I feel like garbage. Unfortunately, I ate too much over the weekend—FAR too much—and am paying the price today. It seems I’ve got a food hangover. My stomach is distended, my back hurts, and moving around is more uncomfortable than it should be (there was a lot of grunting while getting out of bed).

I think one of the big mistakes people make when they embark on a weight loss journey is overeating (even more than usual) in the days preceding the beginning of that journey. This “last hurrah” psychology seems to be: “Well, I’m going on a diet, so it’s not going to matter in the end,” or, “Well, I’m going on a diet, so I’m going to enjoy my last couple of days before it starts.” And then the face-stuffing commences.

The problem with the strategy is that you’re forcing your body to go from one extreme to the other immediately when you’re just beginning the journey, which just makes the start of that journey harder. A more gradual approach seems like a better idea, so eating more reasonably over the weekend prior to starting this diet would have been the wiser choice. Instead, I consumed far too many calories, including far too much sugar. Oh well.

Today will be a fasting day, so, thanks to my poor choices over the weekend, I’m going to experience severe carbohydrate withdrawal. But I’m going to feel better after today; I know that. The bulging belly will bulge a little bit less, my back will stop aching, and the inflammation I’m feeling will cool.

Every day, I’m going to post a screenshot of my morning weigh-in from the app I use with my bluetooth scale (check out the Tools section if you’re looking for one). Today’s weigh-in was embarrassing but not unexpected. And it did bolster my recent decision to fast three days this week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). I know this may seem extreme, but I’ve got to do it. I want to feel better.