Counting Calories

Old Thought Process: I always had the fantasy that I would have to count calories just while I lost weight in the beginning, but then I would get to the point where I could "listen" to my body and "know" what and how much it needs and I wouldn't have to count calories anymore.

Uhhh.. yeah right. =)

I am brand new here (day 2), so I am setting up my foods. As I am entering an entire recipe of a homemade dish to determine it's nutritional info (into another site b/c this site's meal analyzer thing confused me) and I get to one ingredient - an entire can of Hunt's Diced Tomatoes No Salt Added.

Hmm, I can't enter the entire can, it wants to know how many cups I added. A quick search of the web and I come up with the Nutritional Information for the can. A serving is 1/2 cup (126g) but it doesn't tell me how many servings are in the can. Why not? Ok, so the can has 14.5oz. Ounces?! More Google Search. Calculator determines there are 4 ounces in a half cup. Ok so 14.5 divided by 4 means that there are 3.625 servings in the can.

....

First of all.. I have to just used three websites, a search engine and a calculator to just ADD it to one site to divide it into servings to enter it into this site...

Second.. 3.625 servings? Really?

Right there is the secret behind the success of NutriSystem. People are sitting there with recipe books, calorie counter books, a notepad and a calculator in the middle of their living room in the Midwest. It is very late, way past their bedtime, and just as he or she realizes they have spent more time trying to figure out what is in their food, than they did to buy it at the store, bring it home, prepare and consume it.. there is Marie Osmond with her huge Chiclets(R) gum teeth telling you that even with her busy schedule she can maintain her eating program and lose weight b/c the NutriSystem meals are pre-packaged in perfect serving sizes and delivered right to her door.. plus, they're delicious! Bonus! Free Shipping!

"Hey, can you hand me the cordless?"

So what this tells me is, I can't have success here if I am not committed to look at food not only from a taste (gotta stay happy eating) and calorie standpoint but also from an energy planning standpoint. I can't find myself at the end of the day missing most of my protein, way over my sodium and I only have 100 calories left for the day.

In order for me to be successful, I need to study food. I need to LEARN this information. Break it down and study it like an alien language. Clearly with the confusion on the labels I can't rely on them unless I have a calculator at all times. My days of only considering food for their three T's - temperature, texture and taste are over. =)

New Thought Process: I commit to planning my daily menu online so I can learn what about nutrition so I can put the best fuel into this machine. I commit to make sure I have analyzed and reviewed my daily fuel BEFORE I consume it. This is one key to my success.