Calorie Counting, Honest Tracking, and a Break from the Numbers

Babies at the park,
whom I am capable of keeping up with

For the past 6 months, I have been eating at a caloric deficit and tracking my calories on My Fitness Pal. It is a handy little app in which I can keep a recipe box, my meals are tracked and it remembers my frequently used items. I am also able to keep a close eye on my macros, and this has kept my simple carbohydrate intake in check, as I have drastically limited these and the majority of my carbs have been fruits, vegetables, and multigrain/whole grain light breads. Keeping an eye on these things has helped me to increase my protein intake and keep me better filled throughout the day. By default, this is limiting binges, grazing, and general overeating because the satiation from the protein combined with the satisfaction of my exercise have kept my success rate high!

Cue last Thursday.

A refreshing morning ritual
that keeps me sane throughout the day

Early in the week, I had decided that Friday I would not be tracking because I planned on indulging with Premium Afternoon Tea at Steakhouse 55 in the Disneyland Hotel to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom. Disney menu items do not have *nutritional information available, and it was too much when I tried before to track individual items, so I saw no harm in taking a short MFP break in order to enjoy my time and not have to worry about such a cumbersome task. For anyone else, this is reasonable.

On Thursday, it seemed I was getting an early start to my 4-day weekend with the hubby, so I said, "Hey, I will see how I fair with taking a week from MFP and feel out my progress from this journey!" I decided to visually track with photos over the week and make collages each night.

Post Country Heat workout,
feeling strong and confident

In retrospect, if I could change anything from breakfast last Thursday to dinner last night, I would have tracked everything I could. Instead of giving into my laziness (yeah, I'm just going to call it what it was, I didn't feel like tracking and updating my recipe box), I should have tracked Thursday and on, leaving out only lunch on Friday and not "completed" the day in the tracker. This would have given me a ballpark for the rest of the day and kept me from treating this past week like a vacation from the realities of weight loss.

Me and Yoga,
a great combo for a morning routine
that keeps me refreshed and fit

I will give myself quite a bit of credit, however. A year ago, this would have tripped me up so much, I would be giving up on my "diet plan" and running back to old habits. I would be weighed down with guilt and disappointment. Each night I would have been absolutely stuffed and regretting every decision I made from the day. You know what though? I spent the better part of this week to establish a morning ritual that would stabilize my day. I honored the schedule I created for myself and respected my own time. I did not choose to purchase a box of donuts and regular ice cream. I started every morning with my protein coffee and this gave me better discernment in choosing breakfast.

Hubby and I post workout

I made better choices for myself and maintained my weight.

I may not be able to give you even a ballpark estimate of my average caloric intake this week, but I can tell you that I teetered up and down the same pound all week. I continued to exercise, but did not try to outdo my over-eating with over-exercising. Even though I see how I could have changed the week, I do not regret taking that break. It gave me a healthier perspective and helped me go with the flow. I'm still a perfectionist, but I am not having a panic attack over the lack of logging a meal.

This is not a sprint, it is a marathon and I am enjoying the sights.

By the way, today, I went back to tracking, and I actually did the same thing I did over the last week and tracked at the end of the day to see how my choices have changed. Just as I suspected, without seeing the numbers and keeping an eye on my macros, I chose more carbs every time. My goal is 1,550 calories; 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fats. Today I had: 1,723 calories; 49% carbs, 20% protein and 31% fats.

Food Choices

*Update: Previously, I stated that the law requires nutritional information to be available for consumers. It is only required if an establishment has more than 15 establishments.