Posts Tagged ‘food’

I’ve been asked a few times what a typical day or two of eating is for me while I’m on this weight-loss adventure, so that’s what this post is all about: food, calories and a few ruminations on the subject.  If you’re not into it, skip it because this is a long one.

For the record, I don’t pay attention to the carb/protein/fat ratio of what I eat.  I did last year when I was logging food and again when I began this time, I logged a few days worth on DailyPlate.com just to check, but my ratio comes out pretty solid so I don’t sweat it.  I suggest you log your food online for a few days to make sure your proportions aren’t way off.

I do keep a few key things in mind:

1. Protein and fat are what keep you sated (I always thought it was carbs until I read Racing Weight), so a bit of either/both will help you feel full longer than just straight carbs.
2. After a run, you want to eat within an hour or so and include a little protein to aid recovery.
3. Since I eat less and stop eating earlier than I used to, if I have a hard run the next morning, I make sure I get a nice carby meal that night.  Might not make a difference but it can’t hurt.
4. If you don’t already, consider taking a multi-vitamin to cover any potential holes.

Tools Of The Trade - my postal scale (only used to weigh marijuana once and not successfully, either) and my cups and tablespoon.

Now About That Food…
I live alone so I rarely never feel like cooking. One thing I love to do is make a huge pot of rice or Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains and divide them into 1-cup portions, put them in baggies and shove them in the freezer.  That way I’ve always got perfectly-sized servings on hand.

Bread – I avoid those huge-ass loaves and try to keep the calories per slice around 70 – this requires some label reading since most of them are 90-120.  And I always get whole wheat or a grain mix.

Herbs – I love these Dorot frozen cubes.  I get the garlic and basil ones at Trader Joe’s.

Warning: Trader Joe’s (TJ’s) is a running theme throughout the post, though several of the items including these cubes, are available elsewhere.  I’m sorry if you don’t have one in your town or country, it kicks ass.  In lieu of that, similar frozen meals to the ones below are available in Whole Foods or normal grocery stores, though usually pricier.

Butter – I use faux stuff, 50 calories instead of 100.  I also use (but only for popcorn) “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” spray.  Some of you are barfing over this, but it works for me.  For cooking, I always use non-stick cooking spray.

Cheese – I had stopped buying cheese since I’m either a pig with it or it gets old in the fridge.  Now I buy individually wrapped string cheese and cheddar cheese which works great because it’s a pre-measured 70 or 80 calories, stays fresh and makes a great small snack.

Syrup – I respect that some of you hate the idea of Splenda and sweeteners, but I love my Maple Grove sugar-free syrup.  Compare 210 calories for 1/4 cup of normal to 30 calories for this stuff.  Btw, I don’t eat the standard portion size of 1/4 cup, I get 8 servings out of a bottle instead of 6, so that’s only 22 calories per slab of pancakes.  My insatiable sweet tooth is very happy.

Veggie Burgers – I’m not a vegetarian at all but I’ve not had the urge to buy or cook raw meat in a long time.  I do however, like to keep an assortment of veggie burgers on hand.  They’re so easy to prepare and yummy, too, though a couple aren’t really “burgers” at all, just shaped like them: Dr. Praeger’s California burgers (110 cal) which are so vegetabley, you can see each individual pea and carrot and Trader Joe’s Vegetable Masala burgers (120 cal) which are fantastic if you like Indian food, really great to crumble over grains or rice.  When I want one that tastes and chews like an actual burger, I get Boca burgers (140 cal).

Grains and Pasta: Big favorite is TJ’s Harvest Grains which contains Israeli couscous, red and green orzo, split dried garbanzo beans, and red quinoa.  It’s 283 cal for a prepared cup, easy to make as couscous, has 10g of protein and has a wonderful substantial texture.  I make mine with chicken bullion and no added fat, cook the whole bag (yields 6 cups) and freeze half of it in the aforementioned baggies.

As for pasta, I just recently started eating whole wheat pasta and love it.  The thing about pasta is you really need to measure or weigh it before cooking because it’s too easy to make unnecessarily large portions.

Frozen Entrees: Trader Joe’s has so many excellent ones, I’m only partially ashamed of my frozen food consumption.  When buying frozen entrees, I always look for portion sizes that go with my calorie goals, 450 -500 calories.  If I bought something that had 650, I surely wouldn’t put 4 bites in the fridge for leftovers, I’d eat the whole thing, so it’s just easier to choose the right amount from the start.

Dividing Your Calories Up
As per the Racing Weight book, when I was targeting 1800 calories, that’s 450 per meal and 150 per snack.  Now that I’m going for 1900-2000, I add a bit here and there.  My main deal is to make sure that by the time dinner rolls around, I’ve had about 1200 calories so I’m not “saving for later” as I used to.  This also makes lunch a hell of a lot more fun because I can eat the meals I’d only reserved for dinner in the past.

