What I Ate: Day 3

What I Ate:  Day 3

Breakfast

2 cups of coffee

4 oz. cup of Trader Joe’s nonfat strawberry probiotic yogurt

1 egg, over easy + 1 egg white over toast

½ sliced banana

¼ cup blueberries

Carbohydrates:  82g       Protein:                  37g       Fat:  11g

Snack

Clif Kidz bar – Chocolate Chip

1 c. sugar snap peas

Carbohydrates:  34g         Protein:  5g       Fat:  4g

Lunch

My Favorite Tuna Sandwich in ½ whole wheat pita

¼ cup shelled edamame

1 ½ c. leftover steamed vegetables (from last night)

Fresh n’ Easy tapioca pudding

Carbohydrates:  55.5g   Protein:                  41g       Fat:  9.5g

Snack

1 c. low-fat cottage cheese

½ apple

Carbohydrates:  19g       Protein:                  28.5g   Fat:  2g

Dinner

1 oz. sweet yellow corn

1 c. steamed brown rice

1 c. potato and garbanzo beans in Trader Joe’s Masala Simmer Sauce

6 oz. red wine

Hot chocolate + 1 tbsp. protein powder, with marshmallows

Carbohydrates:  154g     Protein:                  24g       Fat:  7.5g

How did I do?

                Ideal:     Carbohydrates:   263g     Protein:  175g    Fat:  39g

                Actual:  Carbohydrates:   344.5g Protein:  135.5g Fat:  34g

Activity level:  I had a tough day today.  I had a horrible night’s sleep.  I woke up at around 2 am with the cat sleeping on my feet, again at 3 am because I was cold, and then at 4:45 am because Alexandria needed some help going to the bathroom.  I wake up at 5:15 every morning, so this was especially brutal.  I was tired.  Sometimes when I work out, I perk up.  The beach was too windy for Stroller Fitness, so I headed to the gym.  I did about 25 minutes of cardio work (interrupted by a diaper change) followed by 45 minutes of weight lifting and abdominal work.  I got hungry halfway through my weightlifting set and replenished my depleted glycogen stores with the Clif bar.  I ate the snap peas on the way home.  Now, take a look at my dinner.  Around 5:30 pm, my lack of sleep caught up with me.  What do you want when you’re tired?  Energy.  Carbohydrates are energy.   Look at the carbohydrate load in my dinner.  HUGE!  It’s not surprising that I wanted hot chocolate with marshmallows, too.  I was really tired, but it was too early for bed.  This is why adequate sleep is so important.  Without adequate sleep, we compensate for our lack of energy by taking in more carbohydrates than our bodies really need.  Note also that I did a big workout on a tired day.  That also added to my desire for carbohydrates.

Because I lifted weights, I needed to get enough protein.  I did not.  That means my body was not adequately supplied to rebuild the muscle I worked so hard to earn.  I could have consumed a protein shake to get enough.

I came in pretty close on fat, which is great!

These are just notes.  I don’t judge myself or beat myself up.  I had a good day given my limitations.  I will try to have a great sleep tonight.  I’ll try to be asleep by 10.  I know I can have a more balanced day when I get enough sleep.

Tips!  I eat a lot of vegetables and fruit.  I do almost no prep work.  I buy the pre-cut carrots, bags of sugar snap peas, snow peas, assorted vegetables, and sometimes apples.  I always have some kind of berry in the fridge.  I steam the veggies directly in the bag.  In three minutes, I’ve got my veggie side dish.  Healthful eating does not need to be time consuming.  It takes just the same amount of to open a bag of carrots as it does to open a bag of chips.

Also, I don’t write it in, but I drink water with every meal, and in between meals.  Water is so important!  If you don’t like the taste of water, throw in a flavor packet.  Companies like Crystal Light have calorie-free flavor packets that might be worth a try.

Have a great day, and eat well!

P.S.  In case any of you are interested in the nutritional value of foods you eat while at restaurants or of raw foods without a label, try this site.  I had great luck finding every item I was looking for.