Fat Free is not Calorie free

It isn't carb free either. In fact, I'm not sure what to think of "Fat Free International Delight Coffee Whitener" other than wonder whether it will clog the drain when I dump the remainder. I had started buying the product because it seemed a nice rich option for my coffee. It is. In fact, it is about twice as rich as light cream.

International Delight - Fat free French Vanilla packs 30 calories into a tablespoon. I usually use two per mug of coffee. In return for 60 added calories per mug I get 0% fat, cholesterol or sodium; but I also get 14 g of carbs, most of which (10 g) is sugar and I get no vitamin A or calcuium.

Compare this to Dairyland Light Cream (6% milk-fat; just a little richer than whole milk but lighter than standard 10% milk-fat creamer (a.k.a "half and half")). Two tablespoons offers only 25 calories and while that includes 2 g of fat, it offers only 1 g of sugar (which is also the full carb count). Throw in 5 mg cholesterol and 30 mg of sodium, but I'll accept that in exchange for vitamin A (2% RDA) and calcium (4% RDA).

I know what's going in my coffee now.

Fighting the Evening Snack Monster.

I wasn't hungry and yet there I sat, stuffing my face with pita bread, hummus, spinach dip, oily artichoke hearts and greasy garlic coil. Damn.

I was watching the election results. We had planned a party. Everyone bailed so we had "extra" food. No sense letting it go to waste right? Ohhhh! So wrong. I probably ingested an extra 500 to 600 calories between 10 and 11 p.m.

The first time I ever tried to lose weight, I only had one rule: no food after 7 p.m. It's one of Oprah's rules -- apparenlty a 7:30 cut-off works for her schedule. I may have to adjust the timing, but I think two hours before bedtime is about right.

All it takes is a toothbrush

If I want to stop eating for the night, I brush my teeth. That's it. The minty flavour brings back a rush of childhood memories of being tucked in for the night and somehow my brain usually turns off the food cravings.

Typical Saturday

Today was probably fairly typical for a weekend. I started with a big brunch: two eggs (fried -- in a nonstick pan -- over easy), grilled tomato, a small serving of hashbrowns, fried onion and mushrooms, and two slices of ham. To drink I had 6 oz of orange juice and two large mugs (12 oz each) of coffee. Since I had a big brunch, lunch was just a slice of toasted bread with "lite"strawberry cream cheese. Dinner was onion soup followed by grilled Basa filet with grilled mixed vegetables and a small slice of garlic toast; more coffee to drink. Later I made oatmeal cookies (some plain, some with chocolate chips) and I had two.

While this is not an ideal day, it is typical for a weekend. I am aware of what I should be eating, but I do let my portions get away from me. It's better when someone plates my food than when I am able to get seconds -- as I did not orginally serve myself the second egg or second slice of ham.

Somewhere to start

My fight actually started last August. Finally disgusted with myself for letting my weight win, I knew I needed to make some changes. Now that I have lost some weight, I can start to look at the numbers on the page. It's not the first time I've tried to lose weight but hopefully this time if I lose it slowly and by changing habits, I can keep it off.

I wasn't happy with my pre-pregnancy weight (about 225lbs.) but once I found out I was pregnant there wasn't much I could do. "I'll lose it after the baby's born," I told myself, "everyone always says they lose weight chasing around a toddler." The problem is, there's a couple of years between baby and toddler and in those years I managed to pack on a lot of weight. At my peak I was over 250 lbs and that's when the alarms went off.

My Top 5 Bad Habits:

1. convenience foods. I tend to snack on easy-to-find foods. If there's a bag of chips handy, I won't likely cut carrot sticks. Eating a meatball sub on-the-go is more appealing than a balanced sit-down meal.
   
2. emotional eating. Boredom and depression are my biggest triggers.
3. baked goods with coffee. Coffee is part of my daily life (and something I'm not giving up) but somehow I came to expect something baked -- giant cookie, oversized muffin, donut -- sometimes for two coffee breaks in a day.
4. giant portions. At some point I got into the clear-your-plate camp though I don't recall being raised that way. The big problem with this is North America's obsession with enormous portions. I am getting better but I still hate to see food wasted and it is hard to leave food on the plate -- especially if I've paid for a restaurant meal.
   
5. grazing. Similar to the convenience habit, I got into the habit of eating bits and pieces for my midday meal. I'd have a handful of peanuts followed by a toasted bagel. Half an hour later, I'd finish whatever my daughter hadn't eaten and then whip up a small omlet. Before I was done I might also have a cookie or two, some chocolate, and some corn chips with sour cream.

So now I am back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I'm still not happy but I am at least moving in the right direction.