I've been trying to count calories for four days now, with a goal of eating about 1200 a day or at least less than the 1536 calories a day a sedentary 51 year old woman is supposed to eat.  It's pretty easy when I have food labels to work from, but tough when I don't. 

New Year's at our family farm was a challenge because I didn't cook anything and there were lots of starchy fatty things.  Plus I've been almost constantly hungry.  I am pleased with the choices I made.  I ate turkey  - dark meat because that's what I like, even if it's more fatty, small portions of mashed potatoes and stuffing,  a larger portion of green beans with onions and mushroom sauce, and only one of my sister-in-law's homemade yeast rolls.  I had two glasses of Asti Spumante at midnight out by the bonfire and one chocolate chocolate chip cookie before bed.

Today I slept very late so only ate two meals -- the first, scrambled eggs & ham and four small potato pancakes plus 10 oz. of OJ; then a normal dinner for me at Panera Bread -- mushroom bisque soup (this is somewhat tomato based) and 1/2 a Fuji Apple Chicken salad, plus a French baguette with butter and an iced tea.  For the first time in four days I was full.  It was very pleasant.

Deciding to be on a 'food program' has once again given me the will power to say 'no.'   So even though there was food everywhere at the farm, I only ate meals.  At home when I get the urge to snack, I think about how many calories I'd like to be able to eat at dinner or where I am on the calorie total for the day and don't snack.

I'm not sure if some of the 'hungry' feeling I have isn't something else.  It seems almost every time I diet I get this gnawing feeling in my stomach.  I do notice that often Tums take care of that feeling so I'm going to make sure I keep them on hand.

Tomorrow morning I get on the scale again and I'll see how it's going.  I have decided I'm going to have to make time to exercise more regularly for a whole host of reasons.  One, I might be able to eat a little more and still lose weight.  Or I could just lose weight more quickly.  Two, it will keep my metabolism up and help keep me from losing muscle mass (what little there is) and three, it will improve my cardiovascular health.  I want to be in much better shape for the People to People Student Ambassador trip I'm leading to Hawaii this coming summer.  I don't want to be trailing behind huffing and puffing while we climb up Diamond Head or hike four miles to a waterfall (I forget the name).  That may mean actually getting on one of those stair climbing machines at the gym, because just walking fast or using the elliptical machine I'm fine.  Finding time to go is the issue.  I look ahead and my days and evenings are full and if they're not full I need to use the time to be preparing for meetings and rehearsals and such.  Maybe Saturday evening.  Ta ta for now.