Eating Journal??

I keep reading articles about how important it is to keep a food journal. Log everything you eat, record the calories, and then you can see how your eating habits led you to where you're at now, physically wise. So...I jumped in. Started keeping a log of what I ate everyday last week. Went through the weekend, and all this week.

Problem numero uno? The stuff that's hard to record calories on. I eat regular stuff during the day at work like yogurt and granola and fruit that's easy to record calories on. But when I get home and make dinner, that's a different story. For example, I made enchiladas for dinner one night. Tortillas, and ground beef, sauce, cheese, onions, jalapenos. Refried beans and spanish rice. How am I supposed to record the calories for something like that?! I'm not a nutritionist. So I took a wild guess, and went from there.

Problem numero dos? The numbers don't jive. For the amount of weight I've gained, and the fact that I'm not a size eight, I should be at 2500 to 3000 calories a day, I think. Instead, I'm closer to 1400 to 1800 calories a day, with one day over 2000. How is that possible? Granted, I just recently started the yogurt and granola deal, but still. I cut out fast food a while ago, stopped drinking every night, and have tried to bring my own food to work every day. So how come I haven't lost some weight? How am I only eating on average 1700 calories a day, and still weigh so much?

Next week I'm going to try logging calories, sugar, sodium, and fat. I think that will be the better measure of what I'm consuming, and why I'm at the weight I am. Mainly because I don't think just the calories are cutting it. I have to take into account everything else, because that's what's contributing to my weight. I understand better now why all the nutritionists and diet articles say its not just low fat, or low calories. Its a mix of everything.

The other thing I'm realizing? I'm entirely too sedentary. I need to get out more, move more. Be more active. I sit behind a desk all day, then go home, make dinner, sit on a couch all night, then go to bed. That's also behind my problem. So...yeah. Log more, get out more, and maybe, I can be smarter about my weight and how to make it all stay away.