On Nutrition: Counting calories

My husband and I mysteriously arrived back from our month-long trip to Texas with extra baggage. And it seems to be stuck to our waists.

We both had the same excuses. We really didn’t eat that much … except for a few Lone Star beers. And between riding our horses and dancing to great bands, we got plenty of exercise. Even so, when we got home, we got nasty messages from our scale.

I’m a dietitian so I should know how to solve this problem, right? Convinced that he needed to realize how much he was eating, I suggested we write down everything we eat for a week or so. And I would calculate our calorie intake.

What are calories, anyway? In a nutshell (one peanut has 5 calories by the way), a calorie is how we measure the energy in food. Like the gasoline we put into vehicles, calories provide the fuel that runs these bodies of ours. And calories come from three sources: protein, carbohydrates (sugars and starches) and fat.

However, there’s one basic flaw in our human bodies that I might talk to God about one day. Unlike the gas tank that won’t let me put more fuel in my truck than it can hold, my mouth has no automatic shut-off.

Our bodies do try to help us out, though. If I fill up with excess calories, my body tucks that energy away for a future famine. That’s what we brought back with us from Texas; stored energy in the form of not-so-comfortable love handles.

So, what have we learned in these first few days of counting calories? Most glaringly, my husband is doing better than me. To my defense, his body needs more calories due to the fact that he is a man and has a larger body. So if I want those extra jiggles to give up their residence, I have to eat less than he does. Darn.

To be clear, we aren’t starving ourselves on some nutty diet. We actually are eating the same foods we ate before. The difference is that we are now aware of the 95 calories in every tablespoon of peanut butter we put on our morning toast. We’re simply paying more attention to the calories we put in our tanks.

Another thing that irks me but is absolutely true: Even though we have remained active, these older bodies of ours do not need as many calories as we did in younger years. Yet they still require as many or more vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

So as we cut back on calories, we’re filling up on foods that pack a lot of nutrients into each bite such as veggies, fruit and lower-fat protein foods. For instance, my husband was thrilled when he learned he can snack on cherry tomatoes for a mere 25 calories a cup. I’m still learning to ignore the leftover Easter candy.