I hope I’m not what I eat. . . because that means I’m a Hershey’s Kiss

I guess there are worse things to be though. . .

Just in case you missed it, there was a great segment on 60 Minutes on Sunday.  Well, wait. . . there were three great segments, but two of the three would basically make you want to jump out of a window.

I will focus on the one that will NOT make you jump out of a window.

It’s a feature on research they are doing for a drug that can help people live longer, prevent diseases, etc., etc. . .

They also talked about the benefits of caloric restrictions and the studies they do on animals where they restrict their diets by 30% of the calories and compare them to control animals.  Wow, there definitely seem to be some benefits to that.   There are people that try and live this way, too. . . but on the segment, the stuff they ate made me want to vomit.

Watch this segment if you’re interested (sorry, the embedded video was broken):

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4752354n

Here’s what I’d like to study about myself. . . I have no idea where I stand as far as calorie intake. . . and what my calorie intake should be.

The thing is. . . I don’t eat much, and I eat my most fattening foods at work in the cafeteria and just snacking.  At home, I eat salads.  Also, I eat pounds of chocolate, and I’m curious as to how that counteracts things.

To find out how many calories I needed, I followed this link (I’m a HUGE Self magazine fan and I knew they would have something like this!):

http://www.self.com/calculatorsprograms/calculators/calorieneeds

I was told I needed 1500 calories a day. . .

But how much do I normally take in?  I found these calorie counts online or on my packages of food.  (Mom will not be impressed with this portion of the entry.)

This is an average day for me. . . not much food, but HIGH in calories and void in nutrition.

Lara Bar (Cherry Pie)	190 cal
2 energy drinks	240 cal
Cool Ranch Doritos	250 cal
Sandwich (Ham and Cheese with no condiments)	300 cal
Salad (with ~4 tbs of dressing–Yes, I’m serious)	300 cal
Almond Hersheys Kisses	420 cal
Total	1700 cal

Um, so yeah. . . you read that right. . . TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF MY CALORIES COME FROM CHOCOLATE!  Holy CRAP!  Of course, some nights, I eat more. . . some nights, much less.  On Friday nights, I might have four or none because I’m usually not home.  . . on a Sunday, I might have 24 because I’m home more.  On some days, I might have a taco salad with a pound of sour cream on it from the cafe at work. . . Some days, I snack on almonds instead of chips.  On some days, I might eat vegetable soup or I might have carrots and a sandwich for dinner.  This is just a *typical* day.  . . so OBVIOUSLY I have some things I need to change here, but I found this very enlightening.  I am strange and don’t eat very much, and the calories add up soooo fast.  I think about how much normal people eat (granted they may be healthier), and I can see why weight loss is such an issue for people.

Also, I can see that convenience is my biggest problem.  If I do not have healthy snacks readily available to me, I default to JUNK in the cafeteria like chips.

If you get Self magazine, they have a diet club. . . (I think it’s during the Self Challenge. . . I can’t find it there.).  I’ve never logged my food and exercise in it, but maybe I should next time.  I can see why people are successful at losing weight that way because I feel like crap after doing my typical list.

Wow. . . I am not necessarily trying to loss weight, but I could certainly be healthier. . . This was quite educational for me.