1200

1200.  It is a number that I am getting used to.  I’m adjusting to it, but I’m still not in love with it. 
1200 is Twelve Hundred Calories per day.  Yes, that’s right.  I’m doing the calorie counting waltz.  I am coming to the end of week 4.
1200 calories is not a lot, but it is manageable – I’m finding new things to eat that keep me full, and so far, it’s not killing me.
A couple of things to note, purely my experiences..  This is not really a “diet” and I’m doing this on week days only.
1) I say this is not a “diet” because I am still able to eat things that I enjoy eating.  I just have to watch the quantity.  I miss pasta the most.  I’ve had it one evening for a side dish while the rest of the family ate platefuls.  That was hard.  One night, the family had spaghetti with meat sauce and I had a taco salad.  Not to say the taco salad isn’t yummy, it is, and on any other night, had the family not been eating pasta in front of my face, I’d be all about a good taco salad.  It’s just difficult with the good stuff in your face. Ha.  Now, my taco salad is made with baby spinach instead of lettuce, it has ground turkey instead of hamburger, and it is just not the same as it normally would have been.  Here’s what I had to look at them eating.


And here’s what I got to eat.   Spinach, tomatoes, light sour cream ground turkey seasoned with taco seasoning, and cheddar cheese.

2)  I’m doing this on week days only.  I’m on a schedule on week days.  It is very difficult to maintain that schedule on the weekends.  So, I don’t count calories on the weekends, BUT I do try to do better than I would normally have done before. 
Here is a normal weekday meal.  And by normal, I mean I eat this following pretty much EVERY day. 
Breakfast:  A boiled egg, light yogurt and coffee with 2 tablespoons fat free evaporated milk and sugar free vanilla syrup.  OR a Greek yogurt with coffee fixed the same as above.
Lunch:  A salad (3 oz baby spinach, 5 oz grape tomatoes, a cup of broccoli or 3 oz baby carrots) with a can of chunk lite tuna on top and 2 tablespoons lite and zesty Italian dressing and  4 oz of Jennie O Sundried Tomato Turkey breast
Afternoon snack: 1 oz light lays (made with Olestra, thank goodness I don’t have the side effects that some people have) and a fruit cup, or 1 oz popcorn chips or something else that’s around 120 calories
Dinner:  Normally chicken and a bunch of veggies.  I have also been able to have a ground turkey burger (tastes close to a hamburger) on one of those 100 calorie sandwich thins.  I’ve also had many types of salads, including the taco salad above.
Night Time Snack: Veggie Straws, Sugar Free Popsicles, Sugar Free Fudge Pops, 100 calorie Skinny Cow desserts or fruit and veggies depending on how many calories I have left.
I’ve learned a couple of neat ways to add variety to the chicken so that it’s not too terribly boring.  One is the Pretzel Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken Strips by Dashing Dish, if you haven’t seen her site yet, please check it out.  Katie’s recipes are awesome.  They have all the calories counted and that makes finding things to eat easy!
I think I’ve probably rambled on enough for you, so I’ll stop now.  This blog entry is to help me stay accountable.  I want to continue this journey.  I want to become healthier and live a long time for my family.  Thanks for reading and have a great day!!