First off, let me say thank you to all of the wonderful comments! I’m completely flattered that so many of you find my blog, photos, recipes and meals inspiring. I’ll keep the posts coming!
For some reason, I had a really late lunch today. I usually eat at 12 on the DOT but today I had a few things to do at work and just kept working. Must have been that stellar breakfast this morning that held me over!!
I had hot pumpkin tea at 11:00 because I was freezing (not because I was hungry!). NOTE: I got really “hungry” at 10:30, but I knew it wasn’t real hunger. I guzzled some water and sure enough, 20 minutes later I was chugging along again on my projects. I think I was just bored! You can tell when I’m bored because I go through sugar-free gum like water.
Lunch:
My “go-to” lunch when I want to feel healthy is tuna salad. Last night I decided on salmon salad instead, and it was great!
Ingredients:
3 oz packet of pink salmon
1 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp reduced-fat mayo
3-5 squirts of 2 kinds of mustard
1 celery stalk, diced
1 carrot, diced
It was great and mighty filling!
Of course I had to have Kashi crackers! I treated myself to 5 more than usual since I left out the yogurt today.
Also had 1/2 cup of leftover brussels sprouts (from Thanksgiving – sauteed in apples and bacon) over baby spinach:
And my fruit component, kiwi 🙂 Yes, I eat the skin. Who wants to peel fruit when you don’t have to!?
All together with my big orange cup of water for 485 calories. A little lower than usual, but I thought the two salads added enough bulk. I’m still a little hungry, but I think I just need some more water.
I REALLY wanted to go walking today, but it’s raining and the radar doesn’t look good. I guess I’ll have to wait another day.
I brought some skim milk in a jar to have hot chocolate (CIB) as a snack. Yum!!
Lunch breakdown for Hope:
(This is EXACTLY why I believe in food journaling! Calories do sneak in where you might not expect. I had 20 Kashi crackers, which is more than a serving, and the brussels sprouts were about 50 for half a cup per the recipe nutritional info since they had bacon and apple in them.)
|
Lunch
|
Cals | |
|---|---|---|
 |
1 serving, 1/4 cup (2.2 oz) Bumble Bee: Fish, Canned, Packaged: Salmon Pink | 90 |
|
1 tablespoon (0.5 oz) Hellmann’s: Mayonnaise: Reduced-Fat | 20 |
|
2 teaspoon (0.2 oz) Hellmann’s: Spreads: Dijonnaise | 10 |
|
3.75 oz Vegetables, Fresh: Carrots, raw, edible portion | 44 |
|
2.5 oz Vegetables, Fresh: Celery, raw, edible portion | 10 |
|
20 cracker (0.1 oz) Kashi: Crackers: TLC, Original 7 Grain | 173 |
|
1 1/2 cup Brussels Sprouts with Apple | 54 |
|
2 oz Fresh Express: Salads: Blends, Baby Spinach | 13 |
|
3 oz Fruit, Fresh: Kiwi Fruit (chinese gooseberries), raw, edible portion | 52 |
|
0.25 serving, 2 tablespoons (1.1 oz) Newman’s Own: Salad Dressings: Lighten Up, Honey Mustard | 18 |
| Total: | 484 | |
Anonymous says
Do you know of any good nutrition blogs that specifically target men?
Kath says
No, sorry I don’t. Perhaps you could try Men’s Health Magazine’s website?
Kath
Anonymous says
How did you determine your net calories goal? Did you use a website? Have you looked at the calories recommended for you at mypyramid.gov? Right now, are you just trying to maintain?
Thanks
Kath says
Anon (You guys need to leave names!!),
That’s a tough question and something I’m still not sure about. I’ve used CalorieKing.com for a while now as a wonderful food and exercise tracker. I like to keep my eye on how many calories I’m consuming and burning because I think it’s WAAAY to easy to eat too much, especially if you’re 5’2″ and small framed like me with not much wiggle room!
