Thursday, March 24, 2011

Day 4: Calorie counting at home and what to do when you go over calorie count on your very first week!

So, day 4 started on a good note, and ended on a bad one. I used some of my own advice I'd been meaning to use by eating heavier during the morning, and finishing the day with the least amount of calorie intake possible without going to bed hungry, but I ended up having an unfortunate snag in my plan! I went over my calorie limit (though I haven't really set one, just making sure to remain underneath 1,500) by quite a bit. Now, even MORE unfortunately, I know the reasoning behind it: I woke up at about 10:30 AM, had finally sat down to eat breakfast at 12:00 PM, and then I fell back asleep because I had nothing to do other than sleep. Especially since my boyfriend had a horrible migraine and felt wretched. Though I had planned to take a morning walk to the post, and then a 30-minute walk for my exercise for today, all plans were canceled until my boyfriend felt better. So, I went over my calorie intake today, slept in after (eating which is a MAJOR "no-no" in my book), and failed to exercise at ALL today. (Though I did do some "Spring Cleaning" which could've burned some calories, for about an hour, though I'm not certain how many.) The one OTHER reasoning behind my calorie limit BUST was due to something that I will now correct from NOW on: I ate my 3rd meal at the end of the day, and neglected to count the calories in the store, thinking that a large chicken breast steamed couldn't have THAT many calories, and then finding out that it REALLY does, which completely messed up my calorie count. And even still- you should count your calories before eating that last meal. Chances are you could ruin your total for the day. Also, remember that you shouldn't nap for long hours in between your meals, as the calories you consumed will burn off and leave you feeling STARVED when you wake, as I learned today. I literally felt as though I had eaten NOTHING at all.

Onto my Food Journal for today:

Day 4
24.03.11. Thursday

Morning weigh-in: 218.4 lbs. (Notice how you burn weight as you sleep! I weighed less than what I weighed the night before! A good 8 hours does wonders for the body!)

12:00 PM Late breakfast at home
♥ 1 medium egg, scrambled w/ a dash of salt & pepper, milk, & a tsp. of Country Crock Cholesterol Free (about 120 calories)
♥ 1 small/medium-sized banana (105 calories)
♥ 1 Yoplait Original Strawberry Yogurt (6 oz. or 170g = 170 calories, a lot more than the Yoplait Light Strawberry Yogurt)
♥ 1 Kashi TLC chewy "Trail Mix" granola bar (140 calories)
♥ 6 oz. glass of Vitamin D or whole milk (about 114 calories, about 150 calories per 8 oz.)

4:30 PM Dinner @ home
♥ a medium sized salad of iceberg lettuce (about 27 calories) w/ sliced carrot (about 10 calories worth), a couple slices of cucumber (at 2-3 calories a slice, about 12 calories for my serving), a couple slices of green bell pepper (no more than 12 calories worth, 20 calories per green bell pepper), a couple cherry tomatoes (about 27 calories and I would say I had about a cup), and a packet of Marzetti's buttermilk ranch dressing (about 200 calories). (Salad w/o dressing = about 80 calories, salad w/ dressing = about 280 calories)
♥ 3/4 of a large hard-boiled egg (about 28 calories)
♥ 1 large chicken breast w/ skin on, steamed and seasoned w/ 0 calorie seasoning (about 330 calories for 6 oz. or 170g, cooked)


Top photo: Front of the container of zero calorie "rub" or seasoning that my boyfriend and I picked up at our local IGA for I think a dollar!. Bottom photo: the back of the container of "rub" or seasoning so that you can see it has sodium content, which can be bad, but as long as you use it sparingly, and regardless to using it sparingly, it has ZERO calories!

♥ 1 20 fl. oz. (1.25 PT, 591 mL) Mountain Dew (290 calories)

6:00 PM Starbucks
♥ a tall (12 fl. oz.) Caramel Frappucino Light Blended Coffee (90 calories)

11:00 PM @ home
♥ 10 oz. glass of water (0 calories!)

(And because I couldn't add it in BEFORE my weigh-in since I write it down the night before...and it TECHNICALLY counts for the next day)
1:00 AM @ home watching a movie w/ the boyfriend
♥ 5 pieces of Trident LAYERS Sugar Free Green Apple and Pineapple gum (<5 calories per stick/piece, so I will round up and say 4 calories x 5 pieces = about 20 calories, which keeps me from wasting hundreds of calories on movie snacks like popcorn! 80 considerable calories less than a bag of SMARTPOP! even...)


A photo of the gum, although I do not have the nutritional information because unfortunately it isn't printed onto the package! It does show that it is "SUGAR FREE" though. A GREAT alternative to snacking at less than 5 calories a stick/piece.

NOTES: Went over my MAXIMUM calorie intake, failed to exercise, napped during the day, and failed to attempt eating 3 meals. Starting to see small weight changes! Weigh in was 2.8 lbs. different from initial weigh-in which is motivating me to try harder and to throw in some exercise to really start shedding some pounds! Try to at least stay 100 calories BELOW my MAXIMUM calorie intake of 1,500 calories!


Total calories: 1,687 calories (187 calories over my MAXIMUM calorie intake limit set at 1,500 calories)
Bedtime weigh-in: 220.2 lbs.


A picture to prove it! A pound lighter before bed even with going a hundred and something calories over my daily limit! (And don't comment on my hideous feet or I'll kill you! Ha- not really.)



So, to summarize today, though I went over my calorie intake maximum, I have made sure to watch what I eat when I'm at home. Make sure that you count up those calories so you can know how many you have left available to your dispense. I failed to count before I went to Starbucks and had ALREADY went over, and if I had just added the calories up for a small summary of my day I would have known that and not failed to add MORE to that. Another small thing I'd like to address is that whilst there are ways to cut down on your calories they are not always the tastiest! But you have to TRY THEM to find out, and that's why it's a sort of adventure...because the best are out there waiting to be found by your taste buds. Unfortunately, I would not recommend the tall Caramel Frappucino Light Blended Coffee as it was rather disappointing, unless you REALLY want your Starbucks and can't afford the calories. The woman at the counter also said that the higher calorie drinks can be cut back calorie wise by using their sugar free syrups! Which I will also be trying out to try and figure out tasty, yet calorie conscious, treats at Starbucks. The last thing is to cut down on snacking at movies or while watching TV, I HIGHLY recommend this Trident gum. It's low calorie, sugar free, and makes your breath smell awesome. It's especially for those of us who were used to eating candy at theaters, or popcorn. It keeps the mouth busy, but is so low on calorie that you can chew several pieces without worrying over your diet!

And as a very final note to this post, don't get the blues if you go over calorie on one of the days during your first week! Keep trying! Yeah, it sure does suck to make a fatal error in your diet, but be EASY on yourself. After all, it's only your first week! Most learning comes from trial and error anyways...so don't go quitting your entire diet over going a hundred calories over. And you've almost gotten through your very first week!

(All vegetable calorie information, aside from cherry tomatoes, was obtained from: Here at foodanddiet.com!)

Sweet dreams and goodnight! ♥

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