Diving Deep into the Rabbit Hole

And I'm eating like one too...  This is tonight's dinner.  Baked chicken tenders, marinated in lemon juice, minced garlic, majoram, and lemon pepper - sliced up on a bed of fresh baby greens - mixed with some avacado, cucumber, and mushroom - topped with Wish Bone's Fat Free Italian dressing. 

Total carbs: 9g
Total fat: 5g
Total protein: 25g

Total calories: 184

I must admit, I was a bit hesitant to buy ANYTHING listed as Fat Free...  Especially salad dressing.  But I was pleased that this one was definitely not lacking in flavor. 

This salad is a VAST improvement from my more recent salads.  I think I had more croutons than salad and enough Thousand Island dressing to make it soup instead.  I've never been one for mushrooms either.  But this being a new year, I figured it was time to start trying new things. 

I made a pit-stop to Walmart after the gym this afternoon and while I was there, I bought a digital scale.  This thing is awesome.  It takes all the guess work out of trying to figure out portions and calorie content.  I use Sparkpeople.com to add up my calories and keep track of my meals.

It has been tough this afternoon.  This is the second day in a row where I didn't have lunch planned and just sorta snacked through lunch.  I made sure to choose healthy things with low carb count since carbs seem to be a big problem food for me.  I know there's a big difference in carbs and that some carbs are important for brain function...  blah blah blah...  The carbs I refer to are ones I call "intentional carbs" or my favorite, "carbage."  For me, intentional carbs are foods that are high in carbs, high in calories, and have little to no nutritional value. Unfortunately, I intentionally eat them for that purpose...  bread, cookies, crackers, cake, candy, chocolate!, ice cream - Basically everything that I know I shouldn't eat. 

Coming off a year long carb high, detoxing (yet again) wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  Keeping busy helps.  Being off of work definitely helps.  Being on break from school also helps.  But tomorrow, life starts again full force.  Back to work.  Back to school.

Work has been extra special stressful these last few months.  This has definitely contributed to my stress eating.  I need to find a more productive way of dealing with that stress - a way that does not include taking up smoking as a substitute for food!!  I am hoping that this is where exercise will come in.  I know going back to work after being out for 10 days, I will have a lot to stress over.  I plan to head to the gym immediately after and hope this anticipation will help ward off the carb demon.

Tomorrow will definitely be the test.