Monday, January 25, 2010

1500 or bust ... I wish!

Generally, I limit myself to 1300 calories a day. However, on Friday and Saturday, I get to have 1500. This allows for a more enjoyable date night (or just an extra beer!) and relaxing Saturday breakfast.

Lately, I've been eating at home a lot. Turns out, I really enjoy cooking for someone other than myself. Unless my roommate and boyfriend are lying, I'm not half bad at it either.

Sure, there are times when it's nice to be served, but cooking dinner is just a fun activity. On a Friday night, when you don't have a lot of money to spend entertaining yourself, trying out a new recipe can be an affordable alternative.

Cooking at home is also pretty diet-friendly, duh. When you cook at home, you have a lot more control over what goes in your food. You can determine for yourself whether the pan needs oil before you throw in the onions. Or decide if you need the full pound of ground turkey the recipe calls for or can cut that in half.

Apparently, I am really good at making these choices! This Saturday, I was very excited for my extra 200 calories - but couldn't find any acceptable way to add them to my day! Friday we went for a rare meal out and I chose a black bean burger ... it wasn't on purpose, but the only way I actually came close to my 1500 limit was by drinking three Magic Hat #9 beers!

Then, on Saturday Kevin and I cooked at the house. I just couldn't figure out how to eat more than 1321 calories! That included wine and babyback ribs, too! So, I gave myself the extra 200 calories for Sunday's food.

I know it sounds weird to be trying to eat extra calories when I'm on a diet, but the point of the extra calories is so that I don't feel cheated out of anything. It's like a cheat day without being counter-productive (remind me to blog about my opinion of cheat days!). If I want a hamburger, I can have it on Friday or Saturday as long as I keep things below 1500 calories. But, allowing myself to have 1500 calories means I get to have that burger. It means I don't hate my new lifestyle. It means I can have my cake and eat it too.

This is why I find it important to get close to my 1500-calorie limit on the weekends.

So, how did I do Sunday? After eating an egg white omelet, chili for lunch, roast chicken for dinner and 4 Thin Mints (yes, Girl Scout cookies!) for dinner and finishing it all off with a glass of dessert wine, I consumed 1367 calories.

I tried to overeat, I really did!

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