Write it down

Everyone who advises me on weight loss tells me that I need to write down everything I eat. So, rather than resist that advice as I usually do, I'm going to follow it since the only time I lost a lot of weight (on Weight Watchers about 5 years ago), that is exactly what I did. No more resistance. I have a huge book on calories and fat grams, but I wanted something easier that I could do on my computer.

What I found was sparkpeople.com, which I've added to favorite Web sites. Not only will they create menus for you according to your preferences, they allow you to check off what you had and then count your calories. You can create menus of your own or use theirs. It's not perfect, and can take a while to customize, but I printed off menus for the next few days that allow me 1,300 - 1,500 calories per day and the menus will even work for our children, who are returning to us tonight. I had to do some of my own research, but that's ok.

It also printed a shopping list, which I love!

I did really well yesterday, even when Tim and I ate out for lunch. We went to the delicious Edo Garden restaurant in Monona and had sushi and miso soup. Yum! Sushi rolls have about 25 calories per piece, but if you have spicy tuna roll with the spicy mayo, it's a bit more. About 290 calories for six pieces. Still not bad. Miso soup is about 36 calories for a cup. Sashimi doesn't have any rice, but since many of the sushi fish can have a lot of fat (like Salmon), it can add up if you get lulled into thinking "no rice, so no calories." One piece of yellowtail or other tuna is about 30-35 calories per ounce and salmon can be about 164 calories for two pieces. The spicy mayo that is served on Dragon rolls, or anything spicy, is about 100 calories per tablespoon, just like most other fats. I'll avoid that one.

Tonight I'm trying a stuffed potato Make-it-Yourself meal for the kids for dinner. Wish me luck!