Morning, everyone!
Sometimes, using calories to check means that one finds one isn't actually eating enough - as I did yesterday (see below). That came as a bit of a surprise but at least I know so I can do something about it. If I didn't know, I couldn't, and, with the fitness classes I do, going so low really isn't a very Good Idea.
For my age, build and weight, Nutracheck tells me that to maintain my weight, I should eat between around 1800 and 2000 calories (depending on how active I am). To lose a pound a week, I need to cut that daily total by 500 calories.
Therefore, I should aim for around 1300 calories per day. One day of super low won't hurt; several would not be great.
(all these figures are very approximate, of course, and variable. They're not tablets of stone by any means, just guidance)
I'm hoping today will be closer to that than yesterday was.
Yesterday's meals:
I had a banana before I went out and this when I got back in again.
201 calories in total
I was going to try out the omelette plates on my new gizmo but realised how stupid that would be when I already had a pan in use to cook the bacon and mushrooms.
And I can definitely say a bit of cheese in and on an omelette is a Very Good Thing.
I didn't make any coleslaw - I forgot!
I also forgot to have the apple I had got ready too as the omelette and salad filled me up until evening.
440 calories
The Cantonese lemon chicken was really delicious, even with the changed ingredients. It looked rather a lot and I ate half and saved the other half for lunch today. The only thing was that it wasn't that lemony so I will add some more lemon juice or, maybe, some lemon zest.
I had a Mullerlight and then, after filling out Nutracheck and finding the calories were way too low for comfort, nibbled on a couple of cheesy slices (pretty much the rest of my second healthy extra A so that was good.
322 calories
Total for the day: 963 calories - which is still way too low and I must make sure I have more tomorrow.
Today's plans
B: cheesy bean toastie, mushrooms and tomatoes
I have just a bit left from the baked beans I opened the other day so I will turn them into a breakfast toastie. Yummy! I don't usually have my healthy extras at breakfast so much but it is cold and snowy so why not, eh?
And I can try out my new toy!
SW: one healthy extra A and one B
L: the other half of the Cantonese lemon chicken, side salad; fruit
. . . plus a bit more lemon juice
SW: half a syn for the cornflour in the sauce
D: peanut butter chicken pasta; yogurt
Another from the Fast Feasts book, I've had this before and it was really nice. As (almost) always, I will add more veg to the mix and, probably some side veg, such as broccoli.
SW: it says two and a half syns per portion. I will use peanut butter powder which is lower in syns but I will use more so I'll call it that for now and check it when I make the dish. Half a syn for the yogurt.
Ex: personal training had been put back to tomorrow but I will be having a jolly good walk around town, I think, assuming the snow goes.
Summary:
one healthy extra A
one healthy extra B
three and a half syns
What do I mean by low spend?
At the beginning of this year, as part of a de-cluttering thing, I did a detailed audit of all the food I had in cupboards, fridge and freezer and was somewhat horrified at how much stuff I had.
So I determined to make a huge effort to reduce it down and use it up with minimal waste.
January and February were no spend and low spend months respectively. March is going to be another low spend month with just a few exceptions and, of course, all the essentials. It has got to work with Slimming World.
'Essential' means food such as fresh fruit, veg and dairy/eggs and other essentials including things like cleaning products and toiletries as needed. A few other things will come up through the month but generally it is just real essentials as I see 'essential'.
Of course, all regular bills, direct debits, etc, will still be paid as usual - hey are essential.
It's really helping in these difficult times. I am still able to save a wodge of my income (which is all pensions now) as I have done since I retired, plus a bit more. After all, at some point, I will have to start replacing things - just not yet.
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