Common every day
Throughout the day:
Everyday I have about 2-3 cups of coffee with half and half or light cream, so I'm not going to list that individually.
Wed February 14th
Meal 1 (1pm):
Lox and bagel platter: Lox, bagel, cream cheese, tomato, red onion, cucumber
Workout (4pm):
Brisk Walk Outdoors: About 25-30 minutes, or 4500 steps
Meal 2 (6:45pm):
Small cup of beef chili. Chef's salad from the case (lettuce, yellow pepper, tomato, provolone and ham roll, boiled egg, Italian dressing.).
Dessert (7pm):
$3.50 container of honeydew, blueberries, and strawberries.
Comments:
- I realized that I have been worried about the pesticides from fruits and vegetables. Buying the prepared food today was an end run around that.
- After the walk I was ravenously hungry. I decided to watch some nutrition youtube, and kind of let that subside before going for dinner. I have some curiosity around putting yourself in the right mental state to buy food. Can you consciously override a desire to binge by either noticing/accepting it, or waiting it out? At some point you internalize a lot of good material on nutrition, and then you just have to make sure you are calm enough when buying food to operationalize it.
- Walking outside improved my mood by a couple of rungs on the ladder.
- I slept better last night than I have in weeks. One of the roles of desert is a little bit of carbohydrate to cap off the evening, which does seem to make me sleep better. Seeing if the fruit is as effective as something more processed.
- The lox and bagel was consumed with an eye towards satiety and protein. I haven't had a desire to eat "keto" foods recently, and have had some stomach problems. I've been following the Hava app's perspective on satiety over macronutrient restriction. The bagel probably wasn't ideal, but it was accompanied with enough fish (and wasn't accompanied with say, a large orange juice) to make it a satiating meal.
Thurs February 15th
Meal 1 (1pm):
Cheese steak sandwich (roll, beef, sweet peppers, fried onions, provolone cheese). Small side salad with Italian dressing (lettuce, tomato, onion, oil, vinegar, spices).
Dessert (4:30pm):
Moderately sized, small-ish piece of chocolate birthday cake with white icing.
Workout: (5:30pm):
Same brisk walk as yesterday, about 25 minutes, 5k steps. Did it at an even faster pace than yesterday. Capped it off with an LMNT sugar-free electrolyte drink.
Dinner (8pm):
Sushi dinner: miso soup, salad with ginger dressing, 9 nigiri pieces, 1 California roll. (this was too much food, and I would order a la carte next time).
Comments:
- I saw a film with Mat Fraser, the CrossFit champion, where he talked about eating mini candy bars before workouts, or even in the middle of workouts. There is some reality that that piece of birthday cake made me feel more apt to take a run/walk than how I feel when I am eliminating carbohydrates. If I can keep my weight steady over the next few months, I'm not opposed to using a little bit of sugar pre-workout.
- Still interested in investigating the concept of trying to be in a calm, controlled state of mind when buying food, rather than going from binge to binge. I don't currently have a rigorous meditation practice, but I can use techniques I learned when I did to check my mindset before going into a supermarket.
- Psychologically, the exercise is just this huge boost. There is an energy of activation, where I think "maybe I will skip it today". Then I knuckle down and do it, and I just feel 1000% better afterward. I wouldn't negate the nutritional impact of getting over this energy of activation. If I'm glycogen depleted from a fast, or from cutting carbs, it feels a little bit harder to actually get out the door.
Friday February 16th
Meal 1 (1230pm):
Bagel and lox platter: bagel, lox, onion, tomato, cucumber, cream cheese
Dessert 1 (115pm):
Small slice of chocolate birthday cake
Workout (5pm):
6000 steps, about 30 minute walk. Pretty relaxed pace, although I feel my lower body a couple of hours afterward. I'm carrying around a lot of weight, so it's kind of like rucking.
Meal 2 ( 6:30pm):
Chicken Caesar Salad: grilled chicken breast, croutons, lettuce, Caesar dressing
Dessert 2 (7:15pm):
Wawa $3.50 size large cup of fruit salad.
Comments
- I feel I could have easily replaced the chocolate cake with a similar fruit salad. With the fruit, you can afford a little bit more volume. It is pretty sweet and satisfying, also hydrating. I was in a funk this morning after an anxiety dream, and felt that I needed the sugar pick-me-up. What I could have gotten away with was a fruit salad, some pineapple, watermelon, or some strawberries...etc. I probably wouldn't have felt I missed out on anything if I did that.
- Watching my weight for the last 30 days, I'm doing well at maintenance. There is even a bit of a downward trend. The walk felt amazing, even though there was a little bit of "Idonwanna" activation energy.
Saturday Feb 17th
Meal 1 (3:30pm):
Sushi (9 small nigiri, 1 roll, ginger salad, miso soup)
Dessert 1 (4:45pm):
5oz white birthday cake
Workout:
20 minute spin on the bike, reasonably good effort, hr around 130-137.
Meal 2 (9pm):
Steak Caesar salad (6oz sirloin, croutons, romaine, dressing -- heavy dressing. ick. Outback Steakhouse's recipes are sub-optimal for health.)
Sunday Feb 18th
Meal 1 (8am):
Tuscan omelet (red pepper, egg, spinach, provolone, sausage), potatoes, rye toast, butter, jam
Dessert 1 (1pm):
Wawa large cup of fruit salad
Workout (4pm):
25-30 minute brisk walk.
Dinner (6pm):
2 pieces of meat lovers pizza
Dessert 2 (7pm):
Traditional size (250cal) snickers bar.
