Sunday, March 6, 2011

A Treat Is Not a Permanent Failure

Yesterday, which was day 27 of my weight-loss diet, my youngest son and I went to a subway shop. Afterward I went online to look up the calorie count, and found that it was not too bad; however, the sub was small and not satisfying. I was still hungry after eating it. That's two lesson for me: avoid eating too much bread, and eat more vegetables instead. [Not a deliberate rhyme.] The final calorie count for the day was 1721, way above my previous average. Yet, when I averaged that with my previous 26-day totals, it came to 1553 calories. Thus, I was not discouraged. I did not feel like I blew my diet, nor did I get that "give it up" feeling at all, as I have done in past diets. I just forged on ahead and am ending today with a low calorie count.

I depend on a reliable book to help me figure out the calories. Its 947 pages give me counts on home-made foods (I most often cook my family's meals) and on prepared foods(I keep these to a minimum) and on restaurant foods (ditto). I sometimes enjoy just looking through it and seeing other nutritional information as well, such as cholesterol and fiber counts. I do eat a lot of fiber. There is no one food I totally deny myself, but I do manage to stop myself from eating great quantities of cookies and cakes by keeping them out of sight. I love that stuff. When I do eat sweets, as when I made a pumpkin custard two weeks ago, I limit the amount I eat and I count every calorie.

I keep my little note papers with lists of eaten food and their calories on my kitchen table, along with the Nutrition Facts book and my dieting calendar. Here are a few days' worth of my food lists:

Monday, Feb. 14, 2011
9th day of diet
oatmeal                           130
coffee creamer                100            230
1 lg orange                       75            305
bean + cheese burrito      280            585
salsa                                30            615
crackers + spread            100            715
bean soup w/veg             410           1125
bread                               75           1200
crackers + cheese            300           1500 (total for the day)

I was still going to bed hungry after dieting only nine days.

Thursday, February 24, 2011
19th day of diet
coffee creamer                   100
pineapple                           157             257
cottage cheese, fat free       90             347
small apple                          63             410
Fiber One tart                    189              590
pasta + shrimp                   570            1160
small orange                        64             1224
milk                                    90             1314
doughnut, tiny                     83             1397
crackers                              70             1467 (total for the day)

I keep saltine crackers at my bedside so that when I am super hungry at night and unable to sleep because of it, I very slowly eat one to three of them. My son's little cat (she's seven years old but weighs only six pounds--she was the runt) loves crackers, so she joins me. I give her a few crumbs and then she cuddles. Where else can you get such love for a few crumbs but from a pet?

Friday, March 4, 2011
26th day of diet
oatmeal                                130
coffee creamer                     100              230
fat-free sandwich meat           60              290
apple cider                           120              410
English muffin                      120              530
ICBINB Meditteranean            70              600
carrots, parsnips, sprouts     130              730
chicken skinless                   165              895
potatoes                              190            1085
1 sl whole wheat bread           75             1160
milk                                     100            1260
honey mustard sauce              30            1290
tiny scone                            100            1390  (total for the day)

My calendar entry for the day was this:
+1390=
40,218 [total calories since starting diet]/26=
1547 [average over 26 days]
(50,518) [number of calories I would have eaten if maintaining a healthy weight]

It's getting late. I have an urge to work on a painting tonight. I am visualizing what I will do with it; I probably need four more sessions to complete it. I'm a slow painter.

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