Thinking is what gets me in trouble - at least right now it does. There are certain stages to this (or any) diet that take a vast amount of mental discipline to sustain. Looking back on my life, I can safely say mental discipline has not been my strong suit.

Obviously, during the first week, your mental state is critical to building momentum and sticking to the plan. If you screw up over those first six or seven days, I don't know if there is any way to really recover. That's why we have to try so many times to get any weight-loss plan to stick. I remember going to bed countless nights saying, "Tomorrow is the day I turn this all around," only to wake up and decide to go get four bagels with cream cheese.

It wasn't until I spent weeks thinking about my approach to losing weight and trying to figure out the right mindset that I actually began having success. It was the same process for both the 100 Days and the Fortress. I could have started the Fortress in early December — a month after my gallbladder surgery made eating fatty food a painless experience — but I couldn't find the right fit mentally, and I couldn't put myself in the right position to succeed until after Christmas.

Over the life of weight loss there are other, less obvious moments requiring mental clarity: The day after the first real screw up, for one; and the last five pounds are always tough.

I bring this up because I find I am in one of those moments right now.

Two or three weeks ago I weighed in at 259 pounds, a stunning achievement for a man that weighed 306 pounds his sophomore year of high school. Since then, though, it's been a struggle to find any momentum. I wondered why my rhythm wasn't there anymore. Why, instead of restricting myself to just one off day per week, was I letting my off days stretch to two or three days in a row? Why was I talking myself out of going to the gym so much? Why was I letting myself tread water instead of swimming to shore?

What's funny is that I know exactly why. It's a combination of variables that just came together at the same time. Perhaps I'll spell them out for you.

My Current Weight and Appearance
This may be the biggest factor in this whole thing. Here I am, lower than I have ever been in my adult life and looking pretty good hovering around 260. It feels good to be here, and maybe I am a little nervous about going any lower.