rant

[juldea]

Papa John's pizza has 200-400 calories per slice. Depends on thin/thick crust, # of toppings, etc.
Breadsticks are 140 each.
Goldbug estimated last night that a Pad Thai lunch special has 1500.
Cranberry juice is about 140 per cup.
Dr. Pepper is about 150 for 16oz.

So, eating a lunch special, glass of juice, 2-3 restaurant cups of Dr. Pepper, a slice or two of pizza, and a few breadsticks each day, I'm taking in HOW many calories?

Silly me. :)

I guess the important part here is not whether I'm going to fix that, it's how I'm going to fix that. Taking home half of my lunch special daily to feed goldbug/whoever else wants some (people should call dibs on certain days - I don't have time to take it home on Tuesdays/Fridays especially, so it'll come with me to the lab!) and eating less pizza at work is the plan. And fewer Dr. Peppers!! Water is better for me!

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

that's so wonderful that you are trying to eat better :) you can totally do it too!

i often wondered about that, how you would talk about exercising so much, and being frustrating about not losing weight... i always thought to myself, i wonder is she also counting calories? because i can tell ya, what people think they're having, and what they actually are having, are usually two totally different things (shades of my army days, i would push to consume 2500 a day, by eating only healthy food). it's not much fun to count, but it IS fun to be healthy :) make sure and keep a good balance. lots of produce and such for energy. good luck jules!

krink

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Well, last summer when I lost 10-15 pounds, it was because I didn't really eat out much, and everything that I ate at home was strictly counted. I ate about 1200-1500 calories a day. When I did eat out, I wouldn't try and figure out how many calories I was eating, but I'd try to go light on 'em for the rest of the day. And every now and then I'd have a day where I didn't count at all. :)

The difficult thing about doing that now is that I've established this relationship with the staff of Pad Thai, and this desire to eat it every day, and it's almost impossible to count the calories in it. I think it's just as possible that goldbug's estimate of 1500 calories is way too high than that it's right on (or too low!). I suppose I could get Num to give me an ingredients list for every type of food they'd ever serve and I could do a lot of online research and figure it out for every day, but sheesh.

I don't want to stop going there daily and having lunch specials and seeing those people. I mean, I get discounts on it now! And while there are ways of going around getting so much food, they're all unreliable. If I tell them that I want some of it to go, I end up getting more food in total because they give me a lot to eat while I'm there, and then a lot to take home. Saying, "I don't want as much food anymore," would elicit all sorts of questions I'm sure, and I'd have to repeat it daily for quite a while before it becomes habit to the servers. Telling them (especially Num) that I don't want to eat as much because I'm trying to lose weight will just elicit the big, "But you don't need to diet! You look fine!" discussion, and I'm tired of that discussion. ;) It's not like I'm wanting to lost 30 pounds... just another 10.

What I did today worked well, though. I went in and got my lunch special, and right after sitting down at the table with my plate, I got out my lunchbag and tupperware containers and forked most of the pad thai and half of the entree stuff into containers. When that was done, my plate was still covered in food, it just wasn't very deep. After I ate it all, I still felt full, too! The magic of mind over matter.

The pizza thing is going to be difficult to overcome, because it happens without me even thinking about it. I go to work, and there's some pizza sitting there, and I'm waiting for a delivery, and I pick up a piece and start eating, or go get a cup of Dr. Pepper... And at the end of the night I realize I've had 2-3 pieces of pizza and cups of Dr. Pepper and breadsticks. Breadsticks in garlic or cheese sauce. MmmmMm.

And then, after the first two weeks or so of doing that absent mindedly, my stomach got used to eating lots of food at night, and now it tells me that I'm hungry and want pizza. Stupid stomach!