So let’s get into it.  Note that when you see a lower amount of calories for a meal listed, like a turkey sandwich, I’ll have a small side dish or fruit or make the next snack a bit bigger to try to keep things even as far as fueling.  It feels so much better this way – no cravings, no hunger.

Pre Run (5:30 – 6am, though the last few days 8ish…woohoo cooler weather!)
Quality run or if I’m hungry first thing: Bread with peanut butter and 1/2 banana – 220 calories
Recovery run: 1/2 banana – 55 cal
Always: Hazelnut coffee with fat-free Half and Half – 20 cal

Breakfast (whenever I get back)
Pancakes with sugar-free syrup – 330 cal
Bread with peanut butter and 1/2 banana – 220 (I’ll have 2 of these or one will have been the pre-run one)
Old Wessex 5-grain cereal (I get it at Whole Foods…love the chewiness) w/ 1 tbsp. of peanut butter and sweetener (just like a warm PB cookie!) – 250 for 1/2 cup cereal and 1 tbsp. PB or 375 calories for a bigger portion.
Eggs with spinach/mushrooms and 2pc. toast with faux butter  – 390
Dr. Praeger’s Veggie burger on toast – 250
Maple Shredded Wheat and 1% milk (1.5 cups cereal, 3/4 cup milk) – 380

Lunch or Dinner (noon and 6-7pm)
Turkey veggie sandwich with tomato, cucumber, mushrooms and lite mayo – 270 cal
Egg salad sandwich w/lite mayo – 270
1/2 cup TJ’s Harvest Grains sauteed w/spinach and garlic for a nice side dish – 150 cal
Boca burger w/cheese – 360
Trader Joe’s quiche (love these!  they fulfill my need for crust) – 460 cal
TJ’s salsa verde chicken enchiladas – 480 cal
TJ’s Olympiad greek pizza (a one-person pizza and quite delicious) – 450 cal
TJ’s Chicken Tikka Masala and a piece of garlic naan (yum!) – 490
TJ’s Masala Veggie Burger crumbled over grains w/veggies- 450
Whole wheat pasta w/sausage, veggies and tomato sauce – 500
Pasta with white clam sauce – 470
Rice and black beans w/ spicy sausage and veggies – 450
Salad with lots of veggies, 1/4 cup walnuts & 1/4 cup dried cranberries, balsamic/1tbsp. oil – 530
Chinese pork dumplings w/rice and veggies – 500
Egg noodles (3 cups dry…lots ‘o noodles) w/broccoli, garlic, basil and faux butter – 530
Sauteed fish w/low-fat coconut milk and curry sauce, mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts – 480
Shrimp coconut curry w/veggies (yes, I love curry) – 500

Once it starts getting cooler, I’ll pull out the crockpot and make stews and pork tenderloins, etc. which I’ll portion out and freeze.  I haven’t bought fresh chicken in about a year (I’m so weird), I used to cook a few breasts and freeze them, so I need to get back on that.

Snacks (10:30, 3pm and 8:30pm)
5 water crackers, 2 tbsps hummus and a carrot – 140 cal
3 crackers and an ounce of cheese – 115
Air popcorn (made in a paper bag) – 1/4 cup unpopped 145 cal, 1/3 cup unpopped 204 cal
1/2 cup Old Wessex 5-grain cereal w/cinnamon and sweetener- 160 cal
Veggie burger open sandwich – 180 to 210 cal
Tomato, cucumber, mozzarella salad w/balsamic – 140
White wine – 120
1/4 cup chopped walnuts – 200
Fruit

And that concludes my gastronomic sampler.  Hope it’s helpful if you’re stuck figuring out what to eat when trying to lose weight.  Of course, if you don’t mind cooking, the world is your oyster and there are tons of recipes online for light cooking.  Then you can invite me over for dinner.

Have a great weekend, my friends.  Eat well, run well!

Yesterday was an interesting 15. The bulk of it was strangely light-footed and comfortable – unexpected, considering I’d raced the day before. But then around mile 12, I got a tweak in my upper quad and had to stop a couple times to try and stretch it out. Just when I was thinking I was indestructible, lol.

So the next couple days are penciled in but subject to change depending on if my leg feels anything but fabulous. Today I’ve got an easy 8 9, but I’m skipping the scheduled hill sprints to make sure the tweak settles down.

Tomorrow, I’m scheduled for a speed session aimed at my 5K on Saturday (1200 @ 5K pace, then 6 x 400 @ 5k pace w/1min. recoveries for all). If there’s a semblance of discomfort left, I’ll skip it, just run easy. I can afford to miss a hard workout considering how regular I’ve been the past couple months and also, this will be my third race this month! However, if all is well (as I expect it to be) I’ll do the session because some race pace practice would be useful.

