I sit in Starbucks as I write this. If anybody out there has read my blog for the past few days, you'll notice three of the entries mention this Starbucks visit. Since I write my entries a few days in advance, I'm getting the rest of the week's blog entries knocked out while sitting here, waiting for the garage to put the tires on my car that it needs to pass inspection.
I spent a decent amount of time poking around SparkPeople and writing my previous blog about my socks. Then I figured I ought to get busy taking care of my responsibilities. I'm taking a Health class right now at the community college (which I blogged about a few weeks ago in "A Full-Body Workout - in Our Minds.") So I started reading.
The current chapters are about nutrition and managing one's weight. Oh, how ironic. I thought of the things I've eaten today at Starbucks while waiting.
I ate breakfast at 8:15 (the lower-calorie egg/cheddar English muffin - with a splurge on the high-caloric White Chocolate Mocha, I admit.) Then I bought a decaf coffee around 10:30. Since I had been sitting here for two hours, I figured the least I could do was buy something else. 1:00 rolled around, and I was a little hungry. So I got their "Power Lunch Special" - a tomato/mozzarella panini, a bag of white cheddar chickpea puffs, a string cheese, and a 24-ounce bottle of water.
So, after reading the chapter on managing weight, I thought to myself, "Maybe I ought to enter everything I've eaten here in the nutrition tracker." Holy smokes... even though every time I went to the counter and checked out the nutrition information (which seemed like - ok - that's not so bad), in the end it all adds up to 1,316 calories, with 38% of them coming from fat. And it's only 2:00 PM. Yikes.
I have to go help with the orchestra seating auditions later today, so to get that run in, it will have to be much later... like the last thing I do before bed, most likely. I suppose I will also have to make sure my dinner is nutrient-dense and low calorie. I'm not sure what that will be yet, as I doubt I'll have any time to make anything. It might just have to be snack-type things, like yogurt and nuts. A piece of fruit would probably be good.
In any case, my Health book mentioned that Americans who eat fast food 3-4 times a week are far more likely to be overweight or obese. I believe it. Even though the things I ate were somewhat lower calorie options and had nutritional value, they had a much higher calorie content than what I would fix at home. Sometimes we can't avoid eating out, like today, where I'm a stuck until my car gets its new tires. But on days where multiple restaurant visits are in order, we need to be extra vigilant not to let our choices create or add to that spare tire around our middles.
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