Charlie as in Calorie Counting

When I met the assistant superintendent for the Jackson hotshots he said what I think most of my phone interviewers have thought,"I thought you'd be bigger." This coming after I had disclosed my height and weight a couple times already in phone conversations. The truth is, I'm a very small person in terms of my physical body. I am five feet and four inches tall. I currently weigh 110 pounds, which is about ten pounds lighter than I normally am and would like to be. I think in all of my training the past two or three months I've not kept up with the calories I need to maintain my preferred body weight. Because I'm tired of people looking at me and thinking I couldn't possibly be a fire fighter, and because I want to look a little more lean I've decided it's time to start counting calories. I've never paid attention to calories before--mostly because it seemed that only people who wanted to lose weight watched their calories. Rather than trying to cut calories and avoid fat, my goal is to increase my caloric intake to exceed those spent during regular metabolic processes as well as those spent in my workouts which are only getting harder as I move further along in my half marathon training. To anyone trying to lose weight, I know that it's hard; but look at the bright side: at least it's cheaper to lose weight than it is to gain it. :-) Eating more calories has meant more trips to the store which means more money it of my bank account, not to mention all the extra time I spend on cooking, eating, and doing the dishes. Sometimes I wish I were in need of losing a few pounds just so I could be saving a few extra pennies. Another challenge I'm faced with that weight losers have going for them is appetite. When you exercise you trend to have a smaller appetite. I'm trying to get onto a regular schedule to make eating easier, because going off of my appetite doesn't keep up with my needed calories when I'm exercising six days a week. I never thought I'd say it but, I'm now officially a weight watcher. My heart goes out to all the weight watchers and calorie counters out there, whichever way you're trying to top the scale! Fire away!