I decided to start measuring and trying to figure out the calorie breakdown of what I'm eating.
Actually, the first thing I decided to do was calculate my calorie needs. Then I added up what I thought was the calorie composition of what I was planning to eat. My history with counting calories has been based on a whole lot of guessing- both in measuring what I eat and in how many calories are in the foods I eat.
But today I decided I'd actually bust out the measuring cups and spoons and the nutrition guides on the internet to confirm what I was sure was true... I knew about how many calories I was eating.
Long story short, I was totally wrong. I thought my lunch was about 300 calories. Nope, more like 500. And dinner. I would have estimated it at 500 but it's more like 650-700. Adds up to more than 2000 really quick- even with no munching on junk. No wonder I've gained so much weight.
So rather than even start trying to calculate how many calories I should be eating in a day according to formulas, etc, I figured I'd better get a handle on how much I'm eating right now. That means looking up nutritional information and measuring what goes on my plate. All of it. No eyeballing.
Once I have an idea of how much I'm eating, I can start to make small cuts in portion size and changes in what I select to eat.
I'm still in shock, though. I really thought I was a health conscious person who "knew this stuff." Turns out I have a lot more learning to do.
Workout: 6mi on treadmill, 30 min swim
Challenge: 2 veg down, 1 to go at dinner. Tonight will be hard as far as resisting the sweet stuff at Bible study, but hopefully having to look my calorie counts in the face will help me say yes to socializing and no to junk food.
