Finding the right balance

First two weeks of my diet, I only lost one pound. I couldn't figure out why, so I started a nutrition/exercise log. Immediately the weight started flowing off. I can't imagine what I was eating without knowing it all that time. It was probably the cheese along with a little bite here and a little bite there.

I use a combination of "CalorieKing" and an Excel spreadsheet I created for keeping track of daily totals in a way that gives me the information that I want to see the way I want to see it.

About a month later, I hit a plateau. My weight remained about the same for nearly two weeks. But as I had been keeping the journal long enough, I did a critical review. Only then did I realize that I was not tracking my water intake. I added a column, increased my water to the recommended minimum, and three days later, the weight loss began again.

But suddenly, I just wasn't hungry. So without knowing it, my caloric intake dropped to the 750-800 level for many days in a row, and my protein intake is inadequate. So now I'm adding a protein shake two two of my meals (8 oz water plus 24g protein) and I'll see what that does.

I've been on this new life-path since 11/24/12 and I'm still learning about this body of mine. If I had started with all the knowledge that I now have, I'd be so much farther along!

How did you find the right balance for you?