Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Meal Plan

I really dislike the word diet. Diet indicates that I'm depriving myself of something. Meal plan sounds better to me. This is why I don't count calories. I know it sounds crazy. My reason is because I became obsessed with it and used to log everything I ate into fitday.com. That's not a way to live. Because I was logging in my food all the time, all I could think about was food and my next meal!

Food is fuel and nothing more. You need to fuel the machine with quality whole foods if you expect to perform at optimum levels. It really is that simple.

Now if I wasn't getting results for some reason I'd definitely have to monitor the diet more closely. I've been doing this meal plan for a few years now. The only difference is that I would often go for seconds at dinner and I'd eat more nuts and snacks because I'd just be grabbing them ALL the time.


The only guidelines I follow are:

  • Get enough protein. Anywhere from 0.5 to 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight is recommended for an active person but I seem to do well with about 1 gram per pound of bodyweight.

  • I try to buy mostly organic produce and food. I am fortunate enough to have a local organic farmer and I shop there every week and make dishes based on what is abundant.

  • I eat more carbohydrates and more in general on days I lift weights. The only things I measure are carbohydrates, protein, and nuts. A serving of carbohydrate or beans is typically 1/2 cup. I stick to about 3 - 4 oz of chicken, fish, or shrimp when I eat it. Nuts are easy to overeat so I am just careful about that.

  • I don't do liquid calories other than an occasional glass of red wine. No sodas or drinks with sugar (or high fructose corn syrup as they use these days). I'd much rather eat my calories.

  • I try to limit artificial sweeteners. I stick with green tea or water with a squeeze of lemon.

  • I avoid wheat and wheat containing products. A few years ago I noticed I had alot of inflammation in my body mainly my left knee. Also, I could not lose weight at all for a period of time and even had problems with swelling after exercise. I read somewhere that wheat can be hard to digest and if you eliminate wheat and give it a month it can relieve those symptoms. I could not believe it actually worked! That's when 20 pounds just came off. That was 2 years ago and I haven't looked back. I'm not sure if I'm wheat gluten intolerant but in any case I feel great. I do want to add that I will eat bread or pasta on a special occasion or something and I can feel a difference pretty quickly.



Here is what I eat on a typical day:

a.m. - workout

Breakfast
Syntrax nectar protein drink - 23 grams protein
Green drink - Organic vegetables - kale, spinach, collard greens, parsley, cucumber, celery, apple, ginger, juice of a lemon and some apple juice. Blend in a high powered blender and add 1 tablespoon flax oil, mix and enjoy. If you add enough lemon and ginger it's delicious!

Snack
1 cup Lifeway Kefir (cultured probiotic yogurt drink) with a scoop of Miracle Reds mixed in. 1/4 cup dry roasted almonds

Lunch
This is usually leftover dinner from the night before or a salad with 3 - 4 oz of chicken, extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. It may include a carbohydrate if I did weights in the morning.

Snack
Cottage cheese snack pack or mozzerella string cheese, about 2 cups of veggie fries

Dinner
4 oz wild salmon, 1/2 cup rice, asparagus, piece of dark chocolate

Snack
Syntrax nectar protein drink with a nut and seed crunch bar

Lots of water and about 3 - 4 cups of green tea daily. I take a multivitamin, calcium/magnesium supplement and fish oil. Occasionally I will add glutamine power to my protein drinks for muscle recovery. I allow myself a meal a week to relax a bit which is usually sushi and seaweed salad on Saturday nights. I don't go crazy because honestly I just feel sluggish after eating most "regular" food.


The things I would like to improve:

  1. Find a better protein powder that does not contain artificial sweeteners. Syntrax Nectar contains sucralose which is Splenda.
  2. Include more fruits and non green vegetables in my diet. Obviously I get enough greens.
  3. Eat a wider variety of foods in general. I am one of those people that can eat the same things day in and day out but I'd like to add some different meals in there. Maybe experiment with different grains and protein sources.
  4. Include more nut butters because they just rock!


In my next post (Sunday), I will be updating stats and pictures!

No comments:

Post a Comment