I don't know if anybody else thinks like me, but sometimes it helps to grab a little NSV by reminding yourself of all the things you're doing *right* even if the scale doesn't want to cooperate this week.

So one day, just for the heck of it, I decided to figure out roughly how many calories I spend each week on coffee now, vs "then".



I love my coffee but I hate it black. I used to get teased when people would see how much creamer I'd add. My love is coffee is conditional - I don't like Starbucks (thankfully) and I don't like it black, and I don't like it strong or fancy....I just like it with Coffeemate French Vanilla Creamer. A lot. How much? I never measured it before (I do now though!) but I'm guessing it was around 5-6 tbsp of creamer to 8 oz of coffee.

THEN: I had a coffee when I first woke up. One or two at work. Many evenings I'd have another cup (I'm ADD and caffeine doesn't act like a "stimulant" on me....I can actually have a couple cups of coffee and then need a nap!!!) and sometimes? I might even have 2 at night. TOTAL CALORIES A WEEK: ~5000.

yep. 5000.

NOW: At first, I just measured and cut back to 3 tbsp per cup of coffee, and only 1 cup a day (I'd add in another cup at night if I had the points to spare). Very recently I discovered Silk brand soy creamer in French Vanilla. 3 tbsp of that is only 1 point or 60 calories and 3 grams of fat. If I have the points to spare, now I can have 2 cups a day OR just one cup if I need the points for food. TOTAL CALORIES A WEEK: At most, 850.

Then vs. Now, I've cut out ~4200 calories a week, just by measuring and modifying how I drink my coffee. Sure, I sometimes miss the extra-creamy extra-sweet of a cup with 5 tbsp of creamer, lol, but when I know the numbers? It's not as sweet.

Then vs. Now for me would be pizza. I used to eat 3 or 4 slices at about 315 cal per piece = 1260. We used to eat pizza at least 3 times a week so that would be 3780 calories a week or 15,120 calories a month!!!

Now, I maybe eat 1 slice of pizza and get deLight Papa Murphy and that is 165 calories and I only eat it maybe once every 2 weeks = 330 calories a month.

BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!!

Then: I used to go to Subway and get the Spicy Italian, footlong with veggies, cheese, EXTRA mayo and oil and vinegar... Total: around 1,405

Now: When I go to Subway I get a Six inch Turkey on Wheat with veggies, no cheese, no oil, and yellow mustard. Total: 280

Then- I'd stop at hardees after work for breakfast and get 2 sausage biscuits and a sweet biscuit, maybe a hashbrown = over 1000 calories

Now- Egg whites and 2 peices of bacon = maybe 200 and enough protein that i fall right to sleep

Then- TOTAL McD's double cheeseburger addict. Anytime I was out on errands, or on my way to/from work, pretty much any time I passed a McD's, double cheeseburger.

Now- I can wait until I get home for a healthy snack or to make dinner. I am stronger than my cravings and bad habits.

Veggies.

Then = No Veggies
Now = lots of veggies everyday

Veggies has been a big thing for me. Finding which ones I like, how to cook them, how to incorporate them in most all of my meals. I used to never eat them. Now, I have found some a actually enjoy.

For the past 8 (or so) labor day weekends, we have gone away with friends. One year I got those Oreo caksters (they are a lot like whoopie pies, aka gobs, aka devil dogs) and I ate a lot of them that weekend. My sister was a little horrified. This year for LDW, I have been experimenting with grilling fruit. We grilled peaces, nectarines, pears and mangos the other day. I am not a big pear fan and they didn't soften quite like the other fruits. Mango was good. Peaches and nectarines were amazing. So this year, when I want to snack and nibble, I will be throwing fruits and veggies on the grill for snack instead of eating poisonous oreo cakesters, etc. (of course, I will be rinsing the fruit and veggies down with beer... but - hey! - I am doing the best I can!!)

