Calorie Explosion

I decided at the start of this process that I was not going to be one of those annoying calorie-counting people. I refused to fuss and fret over the caloric content of everything that I put in my stomach. We all know someone that makes a big production out of his or her new diet. ”Oh, no thank you. I’m on a diet. Those things are just packed full of calories. You go ahead and have it.”. Annoying.

I have, much to my distain, taken an interest in exactly that. You see, the problem is that there is no way to gauge how beneficial the exercise is unless you know how many calories you are consuming. That realization hit me yesterday as I was grabbing a little afternoon snack.

I have been coming in to work quite early for a few days now. It gives me the opportunity to work with the evening shifts a bit, and to spread some training around. I do my best to not adjust my eating schedule during those days, but it’s not easy. I make it all work by having breakfast when I wake, a ‘snack’ about 4 hours later, and then my normal meals for the rest of the day. Moving your day 5 hours earlier throws a wrench into the works a bit. Anyway, I grabbed a Dew for some pick-me-up, and a snickers to calm my stomach. I do realize that it was not ‘the snack of champions’ or anything like that, but it worked in a pinch, and you only have so many options out of a vending machine anyway, that is, until you read wrappers.

Based on my age, height, and all that, I am supposed to need about 3,000 basal calories a day. Basal calories are the calories that you need to maintain normal body functions. It’s a ballpark number, but that is close to what I am supposed to eat. They say not to drop your caloric intake below suggested levels for weight loss reasons, or you just end up attacking your muscles to make up the difference, which is really bad. Anyway, that Dew and snickers bar total nearly 25% of the total number of calories I am supposed to stick with. Wow. I didn’t realize that they were so high in calories. Now I find myself wondering about everything. I do not intend on making a big display out of it or anything, but holy cow, I had no idea how high in calories pop is. What other foods am I eating that are almost single handedly blowing my caloric intake through the roof?

I loathe the thought of ‘calorie counting’, and I will do it in a very discrete and private way. I will say this; This will not be one of those weight loss routines that fail. I will lose all of the weight. I will hit my goal. I am determined and stubborn like that. Even if that means focusing on calories for a few months until I can trust myself to properly monitor my caloric intake.