I’m trying to plan my meals for the day using as few calories as possible and I still can’t get much under 800.

I read in one of my cookbooks not to exceed 1,000 calories a day at this stage. Then I read somewhere else only 400-800 calories for the first six weeks. Which would make sense, since I’m not losing weight, anymore!

I did reach out to Lindsey via patient portal, so she should be able to clarify what to aim for.

The problem with calories is they add up. I require so much protein everyday (60-80 grams), and, often, protein-rich foods contain more calories. Not always, but fairly frequently, in my estimation.

Because Lindsey had me switch back to yucky-tasting plant protein, I add a lot of junk to my morning shake to make it taste good: butterscotch pudding mix, peanut butter powder, chocolate syrup, whip topping. It’s all sugar free, but it still has calories. I could probably cut back there. My shake is close to 300 calories. Even if I just did:

• Protein powder: 150
• PB powder: 70
• Almond milk: 40?

Well, that wouldn’t help that much. If I nix the PB, then I’ve saved significantly more calories, but I lose the extra 8 grams of protein. And the shake tastes like butt.

Maybe I don’t need the extra protein. I’m usually always over at the end of the day.

Full disclosure: switching back to plant protein does seem to have helped get things moving again, so she was not wrong to suggest it. It’s just that that’s what I tried to tell them in the first place! There’s something about the whey-based shakes that really disagrees with me. Vehemently.

Apologies. I know this is all shop talk and extremely boring. But writing it down helps me work it out.

My point is right now, now that I’m feeling so much better than those first few days, I am already struggling with the limits of what I can do. It’s hard to eat 3-4 meals a day, bank 60-80 grams of protein and not exceed 800 calories—in my experience, at least. I can’t even imagine using only 400 calories. I was taking in around 400 calories those first days when I could barely eat one meal. That doesn’t seem right. It must’ve been less than that.

Yeah, must’ve been (Rutles reference).

But anyway, I guess I just have to eat foods the way they are and not dress them up with all kinds of extras because inevitably it will cost me.

Snack today? 1/2 cup of black beans. That’s it. Maybe a tiny bit of salsa or something. It’s hard when you don’t like onions. Maybe I’ll just put on a little dab of the garlic hot sauce I used to make the meatballs.

Let’s face it, the food has to be edible. Am I really going to want to eat a half cup of plain black beans? Not really.

It’s an interesting problem. You have to be restrictive…but also creative.

And so, with that, I go to the gym to take my walk. Talk soon. Thanks for reading.