Thursday, 9/30/10:

WEIGHT before eating today:  156.5
 

Daily Calorie Goal:  1200 or less

Total calories eaten today:  1270  (Almost acceptable!)

Today was as normal as my days get.  Got to work around 10:00, managed to hold off eating until noon, had a glass of ice tea, and a salad with turkey at 1:00.  Had an apple and hot tea at 3:00.  The day was easy; I didn't have any bizarre hunger-attacks or weird cravings.  At 4:15 I ate a 300-calorie frozen "Palak Paneer" meal from Amy's Kitchen.  It was pretty good, creamed spinach, but I like the Mattar Paneer better.  (Of course I do - it contains 70 more calories!)

Palak Paneer is spinach-y, bean-y, cheesy goodness.

I got home at 6:30 and needed to go over to the old house to sort through some more bags of old clothes.  I was instantly hungry, thinking of the looming 2-hour chunk of time I'd be over there.  I grabbed a Slim Fast shake before allowing myself to even look in the fridge.  It worked!  I drank my Slim Fast and felt full.

Of course, at 9:00, I came home and was immediately hit with my usual late-night cravings.  I wanted popcorn, chips and salsa, ciabatta toast with strawberry cream cheese... ANYTHING.  I started to panic, literally.  I killed it by counting out a single serving (33 pieces) of Good & Plenty and chewing them slowly.  I didn't think it would eliminate my hunger, but this time, it did.  Hooray!  I threw myself in bed early to avoid eating anything else.  I really wanted to end the day as close to 1200 calories as possible.

I'm sure that if anyone else reads this blog, by now they're wondering, "When is this person ever going to start exercising?!"  Every day, I do have an exercise goal.  I want to incorporate at least 100 crunches and 3-4 hours each week on the treadmill or elliptical machine.  And I will.  I just haven't figured out how yet.  We're very, very, VERY busy.  I don't like to use it as an excuse, but it is my "reason" for not exercising. 


When I lost my previous pregnancy weight, back around 1998, it was SO much easier.  I guess it's my age, my slower metabolism now, who knows?  It's something, though.  Back in '98, I lost about the same number of pounds I'm trying to shed now, 35-40, but I didn't exercise one step.  I was too busy; I was working a crazy night shift at the USPS Remote Encoding Center, and I had a 3-year old to chase, and that same year I bought a house and opened a licensed daycare business.  Maybe I was so busy with my 12 daycare kids that the pounds fell off as a result, I don't know.  I discovered Slim Fast back then.  I drank two shakes a day and ate a "sensible dinner," just like the plan tells you to.  It totally worked for me.  


I had also just read the Carb Addict's Diet book.  It was extremely inspiring.  The co-authors of the book, a husband-wife team of doctors, discovered a new way of eating and some mysterious crap about bad carbs, and they lost hundreds of pounds between them.  They started writing books about it, and now have piles of them.  It's good stuff.
  

Drs. Richard F. Heller & Rachael F. Heller

Tomorrow I have a date night with the hubby.  Red lobster.  Bring on the Cheddar Bay Biscuits!  Hopefully, I won't eat more than three, like last time.  Our dinner-dates are almost always dietary blow-outs, but they're also something I really look forward to.  We love to eat out.  We both love to try different foods and restaurants.  Guadalajara for fantastic Mexican food, and India Palace for tasty Indian Navrattan Korma and garlic naan.  I also need to drag the hubby to The Scenic Cafe for butternut squash ravioli, and we've never tried Valentini's (Italian, duh) or Nokomis (super-spendy).  I don't count calories when we eat at a restaurant.  At least, I TRY not to.  Many times, I look up the calories after the fact, to torture myself.

 I'm kinda weird that way.

Veggie fajitas are one of my favorites at Guadalajara Restaurant!

Navrattan korma is veggies swimming in cheese and creamy coriander sauce.  Mmmmmmm.

I could eat 4 pieces of naan this big.  Literally.