Just the facts ma'am

July 28, 2012

73.6 pounds to go <-- A quarter of the way done!  Woot!

My favorite part of the movie "Blood Diamond" was when Jennifer Connelly gets in Leo's face when he's waffling about going on record for the diamond smuggling story she's writing.  In a tone of barely controlled "I-am-SO-pissed-of-at-you' she says "I need names, I need dates, I need pictures, I need bank accounts."  Not to compare my privileged middle-class life to starving children in Africa, but I know that feeling of "lost" when I am trying to get something accomplished and yet I can't find any specifics.  Give me details!  I need facts! I need instructions!   How am I expected to cross the finish line when no one has shown me how to run?

So here are just the facts ma'am:  I count calories.  I get 1400 a day.  I track every morsel of food that goes in my mouth into a fitness app on my iPhone.  As a soothing measure I tell myself I can eat whatever I want - just 1400 calories of it.  But as a general rule I try to have this breakdown of servings:

7 protein portions (1 portion = 1 ounce)

4 carbohydrates portions (1 portion = 1 slice of bread)

1 fruit portion (the diet clinic told me 4, more on this later)

3 cups of vegetables

3 fat exchanges (Fat exchange = half and half in my coffee, 1 tbsp mayo, 2 tbsp of sour cream 1/4th of an avocado etc.  In general think of it as something that is fatty and delicious and a serving has somewhere between 6 - 10 grams of fat in it)

I also bought measuring cups, spoons and a food scale.  Whenever I make food, it passes through one of them to make sure I have the correct portion.  If I eyeball it, the chances are I'm going to slip myself a few extra morsels of goodness and then end up sabotaging my calorie count.  Count everything.  Measure everything.  The only way to really know a serving size is stick it in the measuring cup.  Most of the time I'm actually surprised at how much I get to have.

So how does 7 protein portions translate into real food-eating?  At first I was baffled, staring at items in the grocery store and in my pantry thinking "is there anything I can eat in here?  Is this according to plan?  How many protein portions are really in this can of chicken soup? My microwavable enchiladas?" At first I would have a piece of toast with cheese for breakfast (1 carb, 1 protein) with a piece of fruit (1 fruit) & coffee with cream (1 fat).  Then for lunch I was trying to eat a big salad with tofu chunks and a dinner roll (3 protein, 2 cups of veggies 1 carb) and for dinner fish or chicken with vegetables (3 protein, 1 cup of vegetables).  Then as my snack twice a day I was eating fruit.  And I can tell you, on this plan I was ready to stab a bunny.  I was ALWAYS hungry.  And not just the uncomfortable it's-time-to-have-a-meal hungry, it was brain haze, teeth grinding, jaw hurting torture.

About 2 weeks into it when I started this blog I told myself something had to change.  Eating on a real food plan once I've adjusted to the smaller portion sizes shouldn't feel this devastating to my body.  Then I read an interesting article that said "just because you need to eat breakfast doesn't mean you have to eat it first thing in the morning."  So I tried spreading it out.  I ate some cherries first thing (1 fruit) and then at about 9:30 I ate a protein bar.  No snacking on fruit mid-morning.  To my surprise I survived until lunch without murdering anyone!  I was back to being normal-hungry for a meal.  This simple advice of waiting an hour or two to eat breakfast felt like a breakthrough of a lifetime.  For lunch I ditched the salad and had a reasonably portioned sandwich with 2 cups of steamed veggies (2 carb, 1 fat, 3 meat, 2 veggie) and then for dinner I would mix it up.  But my favorite is an open faced home-made breakfast burrito.  I scramble up 2 eggs, have 2/3 cup frozen potatoes, 2 tbsp sour cream, 2 cups of roasted bell pepper and a tortilla with salsa pilfered from the local Mexican joint (2 carb, 2 veggie, 2 protein, 1 fat).  I started discovering I can eat things that taste good to me and the reason I was feeling so devastatingly hungry was because I was spiking my blood sugar twice a day with fruit.

Or filled with chemicals.

The biggest advice I can give is to eat things that you like.  If it makes my stomach lurch or I feel like I have to choke it down then I don't eat it.  My biggest discovery was that I'm very picky about the salads I like.  There's a few that are good - tostada salads and caesar - but for the most part I really do like cooked veggies.  So I switched.

To overwhelm you even further, here is a snapshot of what I ate over the course of the past few days:

Monday July 23:

     Breakfast:  12 Cherries, Peanut Butter Creme Power Crunch Bar, 2 cups of coffee & cream (363 calories)

     Lunch: 2 cups steamed veggies, Sandwich with 7 grain bread, vegan mayo & 3 oz Turkey, Honest Green Jasmine Tea (350 calories)

     Dinner: 1/2 serving black bean & Corn Enchiladas, 1 cup peas. Doctored peanut butter & jelly sandwich (801 calories)

     Snack: none

     Exercise: Dancing, (Ballet - 1st time!) 1 hour + 1/2

     Net Calories: 806

Tuesday July 24

     Breakfast:  12 Cherries, Cookies & Cream Power Crunch Bar, 2 cups of coffee & cream (331 Calories)

     Lunch: El Pollo Loco Chicken Tostada salad - no shell, 1/2 ranch dressing (575 calories)

     Dinner: 1/2 turkey sandwich - whole wheat bread, no mayo, light laughing cow cheese wedge, Rubios chopped chicken salad (605 calories)

     Snack: Mike's homemade red scotch ale - 1/2 glass - 82 calories

     Exercise: nada

     Net Calories: 1593

Wednesday July 25:

     Breakfast: 12 Cherries, Wildberry Cream Power Crunch Bar, 2 cups of coffee & cream (331 Calories)

     Lunch: 2 cups steamed veggies, Sandwich with 7 grain bread, vegan mayo & 3 oz roast beef, Honest Green Jasmine Tea (380 calories)

     Dinner: Open faced homemade burrito - bell pepper, sour cream, roast beef, string cheese. White wine (540 calories)

     Snack: 100 calorie cookie pack, 1 tbsp better'n'peanut butter (150 calories)

     Exercise: zero

     Net Calories: 1401

Thursday July 26

     Breakfast:  12 Cherries, Cookies & Cream Power Crunch Bar, 3 cups of coffee & cream (372 Calories)

     Lunch: El Pollo Loco Chicken Tostada salad - no shell, 1/2 ranch dressing (575 calories)

     Dinner: Tarragon chicken salad sandwich from Starbucks.  Refreshers Strawberry Lemonade - 1/2 can (450 Calories)

     Snack: none

     Exercise: none

     Net Calories: 1397

It's getting easier to make healthy choices when I walk into a grocery store.  I know the foods I eat regularly - bread, string cheese, veggies, cherries - so I can stock up without feeling overwhelmed.  Another rule I try to abide by is staying away from chemical-packed processed foods.  My unscientific, not -authority - backed rule of thumb is if there are 5 things on the label I can't pronounce then I don't buy it.

I am not buying this.

That's about it.  Count calories.  Be consistent.  Eat things that are enjoyable.  And most of all, don't give up.