Hi all,

Numbers for yesterday:
2034 calories
21% protein, 29% fat, 49% carb, 31g fiber, 1481 sodium

And for today, Monday, August 6th:
1444 calories
21% protein, 17% fat, 58% carb, 25g fiber, 1658 sodium
(I'm missing 4% somewhere - I'm not sure how fitday PC is calculating this, but I'm too tired to figure it out...)


Brightside, I do tend to get hungry before meals and snacks, and sometimes if I have a snack that's too little for what my body thinks it needs, I get really hungry until I've a fairly substantial snack or meal. That is, several little snacks don't do the trick. But it was unpredictable at first - a perfectly fine snack one day might not be enough the next. Over time things have settled down, though. Either I've gotten a better sense of how much I need to eat at different times of the day or my body has gotten more used to fewer calories, or both?

But when it happens now, I don't worry about it too much - I just eat what I need to for the hunger to be satisfied, even if that means that my caloriie total ends up higher for that day. I've also noticed the second phenomenon you mentioned - later in the day, if I've had several bouts of unsatisfied hunger earlier, I'm more likely to eat something for no reason, even though I'm not hungry at that moment. Something to do with feeling frustrated and a fear of recurrent hunger, I think. Again, over time, this has gotten less frequent.

It's interesting, I've read about intuitive eating, which often seems to include a strong philosophy against any calorie counting or measuring. But I like to do a bit of both - paying attention to and respecting what I want to eat, while also keeping track of how much and nutrition, without feeling that I have to rigidly keep to a set plan... It doesn't seem to me that the two have to be diametrically opposed to each other.

Two big bowls of veggies did the trick today. I'm actually eating oatmeal now to get my counts up! That's sure more encouraging than the last few days.

Calories: 1403
Fat: 69 44.6%
Carbs: 42 12.1%
Fiber: 21
Protein: 151 43.3%

Calories burned: 811

Not bad but I ate way too much today. I have two weeks until the first day of school so I am going to make my calorie count a lot lower...

We went home this last weekend to see everyone before we move. I'm sure I ate a ton, although I was conscious of what I was eating. The stress has been getting to me and I haven't been focusing too much on keeping my calories low. Today I'm at 2007 calories thanks to two beers and ice cream. Oh, well... my weight seems to be staying steady. I knew I wasn't going to lose the last 5 this month anyway. Why must moving be so stressful??? It'll be over soon and then we'll have a new place to explore. It'll be fun once all the packing and such is over.

Wednesday:

Total: 1404
Fat: 31g, 21%
Carbs: 227g, 51%
Protein: 89g, 27%
Fiber: 61g

I'm going to bed in about five minutes, I promise ...
1216 cals
30%protein
47%carbs
23% fats

Sarah - thanks. Good to know I'm not completely crazy! Sometimes I'm afraid to listen to my body. Probably if I had had a piece of turkey or something relatively substantial I would've been ok. Counting calories is a whole new realm for me and I want so much to make this work!

I don't have a calorie count to report from yesterday but last night's fancy dinner was a definite triumph for me. I had a lovely small salad w/ mixed greens, walnuts, dried cranberries and a dab of goat cheese. For dinner I chose a pasta dish - I swear it's been YEARS since I've eaten pasta in a restaurant. When I ordered it, I made the decision that I would eat 1/2 cup of the pasta and that would be it, it was the rest of the dish I was interested in: mussels, clams, shrimp and scallops in a spicy tomato broth. The pasta was very, very fine spaghetti. It was satisfying & filling and I seriously only had two bites of the pasta. Dessert was a forkful of something we ordered for the table to share. I did not drink - more because I was worried that I had a long drive home rather than saving my calories. I am so proud of myself for making good choices!!

Brightside ~ You did an excellent job at the restaurant and did better than I could of. I saw a program on FitTV that the Diet Doctor did. She went to a restaurant and they actually measured out the pasta in the dishes they prepared. The child size pasta dish was 4 servings of pasta, WOW! I would hate to see what the adult size was.

Zenor ~ Your doing fab because what you are showing yourself is when the weight is all the way off you will be able to maintain that loss. Think of all the new adventures that you will have with living in a new area.

I agree with Sarah on the fact that there are days we are hungrier than others, I think its natural. For those who have small children and grandchildren, have you ever watched how some days they are hungery and other days they could careless about food? My grandson one day will eat like he has a hollow leg. The next day he may just pick at his food or snack all day. You never know from day to day how much he will eat. He doesn't eat out of bordom or just because he can. He only eats when he is hungry and stops when he is satisfied, he listens to his body. My daughter used to try and force him to eat and I told her to leave him alone because of the family history of obesity on both sides.

