I stayed under my calorie goal today!

chessie11

I just joined a little over a week ago, and I'd never watched my calorie intake before like this - ever. I'm amazed at how anxious I am now to see how many calories are in the food I eat.

This morning, I went to a coffeehouse for a sugar-free latte (not bad) and I got a banana nut loaf (reduced-fat, so I thought no big deal). Well, I decided to log that "breakfast" in early and discovered that banana nut loaf may have been "lower" in fat, but with it, I'd already taken in 500 calories! :sad: I fumed at myself for that; I simply didn't expect it to be so high (naturally - like anything else I used to eat).

Well - I'm tooting my horn today, because after that, I made the conscious decision to eat less and to eat much healthier for the rest of the day to stay within my calorie goal. Although I had a Healthy Choice meal for lunch, I was still cutting it close for the rest of the day. My husband, fearing my decision to eat a can of string beans for dinner, fixed me the best turkey sandwich with light mayo on wheat bread for me. I was serious about the string beans! Quite true!

Unfortunately, I missed taking the walk I'd planned this evening, which I know would have given me space for more food. However, I'm glad that I didn't, simply for the fact that I didn't let food win today... and I stayed under my calorie goal today.

Best of luck to everyone to do the same tomorrow!!! :flowerforyou:

vickthedick

I think the first time I went on a diet counting calories, I was totally l=blindsided. IT's like they lure you in with terms like low fat and reduced fat, but the calorie counts in these items can be as high as some fast foods. Makes me wanna kick myself when i realize i have been tricked into thinking something is a healthy choice

SekhmetNova

Congrats on your success! It is important to see the small victories in this journey because they all add up to the large ones. I have also been shocked to learn that something that is marketed as "low fat" or "healthy" in the name are not necessarily so. But I think it's great that you are celebrating your success in staying within your calories. Every victory deserves a celebration! :happy:

chessie11

Hi phcutie. I completely understand! The counting calorie thingie with this program is so much easier than I could have imagined, so it's easy to stay on track.

Thanks SekhmetNova! I think if we keep taking those baby steps and celebrating them we'll make the goal - that applies to everything we choose to do!

nyprdiva

Congrats on staying under your goal today. The good thing about the first week I think (as I still am in mine but am a veteran dieter who is trying the new approach on MFP) is that you can get to see where your "problem" areas of eating are (are you a late night snacker or do you have a sweet tooth, etc) and you can make plans to change those issues.

For me, since I work from home, I cook a lot. I use the calorie counter to help me plan my meals. If I had an idea of eating something, I put in all the ingredients to the meal (including whatever fats you use to cook with like butter and olive oil as they have calories too) and that helps me make smarter decisions about what to eat. I love the fact that you can save meals as well because I can go back and choose a low-cal meal that I prepared before and remember what I used to keep it tasty but healthy.

Keep up the excellent work!

chessie11

Thanks so much! Y'know, as nitpicky as adding each ingredient seemed to be at first, I've found it to be extremely eye-opening as well! :happy:

Wishing you the best with MFP, too!!!

leychole

I am new to dieting and calorie counting. My jaw drops every time I look at the nutrition facts on most of the foods I eat. Just knowing how many calories there are is enough to keep me from being tempted.
I'm really excited about finding ways to cook healthy low-cal meals. It's challenging but I'm up for it ;-)

Way to go Chessie11!