When I arrived at my office this morning, I realized that my beloved green work bag has developed a slight tear where the shoulder strap meets the main body of the bag. I cringed and made a mental note to avoid stuffing the bag to its limit, which is a practice I’ve developed to avoid looking like a pack mule. On a typical day, I carry my purse, lunch, and a full water bottle, and occasionally, I cram in my camera bag in case of the need for a lunch-hour session of finagling with pictures. Clearly, the bag has had enough, and I need to stop stressing it out.
The lunch bag is the biggest culprit in the overstuffing syndrome, by which I mean it is the chubbiest passenger. To say that I pack a lunch is a bit inaccurate since I eat periodically throughout the entire day. Today, as a typical example, I have two clementines, yogurt, a cup of applesauce, a pack of peanut butter crackers, chili, and a leftover piece of cornbread. I rarely eat everything I bring, but I like to have options to accommodate my mood. Out of curiosity, I calculated an estimate for the total number of calories I toted into work today: 1,210. Not surprisingly, my main lunch items (chili and cornbread) weighed in pretty heavily, followed by the crackers. Not bad, I thought, since that number includes breakfast and lunch, and I can have something like 2,000 calories every day, right? Apparently not. A cursory Google search shows that the recommended “maintenance” daily caloric intake for a female of my age, height, and weight, who exercises three times a week, is just under 1,700 calories.
Wow. I’m a little unnerved because this not-at-all-scientific finding means that I can only have another serving of chili for dinner to adhere to the guideline. Maybe I should crank up the salad:casserole ratio tonight. Do I get any bonus calories because I drink about a liter of water every day? Or because my arms are aching from last night’s climbing session, and we’re going again tomorrow? Or because I wore a sassy skirt on Monday that I bought five years ago?
Part of me says to forget the stupid calories. I don’t own a scale, and I never weigh myself because I have a dim view of how weight correlates to health, so why would I blindly follow another numeric guideline? If I’m feeling healthy, and the clothes still fit, there is no reason to stress myself out. Counting calories is fuzzy science at best, so it doesn’t make sense to focus on a daily caloric intake on which there is no widespread consensus. Despite a knee-jerk reflex to follow rules and align myself to the mysterious number, I know that the bottom line is that I feel fine.
The other part of me is issuing a moratorium on those peanut butter crackers, just in case.
10 comments
I have two clementines at my desk today, too! Yum.
I am a back-of-the-envelope calorie counter myself, and if you’re not gaining weight at 2,000 / day, you’re probably okay. Just weigh yourself regularly and / or keep an eye on how your clothes fit. As long as you’re not seeing changes in the wrong direction, you’re probably fine.
I think a lot of the calorie estimates are almost unhelpful, because it just changes SO MUCH person to person. I mean, how can I compare myself to a 5′4″ woman–even if she is a runner with similar training–who lives in the suburbs, drives everywhere and rarely walks? Just commuting to and from the bus and subway, I get in about a mile every day!
I know in my brain that the calorie recommendations are completely dependent on lifestyle and a ton of other variables, but it’s hard for me not to buy into it. Hey, I forgot the daily Ted walk! More bonus calories!
I wish I had two clementines at my desk. I just have a banana.
I’m with you on the never weighing myself and assuming I’m good to go because all my clothes from high school still fit. I have a lingering fear, though, that this lack-of-worrying might one day catch up with me in the form of high cholesterol and/or high blood pressure. Even skinny people can have those health problems. But normally they are for old, skinny people, so I will continue to eat as I will.
Both of those problems run in my family, so I try to stay on top of the foods I eat and my salt intake. An ounce of prevention, right?
I thought it was 2,000 too. And if you are working out or doing any kind of activity, you get to eat more to account for the expended calories. So to me, it sounds like you are doing great. Clothes still fitting is a good measurement.
I also don’t get into numbers and all that. I do weigh myself once a week. I’m trying to lose 20 pounds, so that is why. But, technically, when I lose those 20 pounds, I’m still on the verge of being overweight, by BMI standards. Which is a load of bull to me. So I don’t buy into all that either. Because if I weighed what BMI tells me, then I’d seriously look like an emaciated supermodel. And that is not the look I’m going for. I much prefer the healthy look!
I think weighing once a week when you’re trying to lose weight is showing pretty good restraint. Unfortunately, it seems like emaciated is in these days.
I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Like you said, you feel good and your clothes fit, so you’re obviously not consuming so many calories that you are putting on weight. Seems to me like you’ve got pretty healthy habits in place already without having to stress about counting calories.
I hope so. I tend to be a stress eater, so it seems counterproductive to stress out about calories and then eat more because of it.
I used to count calories and weighy myself (just out of curiosity I guess, I have never needed to lose weight) but I’ve come to the same conclusion as you. As long as I eat decent, exercise regularly and my clothing still fits the same, I’m content. I know that my mental health is much better without all that calorie-counting nonsense!
Totally true. The mental payoff is worth it.
Calorie-counting (through Weight Watchers point-counting) has worked very well for me, but I can totally understand how you wouldn’t want to obsess about it. Also, Weight Watchers allows you to eat more points if you work out, so yeah. It’s about balancing the energy you take in and the energy you expend. Maybe cutting out the peanut butter crackers won’t hurt, but not obsessing and being healthy are the most important things, I think.
I figure that if I were to cut anything, the crackers make the most sense because they provide the least satisfaction at the highest calorie intake. Bah. I’ll save them for more of a snack before I exercise or something.
Don’t stress about calories, or the counting thereof. If you’re eating a mostly healthy and varied diet and your clothes are fitting, you’re fine! Calorie requirements vary so much from person to person, but the 2,000/day thing is really an outdated benchmark. Most women don’t need that much.
Speaking of totally unscientific measurements, I get so jealous when I look at other people’s “calories burned” display at the gym. I can’t help but whine “That’s SO not fair!” in my head when I see some big, tall dude burning calories twice as fast as I am. Jerk.
I am totally a pack mule on my way to work… I’ve got a purse, gym bag, and usually a recycled shopping bag filled with lunch items. I like to keep everything separate!
When I used to run on the treadmills at the climbing gym (they’re constantly out of order now, grr), I used a shirt to cover up the calorie meter because it was just so darn depressing.
I think everyone’s body is different, you can’t worry about calculating calories or it will make you crazy!! I’m like you, there are no scales in this house, unless I go to the doctor and they weigh me, I really have no idea. But as long as my pants fit I can’t complain. lol. But now that you put the calculator on here, I’m going to have to check it out
Thanks!
I thought the calorie counter for foods was really interesting. They even have stuff broken out by brand, for goodness’ sake.
I do the same thing (carry a bunch of food with me to work, that is). Every day I’ll have my breakfast, lunch, and snacks in-between. Needless to say, my bag is a lot lighter on the way home!
That’s true, my bag weighs much less after the workday, too.
If you’re wearing clothes from 5 years ago, I think you have nothing to worry about.
I also feel like a pack mule going to work. Purse, gym bag, lunch bag, etc etc etc.
And hey, was that casserole good?
It’s one of our favorites, actually! It warms up nicely for lunches over the next couple of days.
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