I’m back in Japan after 24 days in the U.S. I’d like to give a brief report on how I did during this trip.

First the good news (for me). My weight this morning, on the scale I’ve been using for years, is exactly the same as it was on April 1 when I left for Boston and St. Louis!

Super yay!

What I did right:

Except for my two long-haul flights, where I ate the vegan meals (i.e. they probably included oils), everything I ate was compliant with WFPB eating, as per the recommendations of people like Ornish and Esselstyn and Greger. It was because of Greger’s “How Not To Die” that I recommitted to this way of eating in September. And because of this, my HbA1c is down to normal range, my blood pressure is great, my LDL is amazing, and I’ve lost a lot of weight.

What I didn’t do that I usually do (but planned this in advance):

I am also trying to lose weight, so normally I also follow Chef AJ’s advice and stick to foods lower in calorie density and log my calories and exercise in MyFitnessPal and stick to a net of 1800 calories a day or less.

In particular, except for this trip, I haven’t been eating breads or pastas and I’ve been avoiding avocados and things obviously high in calories, like nuts.

But this time I figured for my trip I’d concentrate on healthy WFPB eating and not on weight loss and see what happens.

So I splurged on things like WFPB compliant delicious breads I found in the U.S. – eating lots every day. And also lots of guacamole and other things I normally don’t eat.

Depending on the scale I used, I could see weight fluctuations of just a few pounds, so I knew things were “basically under control” so I was really pleased to check this morning, at the usual time, and see that I didn’t gain any weight at all!

I also got in less of the “Daily Dozen” than I usually do during this trip, and walked less than I usually do.

Going forward:

So now I’m back in Japan. I’m following the Daily Dozen again, and will get back to daily walking more, and am back on lower calorie density foods so I can continue my weight loss journey. In other words, just go on as usual.

Since I had such great success without counting calories the last few weeks, I may try an experiment with that – but just sticking to the lower calorie density foods – and see how that goes.

All is good.

Stay the course!