Day 7 – A doozie November 11, 2009

So today was kindof a day from hell.

I got up at 7:30.  Strike one.  I wasted time until the first thing I had to do at 9:30, and once I arrived I realized that I was entirely unprepared.  Strike two.

After that I had to do two solid hours of critical reading work, then I had to go do something else for an hour and a half, then I had to go to a party from 4-6:30.  Steeeriiiiike three!

During this time, I had had my usual breakfast of grits, plus a tuna sandwich for lunch.  And a can of regular coke at the party.  (It was either that or Chardonnay.)  And that was it.  The funny thing was, I didn’t get all that hungry.  I know, I could have been in starvation mode, but usually I get super tired and low-blood-sugary when I don’t eat.  I think that by reducing my calories, I’m not as prone to my usual cliffs and trenches of blood sugar.  I’m not sure, of course, but I think so.

And I feel much better now that I’m counting calories.  Not skinnier, yet, but I think that’s coming.  You know that point in a diet when you look at yourself, or get out of a chair, or put on a certain pair of pants, and all of a sudden, you realize… “I feel skinnier.”  Well I haven’t exactly had that moment yet, but it’s coming.  By the way, I weighed myself two days in a row and saw 220.  So I might be losing some poundage after all.  I think I’m going to put a clipboard in the bathroom in front of the scale.  That way I’ll feel like I’m in a doctor’s office (in a good way, if there is one) when I’m jotting down the weight.

And you better believe I had Taco Bell for supper…

-Breakfast-

1/4 c. grits –130

1 T. butter –100

Total for breakfast –230

-Lunch-

2 slices light whole grain –80

1 can tuna –100

1 T. light mayo –50

3 T. relish –60

Total for lunch –290

Coke at the party: 140

-Supper-

1 Nacho cheese chalupa –380

1 Seven layer burrito –420

Total for supper –800

Snack while V. was on: 6 T. popcorn (but at least a T. didn’t pop each time, so I’m going to say more like 4 T.) –160

Calories left today: 252

Day 4 – Supper (fish!) and the trouble with fad diets November 7, 2009

As I’ve said before, I’m extremely cheap these days.  When supper time was rolling around, I thought briefly about going out again, because of my exceedingly successful Taco Bell trip last night.  But then I remembered that I had some frozen tilapia in the freezer.  So I thawed it, seasoned it with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, then added a healthy layer of Old Bay, sprayed it with crisco spray, and sauteed it up.  This is surprisingly good.  However, it’s even better when nestled atop a plump spoonful of rich mashed potatoes, sprinkled with some fresh peas.  All of which is drizzled with the drippings from the pan.

But I just had the fish.  I also opened a can of asparagus and ate it all.  For 70 calories, I’m not sorry.

(I just had the urge to take pictures of all my meals and post them here.  Dare I do it?)

-Supper-

2 tiny and 1 medium tilapia filets –200

1 can asparagus –70

1 c. homemade tomato soup –198

Total for supper: 468

Calories remaining today: 567

I find that hard to believe, because I don’t feel hungry at all.  Though I might make some popcorn in a minute…

As a side note, the other day I was sitting next to a guy that I know, and he mentioned that he’d had massive fluctuations in his weight.  Apparently his (now ex) wife would say something about how he was getting fat, so the next day he would restrict his calorie intake to around 800/day.  ”Once I lost 30 pounds in a month that way,” he said.  After he’d lost the weight, he’d go right back to eating everything he wanted in mass quantities, and he’d gain the weight back.  6 months later, the wife would nag again, and he’d go back down to 800 calories.

So basically he was doing what I once did on Low Carb.  I lost quite a bit of weight once on Low Carb, too, maybe 50 lbs?  But guess what?  I can’t live without brownies.  Or fettucine.  Or gyros.  Or my mother’s 7 layer cake.

As a veteran of all these diets, I will say that they don’t work.  Strike that.  They do work, but they’re nearly impossible to maintain, and there’s no telling what sort of havoc such diets reek on the body.  I read a book that cited a study from way back when study participants were treated like roadkill, and it said that the “scientists” would severely restrict the diets of the subjects, keeping them around or below 800 calories.  Unsurprisingly, the people started lying about, hoarding, and stealing food.  The interesting thing is that they kept on lying, hoarding and stealing after the study.  So when we do one of these extreme things to ourselves, we’re basically taking normal chubby versions of ourselves and turning them into insane, neurotic, hungry versions of ourselves.

Now… about that popcorn…

Day 3 – Supper and late night snack November 7, 2009

So I said that I might want to get Taco Bell for supper.  So… I did!  I got a beef nacho cheese chalupa (380) and a 7 layer burrito.  I should disclose that I used to get 2 chalupas, the 7 layer burrito, and the big nachos.  However, eating the smaller portion slower was way more satisfying than I thought it would be.  Eating slowly is very important to weight loss, and I think I’ll post about that later, because it’s important.

Supper

Chalupa –380

7 layer burrito –490 (but it’s so good!)

Then, around 9pm, Legends of the Fall was on the boob tube, and I decided that I’d finish off my calories with some popcorn.  Here’s the secret though–I make super healthy popcorn on the cheap, and here’s how:

I take about 2-3 T. of kernels (they come in a plastic jar), spray them with butter flavored crisco spray, add some salt, and toss the whole thing in a brown paper bag.  Then I fold the bag down and set it upright in the microwave.  When it’s done, I spray it again with the buttery crisco and add more salt if needed.  It’s a steal of a calorie deal at about 100 calories.  (Go easy on the Crisco stuff though, because even if it has almost no calories for a 1/3 second spray, it’s bound to have more if you really lay it on there.

Not all the kernels popped, so my snack was only about 90 calories!  Not too shabby.

Calories left today: 147.  I may eat a handful of peanuts, but probably not.

Goodnight!