But this is a big part of my life right now, and I feel the need to talk about it.
I am using www.sparkpeople.com to track my food intake. It's pretty eye-opening. I thought I was pretty good about portion control, but it turns out that I've been eating a lot more than I thought I was. It's also very good for me as a vegetarian, because it's confirming what I suspected: my fat intake is pretty good, but I consume way more carbs than I need and way less protein than I need. Maybe if I ate more protein I'd be less exhausted all the time. It's hard for a veggie on the go to the get the protein she needs. It's much easier to grab a cookie or a bagel than to cook up beans and lentils and tofu. I think I will be eating more hard-boiled eggs. It's hard to stay in the recommended calorie allotment, too. I think it's a matter of re-training the body. Anyway, tracking my intake and nutrients this way is educational, even though it's hard.
I am hoping to use this diet as a bit of an exercise in simplicity. Not surprisingly, the packaged and take-out foods my regular diet relies on are high in calories. It's no secret that good home cooking, if you're gentle with the butter and cheese, tends to be better for you (and often, the world.) I'm working on buying less processed ingredients and making the time to pre-pack lunches and breakfasts, and even dinners for school days, where I often don't get home till 10pm. It is a struggle, but it's good stewardship in more ways than one.
I'm also having to cut down my alcohol calories. I'm not a big boozer, but my delicious beer is at least 200-300 calories a hit. Gone are the days where I could absentmindedly spend a few hours in the pub with some friends and slowly down 3 pints. That's most of my daily calorie allowance! And that sort of liquid diet's not overly recommended.
Ah me.
Anyhow, maybe I'll save some money and spend my time a little better while I'm being careful about what I eat.
I'm waiting on a dreaded scale to arrive.
3 comments:
Good luck with the weight loss! Kim's on Weight Watchers, and giving up her beloved beer was one of the bigger sacrifices she's had to make.
Thanks for your comment in my blog. As you'll see in my reply, it helped clear the logjam I've been experiencing, so to speak. :)
Ah yes, the day beer stops being an unconscious social element ... ah youth. In Belfast one would buy rounds, and often there would be as many pints as friends out... 7 ... 10... and while I was running on youthful enthusiasm... I just thought I had a unique metabolism... Then one day, getting home from the St. Patricks day parade, and Gery and I were changing from our Republican Club ( Irish - lefties not American mind you ) garb, into our go out and party clothes... I noticed he had put on quite a gut... och no, not me, thought I... then a few years later, I began to notice a bit of a pot in my rowing T-shirt... och no ... it is just the big stomach muscles from rowing... HA! Then, after law school, I looked in the mirror and the sage words of Alexi Sales came to mind, "who is that fat bas... " well never mind.
An occasional white wine, less calories then beer ... but even so ... do mind that once one has one ... the next seems, well less frightening. So, if one can enjoy a glass as a simple gift to the evening, not a great gift to the girth, I do believe it is less calories than beer. Of course St. Patrick's day, even Quakers get a papal dispensation for all sorts or ree rah... but we are speaking of the other 300 and something days.
I used my papal dispensation to insult John Dunleavy on me blog this year, for insulting the FDNY... so I must be very good Sixth Day night ... called him an amadin, I did... and worse. But, well, insulting fire fighters is a great sin ... much more of a sin than gaining a few pounds...
Yup, carbs are deadly. Better to knaw on a little bit of a Caribou than have a big hunk of bread... God intended Caribou, we invented bread. Both are yummy ... but we live longer on the protein, as long as we don't muck with it, as we did the poor old cow, the cruther.
Well... off to bed, I hope.
Happy St. P's ( the new wee band is sounding quite nice )
lor
It's been amazing to me over the last year to learn more specifics of portions, and to notice more clearly the difference between how much I need to live healthy and how much just tastes like more.
And I think that how much we eat can also affect the way our medications work in our bodies.
Good luck!
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