Stayed in my calorie range yesterday. Jogged/walk 1 mile and did Curves last night after work. Then I went home feed animals, put dinner in the oven and cleaned house while it cooked, then I crashed. I get so tired when TOM hits and my legs just felt like they weighed a 100 lbs each last night. I am up to jogging more than walking the mile. My dog doesn't like it because he can't investigate as much.

Well I better get going and get some work done.

Grammy you are so right that kids are more in tune with their hunger centers than adults. My triplets have such a different relationship with food than I did when I was growing up. I'm also from the don't-force-food-school. I was a fat baby and a fat toddler, who grew into a fat kid. I remember hiding food from my parents when I was only 7 years old and then denying that I had eaten something. With my kids I've taken a whole different approach - the food I offer is usually healthy, I keep lots of healthy snacks out in the open and we keep the unhealthy treats in the pantry in closed container. If they want one of those treats, they normally ask and if it's not just before a meal, I say yes. We still have candy leftover from Halloween! They know it's there but for the most part, they don't care!

I have to share one kid story...my kids love all kinds of food from good old American, to Indian, Mexican, Thai, whatever. One of their favorite places to go is a Chinese buffet. I look to them as the example of how I should be eating. They walk around, take a bit of this & bit of that, stir fried dishes, never anything fried (oh Mom, that stuff tastes gross, they tell me). If they take a bite of something and they don't like it, they don't eat it. After the first plate, they might go back for a bit more of a favorite, but they never fill their plate to overflowing like you see some adults do. After that, it's all about fresh fruit for dessert. Forget the ice cream, cookies, cakes, etc. And it's their choice! I wish I could go to a buffet and follow their example. They don't eat just because the food is there, they don't ever walk out saying "I'm stuffed", they eat until they're satisfied. I'm hoping they don't ever have my problems with food.

Brightside ~ Bravo for you kids and thanks for sharing your story.

I have started handling buffets differently. I now walk around the buffet, chose what looks good and just take a little and then go back and eat. If I don't like it, I leave it, I used to eat it anyway but why? Then if I go back, only allow two trips, I get just a little of what I liked. I indulge on 1 dessert but just one.

When I was a child I was like your kids. I ate when I was hungry and was busy playing (exercising) the rest of the time, food was not recreational it was something I had to have to keep going. I was always underweight to the point my Mom had a hard time finding cloths small enough in the waist and long enough. When I became a teenager is when all went wrong for me. I stopped playing all the time which meant I was much less active and started eating to fill the time, we lived in the country and we weren't allowed to do much. Food became recreation and it was always around. This only got worse with age until I got the shocking news I was diabetic. Now, I am in remission from the diabetes but I know it could come back if I am not carefull and I am putting in a real effort to turn things around but man is it hard but I know I am worth it.

Grammy/Brightside~ I grew up in an extended family that included lots of missionaries and farmers. It was a sin in our household to waste food. I can't tell you how many times I heard the "there are children starving in (insert country of choice)..." We definately had to finish our food or we were in trouble. It's been very difficult for me to break away from that kind of thinking. No one in my family was thin when I was growing up, so my sister and I have had to really change our relationship with food. I still try not to waste food, but I don't eat it all in one sitting either. I also try to cook less when I make dinner. Many times I halve recipes so it won't go bad in the fridge. If I do waste food, I try to look at it as better for my health and an occasional necessary evil. It's still a struggle for me though in resturants and buffets are especially hard.

Zenor ~ Same here, so I always took small amounts. Geez, I was to busy to slow down and eat to much because I need to go finish my adventures outside. I was almost over active as a child and was always off in the woods with the family dog or down to the neighbors after watching Seasame Street, Mr. Rogers, Captain Kangaroo, Puff N' Stuff if it was on. Half the time I didn't even watch those. I had a huge emagination when I was a child.

Numbers for today, Thursday, August 9th:
1605 calories
23% protein, 24% fat, 49% carb, 36g fiber, 1637 sodium

Sorry to hear that you're sick, Tinky - hope you feel better soon!

Moving is the worst, Zenor - good luck with it!

It's interesting to hear about everyone's childhood experiences. We didn't have any clean your plate rules, and I remember being pretty interested in candy from a young age. But there was a fair amount of moralism/virtue associated with food, which I rebelled against by eating sweet stuff.

1204 calories! And I'm not even hungry. I'm well into my second liter of water since I got home at 11:20 but not hungry.