Other than that, the rest of the week will look like the previous one; 11 easy on Wednesday, two more shorter easy runs on Thurs/Fri and the 5K on Saturday, then 16 on Sunday.

Pushups/Chinups: I’m repeating week 5 of the pushup challenge – I felt like my form got kind of half-assed last week. Wait, scratch that, on second thought, I’m going to do Week 5, day One for a full week, then day Two and Three for a week each before moving to the final week. As for the chinup bar, I haven’t put it together yet, so that’s on the agenda for today. Then I’ll probably stare at it for another two days.

Food: Drumroll please…a few days ago I stopped logging food into dailyplate.com. I’ve been at it since the last week of December and it has been a wonderful tool (it literally taught me to eat so much healthier) but now I’m ready to cut loose and hope I stay status quo.

I’m unashamed to say I haven’t made it to that final goal of 114 lbs,  hovering instead between 116-117.5, but I’ve lost several inches and 2% of my bodyfat, so I’m satisfied. That said, I might still make it down to 114 since I haven’t been eating maintenance level and it’s new muscle that’s been slowing the scale. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, there’s a 4oz box of Jelly Bellys on the counter that a friend brought over last night. Though I’ve had occasional sugary treats and almost nightly fat-free ice cream, I haven’t dared had Jelly Bellys in the house since December. It’ll be enlightening to see, after I maul open the box in what surely will be a desperate display of pathetic sugar jonesing, how much I’ll hate myself in the morning. Life’s challenges: they never end, do they?

My new-found zoominess was back on the shelf yesterday for a slowish 8-miler.  I could feel my legs were kinda tired so I kept to a normal (9:03) easy pace.  Funny how our bodies know exactly when to wrangle in our wild ways.

Even though I’m not involved in any Mileage Challenge going on at the forums, I’m still aware that I have a few days to get those last yearly miles in, so after I write this, I’m out into the world for a 9-miler, then tomorrow probably 8.  I’m already at 2027 miles for the year and that’s with getting sick for a couple weeks and taking off for my ankle after Broad St.

Nevertheless, I’ll still refrain from making a total mileage goal for 2009 and just stick to my weekly goal of high 40s-50s/week.  Whatever it adds up to in the end is whatever it is -  after all, it’s the journey, not the destination.

Meanwhile, I’m getting more serious about losing those few pounds, so four days ago I finally signed up at The Daily Plate to track my food intake.  I really like it, it’s much better than Fitday, which I used a few years ago.  The database is much larger so it’s easier to find food items.  I even made a meatloaf the other day from Allrecipes.com and the exact recipe was in there.

The whole weight issue is very low-pressure though, since there’s no time-frame involved.  Like last night we went to a friend’s for dinner and I had no problem scarfing down 4 shots of sambuca during some card-playing, along with a couple cookies (and wine with dinner).  I would have done it anyway, now I’m just more cognizant of it.  Today’s back to being good, of course.

And this ends my Looking For Something To Write About post.  Have a good day friends, and a fine run if you haven’t been out already.

Funny thing happened on the way to Saturday’s race that I neglected to mention:  While we were driving there, still in Philly, we passed an older Asian couple on the sidewalk chasing a duck.  The poor duck looked totally confused -  the man and woman were making menacing noises and threatening to throw a blanket over it until it wandered back inside their place of business.  Hilarious – until I read the sign over the door: Poultry Supplier.

On a less morbid food note, I’ve mentioned my latest evening snack is cereal, dry or with a little yogurt.  A few days ago I bought a box of Kashi Go Lean Crunch – great stuff, like grown-up people’s Sugar Smacks.  That evening, however…I started farting.  And farting.  And farting.  And not just any fart, the stinkiest most noxious farts you’ve ever smelled.  It wouldn’t end.  Nick told me I farted in my sleep for hours that night, leaving a cloud in the bedroom.

The next night, not yet connecting the farts to the cereal, I once again enjoyed the crunchy goodness of Kashi Go Lean.  Yum.  Two hours later, farts, farts and more farts.

I began to suspect it was indeed the Kashi, so I did a search on Google for kashi go lean farts and sure enough, pages of fart-infested stories about Kashi turned up.  For the next hour or so, Nick and I laughed hysterically reading some of these websites.  Our favorite is this one. Not only is the initial post entertaining, but the comments are hilarious.  Everyone’s so relieved it’s not just them spewing poison outta their asses.

On another website I found the perfect description of  the Kashi fart scent: “Smells like a mixture of raw sewage, rotting corpse, and lacquer thinner.”   Until reading that, I hadn’t been able to put my finger on it, but yes, that’s exactly what it smells like.  Too bad it’s so damn tasty.

