Day Two, Sum-Up

To begin with, I had great pictures of all the stuff I cooked today, and of course my camera connector isn't working! Ugh. So I'm waiting on a new one to arrive. In the meantime, here's how today went!

Breakfast:
Spinach and Goat Cheese Omelette - 230
Morning Star Vegetarian Sausage Patties (2) - 160
Total: 390

Lunch:
1 Can of Tuna w/ Mayo - 279
Bean Sprouts - 5
Spinach - 4
Broccoli - 30
Total:  318

Dinner:
Salmon with Creamy Lemon Sauce - 320 (It was good. At least for the first few bites. I didn't finish it, but I liked it for a little while at least! I think I might have overcooked it, so only the middle was good)
Lima Beans w/ Smart Balance - 150 (WHAT?! The same amount of broccoli was only 30! Yeesh.)
Total: 470

Snacks:
12 Almonds - 65
10 Peanuts - 59
Applesauce - 100 (I have the regular stuff left over from pre-South Beach. Next time I'm getting sugar free)
Sugar-Free Fudgsicle - 80
Chobani Greek Yogurt (Pomegranate) - 140
Total: 444 (And I snacked a LOT less than usual. Quite an eye-opener, really)

All for a grand total of: 1622 calories!!


Here is a lovely picture of lunch:

And dinner...

I'm trying to keep it under 1700 calories/day, so today was a good one! I was trying to do the whole breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper thing, but clearly dinner was the kingliest of all today. Must work on that.

I've also realized that I'm going to need to find some lower calorie snacks. The nuts are good, but they really add up. Obviously the applesauce and yogurt aren't strictly South Beach phase one...the applesauce is going to have to go, but the yogurt might be my one cheat, as it's much higher in protein than regular yogurt.

So the theme for today was paying attention to the times when I felt like eating and deciding whether or not I was actually hungry. I was fine until about an hour after lunch, around 2:15. Here's the record I kept of every time I felt the need to eat something, but without really being hungry.

2:15 — resisted
2:18 — resisted, wrote:
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I’m beginning to realize that I have a very hard time distinguishing between actual hunger and what I will call the “munchie feeling.” The munchie feeling is physical, just like hunger pangs, kind of a little nudging in the tummy area. But I just ate lunch an hour ago, so I can’t really be hungry.

I’m not bored. I’m not emotional. I’m certainly not hungry. I just want to put something in my mouth.

UGH — frustrating. But at the same time helpful...the munchie feeling, I’m quite certain, is the source of most of my weight problems. Being aware of it and making note of it instead of rushing to the pantry is a HUGE step in the right direction.

I need to be working on my Shakespeare paper, but I think sitting here near the kitchen is encouraging the munchie feeling. So I think I’ll go clean.

I always get reeeaaally tidy when I have a big paper to write. Hmmmmm.

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3:00 — resisted
3:24 — resisted
3:40 — almonds
4:00 — resisted
4:16 — resisted, drank water bottle
4:32 — resisted
4:54 — peanuts

I never realized until now how CONSTANTLY I get the munchie feeling. And I had my ADD pills today, which act as an appetite inhibitor. Since it's been a very long time since I've paid attention to the munchie feeling, and have been in the habit of satisfying it immediately, I have a feeling that under normal circumstances, I would have been eating something during all the above times I resisted.

Of course, the fact that I resisted it probably made it occur more frequently than usual...I'm used to eating until I'm satisfied, which means to excess, and my body (or my brain) is obviously protesting to the change. The small handfuls of nuts helped it, but it's pretty hard to ignore...the most effective thing was getting up and cleaning, doing laundry, focusing on something else. The munchie feeling attacks when I'm sitting at the computer, especially when I'm doing something I don't want to be doing, like a Shakespeare paper. :) So I think heading it off at the pass is best - cleaning or taking a walk or whatever, because I think idleness makes me want to eat.

To be completely honest, it's very likely I'll eat something else before bed. Not only is night time when I usually get super munchie feeling, but if I go to bed hungry I can't sleep. I'm going to try to drink lots of water and eat some veggies or something else low calorie. The good news is that all the bad stuff is out of the house, so I can't get into too much trouble!

Thanks again, everyone, for your support. It means SO much. So, so much. I love you all!

And forgive me for the huge post! I meant to have fun pictures to break it up. Hopefully my camera connector will come soon!