Calorie Counting: It Matters!

Track it all!

Good morning all. I had a wonderful Easter with the family. Took a few days off from blogging, to catch up on some sleep I really needed. I do most of my writing very early in the morning -- between 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. -- so I was slumbering away during writing time. But now I'm back on track and reporting in for duty!

Something very interesting has been going on lately, and I'm not sure if it is a good or bad thing. I have not been using MyFitnessPal for three days. This is because I am beginning to experiment with some of my own recipes for me to eat (versus the ones I cook for my husband), and I do not know how to input the nutritional information. I am also feeling very comfortable "eyeballing" my food (or so I thought), and eating similar things every day, so I didn't feel like counting calories was that important anymore. But now, I'm really starting to question that line of thinking.

I stepped on the scale yesterday morning and I am now weighing in at 154 lbs. I started slowly dropping a few days ago, and I guess I didn't pay much attention to it. But yesterday, I felt just a tiny "twinge" of concern. As I think back over the past few days, I realize that I have cut out my evening yogurt; my lunch serving of a pita sandwich and cottage cheese is getting smaller; and sometimes I skip my afternoon snack. Honestly, I haven't been feeling that hungry lately plus I knew the Easter meal was going to be caloric, so I was watching what I ate very, very closely.  I fully expected a gain yesterday, after the meal. But actually, I had a loss.

Now, some might find this a cause for celebration -- and if you have been following my blog, you may remember that I did have this idea (briefly) of resetting my goal weight from 160 lbs. to 150 lbs. That lower figure would put me squarely in the "healthy" range as far as BMI goes. But once I hit my initial goal of 160 lbs., I just had this "feeling" that it was time to phase off the products and back onto real food. It just felt like it was time. I can't really explain it better than that, but you may feel this way too. I think it's common.

As you know, I ultimately settled in around 157 lbs. and I was very comfortable with that. I was using MyFitnessPal every day to track my calories, fat, protein, carbs and sodium. Everything was measured. As I've slowly stopped doing this, what is happening is actually the reverse of what I initially feared: weight gain. It appears if I don't watch my calories, I actually do not take in enough. And the result, as of late, is weight loss.

This is something I need to really keep a close eye on because I am beginning to explore exercise options and one of the hurdles I have is I am tired quite a bit. I just don't feel like I have enough energy lately. I also know I am not getting enough fruit in my diet. I have made an appointment to see Millie, the clinic nutritionist, tomorrow to discuss the fruit problem. I want to also go over my chart to see if I am actually where I need to be vis a vis weight. It could very well be that 154 lbs. is AOK and actually ideal. I'm so glad she is there to help guide me through this. I strongly encourage those in maintenance to continue to keep in touch with the clinic nutritionist. It's key to your success in keeping the weight off.

So this is where things stand today. Emotionally, I'm doing great. The stress at work has eased up considerably. My sleep is back on track. On a fun note, as Spring is slowly coming to Columbus, I did a quick inventory of my clothes and quickly realized some shopping is a top priority! So I am going to venture out again to the department store for a look-see of some new items to purchase. I'm adding shoes to the list -- you will find as you shed inches, your feet become smaller, which means they will no longer fit properly in your shoes! All of mine are too big now. So I'll be hitting the shoe department too.

Have a wonderful day everyone. Hopefully "Spring has Sprung" in your neck of the woods too! All I can say, after this long, gray Ohio winter, is: It's about time!