Plunder

I'm thinking of making my calorie counts a weekly addition for a while.  I'm learning a lot by looking at them.  Also, I like the solid number aspect of this.  The running averages give me an idea of the direction I'm headed.

Without further adieu here's last week's totals:

Monday, June 4	1587
Tuesday, June 5	1666
Wednesday, June 6	1627
Thursday, June 7	1734
Friday, June 8	1488	Low calories, but I was satisfied all day
Saturday, June 9	3082	Party with Grown-ups and no kids
Sunday, June 10	2007	Party surrounded by lots of kids

And here's my current evaluation criteria:

• Consistent Tracking: Woohoo!  I counted on all days!  I can say there was a bit of portion size estimation going on on Saturday and Sunday, but being at someone else's house I feel strange whipping out a measuring cup and notebook.
• 1600 Daily Goal: Only 2 days of out of 7 were within 50 calories of 1600.  I'm starting to wonder if this metric does anything for me.  Having the goal is good, but I seem to be a little all over the place.  Maybe that is the reason to maintain it.
• Weekly Average:  13191 / 7 = 1884.  That's higher than I'd like.
• Monthly Average: 36895 / 20 = 1845. This is lower than the weekly average.  For the sake of comparison, this says that my intake last week was higher than usual.

The biggest shock this past week was the 3000+ calorie day.  I ate reasonably all day.  I dropped my kids off with their grandparents and headed to a grown-up birthday party (isn't it just great that I feel compelled to classify the type of party I'm attending).  I went in with a plan.  At the party, I consumed 1600 calories - my entire daily allotment.  My problem was that I didn't treat the buffet as a meal.  I snacked.  As with the dip, I need to manage buffet style in servings.  The drive-by snacking got me into trouble.

The difference between Saturday and Sunday was the wine I had on Saturday.  I had 4 glasses a bit.  Otherwise my party consumption was the same about 1200 calories.  I don't regret the wine by any stretch but what I find fascinating is that I ate 1200 calories simply because I was at a party and out of my controlled environment.  This is definitely where solid coping mechanisms are needed.

Without those two party days my totals would have looked a lot different.  However, I am proud of how I handled the meals surrounding the parties.  On Saturday I went into the day with a plan and I executed it flawlessly up to party time.  On Sunday I knew I'd overdone it, so we made a big green salad and put grilled tuna on top for dinner.  I don't feel upset with myself over those numbers, just interested in what I can learn.

Of course, I do kind of wonder how many times I have to learn certain lessons before they stick.  *sigh*  I look forward to the day when I will report that I picked up a plate at a party, filled it with a little of the things I wanted and then stepped away from the table for the rest of the night.  That will be an interesting day.  :)