Day 1 on Monday was okay, but I was definitely feeling some hunger--I ate too few calories for the day, which seems counter-intuitive...but if I've learned anything from years of watching The Biggest Loser, it's that your calories in count as much as your calories out--you have to hit the right balance, or your body won't cooperate! Even with a pretty big piece of leftover cake from Jake's birthday party, my calorie total for the day was 1051--I'm supposed to eat 1200 a day, and then exercise to get my overall calories for the day down to 953. I didn't do much exercise on Monday because I wasn't feeling well, but I did do some walking and burned 161 calories doing that, so my overall calorie total was 891. Of course, I think some of those numbers aren't entirely accurate (I entered the nutrition information for the chicken, and I was unsure about some of the stuff they wanted me to input, and who knows if I burned that many calories walking?), but I do think the WebMD system is a good guide...and a little addicting.
Day 2 was yesterday, and again, I did decently well. Dan got upset with me at the dinner table, though...we ordered pizza because Abby's school was doing a pizza night fundraiser. I had two slices from a medium pizza with double pineapple on it...I love pineapple! After I finished eating, I grabbed my computer and was trying to manually calculate calories--Domino's has a calorie calculator on their website that tells you how many calories your pizza has, but since we ordered double toppings and the WebMD food log wants more information than just calories (cholesterol, fiber, total fat, etc, etc), I had to calculate it all myself using Domino's more detailed nutritional information. Dan got irritated because I was on my computer while the kids were still sitting at the table eating--granted, most everyone was done, but we try to have a "no distractions" rule at the table (at my instigation!). I understood why he was annoyed, but I really wanted to know how many calories I had left for the day--I was trying to get the calculations done to see if I could splurge again on a little cake... Dan didn't really get the urgency (probably because he doesn't really like cake--ha!). Turns out a medium slice of double pineapple pizza from Domino's is 204 calories--I did all the calculations for you, so you don't have to. My dinner was around 408 calories, and I went ahead and had a piece of cake--a smaller one than the night before, but still cake. The funny thing was, after I sliced it and sat down to enjoy, I didn't really feel like eating cake--I mean, I had just had 2 pieces of pizza, so I wasn't all that hungry. I thought about taking a few bites and tossing the rest...but my old habits came back into play, and I ate the whole slice because it was there and I didn't want to waste good cake. I knew I should stop eating, but I didn't...something I need to work on. After dinner, I burned 300 calories treating the grocery store like my personal gym, so my total calories for the day yesterday was 944--1250 from food (not bad), 306 burned at the store. My percentages of carbs vs. protein vs. sugar was more on target for the day than Day 1, so I felt good about that--still not perfect, but at least I'm more aware of what I'm attempting to do now.
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| one pretzel... |
Last night, I was getting Abby's lunch stuff together and loading the dishwasher--on track to be in bed by midnight--when Dan came downstairs and said he was hungry... I was pretty darn hungry, too, since the last thing I ate was that piece of cake around 6pm and it was now 11:30pm...but I wasn't going to eat anything because of my no-nighttime-snacking rule, and because it's no good to eat right before you go to bed anyway. Dan was helping me put Abby's lunch foods in bags, and we put too many pretzels in one of her bags...Dan got frustrated trying to close the bag, so he pulled one pretzel out and said, "Here--eat this!" while handing it to me. I had been fighting the urge to eat a little of everything I was making for her lunch--carrots, strawberries, Cheez-Its and pretzels...so it made me upset and hurt when Dan tried to sabotage me by handing me that silly little pretzel. He didn't really get why I was upset--he had just loaded a plate up for himself of pretzels and fruit. One pretzel isn't the issue, and one pretzel isn't going to break my scale...but it was the principle of not eating anything after 8pm and resisting really strong temptations. Pretzels are dangerous for me--I can sit with a bag open and munch off and on on them for hours, without realizing how much I have eaten. Dan had just been talking to me about my plan of action, so I knew he was aware of the no-eating rule... I was just a little bummed that he's not taking this as seriously as I am--I'm really trying, even when I'm hungry! I know his weight isn't an issue for him (I have always weighed more than he does, as a wonderful kick to my self-esteem), but I want him to understand what a big deal this is to me. My hunger late last night reinforced my need to go to bed early--if I'm asleep, I won't feel hungry and overeat.
Today has been good--I'm getting better at spreading out my calories and planning my meals. I had my usual measured Rice Chex and milk this morning (222 calories total) for breakfast. I know cereal isn't the healthiest breakfast option, but I just love my cereal--some people drink coffee in the morning, I can't get started without my cereal. At least it's healthy-ish cereal, right? I'm not downing a big bowl of Cocoa Pebbles! For lunch, I made my chicken salad--one 4.5 oz can of Swanson's premium chicken breast in water, 4 tablespoons of Light Miracle Whip, 2 tablespoons of Craisins, 1 tablespoon of slivered almonds, and 10 grapes cut in half. I entered all the nutritional information from the labels on everything I put in, and the total calories came to 287--I'm pretty excited about that since I make this chicken salad a lot! Today was the first day I actually used the measuring spoon for every ingredient while making it, and I'm proud of myself for making that extra effort instead of eye-balling it...after measuring, I see that my eyeballs aren't good at portion control! I'm also pretty impressed with my math skills--I am terrible at measurements, but have been figuring out the numbers for servings to put into WebMD. Who knew that stuff would come in handy? ;)
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| delicious! |
Tonight, even though I'm still not feeling well, I'm going to a Zumba class...my first one ever (and maybe my last, depending on how things go!). A friend of mine teaches at a gym, so she invited me to a free preview class--I'm a little terrified, but in the spirit of the Challenge, I'm going to try it out. Wish me luck!
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