Wow, this turned into a longer reply than I meant it. I'm sure you don't mind. :)

[(Anonymous)]

no actually it's kind of fun :) it's not like i ever actually LEAVE my dorm room and go do things, as opposed to sitting online being lame all the time. ah, the joys of new places where you know lots of people, most of whom bore you to death. and the others you fear of annoying with constant calls. hmm.

i can't wait for summer!

and in the spirit of your diet, i am going to try and eat better too. drink less coke, drink more water. take my vitamin every day. munch on cheese and crackers or fruit instead of chips and chocolate bars, and smoke less. none of these are due to weight issues.. but my skin is getting really yucky. and my throat kind of hurts, and i'm sure i have horrendous breath from coke/cigarettes. so maybe i can be a bit healthier too. and tomorrow my bicycle will be repaired, and just getting around town i ride at least 30 minutes a day.

want to start a conversation group blog? i don't know that it'd be much good, you and i are both already such blabbers on our personal journals, but maybe we could use it as a forum for girly type discussions. i can host it for free on blogger since i'm a paid member.

Re:

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Hmm, tell me more about this blog thing...

[withlyn.livejournal.com]

I'm mostly drinking water now, too, except when I'm at school. At school, I still mostly drink soda or nothing, and of course tea. I should bring my cup, and drink more water.

[vambot5.livejournal.com]

I do the opposite; I bought a bottle of water a long time ago and fill it each morning before school, and drink water there. then, I come home and drink doctor pepper.

[tinder.livejournal.com]

It takes me 3000 calories a day to maintain my buff physique.

Re:

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but you're eating for two! ;)

[mongonoodle.livejournal.com]

i'm all for this healthier eating thing. go julia! rah rah rah! i am trying as well. it's probably easier for me than for all of you, because i live with a fanatic like ravi. our rule is "everything healthy but ice cream," and ravi eats up all the ice cream. we're not allowed to have soda, and it's amazing what that's done for 1) my skin, 2) my energy level, 3) my caloric intake, and 4) my extraordinary ability to belch like a sailor. ;) recently ravi ruled out meat as well, but i think i will keep taking 98% lean chicken sammiches to work because i don't want my body to forget how to process meats. the only things we drink are water and the occaisional little glass of Rich Chocolate Ovaltine (more ovaltine, please!). "we" have decided to eat five tiny tiny meals a day instead of waiting till we're hungry and eating bigger ones. that's kind of good. lots of fruit. people who don't like fruit have a hard time, i imagine. anyway, if krink's healthy-girly blog ever materializes, i'm interested. :)

[vambot5.livejournal.com]

when we were in california, ravi made us eggs and toast. it was very good.

jumping on the bandwagon, I too have been thinking about ways to make my life healthier. modifying my diet and picking up yoga are atop my list right now.

Re:

[mongonoodle.livejournal.com]

yoga's a good idea. i wish i could find a cheapo pilates class i could go to during my lunch break or something. pilates makes me feel great. :)

Re:

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Ooh, you should discuss more the effects of no soda. I'm interested.

Re:

[mongonoodle.livejournal.com]

soda is sticky and sweet. it gives you bad breath. it makes your teeth feel funny. i almost never have socks on my teeth anymore when all i drink is water. getting away from the caffeine breaks your dependency on it, so you don't feel like you need it to stay awake. you're just more awake more of the time. headaches decrease dramatically. caffeine constricts your blood vessels, and taking it away makes you have a headache for a little while because you're just not used to having so much blood flow to your brain. but then eventually it's not changing on you anymore, and the result is fewer headaches. as you know, regular soda is very high in calories, and you know what that does. diet sodas have ASPARTAME, about which i could go on for hours. it's bad bad stuff that nobody needs to be putting in their bodies. drinking soda decreases your actual water intake. you feel better, your skin is clearer, your nose is less snotty, and your urinary tract is healthier when you drink more water. (also all the acid in soda is hard on your UT) water is FREE. soda is NOT.

life is generally better when soda is an occaisional treat, and not a drink.

:)

Re:

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Go Margaret!!

I only had one soda yesterday. At work, I got a big big soda cup, and filled it up from the water cooler. It was very nice to drink. Maybe I won't have a soda today.

Oooh, another thing - if you spill water on something, it doesn't make it sticky. And you can pretty much just let it evaporate and not worry about a stain!