Weigh-in Wednesday, once again.  I knew I hadn’t lost much, if any, since I’m coming off of what I described earlier as a mini “break” from a more strict eating plan.  You can see my weekly weight reports on my progress page.  Following this break of sorts, I have subsequently learned that….

Calories count.

Yes, back to the grind.  I’m excited, actually, because in all this experimenting, I’m really seeing what works and what doesn’t, both physically and mentally on the journey to smaller sizes.  I think that my ebbs and flows on this path have not been a bad thing, but now I really need to move forward and make some marked progress.  Now it’s just a matter of planning my work and working my plan.

Part of planning involves anticipating what will happen ahead of time, and preparing for it.  Deciding that when you see “x”, you’re going to do “y.”  In this case, that means anticipating when I may need to eat (monitoring energy levels) and having what I’m going to eat ready and accessible.  It also means keeping a check on my emotional/mental state, and knowing what to do when I feel a certain way (sad, bored, discouraged, stressed…etc.)

I will be updating this post every day this week with the caloric total of everything I eat.  I have never been too obsessed with calorie counting, and I won’t be doing this forever, but I’m just curious to see what amount of calories (taken from fresh fruits and vegetables only) will lead to what kind of results by the next time I step on the scale.  One week of recording, maybe two.  I will be using the Nutrition Data site to find out how many calories I have consumed.  Let’s see how it goes.  Stay tuned!

Wednesday 4/26/17

6oz blackberries: fat 0, calories 72;  1lb. red grapes: fat 0, calories 313;  1 apple: fat 0, calories 116; 1 pear: fat 0, calories 133;  TOTAL: 634 calories /  0 fat grams

Thursday 4/27/17

2 pears: fat 0, calories 266; TOTAL  266 calories / 0 fat grams

Friday 4/28/17

2 bananas and 2 oranges (smoothie):  fat 0,  calories 320;  1oz. roasted chickpeas:  fat 3g. calories 120; 1 oranges:  fat 0, calories 70;  1 pear: fat 0, calories 140;  TOTAL: 650 calories / 3 fat grams

Saturday 4/29/17

10 large stalks of celery, juiced:  fat 0, calories 60 (info courtesy of the juicing calculator);   2 oranges: fat 0; calories 140; TOTAL:  200 calories / 0 fat grams

Sunday 4/30/17

1 apple: fat 0; calories 120; quinoa salad (3 oz.quinoa, 3 tomatoes, onion):  fat 3g;  calories 190; TOTAL 310 calories / 3 fat grams

Monday 5/1/17

1 apple:  fat 0; calories 120; 16 oz pineapple smoothie:  fat 0; calories 250; TOTAL 370 claories / 0 fat grams

Tuesday 5/2/17

1 apple: fat 0; calories 120;  4 chopped roma tomatoes with bbq sauce: fat 0; calories 190; TOTAL 310 calories / 0 fat grams

Looking at my caloric totals this week, they obviously are pretty low.   I’m not sure what the reason is for my lack of need for food this week.  I’ve really just been listening to my body and giving it what it asks for.  My energy level, what I always use to decide if I need to consume something, has been consistently strong, and I’ve been continuing to drink my gallon-a-day of water.  It has somewhat felt like a fast, in a sense.  I probably will go up or at least fluctuate higher in calories after this week.  One reason is that I purchased 5 new books full of vegan recipes for my family, many of which I would like to try (in very small portions).  Another reason is that I just started a walking program to increase my activity level, and the increased physical activity may make me want to eat a bit more.  I guess I’ll find out soon enough.  Discipline and consistency, as always, will be my guideline.

Thanks for following me along my journey!

* I fumbled for years, unable to get my weight loss journey off the ground.  Now, I’m finally losing weight consistently and regaining my health!  Subscribe to my email newsletter here for the exact dietary tips and mind tricks I use daily that changed my life and can change yours.