So I won’t be eating it any more.  However, I am saving the rest of the box for whenever Nick pisses me off.  Now that we’ve established I can sleep through my farts.

Remember a few months ago, when I was going on about losing weight for racing season, instigated by the few pounds I lost from the flu? I never did update this, but after 4 days of noting everything I ate along with a meticulous calorie count, I stopped. Stopped weighing myself and stopped worrying about it.

After all, one of the utmost joys of running is being able to eat what you want with just a modicum of moderation. So why take away such a glorious, valuable gift? Let my speed increases come solely from training – I don’t want to deny myself anything yummy again!

Beyond the power of choice, losing weight can be a no-win game for us gals in our 40s. There is a (very true) saying that women my age must sometimes choose between our asses or our faces.

In case that isn’t immediately clear, it’s because as we age, we need fat in our faces, it’s what keeps things from drooping and sagging. So accepting a big butt may be the price you pay for a more youthful face. Now, I don’t want to get fat (been there, done that), but I also think losing weight could backfire on me…so bring on the candy!

I have candy pretty much every night after dinner and have for years. I go on streaks, but I’m always up for jelly beans and their cousins, Mike & Ike, though Jelly Bellies are my fave. The problem with chewy candy, however, is that in its clutches, I become a bottomless pit. It takes a shitload of jelly beans for me to feel “done” – I’ll eventually stop because I know I should, but not because I want to.

So I take occasional breaks from the chew-licious crack and buy chocolate type candies for awhile. My latest favorite is this mix: Reeses Pieces and Mighty Malts (or Whoppers if I must). Behold my delectable bowl of baby poo.

I love these bowls, too. They’re about as big as your fist and perfect as an alternative for sitting there with an open bag on your lap. It’s my one nod towards portion control.

But enough of this sugar, the most sweetest thing just happened and no candy was involved:

Nick’s dad, 91, lives downstairs with his springy 70 year-old wife. She’s been in Germany for 2 weeks and will be returning tomorrow but Nick’s dad is utterly lost without her. Nick just looked in on him and he’s been sitting there today, all dressed up, because he was convinced today is Saturday and she’d be coming home. The sweetie!

Devoid of religion as I am, this year I celebrated Easter the best way I know how: stuffing my face with Robins Eggs, Whoppers (because the Robin’s Eggs coating seem mildly toxic, an opinion I established after eating the entire bag), Reese’s Pieces and to cap a wonderful Saturday date-night with Nick, we stopped at our local diner for a slab o’ German Chocolate Cake.

A thoroughly satisfying holiday.

Friday night was happy hour with our friend Yvonne and the groupette of the week (she’s our resident event planner, always creating a party out of her huge list of friends). We went to a hipster bar where a couple of Jameson Whiskey girls wasted a couple hours of their lives going around the room offering shots and letting the patrons roll dice for a prize. I won some Jameson branded breath-strips. Seriously.

Saturday was a 5-mile recovery run after Friday’s intervals, then later the fabulous Date Night occurred. We’ve decided to make more of an effort to have them, because we really do have a good time out with each other – dressing up a little, talking about the people around us, eating good food and then going home for some drunken antics.

The latter bit caused me to tweak my hip a tad, though (why do I get all my injuries this way?) so yesterday’s long run was interesting. It was a 14-miler that I decided to do as a progression run.

I started the run at 9:15 pace and finished at 8:28. Felt really good about it, despite my niggling hip. Additionally, I came to the conclusion that my 2130s are not the fab shoes I want them to be – my suspicions were confirmed when my right arch started smarting, as it usually does after about 10 miles. I’ve tried lacing them tighter or looser but alas, it’s the way they are (or my foot is).

Luckily, I have 3 other pairs of shoes with varying degrees of mileage so I can use my 2120s for long runs, but I need to get fitted for a different shoe soon since a couple pairs are nearing the 400 mile mark.

But what was interesting about this run was that belly breathing thing I keep yammering on about. I didn’t pay much attention to it at the first half of the run, but when I started speeding up, my hip and arch were beginning to really irritate so I moved my attention to breathing which turned out to be a smart move.

I felt myself straighten up, get less tired of all things, and it wasn’t long until I did a body check and realized my arch and hip weren’t hurting anymore! I’m cynical enough to know that it wasn’t the magic of breathing per se, more likely the simple distraction of thinking about something else, but that’s cool! Whatever it takes.

I finished the run on a high note and today, even though I don’t feel my hip at all, I’m taking the day off before tomorrow’s tempo run. I want to be more prudent with rest so that my quality runs are full-on qualitastic from here on in. No tired legs for me.

So that’s the weekend in a nutshell. Hope you guys had a good one, too!