Confessions of a Calorie Counter
 

So, I have a confession...

Sometimes, later in the evening, when I have a bunch of unused calories left over, I will eat something candy-like to get my calories within range.

See, I am calorie frugal. Today I knew I was going to be having a special dinner, and that it would go well over my usual dinner calories, so I was just a little light for the rest of the day to make up for it. So by the time dinner was said and done, I still had to catch up by SIX HUNDRED calories! Unfortunately, times like tonight, when I am tired, and nothing thinking clearly, is when I turn to sugary treats to make up the calories. In hindsight I could have had some cheese as a quick chunk of calories.

By the way, I didn't have 600 calories in candy, I did however have about 300 calories worth.

Do you have any confessions?

OhMyDogs, I am calorie frugal too and work very much the same way. After dinner I usually still need a few hundred calories, and frequently need fat as well. I usually go for a sweet treat (skinny cow, a vitalicious muffin/brownie, or a berry smoothie) and sometimes nuts for the fat.

I actually like that I plan my day this way, as I get to snack/graze in the evenings without any guilt at all, and despite being calorie frugal during the day I almost never feel hungry.


Oh, and I forgot to make my own confession. I don't drink often, but when I'm at a social event at which I have alcohol (probably about once every 6 weeks on average), I tend to drink a bunch - 4 or 5 drinks over the course of the evening, usually wine. Because I don't want to go over my calorie limit, I severely restrict my food for the day to allow for the alcohol calories. I'll eat only 600-800 calories and drink the rest. Not particularly healthy, lol, but given that I don't do it often I don't worry about it too much. I told my nutritionist and she just laughed, so I think it's fine as long as it's only an occasional thing.

hahaha I do the same, I am good all day, but I have one treat a day. All day I can look forward to my treat. It isn't a big treat, last night was 3 small choc covered pretzels. Before starting this I used to sabo myself by binging and then I would give up. This seems to have stopped the binging.

I spend all the "extra" calories on frozen peanut m&m's. If I can't have my peanut m&m's, I'm more likely to binge on something else like cookies or other junk. So I always keep a small windo for that splurge on a daily basis. I'll eat about 10 of them. :) They are SO good!

On days that I have several calories left over, I'll eat more just to compensate for them. It's not the best/healthiest, but it keeps me in line.

Originally Posted by chickadee32:
Oh, and I forgot to make my own confession. I don't drink often, but when I'm at a social event at which I have alcohol (probably about once every 6 weeks on average), I tend to drink a bunch - 4 or 5 drinks over the course of the evening, usually wine. Because I don't want to go over my calorie limit, I severely restrict my food for the day to allow for the alcohol calories. I'll eat only 600-800 calories and drink the rest. Not particularly healthy, lol, but given that I don't do it often I don't worry about it too much. I told my nutritionist and she just laughed, so I think it's fine as long as it's only an occasional thing.

This is something I would totally do, however my drinks of choice are fruity girly drinks. Fortunately for me, I am a 2 drink drunk...honestly I don't drink over 2-3 drinks, I just can't handle it. Also, fortunately for me, I found a 70 calorie marguerita recipe, which will be fantastic when it's hot. 3 of those will only be 210 calories!

Originally Posted by guamvixen:
On days that I have several calories left over, I'll eat more just to compensate for them. It's not the best/healthiest, but it keeps me in line.

I do this as well. I have been known to eat just a serving (or sometimes 2) of peanut butter as a quick calorie boost to help me get into my proper caloric range. My ultimate goal is always "get into my calorie range". Probably not the healthiest way to look at it. There have been a few days where I just said "to heck with it" and gone to bed short. But I think that's ok to do once in a while, it helps keep your body guessing at what's coming (at least that's what I would suspect).

OhMyDogs, this is way off topic but your signature made me literally LOL! Do you know that it says Harry Potty challenge and not Harry Potter?? My first thought was "ew, Hairy Potty??" and then I realized what it was supposed to be. Thanks for the giggle this am. :)

Originally Posted by Gale02:
OhMyDogs, this is way off topic but your signature made me literally LOL! Do you know that it says Harry Potty challenge and not Harry Potter?? My first thought was "ew, Hairy Potty??" and then I realized what it was supposed to be. Thanks for the giggle this am. :)

LMAO I actually had no clue...lmao shows how observant I am!! Ok...off I go to fix that!

