Dan Nied's 100 Days: Day 16

Dan Nied's 100 Days is the chronicle one man's quest to improve his health in 100 days. Feel free to email him at nieddan@yahoo.com with any questions you might have.

What I ate today

Breakfast (8:30 a.m.)
1 can of tuna
2 slices of wheat bread
2 tablespoons of fat-free mayonnaise
Approximate Calories: 270
Fat: 2.5 grams

Lunch (12:30 p.m.)
3 servings iceberg lettuce mix (with cabbage and carrot bits cut up in there)
½ Tomato
¼ Cucumber
1 can of Tuna
2 tablespoons of fat-free Italian dressing
1 tablespoon of Just 2 good Bleu Cheese Dressing
Approximate Calories: 310
Fat: 3.5 grams

Snack: (4:30 p.m.)
3 ounces Cajun Roast Beef
Approximate Calories: 100

Dinner (6 p.m.)
6 ounces of Cajun Roast Beef
4 slices of wheat bread
2 tablespoons of fat-free mayonnaise
1 thin slice of onion
Approximate Calories: 418
Fat: 8 grams

Snack (9 p.m.)
1 serving of pea pods
Calories: 40
Fat: 0 grams

Approximate calories ingested: 1,138
Fat ingested: 14 grams

I need to get a scale. That 1,138 calories there is probably pretty close to right, but still, I had to estimate the roast beef. I tried to take conservative portions, but that stuff is really good. I did, however, smarten up and ask the deli counter guy to slice the turkey I bought today into two-ounce slices. So one slice equals two servings, 100 calories and two grams of fat.

Assuming your reading comprehension is at least at a fourth-grade level, you should be able to tell two things from the above paragraph: 1) I went shopping today and 2) I am making an effort to more closely count calories.

While shopping, I decided to add a few new things to the diet. The much anticipated V-8 and cottage cheese were both purchased as were pea pods, grape tomatoes, actual grapes, and catfish nuggets. The recurring theme there is that I want easily available and healthy foods that I can grab as a quick snack. I ate five times today. But I usually eat four times and I don’t really think that is enough. I’d like to add at least one more snack in there, preferably between lunch and dinner. I also got the aforementioned roast beef (100 calories, three grams of fat per three ounces.) I asked for a half pound, but the apparently-deaf deli guy gave me a full pound. To me, that was like found money. I shut my mouth and went on my merry way.

The other purchases today were old reliables: a pound of turkey, wheat bread, salad mix, celery, baby carrots, mushrooms, one onion, cucumbers, chicken and tuna.

I thought I would end up paying about $40 for all this stuff, but when I checked out, including some (non-genital) wart remover, I ended up paying $56. $56! Now I realize the other reason I never wanted to lose weight: I can’t afford it. However, I have a feeling some of this stuff will still be around the next time I go shopping. Let’s just hope it doesn’t rot in the meantime.

Article Author: Dan Nied

Dan Nied is a journalist, of sorts, living near San Francisco. He is a college graduate, but you wouldn't know it by looking at his bank statement.

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