Counting Calories-aka-STARVING!

Like I need one more thing to keep up with during the day... Yes, I have decided to start counting my calories. Yes, I am crazy. Yes, it is hard. No, I really don't feel like I'm starving, but it was quite a shock to actually eat just one serving of cereal. Did you know that one serving of Honey Nut Cheerios is 3/4 cup?!?! Whhaaaaa? That one serving is 110 calories. Once you add 1 cup of milk (110 calories), you're up to 220!

This has been my breakfast for the past two mornings. Yes, I actually measured it out. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right! About an hour after my cereal, I eat a yogurt...110 calories.

Let me back up and tell you why I started this in the first place... I do not think I am fat. I'm back down to my pre baby weight but it is not distributed like it was before...ha! So, I do have a few pounds that I would like to get rid of. My eating habits as is aren't that bad. I don't eat a ton of sweets (I would if I bought it, so I don't even bring it in the house). The overall goal is to have a healthy relationship with food and a good understanding of portion size and what my body really needs to operate from day to day.

Let's face it, too many of us eat until we're full and then some, especially if it's a meal outside the home. Restaurants are the worst if you're trying to loose weight! And snacks, don't get me started on a bag of Lays...they will be gone within a couple days once opened. Throw in the famous Shelley Darling dump dip (this dip is fabulous...it has cream cheese, ketchup, and Catalina dressing...you mix it all up in a food processor and...BAM...heaven in a bowl!) and you have a real weight disaster! I love snack foods, pretzels, cheezits, salted peanuts, chips, anything really!

The thing is, if you think "hmmm....I want a snack, maybe white cheddar cheezits!" So, you go grab the box, sit on the couch, and start chomping. How do you know when you've eaten a serving? When do you stop, when half the bag is gone? In case you didn't know, one serving of white cheddar cheezits is 25 pieces and is 150 calories. Once you count them out (yes, for the past two days, I have been counting out servings of my snacks), it doesn't turn out to be too many!

So, the plan is to document my calories for the next two weeks. I'm allowing myself 1,500 per day. Supposedly, someone my age and weight burns about 1,300 calories a day just by doing nothing. I got this info from the Biggest Looser website. Since I am active, I'm allowing a little more than the 1,300. I'm being very strict about my snacks. In the morning, I'm counting out my pretzels, peanuts, and cheezits and putting them in sandwich bags for the day. I've noticed that it's harder for meals that I cook. But, I'm going to try my hardest to be as accurate as possible!

I'll update you guys in a couple weeks with my results! I challenge you to do the same...and let me know how it goes!

Britt