Moronacity

Well, I certainly did not stay within my POINTS range, today. Before dinner, I’ve consumed 41 POINTS. That works out to about 2,050 calories. I knew what I was getting into with the milkshake. That was planned. I feel like crap. I feel tired and my throat hurts. It’s been hurting for two days, now. Yes, I have a cold. Ick. How fun. I wanted super cool comfort food, so I bought a bucket of Jilberts vanilla ice cream. It took care of my throat for about the duration of the grand sucking down of yummy chocolate shake.

Now, that shake would not have been so full of calories if I limited myself to the half-scoop of ice cream that is what they call a “serving.” Truth be told, a good milkshake is never limited by such boundaries. I can handle the 130 calorie single serving scoop for eating ice cream, but a milkshake!? No, that required four scoops of ice cream (13 POINTS), two tablespoons of baker’s cocoa (1 POINT), and one cup of milk (2 POINTS).

What I did not realize, and what I learned from writing down my food intake, is that a personal pizza can be upwards of 13 POINTS. Now, that is a guestimation based on the nutritional information for a Pizza Hut personal pan pizza. That’s the best I can do. The pizzas at Michigan Tech cafes are handmade, so that explains why pizzas from some cafes are really good, and why some suck. Nutritional information really is not available. There is a possibility that I consumed fewer calories than my estimation because the pizza I eat at Michigan Tech is not pan pizza like the Pizza Hut personals. Pan pizzas are usually higher in calorie.

Another observation I made is the high calorie content of one little International Delight French Vanilla Creamer: 45 calories. Yikes. That’s a lot for a tablespoon of fluid used to flavor my coffee.

Obviously, I need to make some changes. I need to replace the pizza with a lower calorie alternative. Pizza may be on the menu for the rest of the week, however. I need to gather my resources and figure out how I can take a healthy alternative to school. The problem is that I don’t have access to a microwave, or a refrigerator. I may have to relearn the lunchbox days of old, when I had my metal lunchbox in the elementary school cafeteria. As far as beverages go, I do carry my water bottle to school every day. I don’t always drink the whole thing, especially when my throat is sore. Water and sore throats just don’t mix. It makes my throat feel even rawer.

What I find really interesting is the fact that I am not gaining weight on this pizza diet. By replacing the pizza with a less calorie-dense food, I can easily drop a load of calories from my daily intake. Replacing the coffee will remove four sugars (60 calories) and one creamer (45 calories) giving me two more POINTS to work with.

As I write this, I have consumed 41 POINTS, 16 more than my recommended 25. With at least three waking hours left to my day, I will eat. I plan to have a salad, like yesterday. It is very low in POINTS and quite nutritious.

I could look at today as a failure, but it’s not. I learned that my choices are having a greater impact than I thought, and this has given me the opportunity to make the appropriate changes.

Today’s Menu

Breakfast
Taco Salad
• Lettuce, tomato – 0 points
• 2/3 c corn – 1 point
• ½ c refried black beans – 2 points
• 3 tbsp sour cream/guacamole combined – 3 points
• Taco sauce – 1 point
• ½ oz cheese – 3 points

Lunch
Personal cheese pizza – ~13 points (unsure)
Coffee – creamer, four sugars ~ 2 points

Dinner
Milkshake – 16 points
Salad
• Lettuce, tomato, cucumber – 0 points
• 4 Morningstar Chik nuggets – 4 points
• 14 g croutons – 1 point
• ½ oz cheese – 3 points
• 3 tbsp homemade ranch – 2 points

Total POINTS: 51
Weight: 171, down from 175