The purpose of posting daily is that something happens every day: I check in to my limit of 1800 calories per day! It’s not enough for me to say, “I didn’t have much for breakfast so I can have more lunch.” By keeping track of the calories and the amounts of food I am eating at each meal, I can spread out my eating throughout one day. My total calories will be under control and each meal will be under control. If my food intake is under control, so is my body’s weight.
Eating several times a day is important for me, especially when I am in calorie deficit – eating less than I need to keep my current weight. For others, like Mark Twain, it might be different. He wrote a whole essay about preferring a “meal and a half” per day. As he described it, a roll and coffee for breakfast, and then the evening meal – dinner. He allowed that his dinner was very large. My three meals are, well, measured.
My food intake and calorie count
Breakfast – Ham (150) and cheese (70) toast (160); tea with half and half (80); 2 cookies (35 each)
- 530 calories
Lunch – Big Greek Cafe Famous $4 Gyros Wednesday!!!! (600)
- 600 calories
Dinner – 9 ounces cooked spaghetti (450); 6.5 ounces jambalaya (220)
- 670 calories
Snacking – tea with milk (50)
- 50 calories
Total for the day: 1850 calories (limit 1800)
Close to the limit
Today, I found myself very hungry starting at 3.30PM. I still waited until 5.30PM to eat, and maybe that was a mistake. Maybe I got too hungry. I wolfed down my dinner and found myself feeling like I needed more, and needed to feel full, even after a fairly sizable dinner for me (670 calories). Luckily, I had to leave the house soon after dinner and didn’t get the chance to eat a lot more! By the time I got back home at 10PM, I no longer had the feeling of wanting to eat. That could be a lesson for me – the urge to eat and be full can be distracted until reality can re-assert itself (I had eaten enough). Someday I will see if I can use that new knowledge.
This week, I had planned to be back on my winning plan – 1800 calories per day (or a few less), and a couple of cheat days where I was allowed extra calories, with an average of 1850-1900 calories per day for the week. It hasn’t worked out that way! For this week I have been over 1800 almost every day. On the good side, my daily average is still 1850 per day. There haven’t been any cheat days, or they all have been little cheat days. On the bad side, it feels slightly out of control. Can’t I stop at 1800?
Luckily I use a reality measurement device every week. The scale. My weekly weighing will tell me if I have really lost anything. That will help me refine my self knowledge. Maybe I need to be on 1800 calories per day with a couple of cheat days. Maybe having 1850 per day is acceptable, with no extra cheat days. Think of the fun I will have finding out on Saturday. As I have said many times, I never know when I get on the scale, if I have lost weight that week. I have been surprised before. But there has been enough progress over the months that I am hopeful. If my system of food intake control is followed, I have lost weight – up till now.
What will you find out this week?
-The Doctor