Cracking Tracking

I track relentlessly.  

I am certain that if I were not so diligent, I would not have been as successful as I have been.

Some things I do to make tracking work for me:

• Be honest.  If you are not going to be honest, why bother at all?  And I round up where some rounding is needed.  It's only for me and the more I work it, the more I benefit.
• Track the goodies first.  By assigning some points right off the starting line that are for my indulgences, I do not feel deprived.  Sometimes knowing I have a treat planned for later will help me avoid 'wasting' points earlier in the day.  And most of all, it ensures that I do not reach the end of my day without the points necessary for my treat.  It is a non-negotiable for me.  I must be rewarded for my hard work and that, unfortunately, is still a reward of food.  But by tracking it early, I can afford it.
• Be efficient with the tracking.  I don't track everything I consume, I just have no need for that information.  I track anything that has points or that I may want to know about later.  For instance, a nibble of something this morning may have equated to 0 points.  But knowing I may have more of it later in the day means I'll track it since that 0 may tip the points when added to the later nibble.
• Calculate BEFORE you eat.  I know this to be true: you will regret eating if you have not first calculated the points.  But it seems I forgot last week when I accepted a wrap from a platter at work and later discovered I had just had 12 - TWELVE - points for a not-so-great half of a wrap!  And only half!  Moral of the story: check the points and then decide if it is worth it for you.
• Track everywhere, all the time.  I am very open about being on Plan and I track everywhere I go.  I know that if I don't record it now, I'm very likely to forget about something I've had.

Some benefits of tracking:

• Keeps me honest.  A splurge, indulgence, big day is fine and quite frankly being able to have them and still succeed makes WW so do-able.  However, after the day is done I would be liable to very quickly forget all about it.  Well, that's not fine.  The weekly extra points are there for a reason.  Going over, once in a while is fine within reason.  But if I were to forget about my big days, I'd be having a lot more of them.  So, tracking ensures that I make up for my indulgences through the week.
• Helps me plan.  Just tonight I was entering my known points for tomorrow.  Some of it's easy as I have a pretty standard repertoire at work.  Plus I have made my lunch already so can track that.  In laying out tomorrow's meals, I came up with what I'll make for dinner.  Decision made, no more wondering and no last-minute high-point meal because I didn't plan ahead.
• Encourages the competitor in me.  Turns out I like to beat my points.  I like to 'win' by not going over at the end of the day.  I compete with my inner-eater and love to see the proof of my victory in the tracker.

Turns out that even though I am TERRIBLE with budgeting money, I am extremely good at budgeting my points.