I'm going to be frank here. In the past year, I've gained about 20 pounds. I've also finished school. And worked in an office sitting on my bum. And been married.These factors may or may not be related.But the gaining trend must not continue, by George! While dance aerobics and working out three times a week since October-ish has stopped the exponential weight gain I felt as a result of the sedentary life in the OC, the pounds creep in like dirty, flubbery, unwanted, rabid hippopotomus roadkill coming to life and sneaking into the wings of a Circue du Soleil performance or something that should not be glutinously overweight and--gasp!--I feel depressed and pitiful enough to actually . . . watch what I eat. Oh, what fateful circumstances are these! Oh, what troubled times! Oh, with reality TV pounding on the doors of my soul! Oh, the misfortune!
So, in my despair, I called my triathlete-Air-Force-Captain brother Jack, and he gave me a "helllooo" speech that how much I consume directly effects how much I weigh, etc., etc., stop eating so much, but be realistic about it, so on and and so forth . . .
Honestly, I don't think I'm "fat," and I don't mind my figure, and I don't have unrealistic expectations of myself, and who knows what I'll look like in my future, and maybe it doesn't matter, but I am seeing that to continue a trend of 20 pounds per year would only lead me stealthily to my grave with Toblerone and cheese crumbles in hand. When I do feel fat, Sam can testify that I start spewing out pathetic monologues about my sagging flesh sinking into the weakening springs of the mattress, etc., etc., and it just isn't very ladylike.
As I think I have healthy eating/exercising habits, the question seems to be not what I'm eating, but how much. This will not become a diet blog, but after starting my calorie counting exercise this week, this is what I learned:
Here is an example of what used to be my perception of the caloric value of my favorite foods:
Lettuce - 10 calories
Peanut M&Ms - 20 calories
Pear - 10 calories
French Fries - 20 calories
Hamburger - 30 calories
Pasta - 25 calories
Salad Dressing - 2 calories
Butter - 10 calories
Cheese - 20 calories
Here's the reality of foods I've eaten this week:
(I thank you, oh honest Google Calorie Counter)
1 Tbs Butter - 100 calories
1 Homemade Multigrain Apple Muffin - 140 calories
Pear - 60 calories
1 Measly Single Peanut Butter M&M Egg Thing - 12 calories
3 oz Ground Beef - 215
1 Cup Iceberg Lettuce - 10 calories
1 Cup Herbal Tea - 2 calories
1/2 Tbs Honey - 32 calories
1 Serving Pasta - 248
1 oz Cheddar Cheese - 112
1 Tbs Olive Oil -120
1 Cup Brocolli - 19
1 Serving Steamed Rice - 238
2 Tbs Salsa - 8 calories
It adds up very quickly. My brother told me girls eat about 1500 calories a day (I think I've been eating like twice that) and I can just do the math. So if I were to lose one pound a week, I should cut back about 500 calories per day. My goal this week was to start consuming about 1000 calories a day--I'm doing pretty well with it. So if I were to keep it up, that would lead me to lose my 20 excess pounds in about 5 months.
This will not become a pity/diet blog. But that's what I'm up to. I'll get back to you in September.
Yours,
Liz
6 comments:
I need to do this too! When I was pregnant my portion sizes reallllly grew huge and I feel like not much has downsized... but it needs to! p.s. we're moving.. but only to Orem.
Ahh this entry really gave me a good laugh. I'm with ya on the counting calories thing--it's amazing what is really in there!
Liz,
1000 calories a day is too little. Believe me I know about these things. You will do great for one or maybe two weeks and then it will backfire because you are actually starving yourself to death. The truth is, at our age, we need a little over 2000 calories a day. The most healthy way to lose weight is to cut back about 100 calories per day and exercise at least 4 times per week for about 30 minutes. If you do this you will lose about a pound every 2 weeks. I have lost a little over ten pounds since my mission this way. It's been pretty slow-going but the weight has stayed off, because my body has been able to adjust and realize that this is how much it wants to weigh right now. Losing weight slowly takes a lot of patience but it is way better for your metabolism.
Thanks for the comment, Snow! This adventure is mostly speculation, so I appreciate the info. For me, I like having the 1000 calorie goal because I tend to eat twice as much as I intend to eat regardless of my intentions. I've been trained not to take myself seriously, which is good and not-so-good somethings. With this, it's like a "shoot for the stars and land on the moon" approach, and the moon might be dinner out with Sam or a special meal or the head of a chocolate bunny. But after my first week, what encourages me is not so much the numbers, but an increased ability to recognize when I'm hungry and when I'm satisfied, which is helping me to be more aware and eat accordingly. That's pretty much the long term goal.
Eating healthy and exercising is that goal that is always on the list-- I hope you're doing well with this! I've been keeping track this year of why I eat - actual hunger versus stress, etc. Changes how I've done things-- good luck!
I'm just totally distracted because I'm wondering if that brown lettuce is really made of chocolate...
chocolate lettuce....
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