Cdeplume's Journal

This morning I thought to myself, "I don't need to enter things into my food diary, I know how this goes, now!"

Duh. Rookie mistake, right? After one day I think I have this diet thing down and can go back to just winging it. Clearly, just winging it hasn't worked for me. At all.

Luckily, this website has the best food diary I've seen, especially combined with the Calorie Counter app for my Android (looooove the barcode scan!). So I find I want to come here, enter my food consumed, and keep track of things.

Today I went to school to try to be more productive. I forgot to pack a snack. (I pretty much need three medium-sized meals per day plus two snacks--in between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner--to keep my body going and so I don't get cranky or weak feeling. I'm keeping close tabs on this, though, and I'm going to work on making sure each snack is just one serving, and not four.) So I made what I thought was a good vending-machine choice: the unsalted trail mix. In terms of real food, this is a good choice, but I was pretty shocked when I looked at the nutritional information, and especially when I saw that the whole (tiny, 2 ounce) bag was 2 servings. If I'd eaten the whole bag, I would have consumed 12 grams of fat and 240 calories! This would have been nothing before yesterday. I would have told myself that I needed the fuel. But today I learned that's not true. The calorie count made the shriveled up raisins not that appealing, and I ended up throwing over half the bag away.

In the past, I ate a lot of nuts at a time, figuring they were good for me--good fats, good source of protein. But I forgot just how much fat they contain, and that just a few nuts (combined, e.g., with a piece of fruit) will give me all I need for a filling snack. I've been on diets before, but remembering this stuff feels like recalling a second language--it's there in the shadowy back of my brain, rusty information covered in cobwebs.

Today I went slightly over my allotted calories. I knew this would happen--I knew since yesterday, in fact--so yesterday I was (more than slightly) under. My boyfriend is leaving for a week, so I cooked a nice dinner. In cooking that nice dinner, I was careful to measure out the olive oil and butter I used. Turns out, these things can be very satisfying in small quantities. It helps that I used them as condiments instead of as cooking lubricants. For cooking, I used water--to boil the potatoes, and a small amount to wilt the arugula and warm the cherry tomatoes. But I didn't feel like the dishes were any less rich than I wanted them to be. What a satisfying night!

-----Edited to add-------
Notes to self, part 1:

-get weighed to properly assess RDI of calories--probably consuming too much at 2100 per day to lose weight
-eat about 60 grams of fat per day to MAINTAIN weight --> must lower amount of fat consumed!
-need to incorporate regular exercise asap!

Actually, I'm going to go ahead and reset my calories to 1900 right away. That will make today truly a day of indulgence, but better to do it now then to put it off 'til I get my hands on a scale.

(I'm writing this out as sort of a mission statement for myself.)

My own special diet is basically calorie counting. I love cooking and lots of variety, so I'm not interested in following something prescribed or limited. I want to eat good food, real food, along the lines of KERF (although we have a our food preferences differ sometimes). I want my diet to conform to my lifestyle, rather than the other way around. I realize this probably means I'll lost weight slowly, but I'm ok with that. (For now--I reserve the right to change my mind and move to swifter weight loss, of course!)

My general food philosophy is that food is to be enjoyed. That means eating cheese, butter, chocolate, meat, and so on. Instead of cutting foods out, I seek to (1) eat smaller portions of rich food, and (2) balance it out over the day. So, if I want to have a nice brunch out, balance it with a light, veggie-intensive dinner. I am also ok with going over my recommended calories on one day if I know I'll make it up the next (or the day before, if I can help it!).

Other things about me: I have an insatiable, seemingly hereditary sweet tooth. I want to try to sate this with healthier options (mostly fruit, though I'll do whole-grain cookies once in a while if I can manage). I prefer food as unprocessed as possible. I choose organic for milk (tastes better) and whenever I can afford it--affordability is a major concern for me (see: poor law student). I don't drink a lot, but when I do I prefer beer and wine. I live with my boyfriend, and convincing him to participate in my healthy-eating plans can be difficult. But I'm sneaky.

So, here are my goals:
-eat mostly whole food
-increase my veggie intake
-consume the bulk of my allotted calories in fruit, veggies, and legumes
-reduce my carb intake somewhat, and stick to whole grains when I do eat them
-reduce my intake of sweets
-cut out the crap: processed foods and sweets I don't enjoy but eat out of boredom/depression/anxiety

I guess I'll edit as necessary. Here goes!

March 18, 2010, I'm starting in earnest. My favorite clothes don't fit anymore, and, as a poor law student, I don't have the money to replace them. Looking forward to getting back to my old size!