Now that Im 15 pounds over weight Im trying something new: Its called counting calories and its been one big eye-opener. Calories are those things that we burn in order to stay alive. And if we take in more than we use, well you know, we gain weight.
Forever I believed watching my fat intake was the way to go. Fat has more calories than carbs or protein so that made sense to me. But apparently (as my sympathetic, well meaning physician says) Ive matured and that thing inside my crepey body called metabolism has slowed to a snails pace. Therefore for the past five years Ive been beating a dead horse on a spit.
Then one day while I was chowing down on a chopped vegetable salad with one teaspoon of fat-free salad dressing, a co-worker told me she stopped eating bread and rice and lost 55 pounds in three months. Holy baguette! And you exercised, right, I asked her? I hoped she would say yes; to my surprise, she said no. This revelation piqued my interest more than the last diet I tried (with absolute abandon), which included bacon, butter and all the junk food I could pass through my gut.
Now, I have to admit, bread, and rice are up there on my list of dietary needs. I can make a meal of toasted french bread and herb-laced olive oil. I mean, think about it; the most important foods in the world are staple foods.
According to WorldAtlas.com, the overwhelming majority of global staple foods are grains. Corn, rice, and wheat together make up 51 percent of the worlds caloric intake. So is this the reason I continue to struggle and she is now Miss Skinny Minny?
Getting back to calories, I have a Fitbit that can measure calorie intake just by typing in the food. Its a little time consuming but uncomplicated. The problem Ive run into is it has been brought to my attention just how often I eat and how much I eat. In fact, its astounding what one is able to consume in one day.
Since I started counting those little grams of energy Ive been able to reduce the total caloric amount by 400. Thats right, 400 calories. That sounds like a lot doesnt it? Well, all I had to do was throw out my chocolate. Seems a bag at the office, a bag on the den couch and a bag in the night stand provided easy pickins. Ive lost four pounds in three weeks.
But Ive decided to go a step further and try my co-workers plan.
This challenge might prove harder said than done. Who doesnt like a creamy peanut butter sandwich (or two) and a plate of Crazy Tuna sushi - back-to-back?
View post:
In my book, diet spells disaster/ Points on the curve - Kingstree News
