Food diary, experiment
A funny thing happened on the way to food blogging last night:
M came home and made a - joking - comment about how she was at the time of the month which prompts her to eat not only all her calories for the day, but mine too. (Man I wish it actually worked like that.) Since I 'd been complaining about how unrealistic I felt the food diary goals were (whether or not they actually are nutritionally and scientifically or not) I decided to dedicate July 14th on my diary to her and insert everything she'd eaten yesterday and see whether the diary thought she'd eaten a lot. I didn't change the calorie "goal", despite the fact that we have different body types, because I figured it couldn't be that far off. So she told me what she'd eaten for the day and, while I kind of disagreed on whether she'd actually eaten a lot and then we might have had a brief debate over whether she actually ate three meals or just two, one in two parts, and then realised she'd eaten at least as much as I had yesterday so I should shut up, we discovered she'd eaten 1,232 calories that day. A day in which she felt full and as though she'd eaten significant amounts. And do you know where a 1/3 of those calories came from? HALF A CUPCAKE. Without that half a cupcake she wouldn't have even broken a thousand.
Even assuming that she only ate two meals and if we'd then made a third meal, with the way we cook (which I do think is relatively healthily) that would really have - at tops - added another 400 or maybe 500 calories. I also didn't add exercise, which there is a good chance she got since she had fight rehearsal at least. When we did this yesterday, we both straggled in at around 1,200ish and I certainly ate three meals. One of which - for both of us - was chinese food. I also ate a bunch of biscuits (Jack's had the Brink's sandwich biscuits, which I love) in between meals.
We then discussed her brother's school, where they have snack/meal things twice a day in addition to the three dining hall regular meals. And ok, they're teenagers, but perhaps this really isn't a dumb idea? I've always felt a little silly because I constantly snack and eat biscuits and crisps and fruit and stuff in between meals, but taking a look at this diary, apparently it's the only way I've kept alive this far. No seriously, looking at this diary makes me wonder if I've been in constant danger of imminent death and just never noticed? Yes, I have problems with my weight, but no, I'm not that skinny. It has never been that serious a health concern that I've a) been unable to do something I wanted to or b) stopped having regular functions of any kind.
Of course, the happy ending to this story is that we made cookie dough and ATED IT ALL OVER THE PLACE. Turns out Nestle measures it's cookie dough by the oz, which converts handily as 1oz=2 tbsps, so I obviously had to eat cookie dough BY THE TABLESPOON last night. It was an excellent end to the evening. :) So I'm not sure I'm saying something new yet, just that I begin to be very surprised by the whole calorie counting thing. Is science crazy? Am I? I really wish I knew nutritionists. I don't feel as though I really need to go see one, but I'd love to be able to talk...theory almost? with one. Dear people what are smarter at science than I am, thoughts?
ETA: Damn, I should eat lunch before I take the kittens to the vet. I know I'm on a 5 hours late schedule, but it's a schedule! :) Perhaps if I were actually eating at normal people times (breakfast at 8-10ish, lunch at 12-2ish, lunch at 6-8ish) I'd be hungry enough by bedtime for another meal? IS THAT THE ANSWER? Did I just solve the entire universe with the application of SUPPER? *shakes head* It can't be that easy. There must be a catch.
M came home and made a - joking - comment about how she was at the time of the month which prompts her to eat not only all her calories for the day, but mine too. (Man I wish it actually worked like that.) Since I 'd been complaining about how unrealistic I felt the food diary goals were (whether or not they actually are nutritionally and scientifically or not) I decided to dedicate July 14th on my diary to her and insert everything she'd eaten yesterday and see whether the diary thought she'd eaten a lot. I didn't change the calorie "goal", despite the fact that we have different body types, because I figured it couldn't be that far off. So she told me what she'd eaten for the day and, while I kind of disagreed on whether she'd actually eaten a lot and then we might have had a brief debate over whether she actually ate three meals or just two, one in two parts, and then realised she'd eaten at least as much as I had yesterday so I should shut up, we discovered she'd eaten 1,232 calories that day. A day in which she felt full and as though she'd eaten significant amounts. And do you know where a 1/3 of those calories came from? HALF A CUPCAKE. Without that half a cupcake she wouldn't have even broken a thousand.
Even assuming that she only ate two meals and if we'd then made a third meal, with the way we cook (which I do think is relatively healthily) that would really have - at tops - added another 400 or maybe 500 calories. I also didn't add exercise, which there is a good chance she got since she had fight rehearsal at least. When we did this yesterday, we both straggled in at around 1,200ish and I certainly ate three meals. One of which - for both of us - was chinese food. I also ate a bunch of biscuits (Jack's had the Brink's sandwich biscuits, which I love) in between meals.
We then discussed her brother's school, where they have snack/meal things twice a day in addition to the three dining hall regular meals. And ok, they're teenagers, but perhaps this really isn't a dumb idea? I've always felt a little silly because I constantly snack and eat biscuits and crisps and fruit and stuff in between meals, but taking a look at this diary, apparently it's the only way I've kept alive this far. No seriously, looking at this diary makes me wonder if I've been in constant danger of imminent death and just never noticed? Yes, I have problems with my weight, but no, I'm not that skinny. It has never been that serious a health concern that I've a) been unable to do something I wanted to or b) stopped having regular functions of any kind.
Of course, the happy ending to this story is that we made cookie dough and ATED IT ALL OVER THE PLACE. Turns out Nestle measures it's cookie dough by the oz, which converts handily as 1oz=2 tbsps, so I obviously had to eat cookie dough BY THE TABLESPOON last night. It was an excellent end to the evening. :) So I'm not sure I'm saying something new yet, just that I begin to be very surprised by the whole calorie counting thing. Is science crazy? Am I? I really wish I knew nutritionists. I don't feel as though I really need to go see one, but I'd love to be able to talk...theory almost? with one. Dear people what are smarter at science than I am, thoughts?
ETA: Damn, I should eat lunch before I take the kittens to the vet. I know I'm on a 5 hours late schedule, but it's a schedule! :) Perhaps if I were actually eating at normal people times (breakfast at 8-10ish, lunch at 12-2ish, lunch at 6-8ish) I'd be hungry enough by bedtime for another meal? IS THAT THE ANSWER? Did I just solve the entire universe with the application of SUPPER? *shakes head* It can't be that easy. There must be a catch.