Off Day Offerings: The Damage

As I mentioned on my Wednesday post, I gave myself a 'controlled break' from the diet from lunch until bedtime. I decided that I had not deviated from the diet plan (unless pre-approved by my trainer) from 7 Feb to 9 Mar. I deserved an afternoon of eating yummy, yummy food. I told ABD about this and he said I 'shot myself in the foot'. I disagreed.

Well, I got curious and decided to see *exactly* what the damage was. Bear in mind, I ate the approved meals for breakfast and snacks. So this is not representative of the entire day (this fact makes it even worse). Read it and weep--I know I did:

Cosi Chicken Tomato Basil Mozzarella Melt: 693
Cosi Chips: 150
Cosi Diet Coke: 0
Cosi Grande Chai Tea Latte: 214
2 Pieces of Butterscotch Candy: 46
Entemann's Raspberry Danish: 480
Panera Bacon Turkey Bravo (half sandwich): 420
Panera Chips: 160
Panera Mac n Cheese: 490
Panera Dr. Pepper: 240
Ghirardelli Chocolate Bar with Caramel: 220

Grand Total: 3,113 calories

To put this in perspective, my daily diet consists of 1,800 calories in total. I no longer think that a 'controlled break' is ever ok. Ever. If I am going to build some cheats in, they will have to be researched and pre-planned. Over 3,000 calories!!!! Wow...

If you are serious about weight loss and have similar philosophies about 'cutting corners' I encourage you to take the time to research what is going into *your* body. I googled everything and was able to find the nutritional info. For restaurants/store products, always check their website first. Almost every one has the information. If you cannot find it there, some good websites for looking general items up are:

Livestrong
Calorie King
A Calorie Counter

Take it from someone who has spent countless hours in the gym and countless dollars losing 78 pounds: Calorie ignorance is *not* delicious, tasty bliss.