What I Ate Today

• chocolate shake w/ plain yogurt + ground flax seed (283)
• cappuccino (125)
• potato chips (150)
• cheese pastry (160)
• Hershey's milk chocolate pearls (100)
• 2 hard-boiled eggs (140)
• vegetable rice porridge (207)
• Belcube cheese (14)
• Activia yogurt drink (90)

Total Calories: ~1270
Exercise: 3 miles w/ weights + 2 miles + 10 min. pilates stretching
Weight: maintained

Again, I did not eat enough fruits/veggies today. Since I started counting calories again, I've gotten into the dangerous habit of "saving" my calories in order to eat what I really want to eat (which is stuff like chocolate and ice cream and lattes), which means I haven't been "leaving room" for the good-for-you stuff. I know that this is not a healthy thing to do, and therefore I packed a healthy, protein-filled egg + red/yellow pepper salad for tomorrow's lunch that comes in at around only 150 calories per serving!

I was a tad disappointed that my weight was the same as yesterday, but on the other hand, it can't be healthy to lose a pound a day, right? That's an unhealthy losing rate, anyway. I've found that religiously tracking calories and NOT formally tracking activity on livestrong.com helps me (Instead, I record my daily activity elsewhere.), because when I tracked my exercise on the site, it would subtract the # of calories I burned while exercising, and therefore, "allow" me to eat more, which was just confusing and most likely not accurate anyway. I've been attempting to keep my daily caloric intake to anywhere from 1100~1300 calories and exercising hard no matter what. This has to work! As long as I stick to it, I believe it will work.

As for the Slim Fast shakes, here's my take on them. When I originally bought the shake mix, I did so because I was traveling to a different country and I didn't want to risk taking something that I had not tried before. Since I had had experience with Slim Fast and rather liked the milk chocolate and chocolate royale flavors, I went with the chocolate royale. In short, I just didn't want to risk being stuck with a big load of a protein shake that I ended up despising the taste of. Honestly, the Slim Fast shakes do taste good (at least the chocolate flavors), although I don't feel full for long. I do regret not trying out a more nutrient-filled protein shake mix, but since I have the Slim Fast on hand right now, why waste it? I'm gonna use up what I have and try out something else when I'm finished with the product. Just to make things clear, I do not use shakes as a staple meal. I bought the shake mix with the intention of using it when I'm on-the-go, which I usually am in the morning these days.