From the category archives:

Healthy Eating

Counting Calories and Why It’s Not For Me

by Megan on July 1, 2011

Last week, after seeing it around twitter, I downloaded the My Fitness Pal app on my phone. I’m going to count calories, I thought. It was kind of a weird moment for me because I’ve told myself in the past that I would never count calories. It seemed too extreme to me. I liked the app, however, and it was sort of fun adding my foods to see how many calories they were and then adding exercise to decrease my calories. I kept mine at a 1500-calorie/day limit, and I stayed under every day. After a few days, though, I just didn’t like it anymore.

Last weekend, on Saturday, I went running for the first time in four months. I only ran .77 miles, but I was more worried about how many calories I burned. I also worked out on my Wii Fit for fifteen minutes (before my run) to burn some calories. Then, I went for a swim later that night. (Let me tell you, swimming burns a lot of calories!) I felt awesome. On Sunday, I woke up to sore legs, but I had to burn more calories, so I biked a little over three miles that afternoon. After I worked out on the Wii Fit, of course. By that point, I was sort of exhausted. I was becoming obsessed with the idea of burning calories. After that, I continued counting calories, and I did really well, staying under my 1500-calorie/day goal. By Wednesday, though, I was beyond exhausted. I took a nap after work, and I woke up with an intense hunger.

When I woke up, I thought, what can I eat that is super-low in calories? Maybe I should just wait until dinner? But I was still two hours away from dinner-time, so I decided I was done with counting calories. We decided to go out to eat that night, and I made sure I ate until I was full. My body felt confused, though, so I didn’t eat as much as I had wanted.

During this short experience, I forgot my number one rule: pay attention to how my body feels. I was exercising to burn calories, rather than exercising to make myself feel good. I was eating based on calorie intake, rather than eating when I was hungry and stopping when I was full. I could see exactly how eating disorders can begin. I became obsessed with calorie counting, and I didn’t care how hungry I was. Even though this all took place in less than a week, I could see that it was leading me down a path I didn’t want to go down.

I’m not counting calories anymore. It’s just not for me. Sure, I wouldn’t mind losing five pounds, but I mostly care about how I feel, and this week, I’ve felt exhausted and sick. I’d much rather spend my days feeling happy and full.

Do you count calories? If not, have you tried it before? What do you think about counting calories?

I do have to say that My Fitness Pal is a great app/website. If you’re wanting to lose weight, I believe that it can help you get there. Just remember: it’s less about the calories and more about taking in the proper nutrition so that you don’t starve your body of what it needs. Oh, by the way, this isn’t a sponsored post of any sort. I just really wanted to write about my experience with calorie counting.

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Running Toward Health: Week 3

by Megan on September 25, 2010

After taking both Saturday & Sunday off from running, I decided I need to push myself a little bit further on Monday. I ate well all day:

Breakfast (around 6:30 a.m.): Kashi Go Lean Chocolate & Pretzel protein & fiber bar, blueberry Greek yogurt, and Horizon’s organic milk.
Lunch (11:30 p.m.): Caesar chicken wrap, blue corn chips, carrots & hummus, and water.
Afternoon snack (3:30 p.m.): Smoothie (blueberry, strawberry, blackberry, almond milk, vanilla Greek yogurt, and a spoonful of almond butter.
Dinner (5:30 p.m.): Creamy tomato shrimp pasta and a piece of wheat bread with Earth Balance.

Right now, I can’t run in the morning unless it’s a weekend, and it’s much too hot right after work, so I’ve been waiting until after dinner to run. About an hour after dinner on Monday, Husband and I went to the park, and I told myself I was going to run two miles, whether I liked it or not. I stretched, and when I started out running, I was stiff. I pushed through, though, and I took a different route because I knew my mind would want to give up after my normal two laps around the same route I have been doing for the previous two weeks. After running (and listening to some great music), I started feeling awesome, and I ended up running 2 miles at a 10:23/mile pace. I was so proud of myself for finishing what I had set out to accomplish! I admit that I was speed walking through some of my run, but I ran much more than I thought I would. When I got home, I showered and ate a Kashi Go Lean Chocolate & Almond bar so that I wouldn’t wake up in the middle of the night due to hunger. I think my metabolism is starting to speed up a little bit because I’ve been getting hungry more often.

