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!

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