I count the calories of the food that I eat. While most people would think that counting calories are only for the weight watchers–those people who watch their weight because they do not intend to gain any–I happen to do the opposite. I count my calories because I want to gain weight.

Most people say that it’s easy to gain weight.  I beg to disagree because I have been trying to gain weight for a long time, but to no avail. This attempt is coupled with two months of inactivity just sitting down and clicking web pages, eating peanuts (the fried and greasy kind) at least a palmful once a day, eating two or more cups of rice per meal, drinking milo and milk before going to sleep, among other things. So far, this attempt has failed  me, because all I have been getting are comments from Abel’s boss, my sister’s friends, and pretty much everyone I used to know from law school who has comments on my weight:

Kath, pumapayat ka.

I do not appreciate “you lost weight” comments as much as “you seem to be gaining weight” because the former connotes a problem. While admittedly I do have a problem, I do not intend to wear it as a badge. And I do not intend to lose more weight because it’s hard to buy clothes that fit a small frame. Try buying skinny jeans and have the people tell you to go to the kids section.

So, back to counting calories. This morning, I had the following:

• Cheesy Bacon Mushroom Melt c/o Jollibee – 417 calories**
• Potato french fried in Vegetable Oil medium sized (85g) – 291 calories
• 12floz Rootbeer – 152 calories
• coffee – something like 102 calories

all of these breakfast items mean 962 calories. According to the interwebs, in order to maintain this weight I need to be eating 1800 calories. So that means I need to eat more than 1800 calories to gain a little weight. Easier said than done. Apparently those calorie counters do not factor in stress. Or the daily commute. Or the fact that I consume too much spicy foods in a day, those sorts of things.
ANyway, back to breakfast. Do colder foods have higher calorie counts? I’ll get back to you on that.

**is likened to the calorie count of a regular double patty with condiments and vegetables