On Tuesday, I decided to give my legs a break by running 1.20 miles at a 10:56/mile pace. Overall, it was a good run.

I took Wednesday off because I had some homework to get done, and I ran again on Thursday. At first, my Nike+ sensor was giving me trouble (I use it to track my runs), so I was frustrated. To top it off, I was already sweating by the time I got to the park because it was above 90-degrees. I decided to just take a deep breath and restart my ipod, and everything worked fine, so I started my run. I ended up running just 1.21 miles at a 10:09/mile pace. Toward the end of the run, I was starting to feel overwhelmed because my legs were hurting. It may sound corny, but I then looked up at the sky and saw a rainbow, and rainbows remind me of Granny. It reminded me of WHY I’m doing this 5k, and I decided to push through and make it to over a mile. Suddenly, my legs didn’t feel like they were hurting anymore. I ended on a happy note, knowing that maybe she really is there pushing me through it.

Friday, I decided to take off and focus on myself a little bit, and Husband and I went out to lunch and did some shopping. Now, it’s Saturday, and it’s just after 7am. I woke up at 6am because we’re leaving in about an hour to go to a Tennessee Vols game, and we’ll be tailgating. I’m hoping I can run tonight, if I get home at a decent hour.

I’m slowly realizing that I will have bad runs, but especially if I’m in a negative mindset before I even start my run. I’m learning to just take a deep breath and remain positive.

P.S. As you know, I’m planning on running a Free to Breathe 5k on October 16th. If you have spare change, please donate to help me reach my goal of $300. The money will go toward raising awareness for lung cancer.

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Healthy Eating: Paying Attention to What I Eat

by Megan on June 30, 2010

Ever since returning from Asheville, I’ve been in the mood for fresh, local foods. Asheville began to turn me into a food snob, I suppose, because everything there was fresh, healthy, locally grown, and/or organic. I felt great after every meal I ate, rather than feeling sluggish and unsatisfied.

I’ve never been much of a junk food person. I’ve always enjoyed my vegetables, and I hardly ever ate candy as a kid. Even now, you’ll rarely find junk food in our pantry. Husband hasn’t had caffeine in nearly a year, and I stopped drinking sodas over two months ago, so we mostly have water and juice in our fridge. We have been looking at the labels lately as well, and we’re trying to stay away from high fructose corn syrup. Honestly, anytime I get anything, if I see high fructose corn syrup as an ingredient, I’m immediately turned off. Just the sound of it is bleh to me now.

I’m not a vegetarian, nor do I have any intentions of becoming one anytime soon; however, I’m cutting red meat out of my diet for now–I’ve never been a fan of it, anyway. Mostly, the only meat I’m eating is chicken and seafood (tilapia and shrimp, mainly), and even chicken grosses me out at times. I’ve always thought of a meal as meat being the main ingredient and veggies being the “side dishes.” Now, I’m seeing it the other way around. In reality, meat isn’t something I’m requiring in a meal anymore.

I’m still learning to look at labels on everything. I want to make sure I have enough protein if I don’t eat meat for every meal. (If you have suggestions for cooking tofu, send them my way!) I’m also buying fresh produce locally (it’s cheaper, closer, tastes much better, and it isn’t mass-produced) when I can and when it’s available.

Even though we’ve only been home from Asheville for a little over a week, I’ve felt healthier. I’ve had more energy, and I’ve been craving fruits and salads and homegrown vegetables (which should be ready soon)! It’s a nice feeling.

Ingredients in the salad above: Spring mix, chopped apple, dried cranberries, sliced almonds, snack mix (whole almonds, raisins, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds), fresh tomato, fresh cucumber, cheddar cheese, and poppyseed dressing. I also had a slice of bread with almond butter.

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