Wait - Eat MORE calories?

Change can be difficult. I was shocked at how changing my eating habits was relatively easy when I made the decision. I think I was so focused on sticking to the plan that I didn't really have an opportunity to see what I was missing. Replace pasta for lunch daily with salmon? I focused on how to cook the salmon and eating it vs missing the pasta (but I digress).

I have been in a plateau for 6 weeks now. It's getting rather annoying. Today I did a bit of research and talked to Ana about it. I read about calorie cycling to confuse your body. The concern being, as I decrease my daily calories, the body starts to conserve energy (and calories). Totally normal but definitely not helping on the scale! Instead, under calorie cycling, I would do 1200 one day and 1400 the next. Hopefully the 1400 calorie days would be enough for my body to recognize more calories and stop conserving. Rather than this approach, Ana suggested a week back at 1500 calories. Ahhhh! This required an emergency second call.

If I had to pick the most valuable lesson I have learned, it's that not all calories are the same. I can't just tack on 300 calories of Teddy Grahams. So we chatted and settled on adding almonds back into breakfast and adding laughing cow cheese with whole grain crackers. The problem with this is I don't have "go to" crackers so the search was on. Trader Joe's always has really smart options, using healthy ingredients loaded with goodness (like flaxseed oil, which I had never heard of pre-TJs). I compared the nutrition facts but ended up buying three boxes. I'll do a taste test and pick my favorites. Always good to add another option to my repertoire of foods!

So this week, regardless of how counterintuitive it is, I'll be back up to 1500 calories. Scary but hopefully it will do the trick!