Day 2 Coffee Talk

The best part of waking up is creamer in my cup. As I started Day 2 with my standard super-sized mug of coffee, it occurred to me to measure the Half 'n Half. I seriously didn't think it would amount to much, but generally, I simply glunk it in. Glunk, glunk, glunking it until the coffee turns the color of Cover Girl Creamy Natural foundation makeup. I like my joe to be a very light color of tan, more like a cup a cream with a splash of coffee. That's how I've always taken it...until now. Now, I'm counting. Counting every calorie I swallow. Half 'n Half gets counted too.
I glunked into a measuring cup the amount of Half 'n Half I usually pour into my 20 ounce (or so) coffee cup, and it came to nearly 8 Tablespoons! That's 160 calories! My daily ration of cream gobbles up nearly 10.7% of my daily calories and that's before I've even chewed anything. Over the course of a year, that's 58,400 calories, almost 16.6 pounds. Something's gotta give.
I certainly didn't want to squander hard earned calories on a cup of Folgers but giving up coffee entirely was out of the question. I could cut back on the amount of coffee I drink, which would cut back on the Half 'n Half , say ten ounces of coffee with 4 Tablespoons of Half 'n Half. That would still get me the "color." Or, I could drink it black (black coffee always looked so inviting when LouAnn served it up to Andy in those classic white ceramic coffee cups back at the Mayberry Diner, made you just want to wrap your thumb and finger around the handle and take a sip). Black coffee? I don't think I am ready for that, I think I'll try slashing my coffee serving in half, saving 80 calories a day.
Day 2 flew by because I was so busy sprinting from one "event" (vet, carpool, bank) to the next. I did manage to get my two aching calves out for a walk and I took the same route as before. Feeling a little less self conscious and a little more powerful, I finished four minutes quicker that the day prior for a personal best of 43 minutes. I didn't have much time to think about what I ate. I just ate.
Breakfast: 10 ounces coffee w/4 T. Half 'n Half, 2 (yes, 2!) servings Lucky Charms (one serving = 3/4 cups w/ 1/2 cup fat free milk! Have you ever seen THAT in a cereal bowl? You'd need a magnifying glass to find the green clovers!)
Lunch: I had my "all time metal lunch box favorite" PB&J. One Tablespoon Skippy & One Tablespoon Smucker's Sugar Free Raspberry Preserves spread on 2 slices Butternut Large Sandwich Bread (230 calories), 1 ounce pretzels (110 calories) and a Coke Zero (nada).
I scarfed down a bag of Orville Rickenbacher 94% Fat Free microwave popcorn (yes, I popped it first) on the way to the kids orthodontist. After the appointment, I arrived home to find a large pan pizza plunked down on the kitchen table. My husband had done the unexpected: picked up dinner! Out of extreme gratitude, hunger and exhaustion, I devoured 2 slices in 3.4 seconds flat (think Nathan's hot dog eating contest). I washed it all down with another Coke Zero. Although I should've eaten a Sesame Chicken Lean Cuisine that I had stashed in the freezer, I wasn't about to hurt his feelings (or dampen his desire to provide more dinners in the future).
Never look a gift pizza in the mouth. "'Tis better to err on many calories than to bring hurt to old man's eyes." That's an ancient Chinese proverb, I think.
I have an eating code of ethics when to comes to accepting and partaking of foods that your family, coworkers, friends (anybody for that matter) have baked, bought or prepared for you. You eat it. I think it may even be in the Bible somewhere, probably Leviticus, that states you are not to offend the bearer of good food gifts. How would you feel if you missed an entire episode of Mad Men baking your neighbor a pan of blonde brownies only to have her "oh so politely" pull the diet card: "Oh thank you sooooo much but I just can't, I'm watching my weight." How rude! Especially since you saw her hightailing her rear into her house the day before with a McFlurry in hand. I'd be a bit put out if my heartfelt Rice Krispie treats were shunned. How many times have you passed up something really scrumptious (like Baileys Irish Cream cheesecake) at a party or turned down your aunt's offer of homemade banana bread because you didn't want to "go off your diet", only to go home and eat everything in the fridge including the "Lunchable" earmarked for your son's zoo field trip?
Don't worry about those calories that you really don't want to eat, but feel like you should (and you should), just count 'em and be done with it. God does something miraculous with "grace calories." Sort of like the loaves and fishes thing, they don't really count...all the way.
Back to my pizza. I Googled Pizza Nutritional Info and anyway I cut it, one slice equalled 250 calories.
I knew a third piece would put me over so I grabbed a Granny Smith, definitely not my dessert of choice, but it was actually quite tasty. I ate 4 Werther's Original Toffees as I cleaned the kitchen and went to bed with a total of 1410 calories under my belt.