I do this too!! I'm so glad I'm not alone. Or if like, I know what my calories are going to be for dinner, because I'm making it and its all portioned out, I will have like, a snack right after work.

It helps me stay on track... it's okay. :)

I know this probably isn't what you meant to do... but I had 580 calories spare from my 1200 calories today.... and you've inspired me to use some of it with icecream. :P THANKS. Lol. Just kidding. I'm loving it....
Hmm... Now I've got another 460 calories... what to do with them... :P

EDIT: Turns out I knew what to do with the other 460 calories. I ate the rest of the vienetta. :S

But I am worried that I don't want to have too little calories. That's no good either. Well that's what I'm telling myself. :P

My confession is that I have found that a sugar free chocolate candy at the end of the day is so heavenly. each piece is individually wrap which help me stick to one, rather than the 3 listed as a serving size. This is weird, because normally I don't care much for sweets. I am not tempted to eat more than one and with a cup of evening coffee I really just love the treat. It is calculated into my calorie plan, so it's not like it is forbidden, but I had not intended to include a sweet daily when I first started my diet. Somehow, at this midpoint, I am finding it to be a lovely thing.

Originally Posted by OhMyDogs:
This is something I would totally do, however my drinks of choice are fruity girly drinks. Fortunately for me, I am a 2 drink drunk...honestly I don't drink over 2-3 drinks, I just can't handle it. Also, fortunately for me, I found a 70 calorie marguerita recipe, which will be fantastic when it's hot. 3 of those will only be 210 calories!

Ooh, can you share the recipe with us, please?? Sounds fantastic!

As for the original topic- I've done the same as some of the others posted- save up calories for a treat and/or alcohol and eat whatever just to get within range.
I did that 2 days ago with 2 servings of Hot Cheetos chips to do that (340 calories all counted for.) Eh, I figure it's ok once in a while.

Originally Posted by amandie:
Ooh, can you share the recipe with us, please?? Sounds fantastic!

As for the original topic- I've done the same as some of the others posted- save up calories for a treat and/or alcohol and eat whatever just to get within range.
I did that 2 days ago with 2 servings of Hot Cheetos chips to do that (340 calories all counted for.) Eh, I figure it's ok once in a while.

I got the recipe from SparkPeople and here it is:

Ingredients

1 can diet soda (Diet Sprite, Diet 7 UP, or Fresca)
1/8 cup lime juice
1 or 2 tubes Crystal Light Lemonade Mix-ins
About 10 ice cubes
2 oz tequila



Directions
Blend ingredients together and serve!

Number of Servings: 2

Nutritional Info

* Servings Per Recipe: 2
* Amount Per Serving
* Calories: 70.0

* Total Fat: 0.0 g
* Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
* Sodium: 19.3 mg
* Total Carbs: 1.3 g
* Dietary Fiber: 0.1 g
* Protein: 0.1 g


For me, I don't save my calories up for a treat usually...typically, for me, I eat treats to catch up my calories. It's bad. I know it's bad. Last night I drank my calories LOL. They were tasty. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me that with some weight loss, my already low alcohol tolerance would go even lower! LOL Good thing I was just at home!

I like this margarita recipe:

2 parts 100% Agave Tequila.
1 part Agave Nectar
1 part lime juice (from freshly squeezed limes
1 part water (pure spring water would be best)

Mix. Poor over ice. Garnish with a slice of lime. Salt the glass…or not…as you prefer.

If you want it to be sparking, you can do seltzer or club soda instead of water. So refreshing!

I am fat because when I am "bad" 20% of the time, I easily consume 2-3 extra lbs worth of calories. :(

I ate easily over 5,000 calories yesterday which included Jamaican food takeout and 1 pint of baskin robbins rum raisin!!!!....and I LIKED IT!:D

Originally Posted by OhMyDogs:
I got the recipe from SparkPeople and here it is:

Ingredients

1 can diet soda (Diet Sprite, Diet 7 UP, or Fresca)
1/8 cup lime juice
1 or 2 tubes Crystal Light Lemonade Mix-ins
About 10 ice cubes
2 oz tequila



Directions
Blend ingredients together and serve!

