One of the things about my 1200 calorie Thursdays that makes them easier to face and to manage is the certainty that tomorrow will be easier. Though I endeavor everyday to eat small portions, eat healthily, and eat less than 2000 calories so that I can continue to lose weight, the noose put around me by consuming such a low number of calories always feels tight. When Friday comes around, if I can eat 1500-1800 calories, it feels like a complete and incredible luxury by comparison.
My expectations for this Thursday were quite high because I had planned ahead by making sure I had plain non-fat yogurt on hand. Yogurt is the breakfast of choice on Thursdays because it is low in calories and it assists in the making of other food for the day by taking the place of other fattier things (like mayonnaise, sour cream, etc.). That being said, I really don't enjoy eating yogurt at all. The only thing that makes it palatable is the addition of fresh fruit and a packet of Splenda. If I concentrate on the tasty fruit, it helps me choke down the yogurt. On the bright side, this meal makes me feel like I'm eating a lot because I'm certainly eating more yogurt than I want to eat, even when the portion is moderate.
I made some "yogurt cheese" (yogurt which has been allowed to sit in a coffee filter such that a lot of the whey drips out and you're left with a thick, creamy paste) and used that in a tuna salad which I put in a tortilla in a roll-up. Doing a 50/50 mix of mayo to yogurt tends to be enough to keep the mayonnaise feeling without adding as many calories. Adding in pepper, garlic, celery salt, and some green onions makes for a nice flavor profile.
I chose tuna salad because it happened to be what I had on hand, but also because tuna tends to make me feel fuller for a longer period of time than other sources of protein. I really like tuna, but not too often. It's also relatively troublesome to prepare and I always crave cheese with it so there's a risk of adding back fat calories from cheese. I barely overcame the urge to stir grated cheese into my wrap, but did manage.
In the end, I had a good day with a total of 1287 calories. The "extra" calories were from a last minute add of about 10 baked tortilla chips to a very small dinner of refried beans. I was ravenous each of the 4 times that I ate a small meal though so it was a struggle to fight my desires throughout the day, but I'm happy to say I did quite well.
