Calories suck

The image on the left is Grace, my "whoosh fairy." She has not visited me once since I adopted her.

Today is kind of "off plan," but not totally. I ate at Applebees and had a big glass of red wine followed by lots of Diet Coke. I got the steak dinner with blue cheese topping, and subbed out the potatoes and bread for extra veggies (broccoli). I asked for no "croutons" on the broccoli. I had a dinner salad and used just vinegar for the dressing because I figured the steak and garlic butter on the broccoli was plenty of fat. I got another dinner salad to go to eat tonight at work, again with just vinegar for dressing. All-in-all very Atkins friendly, but way too high in calories.

Yes, my calories will be high, but I may be able to knock it down a bit depending on how hungry I am. So far I just munched some raw veggies and was quickly full again. That steak has some real staying power due to the protein and fat. (Protein and fat keep us fuller longer than carbohydrates, which make us hungry very quickly.)

Weight this morning was the same as yesterday - 146.2.

My weekend resolution - to have only a protein shake for lunch on Saturday and count my calories that day (which means no nuts for snack or potluck food for lunch).

Tomorrow I am going to the movies. I'm taking along a big bag of raw veggies so I have something to munch on in the theatre that is still diet-friendly. A 12 oz. bag of raw broccoli and cauliflower has 100 calories and only 8 net carbs.

The last couple of days:
Tuesday I ate about 1600 calories and 45 carbs. I burned 159 calories with all the walking I did that day.
Wednesday I once again ate about 1600 calories and 45 carbs. I burned about 81 calories walking to work from the BART station.

That might seem like a lot of calories but I know from experience that when my calories are too low (1400 range) I actually gain fat. So I am currently trying to keep them higher, eat more fat, and cycle them a bit to keep my body guessing. In the week or two if I don't see any movement I may get really serious and do a form of Induction (except keeping my glass of wine). As soon as I've used the rest of the shirataki that will knock me down 8 carbs right there. BIf I do a modified Induction I'll ease back on eating so many veggies and opt for one huge portion rather than two (or two smaller portions), eat more meat, and cut WAY back on total carbs.

I looked over my January menus when I was making progress and my fat intake was higher, including a tablespoon of mayonnaise every day. What if I started having a tablespoon of mayonnaise or peanut butter every day just for the added fat?

I would use pork rinds quite often, too. Unfortunately, the major grocery store chain here, Safeway, no longer carries them. I talked to the manager about it and he says he's trying to get them back. I've learned this is Safeway-speak for, "We will never carry them again so don't hold your breath." :(

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