Hey everyone, thanks for the replies! I'm doing pretty well with the food but it's definitely a challenge.
My host family is an older couple, and while they are not the slender type my mother does cook a lot of vegetables, and I usually have a salad for dinner. I'm more concerned about portion size, which during lunch can be huge! The siesta after lunch really just means that all the stores close, you don't really nap or anything and usually I have class. I prefer when I have class, because that is distracting, but the weekends are killer. I always have an apple in the afternoon, and recently I found nutella! which I was so excited about because they don't have peanut butter here and I need some protein/good fat in my diet.
My host madre really rules the kitchen, and I'm afraid to tell her I'm on a diet because she already thinks I don't eat enough/exercise too much lol. one thing I have concentrated on is leaving bread behind, which doesn't seem to be a big deal. You eat bread with everything here, and I always get a few big slices just for me, but if I don't eat them my host madre just holds them over til next meal, which is fine with me
Still just working hard on guestimating portion sizes to keep my calorie counting up to speed...Does anyone have tricks for common food items and guessing portion sizes? Thanks for the support!