years
I've entered all my food-intake into that food journal.
I've also entered my morning weight each day.

The DietPower program has functions which allows me to see my diet history.
I can see this as a list; or I can see a day-to-day detailed accounting
of my food and nutrition; or I can easily access a summarized accounting,
for... the past week, the past month, the past quarter, or the past year.

Today, the program tells me that
my past year's average calorie intake was 1115 calories.
I can see the amount of my stabilized weight for one year ago,
....which is my Starting weight. for that one year time period....,
by looking at the list of my average weights during the week of one year ago;

I can see the amount of my current stabilized weight (stabilized meaning average)
...which is my Ending weight, for that one year time period....,
by looking at the list of my weights during this past week or so.
By subtracting my ending weight from my starting weight,
I can see exactly how much weight I lost or gained during that one year period.

So...since now I am the same weight that I was one year ago,
I know that the amount of calories that I ate this past year
is the number of calories it takes to keep my weight the same...
Therefore, I can see that my current calorie burn is approximately 1100 daily...
(as of this EXACT date, 1105 calories...but the next week or month...
this total could be a bit higher or a bit lower, so I rounded it to 1100.)

 Along the same line, another function that I find interesting about DietPower,
is that I can also access the program's calendar, and go back in time to a specific date...
and see exactly what I weighed and what I ate on that particular day.  

From that date, I can also access a summarized accounting for the week,
the month, the year prior to that exact date.
For example.....should I wish to do so.....I could revisit Christmas Day, 12/25/2008
and see exactly What and How Much food I ate on that day;
exactly what I weighed on that date; and access a summary of my calories
and nutritional data for the month or year prior to that specific date.

This personal data is valuable and motivating to me,
both my ongoing present data, as well as my past data,
and as I continue in my weight-loss/maintenance journey,
I continually find new things to do with it.
This helps me implement various behavior changes,
and has become an enjoyable hobby for me.

Since I've been doing this so long, and this Habit is so well-established for me,
my daily food and weight input into DietPower takes only a few minutes of my day.
The only lengthy periods of time are when I "play" with my past data
to accomplish some personal agenda.

Here's a recent video about my Weight-Loss History.

   This video gives information on how I handle leftovers. 

Dr. Collins of www.DietHobby.com shares Diet Cooking Tips & Tricks.

My Behavior – my Effort – is my responsibility

A fundamental question is:
“What Behavior do I need to be Responsible for
to achieve weight-loss?”

 My Answer is, all General Behavior and all Specific Behavior.

General Behavior is controlling the food that one puts into one's mouth,
and the movement of one's body, i.e. Eat Less, Move More.

Specific Behavior depends on one's individual food plan.
meaning any personal behavior that causes less food to go into one's mouth.
One must make certain the food one eats contains less energy than one's body uses.

My eating behavior is always my responsibility.
I don't get a pass when my life becomes unusually busy or stressful.
I always choose my behavior....either consciously or unconsciously.

I Like that saying:

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail".

because it is true that choosing NOT to choose, is in itself a choice.
We always CHOOSE what we do.  Overeating is a choice.
That behavior is optional...even for those of us who have binge eating tendencies. 

I've had to establish many Habits of Behavior that help me meet my goals,
and how I commonly deal with Leftover Food is a GIANT behavior issue.
Here's a recent video I made about this subject.

                                
Choosing the right words to fit a concept takes thought,
and the dictionary is a useful tool for me.
Sometimes I'll start by looking up a word,
and then move on to looking up a word that
defines the first word, and on and on.

 Progress is defined as:
A forward or onward movement
as toward an objective or to a goal...;
to advance...; a gradual betterment. 

I'm clear on the definition of the word "betterment",
and I know that the word gradual sounds like "slow".
In fact I looked up "gradual" and found that
gradual is "moving, changing, or developing by fine or often imperceptible degrees.

The term "Making Progress" is a positive one.
It implies that we are putting Effort into something,
and that this Effort is causing us to advance toward our objective or our goal.

Much of the time, while Dieting, our weight-loss Results are almost imperceptible.
That's where Faith, Patience, Perseverance, and Consistency come into play.
So...you know what I'm trying to say.

IT TAKES TIME.

While I'm on this subject,  progress is being made on this web-site,
You might notice a few slight changes here and there at DietHobby,
as my son-the-web-genius adds some final improvements.
My video making skills are also gradually increasing.
This is my latest Cooking Video.

                          

The term “portion control” actually means:
“a precise amount of content to control usage”

That precise amount could be any amount,
and actually could consist of a portion…or precise amount…
of food far more than one might desire to eat.

This can be true of any food, presented in any way.
For example, bulk commodies (such as salt) can be divided
into individual packages that are a more suitable size for individual households,
however, this doesn’t mean that one must consume the entire package at any one sitting.

A common definition of “portion control”
is understanding how much a serving size is.
If one is counting calories…this would include
how many calories a serving contains.
A serving size could be ANY amount,
therefore “portion control” does not automatically limit size of a substance.

 Nutritionists, and other “experts” like the USDA,
have devised simple formulas
to define a “portion” …or precise amount....of a specific food
for easy mental reference…and to provide a “common definition” for society.

Those common definitions are then easily used
by people to determine individually, what amount of specific foods
would be optimal for a person of that particular size
in order for that person to keep from gaining weight, or for weight-loss.
These simple formulas are used by many people to easily “eyeball” their food,
and consciously choose the proportions that will benefit them personally,

The existence of common portion definitions doesn’t necessarily limit food-intake.
It merely defines a specific size of food as a specific number of servings.
A definition doesn’t limit food-intake,
it merely provides a tool of knowledge.
One can still eat whatever amount of food they choose to eat,
but portion definitions bring Intellectual Awareness to the process.
The term “Control: merely means
to have power over, or to direct influence over…
So “portion control” is merely having power over
or directing influence over the specific amounts of food one eats.
EVERYONE necessarily does that every time they eat.

Assuming one has access to unlimited amounts of food,
one controls one’s food-intake portions
via the body’s physical reactions…such as discomfort, nausea etc,
or one can choose to control one’s food-intake portions
via their intellectual knowledge of what their body requires.
In modern civilization, most people use a combination of both methods.

 COMMON DEFINITIONS OF SERVING SIZES
For examples of the Definitions of common serving sizes:
According to the USDA, one serving equals:

• one slice of whole-grain bread
• 1/2 cup of cooked rice or pasta
• 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes
• three to four small crackers
• one small pancake or waffle
• two medium-sized cookies
• 1/2 cup cooked vegetables
• 1 cup (four leaves) lettuce
• one small baked potato
• 3/4 cup vegetable juice
• One medium apple
• 1/2 grapefruit or mango
• 1/2 cup berries
• 1 cup yogurt or milk
• 1 1/2 ounces of cheddar cheese
• one chicken breast
• one medium pork chop
• 1/4 pound hamburger patty

 Other common definitions translate the abstract information of serving size
into visual images that can be easily remembered.
For example, a single serving of:

• Vegetables or fruit is about the size of your fist.
• Pasta is about the size of one scoop of ice cream.
• Meat, fish, or poultry is the size of a deck of cards or the size of your palm (minus the fingers).
• Snacks such as pretzels and chips is about the size of a cupped handful.
• Apple is the size of a baseball.
• Potato is the size of a computer mouse.
• Bagel is the size of a hockey puck.
• Pancake is the size of a compact disc.
• Steamed rice is the size of a cupcake wrapper.
• Cheese is the size of a pair of dice or the size of your whole thumb (from the tip to the base).