Number of Servings: 2

Nutritional Info

* Servings Per Recipe: 2
* Amount Per Serving
* Calories: 70.0

* Total Fat: 0.0 g
* Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
* Sodium: 19.3 mg
* Total Carbs: 1.3 g
* Dietary Fiber: 0.1 g
* Protein: 0.1 g


For me, I don't save my calories up for a treat usually...typically, for me, I eat treats to catch up my calories. It's bad. I know it's bad. Last night I drank my calories LOL. They were tasty. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me that with some weight loss, my already low alcohol tolerance would go even lower! LOL Good thing I was just at home!

There's not NEARLY enough tequila in the recipe... just sayin'. ;)

LMAO, Gale!

OhMyDogs- thank you so much for sharing!!! I decided to google up on more low calorie/point (WW) drinks and found a few with strawberry margaritas for about 100 cals per serving. Yummm.

What Gale said.

ITA with Gale...not. enough.alcohol. LOL

But my confession is about the same: I will fill my calorie quota with crap and umm, yea.

Isn't that what CC is for? Eating whatever you want as long as it's within calorie range? :D

LMAO I am a cheap drunk at the best of time. Usually I can feel the effects of alcohol by the time I am done my first drink, I am "giggly" by the end of drink 2, and hammered by the end of drink 3. I "drank" my calories the other night. Smirnoff Twisted (YUMMY) x 3, and was WASTED...it seems that I didn't take into account the fact that I have lost over 25lbs, and that it would likely have some effect on my alcohol tolerance! So 1oz of booze per drink is perfect for me, if I want to have more than 1 drink.

I also heard someone say that Cherry Pomegranate Crystal Light, mixed with some vodka is supposed to be DELISH! CP is my favorite favorite flavour. I'm also thinking of making my own version of a "Saskatchewan Iced Tea" using Ice Tea Crystal Light, and Vodka or Tequila or Rum, lemon juice and some chipped ice!

I do this, too...I frequently eating Junior mints/junior caramels in the evening, or have an extra glass of milk and ovaltine, or something like that. Hasn't backfired on me yet, so...I'm not about to stop lol.

Oh baby I've been doing this since the beginning...saving calories for an evening bit of junk! Sometimes I have 400 calories left over, my favourite snack is chocolate pretzels and a couple of cookies, a big mug of tea. YUMMY!! I second krampus, this is the beauty of calorie counting! :D

Yesterday someone on 3FC posted a link to a documentary on hulu called Fathead. I watched it in full and it blew my mind....The man proves he can lose weight and be physically healthy even eating what is considered "junk" on a daily basis. It is in part a response to Super Size Me and is similar in idea (he too goes through bloodwork, etc) , but it shows a whole new perspective on things we've been told are terrible and explains the science around why certain ideals we've held as truths because the USDA told us so may not be.

I do not agree that we have to eat carrots and broccoli and grains all day to be slender and healthy. It kinda peeves me when people insist that you MUST order a salad instead of the burger you want if you want to lose weight, when in fact the dressed salad has just as many - or more - calories than a quarter pounder with cheese.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/196879/fat-head

I have been telling myself too that even if the calories are the same and weight aside I should be choosing the salad anyway because it is healthier for my heart/cholesterol...but even that is questionable. I say moderation is the key to weight loss AND health. Not deprivation or restriction.

Oh...everyday I light side the first part of my day everyday, you never know what will come up.

Confessions:
I actually ate chocolate and candy all day one day after I started cc, but I stayed in my calories. Not healthy, but satisfying!:)

The Little Debbie Diet done by the professor in Kansas proves that a calorie counting works with any calories good or bad health wise.

I loooove filling up the rest of my calories with goodies -- chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. I could eat it all day long.

Hahah! I've been doing this too. I've been eating my easter chocolate at the end of the day to bring my calories up to target. I tried to do it with nuts but I honestly have no self control with nuts and I ended up overeating.

I'm still of the opinion that I want to try and get the best foods I can into my calorie limit, eating things that will give me more energy as opposed to stuff that makes me crash, but sometimes chocolate is just so damn appreciated.

I had 500 cals in skinny cow ice cream last night.

I actually went to bed short calories last night. I was way off plan the day before, so I figured if I went to bed at 1400 calories, rather than my usual 1600-1800, that it would be fine.

I do all of them. I fill up on junk/alcohol some days, over-eat occasionally and under-eat the on others. I'm hoping it will all work out in the end. So far in a month I've lost 8 lbs so it's heading the right way as long as I don't go crazy!

As already said, I think it's all about balance. I'd never manage to be good all the time ;)