Close Call

I had a sort of surreal experience tonight.

My big kids are visiting their dad, and Kevin had to work tonight--leaving me and a sleeping Ruby home alone. This happens once a month, maybe twice. Traditionally, when this happens, I eat whatever I want for dinner. It's a party in my belly!

But I lost four pounds this last week. Today was check-in day. So I was paying closer attention than I normally do.

I went to three...yes THREE...fast food restaurants tonight. Starbucks, Wendy's and El Pollo Loco. Normally, I would have just gone to one and loaded up. Going to three actually started out as an attempt to keep my calories under control. But--something about it scared me. I could see myself loading up on food at all three, and really having myself a bingefest tonight. I could taste it. I have no doubt that I would have had:

Starbucks: A venti carmel light blended coffee and some sort of pastry (for dessert you know?)

Wendys: Spicy Chicken sandwich, biggie fries, ceaser side salad with all the fixings

El Pollo Loco: I probably wouldn't have gone here...I would have loaded up at Wendys.

So, while I did eat more calories that I would have liked today--I feel the need today to take a minute and figure out what kind of damage I might have done.

What I ate for dinner was: A baked potato from Wendys with the filling from an El Pollo Loco chicken al carbon taco and the little packet of reduced fat sour cream that came with it...another taco...and a ceaser side salad with no croutons. (I bought a piece of chicken from El Pollo Loco, but I didn't eat it. I'm saving it for lunch tomorrow.) And a grande carmel light blended coffee.

Total calories: 866

If I'd eaten what I mentioned above...the chicken sandwich, biggie fries, larger starbucks, pastry...I would have eaten (are you ready for this?) 1918 calories. Damn. That doesn't even count the ketchup!

I only need to cut 3500 calories from my diet this week to lose a pound. I cut 1100 just today! That's damn near half a pound, thank you very much!

I've heard that you can figure out how many calories you need to maintain your weight by multiplying your weight by 14 (for sedentary...it's by 17 for moderately active people...but lets face it, I didn't get to 323 by being active!) So...317X14=4438.

It didn't seem possible. Until I did the math on me losing four pounds this week. At 3500 calories cut per pound lost, I had to have cut or burned 14,000 calories last week. That's 2000 a week. Which happens to correspond pretty well with my average calories last week. I averaged about 2100 a day.

That meal I narrowly missed injesting tonight? That's how 4438 adds up.

I'm feeling very in control and proactive right now. I'm very much feeling like I can kick my fat suit to the curb. I'm going to find my face, my waist, my ass and my tits underneath all that blubber. Yes. I. Am.