Calories, Calories, Calories

I've lost about 4 lbs so far since I started dieting again. I know. Some of this is probably water weight since it hasn't even been a week. But I'm definitely deep into a calorie-counting frenzy. Due to a recent aversion to cooking vegetables (my hubby doesn't eat them anyway), I've been taking multivitamins everyday. My desserts have mostly been 100-calorie packs from Hostess and other such brands (ala Mark Haub's Twinkie diet).  I toss in some 100-calorie Sun Chips once in awhile as well. Main meals have been from Smart Ones, Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice. Some of the meals have vegetables, so I can force them down and feel a little less guilty about not buying and cooking them separately.. I especially love the Smart Ones Mini Cheeseburgers, because they're deliciously similar to White Castle burgers. I'm thinking of buying the following books, which are guides to getting what you're craving for, for less calories:

Eat This, Not that
Cook This, Not That

However, I'm a little low in budget this coming month, and I really wanted to get some outfits for my upcoming vacation (woot! woot!). So I might settle for using my Jenny Craig "Dining Out Success Guide" book (which has been busy gathering dust in the bookshelf) and "The Calorie King Calorie, FAT & Carbohydrate Counter" (the title literally has fat in all caps,  I'm not sure how I feel about that). Both of these list nutrition facts for the most popular fast food and restaurant chains in the US. The Jenny Craig guide is good for when I want to make a fast, easy choice, since they only list the things they approve of, while The Calorie King is better for when I want something specific, and decide to eat only half of it since it's way too many calories. For everything else, I'll have to use my LoseIt! app, which is still as helpful as always. I guess Eat This, Not that will have to wait 'til the new year.

I've been working out a lot too. This week was hard schedule-wise for going to the gym, although I did get one gym visit in last Thursday. However, when I did one of my workouts tonight that I usually could only do half of, I ended up making it through the entire 1 hr and 15 minutes. Those New York Sports Club classes have really been helpful with pushing me past my comfort zone. I just feel too embarrassed to stop when I'm with a bunch of people, and it's helped with my at-home workouts as well!

I've been working on the psychological side of things as well. Mostly about my perspective with regards to eating. Recently while reading Unbreaded, my friend and her best friend's blog about a low-carb lifestyle, I got into thinking about 'eating as entertainment'. I think this is the thing I have a problem with more than stress eating, even. I always think of what I could eat when I'm bored. Heck, I've planned out almost every single meal for my vacation in December. So whenever I'm bored, I try to think about what I could do that does not involve eating now. Due to this, I've achieved the following things:

1. A very clean sock drawer
2. Gotten ideas for outfits I want in the future (yes, online window shopping has been essential)
3. Taken very relaxing naps (yes, naps are helping me lose weight)
4. Exercised more

I expect I'll find more ways to pass the time without eating. But so far, just identifying this problem has helped a lot.

Posted in: goals,low calorie