Like I said before I’m back watching what I eat. Like last time (pre-blog) I’m using LoseIt on the iPhone. It’s not that it keeps track of what you eat, it’s that you become painfully aware of what you are eating if you keep up with it.

This reminds me of when I first had a job and a credit card. Like most people in the same situation the two did not reach equilibrium; outflow exceeded income by a large amount. This continued for a while until I had my credit card maxed out at a gargantuan sum of $5000. (Ok, back then in the early 90′s when I was making $25,000 that was large… now on the other hand…)

Something was out of whack. Obviously.

That’s when I spent some of the best money ever. I purchased a copy of Microsoft Money.

I tracked everything. I was pedantic about tracking everything. Everything was accounted for.

I balanced my pocket.

If I went to the ATM it wasn’t a withdrawal, it was a transfer from my checking account to my cash account. If I put a quarter into a parking meter I spent the $0.25 on parking from my pocket. Every day I would make sure things matched up. (Ok, a penny here or there would be balanced out; I wasn’t that much of an asshole.)

When you keep track of everything you become loth to do anything that adds work. It might just be me since I’m lazy — I don’t want to spend the time entering data so I don’t spend the money or eat the snack.

Sure enough I had things paid off in a year.

Everything that you do moves from the subconscious to the conscious. Everything is a discrete decision. Becoming aware of what you are doing changes it.

Almost like the uncertainty principal.

Observing it changes it.

Let’s see how this all turns out. I’m predicting the same outcome as last time.