Calories matter to me, in a huge way. If I don't have enough to eat, it's all over. I've, well, not got a lot of in-body energy storage. Just the other day I was day-hiking and started losing focus, getting a little shaky. So I sat down in the middle of the empty trail, as that was the only suitable area, and ate two trail bars. Sarbar's recipe as a matter of fact, with extra nuts + chocolate chips and some large-grained sea salt that makes for little salt explosions in your mouth. Yum.

Ahh, I get distracted. In any case, what I needed sorely was food, even though just two hours ago I'd finished off one medium roast beef sandwich. The trail bars were wonderful and I was substantially less shaky and more awake about 5 minutes later. An hour later I was home and eating a bowl of ice cream, and believe me I needed all of that plus a good dinner later. Multi-day backpacking trips pose major energy challenges for me! As a result I've become a devotee of homemade trail bars, thank you Sarbar, and I always try to keep some stocked in the freezer.

At this point I don't heavily monitor my fat intake, sodium intake, vitamin intake or similar things. I do force myself to have 3 large organized meals a day, often with a banana for the first two. I snack heavily on fruit. I estimate I consume about 3000 calories a day, depending on how active I am, and I'm a pretty fit guy. My father has had 2 heart attacks, my mother is a diabetic, and this has greatly influenced my cooking and given me motivation to keep fit. Namely, my father's cooking changed drastically after his heart attacks, and he's the guy who taught me how to cook. Instead of worrying too much about monitoring fat, I cook salmon and other fish often, and don't serve Hollandaise too often <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />. Instead of worrying about monitoring vitamin intake, I just try to eat a variety of fruit and vegetables. I do cook french toast or pancakes a few times weekly, and eat ice cream!
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- John