Eating at Chilis

Tonight, we decided to use our coupon (we got it from giving blood) for an appentizer at Chilis. We got there, sat down and started to look at the menu. Now here in CA, the restaurants are required to have their nutitional info available for you. So my husband picked it up and perused the pages.....

Oh my goodness....

Almost everything on their menu was over 1200 calories; some items went up to 2000. I am only supposed to eat 1200-1500 calories a day!

So if you frequently eat out at places like chilis... watch out!

Vacation... is hard

First full day on vacation - I have to say that it is harder than I expected. I thought that even though people say that it is difficult, that I was prepared. I knew what I would do....

Yeah right.

When your mom has cookies (low fat) on the counter, Ritter Sport in many varieties availble to try, and yummy dinners. I have definetly gone over my calorie limit. I don't know how well I will do this whole trip, but I will try my best. I am at 184 right now, so I guess the scale will tell me how I have done when I get home.

Start of Travels

I started my vacation today. I woke up and went on a nice bike ride to the library to return a video before I left. As we started our journey, I thought that I would be fine and that I was very well prepared.

Well, I finally got to my parents house and realized I was starving. The airplane ride took it out of me. I underestimated the energy it would require to sit in the same spot for so long. With pasta on the counter... I just went into it. My mother also had a number of packages of Ritter Sport out on the counter.... well to say the least... I ate over my calories. I don't even know by how much. Tomorrow, I will do better :)

Women's Health

I found myself at the library yesterday looking for a calorie catalog (a book that lists the nutritional value for food, e.g. black beans, banana, peach, etc) and I happened to find a book on women's health, The Active Woman's health and Fitness Handbook by Nayda Swedan MD



I would like to quote a bit from it....

"Body image is a term used to describe how you see your body. It is a state of mind that can affect confidence, not only in regard to how you look, but also how you feel about yourself, which can affect your physical and mental health.

Unfortunately, many women have poor body image; even those who are beautiful, thin, fit bodies can look in a mirror and criticize themselves for their imperfections (that are often out of proportion to how they look) rather than their strengths. In contrast, women who have positive body image are confident in knowing that, no matter what the weight on the scale, they are fit, strong, healthy, and beautiful.

....

The best way to have a positive body image is to feel positive about yourself as a person. Stay active, exercise regularly, and feel strong and fit. Nurture your muscles, feed them healthy food, and maintain goals for your life and achievements. Wear clothes that flatter you; have friends who flatter you also."

She goes on to talk about other women's issues with weight and fitness, but I felt that is section was very nice. I generally have a positive body image, but as I go through this process I have to remember that it isn't just being skinny that is important (if it were my body image would be really bad right now :) but it is to be healthy and active. With that in mind any step closer, every workout, every veggie I eat.. helps me be a fit, strong, healthy, and beautiful wife and mother.

I am getting really interested in learning more about women's health, and the specific needs women have physically. If anyone knows of some good books... pass them along. I would love to read them.

Soon, I will hopefully meet with a dietitian just to make sure I am eating the right stuff. I believe that I am, but it is always nice to hear it from someone else too.

p.s. Right now I am eating a delicious slice of garlic & herb Laughing Cow light cheese with (instead of crackers or pretzel thins) slices of cucumber. It is tasty. Total calorie count... 50 kcal YAY!

p.s.s. My calves are looking spectacular :)

Another 2 lbs Yipee

I got up this morning and before I ate anything I wanted to weigh myself.... and I weigh 184.6!!!! That is two pounds lighter than last Sunday. Two pounds is great!

This past week overall was not easy. I also didn't keep as close a track of my calories as I had the week before. With the 4 of July and last night's birthday cake for my neighbor (which I had a lot of fun making :) I think I probably exceeded my calorie intake a few of the days. But what is the point of being disappointed in yourself. I wasn't perfect sure, but i did a good job. Now I just learn from not keeping track of my calories, and be resolved to do in this coming week.

Only One Dessert per Day

I worked out hard this morning, so I am very satisfied with that aspect of the day. The only trouble part is keeping my calorie count. I didn't do it 4 of July because I ate at someone else's house and it is hard to know how they made the food, and then we went off camping which also made it hard to keep track. I don't think I have been too far off, but it is important to keep track. I don't know if I told you, but I am trying to keep my calories between 1500 and 1800 a day. According to the program I am doing you multiply your weight by 7 and that is how many calories you are suppose to eat to lose weight. Since I am nursing I add between 300-500 calories.

I made a rule in the beginning of this that I would only eat one serving of dessert per day, and I have to admit, today I was very tempted to break that rule. I thought to myself... why not just exercise twice and then I could justify that second treat. BUT NO! there is a reason I set that rule, and if I break it once, I will want to break it again. So those few marshmallows that I ate this afternoon will have to be it for today even though I have new skinny cow ice cream bars in the freezer.

I AM IN CONTROL OF MY BODY! Mind over Matter, Baby!

Calories in Bread

Do you know how many calories are in a slice of bread? What about a foot long sandwich from Subway or those gargantuan sandwiches from Wal-mart which could possibly feed you for a week?

For just a normal slice of bread it is between 70 and 100 calories. So to make up a sandwich with the two slices it uses up more than half of my calorie goal for lunch....

I say this so you can understand that today was difficult :) I did have a sandwich for lunch but used the sandwich thins which only have 100 calories together. But since Roger was flying out to South Carolina today, I had bought him one of the gargantuan sandwiches from Wal-mart. Alas.... I ended up eating the extra sandwich bread with honey. It was very delicious, but I am still amazed at just how many calories are in bread products.

There is a new philosophy I have...
You choose your lifestyle and you are sized accordingly. Of course, there are proabaly a few exceptions, but it's also proabably a very few.

If you choose healthiness 100% of the time, you are a stick.
If you choose healthiness 50% of the time, you are medium.
If you choose healthiness 0% of the time, you are rather chunky.
And there is everything in between.



I came to this philosophy while thinking back to my mission, where I ate beans and rice everyday, didn't really snack a ton, and walked miles upon miles. I figure if my life were like that again, I would lose the weight like I did there, but currently my life is sitting in my kitchen with Ginger while something is playing on the computer from netflix or hulu snacking on cake or fruit, etc. So right now, I am trying to change my life style from a 50% to a 25%. I figure that I will still eat a slice of pound cake occasionally (just not 5 slices). I don't think I want a 100% lifestyle, but I think a 25% would be great!

And though today was difficult and I might have eaten too many dehydrated apple slices... I just have to take it one day at a time and know that every step counts.