Eyeing Portions

So today I had lunch at Sharky's with a co-worker. Ordered a side of black beans and a side of brown rice. Seemed very sensible, and I ate and we talked and it wasn't until later when it was time to write it down that I realized I didn't have a clue what the portion size was. I searched online for Sharky's side of beans and couldn't find it. So I settled with a cup of each and wrote down those numbers. But the numbers really added up! I didn't feel like I'd eaten 458 calories (though you never do...). This is why it's easier to prepare my food at home. But if this way of eating is going to be sustainable I really have to become better at eyeing portion size.  After all, a lunch of organic black beans and brown rice is great, and inevitably I'll be eating in restaurants and at friends' houses etc. I can always look up the calories of a food online, but being able to know whether it was a cup or half a cup makes a big difference - and I'm not going to bring a digital scale with me everywhere I go. As possibly bizarre as it sounds, I'm thinking about doing some practice drills. Pour a random amount of beans in a bowl, guess, then measure. Crazy?

11 pounds gone!

It's been 27 days and the first eleven pounds are gone. I'm eating 1100ish calories a day (between 1050-1150) and even eating a small bit of chocolate here and there (as long as I count it). I'm 5'2", so my top weight of 173 was really a lot of extra weight. My goal right now is 125, and I'd like to reach that by August. That's six months. It's been about ten years since I weighed that little, so I don't really know if it's too little or too much for me. I plan to adjust it as necessary as I get closer. Right now I'm not doing much exercise, just sporadic 10 minutes here and there plus the walking I do on campus. I'm still smoking cigarettes so cardio is difficult. I'm going to address the smoking again when I've dropped some more weight. Last time I quit (for 3 months last summer) I gained 10 pounds. Of course that was before I started counting calories.

I'm amazed that counting calories really works, but it does. Even though it's challenging to stay within my limit, it isn't so hard that it feels like I'm deprived or "dieting". But I think this means I've chosen the right daily caloric intake, as I seem to be losing about 2 pounds a week, which is the recommended rate. What I have become keenly aware of is how much high-calorie unhealthy food is everywhere - at parties, restaurants etc. I live in Southern California so there are a few great healthy restaurants around, but they're usually pretty expensive. I prepare my food at home most of the time and take it with me. I try to keep it simple. I'll do a food post later. Anyway, I've never posted anything online about weight loss before, but I've gotten a lot of inspiration from others, so I thought I'd give it a go.

Feel free to comment or suggest other weight loss journey or inspirational sites/videos! I found this one really inspirational:
http://266-twosixtysix.blogspot.com/2010/08/anniversary-presentation.html
 

I haven't gotten the courage to post my before pictures yet - working on it!