Thanks for the encouragement everyone. LaMa and Cate, I did add broccoli at dinner and a banana snack. It is hard to bring the calorie count up with veggies like broccoli, not unless you butter it or something, I don't.
I keep reminding myself that my real goal is to find a diet I can live with the rest of my life, not short term weight loss. I know weighing and weight loss are the best metric to be sure my chosen diet is working, over the longer term anyway. I think I would be perfectly happy eating 5,000+ calories a day if it did not cause weight gain, but it does so I have to learn to live with something other than what my instincts want.
Today was a good day, I am still a few calories below my target, but it feels ok. I am convinced my first 2 week "kickstart" was really less than 1,000 calories per day. Now that I am paying closer attention and weighing I realize that I was over estimating calories then. So I am eating noticecably more than in startup mode, even though the calorie counts don't look much higher. I am also getting better at picking low cal items, like a 140 calorie salmon steak rather than a 300 calorie one, same size just no skin and a lower fat variety (pink salmon).
Thursday
Breakfast
2 boiled eggs 156
2 small oranges 60
Lunch
beef jerky 180
Snack
more beef jerky 180
Supper
salmon 140 a big salad with lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers, no dressing 100
blue cheese 200
broccoli 31
small orange 30
Snack banana 105
Nightcap
wine, a bit more than usual 300
Total 1,482 calories