It sounds like you already understand the concept of “net calories” that CalorieKing uses. I basically chose my own number based on what I think my BMR is, which I really have just kind of pulled out of thin air. Your net should never be below your BMR, or your body will not have enough fuel for your workouts AND your body functions. Make sense?
Most online calculators say my BMR is 1350, which was my net goal for the first 20-25 pounds. I then hit somewhat of a plateau and to get off the last 5, I took my net down to 1226 (26 is my lucky number 🙂 as an experiment. 1226 just feels right for me, so that’s how I got the number. When I net it, my body feels great, and I don’t feel hungry (as long as I’m getting in lots of exercise). I experimented with netting 1400 or so for a while and slowly gained a few pounds back, so I dropped it down again. I have a friend with my same body stats who nets 1400 and doesn’t gain. I think my desk job has something to do with it. If I was active more, I’d bump it up a hundred or so. I keep it at 1226 despite having a weight maintenance goal with the assumption that I’m going to gain some on special occasions – it gives me a buffer if I overeat!
So bottomline, I would estimate what your BMR is using some online sites and subtract 50 calories from that number and make that your net.
One thing to note: I find it almost impossible to net 1226 when I can’t exercise, so I usually up it to 1400-1500 on those days when I know i can’t exercise to let myself eat a little more. I’d starve on less than 1500 calories on a regular basis!
Oh, and I think MyPyramid MAJORLY overestimates. It says for my stats and activity (an hour+ of exercise each day) that I should eat 2500 calories! That’s a NET of 2,000. I’d gain for sure on that!!
Hope that helps some. As you can see, I’m still not quite sure about it all!
K
Eat to live. Don't live to eat. says
hi kath! i too have discovered you from the self eat like me blog and i have to say i’ve become addicted. i really love what you are doing because it is very inspirational. your meals and plans seem very realistic and i honestly like your blog over cristen’s for the fact that you seem to be doing this (recording your meals etc) for yourself and not because its required so you seem very on top of yourself and honest with yourself. you have truly inspired me to use this blogger/blogspot program to try and start my own records of my eating. i come from a background of disordered eating and i know at this point that honestly i am not treating my body right but i feel like after abusing it for so long through anorexia, binge exercising and later binge eating- it is hard to just get back to normal. i too am quite short, only an inch taller than you and my weight has been fluctuating for years through my eating problems. i have tried eating disorder doctors, psychologists, nutritionists but never felt i got the adequate help. i know i can help myself get better and i am hoping that by keeping this blog and following yours, i will be able to develop healthy eating habits and begin treating my body right. i do struggle from day to day with this and although my family is aware they don’t that much of an active role. for now i am even quite embarrassed to admit my faults and horrible eating patterns (binging and restricting) because i do know better but am still very obsessed with my appearance and have many unresolved issues. seeing how healthy you are gives me hope that i will be able to achieve that too so for that inspiration, i thank you greatly. and i wish you the best of luck, i will definitely be keeping up with your blog 🙂
Anonymous says
Kath,
Thank you so much for the very thorough answer to my net calories question. I found your blog through ‘eat like me’, and while I think Kristin does a great job, she clearly doesn’t struggle with her weight or with food issues at all. It is nice,and for me more realistic, to read about the thought process and the struggles to stay on track. It is very inspiring.Thanks so much.
Allison
Anonymous says
question….for your lunch today, I don't see how that adds up to 485? I must be horrible at counting calories just "eyeballing it", but isn't 3 oz of healthy tuna sala only about 150 calories? and then the kashi crackers, provided that you are having around a serving, that's about 130 calories, and then the kiwi fruit and salad servings couldn't total to more than about 120 calories…? am I way off? i guess this is a news flash for me that i need some work estimating..perhaps an online counter like what you've been using. Let me know, just for the sake of my own training in this…thanks!H
Kath says
Hope, I updated the lunch post with a copy from my food journal. It was really 485! Hope it helps…Kath