Counting Calories

I’ve been exercising for several weeks, but I wasn’t getting the results I had hoped for. Sure, my blood pressure has dropped from the Stage 3 Hypertension range down to the High Normal range and I have been feeling more energetic, but my weight wasn’t really dropping. The problem was that while I was keeping track of the calories I was burning, I wasn’t keeping track of how many calories I was consuming.

I was planning to write a quick program to help me keep track, but I decided to search the internet to see if there was something out there that I liked. I found a great website called FitDay. You can input the foods you eat throughout the day, and it will calculate the number of calories (as well as fat, carbohydrates, etc). They also had a software package called FitDay PC. So, for $20.00 I figured I’d give it a chance.

My first hurdle was portion control. I didn’t know how much food was too much. So, I measured my breakfast. Wow, what a shock! I was only supposed to be eating a cup of my Honey Nut Clusters. I had probably been eating three or four cups. Also, instead of the recommend 1/2 cup of milk, I was probably using two cups. It took a few days to get used to eating a smaller breakfast, but it helps. Also, I’ve scaled back my lunch quite a bit. Now, I’m no longer starving at any of my meal times. In fact, sometimes I’ll skip dinner if I’m not hungry. I no longer eat just because it is mealtime.

I’ve been driving my wife crazy counting calories though. Every time we get a new food item in the house (that I haven’t logged before), I’ll enter all of the nutrition information on the computer. I’m sure she thinks that I’m a bit obsessive compulsive. However, I feel that it is for the best.

Anyway, most restaurant chains handout nutritional information at their restaurants and/or their website. However, after eating at IHOP, I was disappointed to learn that they don’t publish that sort of information. I was going to e-mail them a complaint. But, since they don’t publish that on their website either, I had to resort to writing a letter.

Tagline for today: “I got food poisoning today. I don’t know when I’ll use it.” - Steven Wright