Buckling Down

I have to face facts, I've gained weight and I haven't been able to lose it yet. In all, I'm about 10 pounds higher than my low point, and about 5 pounds more than when I left on vacation. I kind of know how I gained it, at least the vacation part of it--scones, clotted cream, biscuits, cakes, bread and cheese played a big part there. That in spite of running almost every day and walking all day long.

But why haven't I shed at least those vacation pounds since I've been home and back eating reasonably? (That is after the birthday and graduation parties--all involving cake--the first weekend or so that I was home.) Is it the sneaky little things that I've nibbled on just now and then--a cookie here, a piece of chocolate there, tortilla chips "just this once" at a Mexican restaurant? Or that work has prevented me from working out more than once a day? (Although, for goodness sake, one workout a day should be enough.)

Whatever it is, I'm nipping it in the bud right now. Today I started a strict monitoring of my food intake, including writing down everything I eat. Just for today, I checked out the calorie counts on the internet so I could get an idea of how many calories I am consuming. I learned that I would be in great shape today if it weren't for a lunch out that was double the calories of my dinner, despite how careful I was to eat sparingly and wisely.

I had the Mediterranean Ahi Salad from Claim Jumpers, no potatoes, dressing on the side, (and I didn't eat the croutons or any bread) and a side of plain grilled asparagus. Here's where the problems occurred. 1) There was probably too much ahi (although I can't be sure of how many ounces it actually was. 2) Avocado and goat cheese add up, plus olives are high in sodium and calories. A smart salad would have only one of those three high fat add-ons. 3) Although I didn't add any dressing, the vegetables on the salad were already tossed in dressing, so I have to account for that. I figure that all brings me over 700 calories.

The good news is, my normal homemade salads are much lower in calories, with lots of lettuce and vegetables, plenty of pico de gallo and salsa, and a few ounces of chicken, salmon, or other protein. If I stick to them for lunch and dinner, I should be back on track in no time.

My temporary mantra....

No sweets.
No bread.
No cheese.
No chocolate (for a while).
No nuts (for a while).

I did create a fun treat this evening, Splenda lemonade (squeeze plenty of lemon into ice water and sweeten with Splenda). Now, despite the overly fattening lunch of earlier today, I am going to have an evening snack of 1/2 apple with cinnamon, and cottage cheese or yoghurt (haven't decided which yet, but I'm leaning toward cottage cheese tonight).