Calorie Sampling

Breakfast - 259 calories

• Fruit Smoothie - 250 calories (3 oz each of blueberries, strawberries, berry mix, 1/2 banana, and 4 fl oz each of light soy milk, V8 fusion)
• Green Tea - 4 calories (16 oz loose leaf brewed in tap water)
• Flax seed Fiber Supplement - 5 calories (1 tsp in 8 oz of tap water) 
• Vitamin/Mineral Supplement - 0

Snack - 140 calories

• Kashi Honey Almond Flax Granola Bar - 140 calories

Lunch - 457 calories

• Salad - 457 calories (2 cups Romain lettuce, 1/3 cup each of cucumbers, carrots, croutons, grape tomatoes, scallions, 1 whole avocado, 2 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette dressing)

Dinner - 1115

• Flax seed Fiber Supplement - 5 calories (1 tsp in 8 oz of tap water) 
• Stir Fry ~ 500 calories (vegatables in oyster sauce,  6 pcs of fried extra firm tofu )
• Rice ~ 350 calories (long grain cooked in chicken broth w/green onions and garlic)
• Egg Roll - 260 calories (2 total)

Snack - 4

• Green Tea - 4 calories (16 oz loose leaf brewed in tap water)

Daily Total: 1975 calories, give or take, but certainly less than 2500!! That's a win in my book.

My original salad included almonds and a honey-lime vinaigrette dressing. With everything else the same that came in at a whopping 778 calories. By substituting tomatoes for almonds and going to a balsamic dressing, I saved 321 calories. I added in the Kashi bar since it helps with my "daily list" (nuts and whole grains) and still came out ahead by 181 calories!

Originally I made the stir fry with tofu (my first time) and after about 6 pcs I gave up. Texture was all wrong for me. I probably cooked it wrong but chicken, shrimp or even plain veggies would be better than the draining hassle coupled with learning the cooking technique. ICK!

I'm glad I'm not doing this every day, but occasionally will help me understand where I can cut and where I can eat more.

At this point in the day I'm still full and not really hungry for anything. Time to make tomorrow's smoothie!

Progress, but..

I'm doing reasonably well with keeping to the 4 lists. I'm doing very good on the "don't eat" and "once per week" lists, and a little better on the "at least 3x" since I've incorporated avocados. The "every day" I'm still not 100% on. Still I and others (mainly my spouse) have noticed some differences:

• I definitely have more energy
• My pants and shirts are not as binding as they used to be. In fact I've had to move down a notch on my belt to keep my pants on
• My midsection doesn't protrude as much as it used to
• Bending over at the waist to pick items up from the floor isn't as difficult
• Tying my shoes can be done without having to strain

I try to reflect on those when I feel there's not enough progress being made, a state that I find myself in right now. I'd really like to be able to see what my weight is on my home scale, but it still registers "E" despite all the above being true. I could just get one that will register at least 350 and be done with it but it would be nice to know I've crossed that threshold. I feel I'm close - perhaps within 5 or 6 pounds. 

I know I'm eating less and eating better foods but one thing I don't know is what my caloric intake is on a daily basis. I'm not really interested in keeping track every day but once a week or once every other week would give me a good indicator of what I'm consuming. I believe I'm consuming somewhere between 2000 and 2500 calories per day but without counting I'll never know.

Today will be a counting day.