Then = August 2009
Now = August 2010

Then - Deluxe Nachos and maybe a burrito too when DH came home from work at 10pm...at least once a week.
Now - Half order of Deluxe Nachos once this YEAR...Maybe for my birthday in December to make it twice.

Then - Hips 52' / Waist 47'
Now - Hips 41' / Waist 36'

That makes me feel like doin' this

Then: I used to eat fast food or go to a restaraunt without even thinking about what I was putting in my mouth vs. Now: I won't go near a fast food place or restaraunt and I've rediscovered how good of a cook I was and how much fun it is.

Then: I grazed all day when I wasn't eating full meals. Those full meals were often value meals.

Now: I eat six meals a day...period...all of about equal caloric intake. I rarely eat fast food and when I do, it's a McD's chicken sandwich ditching half the bread, no may. (I ditch the top bun, split the bottom bun in half and use it as my top and bottom.) This makes the sandwich about 200 calories.

Then: I'd go from sitting all day at work to sitting all day at home watch TV.
Now: I take spin class three days a week, lift three days a week and for extra exercise I do extra spin classes, bike 26 miles, run a few miles, walk 4-5 miles and have recently taken up typing at the treadmill two miles at a time.

Then, I could drink 6 to 8 cans of soda per day and not think twice about it. 1100+ calories a day from soda alone. (This was back in high school, about 18 years ago.)

Not so now, I dropped down to 3 cans a day, sometimes 4. 450 calories a day devoted to soda. (Eight years ago.)

Now? Now I can barely stand to look at any kind of soda without wanting to run away screaming.

I was also a potato chip addict. I'd buy two huge bags of chips and they'd be gone within a week. Now I'm lucky if I even want to buy a short can of Pringles.

Those are HUGE NSVs for me, even when the scale decides to be nasty.

Then: Probably 2 to 3 meals out every day--coffee and some sort of pastry on the way to work; lunch out (and never a healthy one!), and then supper out with my husband when we both got home from work. Occasionally we would "eat in," but that usually involved picking up food and bringing it home or ordering pizza.

Now: My husband has had weight loss surgery, and I'm eating healthfully, and we eat at home. I have occasional lunches out with friends, mostly grilled chicken on a salad with the dressing on the side. On the rare occasions my husband and I eat out, I have a big veggie salad (dressing on the side--love to dip my fork tines and just get a taste without using a ton of dressing), and we either split an entree or we get appetizer-sized portions of healthy food, like grilled fish or chicken. Sushi is great... sashimi and a big green salad, and I'm set!

My favorite, though:
Then: I would buy fruit and veggies at the store because I thought we needed to eat better. They would go bad and we would throw them out.
Now: We eat tons of fruit and veggies now, and I stock a variety of things that all get eaten. No more wasting money--better for our health, better for our wallets.

Then: I ate McDonald's for breakfast Five-Days-A-Week... That's right, every day on the way to work, I got a sausage biscuit/mcmuffin/mcgriddle, hashbrowns, and a large diet coke. At around 580/36g each day (including about 50% of the days sodium), that totals 2900/180g for a week.

Now: My breakfasts average 250/12g which totals 1250/60g for the week. A savings of 1650/120g. I lose about half a pound each week just by changing breakfasts.

Then: I wouldn't pack lunch and frequently I'd stop at McDonalds (or some other chain) on way home from work. A BigMac and Large Fry = 1160/60g Oh, and another large Diet Coke.

Now: I have meals ready and waiting to eat -- at work and at home. That 1160/60g is pretty close to what I eat for FIVE breakfasts now. And pretty close to my entire days worth of calories. I haven't been to a McDonald's in over a month, which is saying a lot for me!

Update: October 16, 2010: It's been about 2.5 months since I started eating right - I've had fast food exactly twice. Once was french fries and once was stopping for a Sausage McMuffin. And ya know, the mcmuffin didn't taste so great. Wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as the ham, apple, cheddar muffin I made for myself the day before for about 210cal. It was a really terrific feeling knowing I wasn't really missing out on anything! Now, french fries? Those are still amazing!