Diet - first week

This was my breakfast this morning. 1 whole egg, 4 egg whites, 3 cups spinach (wilted in a pan), 1 slice Ezekiel sprouted grain bread, 1 tsp Natural peanut butter. Total calories = 270

Yep. ALL THAT FOOD for just 270 calories. In fact, here are the macros:

I write all of my meals in this handy dandy little food journal

This helps me track not only calories, but carbs, fat, fiber, and protein. Even water consumption, exercise and current weight. Everything I need to track my progress. I have kept many journals throughout my fitness and nutrition obsession. But a lot of the time, I track very sporadically, or I am really good for a day or two, then tire of it. Probably because I was not truly ready to change.

I'm ready.

It's day #6 and I have tracked every crumb that has passed my lips very meticulously. In fact, I only eat foods that are easily trackable. In other words, making a one pot wonder with tons of ingredients, very difficult to calculate. So I stay away from that kind of thing. Although, using on of the many recipe analyzers online is very useful. 

When I went in to have my metabolism tested, the woman who tested me also went over the results with me. I got a cool little print out of how many calories I burn in a day and what my calorie intake should be each day if I am looking to lose weight, based on my activity level.

I am to keep my calories around 1500, and my macros at 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 - meaning, 500 calories from carbs, 500 calories from protein, and 500 calories from fat. Which translated to 112g protein, 50g fat, and 100-150g carbs (and we agreed that to speed things up, I keep carbs at 100 and try to get them mostly from veggies). And so far I have been very successful at keeping my carbs at or even below that number. This was surprising to me, as I didn't really have high confidence that I would be able to handle it. Also, I was afraid 112g of protein would be difficult to get but it turns out, I am usually over in that area (which is ok!). If I want to be over in any category it's that one.

So in the second notebook that I use for tracking, I do the columns but in reverse order so that I can see how many I have left to eat. So after every meal, for instance, I subtract from 1500 calories. Usually I have between 500-800 calories left by dinner time, and in some cases, I have been pleasantly surprised to have enough calories left to have a bed time snack, and even be under budget by 200 calories! I am really surprising myself!

I am learning a lot too. I am learning that it's ok to be a little hungry. I am learning that water definitely helps. I am learning that I CAN do this. I am learning that I have a ton of energy and feel great even though I'm eating less calories. I am learning that this way of life is not torture simply because anything that helps you feel good cannot be considered torture. I am learning that I still crave a little something sweet now and then, and while I don't usually give in to those urges, keeping a tiny little Dove dark chocolate around for intense cravings isn't a bad idea. It's better to just give in and have one little chocolate (because that is not going to set me back at all) then to eat through the entire fridge trying to satisfy a craving I'll never be able to quench with a celery stick.

So, that is all for now. Progress is being made! One more day and it will have been a full week already!! I can't wait to go back and weigh in on their scale to see if I've gone down. Even though this first week has gone well, I know that it won't always go this smoothly or be this easy. I know that I am probably going to crave a wine and it's going to get intense now and then. I know that 3 months is a long time. But I also know that it's worth it. Simply because it's something that I've wanted for a very long time and I never go a day without my mind wandering to it.

Cheers to a successful week!