21,000 Calorie FAIL

The past seven days were a colossal failure in my 21,000 calorie challenge. The week, however, does epitomize the struggle I have with my diet. I found myself on the go a bit more than usual. This included traveling to and from Nashville. The failure was further complicated by the fact that Jessica and I have a no eating out contest going on right now. Typically each of my trips would include a stop somewhere to eat. I am sure that would have put me closer to 21,000.

So in my second week of trying, I only hit 19,470 calories. That is a solid 1500 short of where I need to be. Looking at my food log is is very easy to see what went wrong. First, I fell behind in the beginning of the week. Life was busy and I found myself incapable of preparing a solid meal for dinner. Second, traveling really killed me. I all but skipped dinner on Thursday night and ate very little of Friday. Third, when I did eat it wasn't calorie dense food. We cooked ceviche on Saturday night. While great on the protein end, raw fish just doesn't have the calories needed.

The worst part is that my diet was complete crap last week. Too much snacking. With Easter, I think a half of my calories came in the form of ice cream, jelly beans and other candy. That might explain why the weight was slightly up Tuesday morning.

I did much better on the protein front and averaged 138g per day. That is pretty close. And given the limitations of last week, I consider it a moderate success. Overall, I am not noticing any changes. I do find myself a bit hungrier than normal so I take that as a sign that my body is not starving itself for calories any more. I am growing fond of mixed nuts and cheese.

I am determined this week to hit the 21,000 calories. I forced myself to spend $150 at the grocery store the past two days. Last night, in honor of my challenge, I bought some red meat and went to town on some burgers. Protein and calories UP. I also bought some ice cream which should help top me off each night. I will be even more interested to see what happens to my weight over the next week!