Category Archives: eating plan

The anatomy of a meal

Thought I would take a little time to show you the inner workings of my mind (scaaarrrryyyyy) and how I put my meals together.  There is a rhyme and reason to how I do it.  For those that don’t know, I pretty much exclusively exercise in the mornings.  It just is easier for me to do it before I start work (at 10 a.m.) as I don’t always know what time I will be done.  Plus it’s nice to get it done. 😀

Brekkie:

Since I usually work out pretty hard, breakfast is the biggest meal of my day.  It is also the meal that normally contains the most carbs, because I need to replace all that used glycogen!  So, this is the time when I have oats in some form, whether that is through protein pancakes, oat bran, oatmeal, or even cream of wheat (not oats, but same deal).    I also try to get in some fat and protein to balance out the meal and make it stick longer.  If I just have oats without fat and protein, I am hungry pretty quickly.

So, that is where these babies come in:

Normal calories for my breakfast are 450 – 500 calories.

Lunches:

Lunches are usually a little lighter.  I also will include some type of bready thing, like a wrap or sandwich thin or crackers.  The meal center is the protein, though.  I also try to make sure I get in at least a fruit and sometimes a veggie (although this week, veggies are a must for lunch).

Lunches are usually 300-350 calories

Dinners:  Dinners are also built around the protein source.  Whether that is eggs, meat, or non-animal protein source  – I always start with that and add around it.  My plates are almost always divided into thirds.


Sometimes I mix the veggie and protein as a stir fry, which I do fairly often.  I rarely have bread or starches at dinner time, because it is the furthest meal from my workouts.  Although, the occasional pizza dinner is eaten, cause hey – life is good, right?

I know the protein source, and then I add the veggie to that.  Most times it’s broccoli or brussel sprouts.  Okay, who am I kidding – it’s  always either of those 2.  There is always a fruit, unless I have potatoes with dinner, then sometimes fruit will be a snack later.  Dinner calories are 350 – 400.

I also have 2 to 3 snacks  of 150 to 250 calories each during the day as well, and try to keep them balanced, but sometimes plain old chocolate wins out.   When I stick to these rules, I do the best weight wise.  When I start dinking around with them, I eat too much.  If I can stick to this way of eating 85-90% of the time, I will keep this weight off.

My food philosophy

I wanted to talk a little bit about my food philosophy now. I do blog about food a lot and thought I would share what drives what I eat and how I view it.

1. First and foremost, I have to like the food I am eating and that food has to be good. If I were to have to eat dry toast, plain egg whites, lettuce and sugar free jello, I just would not be happy. (Not knocking anyone who loves these, it’s just not me). Yes, the scale would probably plummet down, but I would be miserable. I figure if the food I eat is satisfying to my taste buds, it will be satisfying to my mind. That means if I want a cookie, it’s the best *one* I can find, not a whole sleeve of Oreos to try to satisfy a craving. You really only get so much food in a day, so make it worth eating.

2. I don’t consider anything off-limits. Now, that doesn’t mean that I am going to eat a pound of chocolate a day or dive face first into cookies (although that has happened before), but I never tell myself that I cannot have something ever again. That is a sure-fire way to send me on a binge of said item. What I do is to give foods a nutrient cost, so to speak. More fat/calories gives the food a higher cost. So if you think of your daily foods as a bank balance, if you have a higher weight item, then the other items need to be of a lower cost (ie lean proteins, fruits, veggies, etc) to balance out. I think this way over a longer period as well. So, if I know we are going out for dinner one night, that means I need to rein it in a little bit a couple of days prior. This eliminates the guilt factor. This reason is why you see me eat bagels a couple times a week. I love them, I plan for them, I enjoy them. Yes, this requires thinking about food, but mindless eating got me up to 250 pounds.

3. I know where my food comes from. I am not a vegetarian, and am really not interested in becoming one (although I had thought about it for a while). However, I do care how the meat I consume is processed and raised. So, we purchase our meat locally from small farmers. We are pretty lucky that we are able to do this here and have a wide variety of products to choose from. It does make eating out a little difficult at times, but we do try to stick to those principles. There are other things we try to get locally, or at least make sure it is from the US. It’s apple time, but interestingly enough – a lot of apples in our store (Pink Ladies) come from New Zealand. ???? So we do a lot of label reading, even on produce.

4. Never feel guilty about eating. Ever. Foods are not inherently good or bad. Food does not have morals. It doesn’t judge you on how much you eat of it. We do that all by ourselves. I have those days where I eat more than I should of those costly nutrient foods, but you know what? There is always the next meal to be back on track again. I think it is worse to beat yourself up about it because then it makes what you ate not worth it (see #1), which compounds the problem.

Following these guidelines for me has helped me keep off over 100 pounds for more than a year and still enjoy food, because it really is worth enjoying!

I don’t know if you need to have a personal philosophy about food, but it really wouldn’t hurt you to take a hard look at why you eat what you do.

How I'm doing it.

I have been asked quite a few questions lately about how I am losing the weight. Keep in mind that this process started about 4 years ago, so it has gone through various permutations to get to the point I am currently at.

Food: I pretty much count calories.

I try to eat around 1400 calories per day. I have played with this a bit, and going lower doesn’t really help that much, so may as well eat more if I can, right? Some days it is 1350, some days 1500, but on average around 1400. I try to eat 50% of my calories from complex carbs, fruits and veggies. I shoot for 25% protein and 25% fat. Ideally, I would love to be at 40/30/30 – but I really do like to eat fruit and grains, so that is hard. I try to eat very little refined starches.

I eat 5 times a day. 3 meals and 2 snacks. I strive to have protein/carbs and fat every time I eat. I don’t really eat a lot of sweet stuff. I don’t use artificial sweeteners, if I want something sweet – I have the real thing. That way I have learned that I don’t need that stuff on a daily basis, but it really is a treat. So I am not wasting my calories on 100 calorie packs, or junk like that.

Cardio: I do cardio pretty much everyday. At least 30 minutes, and many times longer. During this warm time of year I jog 3x per week (3 miles), and then ride my bike the other days. In winter, I do exercise DVDs inside. Don’t belong to a gym, and no plans to currently.

Strength training: This is a very important part of my lifestyle. I own a bowflex and some hand weights, which is great because there is no excuse I can make for not using them! I currently strength train 4x per week. I do legs/back on Monday and Thursday; arms/chest/abs on Tues/Fri. About every 2 months, I change the exercises that I do for those body parts. It takes me about 20-30 minutes for each session.

The Mind: I do a *lot* of reading about health and weight loss. Not just diet books, but those on the science behind nutrition, weight loss and weight disorders. I also try to meditate. Learning to have patience with myself and to not expect perfection has really been a large part of my success.

So, this is what I do. And this is what I will be doing for the rest of my life. Am I perfect? No, of course not! I would say I am on plan around 90% of the time.
My lifestyle is doable, enjoyable and works for me.