One calorie: money and weight

BY KARI ANDRADE

The difference between being rich and poor is one dollar. If you spend $1 more than you earn you will be poor, and if you save or invest $1 of what you earn you will be rich. Same thing with weight. You will be skinny if you eat one calorie less than what you burn, and heavy if you eat one calorie more than what you burn. Money management has never been an issue for me. I carried a credit card balance only once, in the ’80s for a few months when I bought my second house.

I intuitively have always known what I could spend and afford and what I couldn’t. I have never known what food I could afford.
A lightbulb went on earlier this year. I have 1,500 calories a day to spend however I want. If that is on Snickers, fine. If that is on cabbage, fine. I eat whatever I want on my plan, if I can afford it. This makes me feel that I am operating from a place of abundance rather than scarcity. It is not about limiting my food and restricting my diet, rather it is about living within my means/my budget. It empowers me to make better choices and really own my food plan.

I usually start my day with a cup of coffee and plan out my calories for the day: For breakfast I will have ... and morning snack I will have ... lunch ... afternoon snack ... dinner ... I estimate the calories and figure out how much wiggle room I have left over for snickers, chips, low cal ice cream, a glass of wine or whatever treat I want. Usually I am right up to my 1,500 calorie limit by the end of the day. I spend every calorie I can afford and I don’t feel guilty about it.

Today I will have
Breakfast—coffee with 2% milk (I am out of fat free, half & half and skim) = 70; one egg, toast and 2 oz ham, 75 + 70 + 60 = 205.
Snack—grapes 1/2 cup = 50.

Lunch—turkey sandwich on lite bun with lettuce and mustard, 60 + 80 + 5 = 145; one cup navy bean soup = 160.

Dinner—chef salad - 2 oz ham, 2 oz turkey, salad with fat free dressing = 200.
Total 830 so far, add the snickers, 90, and a bag of sun chips, 140, a granola bar, 90, rice quakes, 70, and root beer float, 80, and I am up to 1,300. Plenty left over for toast with the chef salad if I want, or a glass of wine, or I can come in under budget like I did yesterday when my total was 1,350.

The result being I was 190.6 this morning. Down .4 from yesterday, down 2 pounds for the week and .6 pounds away from my clothing allowance raise up to $1.50 a day! Can’t wait.

By the way, all of the goal clothes have come off the closet door. I will wear most of them this week. The Capri’s are still a little snug but hopefully will look great on Saturday.