500 Calorie Dinner: SALMON + Cheesy Bread

You know calorie counting can be a real pain when you're just getting started, but after a while - once the comfort of habit sets in - it's a very enlightening process. Paying attention to every morsel you put in your mouth is let about being obsessive and more about be aware. It takes a little time, but you start to really understand food and portions, and you realize why you're under or overweight. And while there's more to life and health than just calories, knowing the energy (and the type of energy) contained in the food you eat will laying the foundation for automatically making good choices.

My dinner this evening was well under 500 calories, but still had hearty portions and was very satisfying. I had 6 oz of salmon that had been marinated in a lite vinaigrette. The small amount of oil in the vinaigrette, plus the non-stick pan made it unnecessary for me to cook it with oil. That salad is organic baby romaine with a lite caesar dressing. Don't let the angle fool you, I heaped on those green yummies because they are super low in calories and super high in vitamins (A, C, and a decent amount of iron). And, yes, ladies and gentlemen that is cheese and bread you see there. YES YOU CAN eat yummy foods when you're trying to lose weight. You just have to be reasonable about it (note that the pic seems to have overestimated the portion of bread, just as it underestimated the size of the salad). There are some psycho and crash diets out there that will tell you this is out of the question, but for me it's about lifestyle - not getting to a certain weight as fast as possible. I'm building a foundation  that will support my health for the rest of my life. And am I going to live the rest of my life without cheese or bread? I think not.