Getting a Bit of Help

The last three days have been pretty good on the nutrition front, but the overall calories for the week are not as good as I expected. I averaged 1967 calories per day when I thought it would be easy to keep it below 1800 per day. Clearly this is a goal I need to work on next week if I am going to start losing weight. On the plus side, the average daily balance of 20% protein to 51% carbohydrates to 29% fat is pretty close to my ideal. Again, I would like to increase to the protein at 25%, but this is a pretty good start.

I have decided it is time to get some help with my post workout nutrition. From now on I will be using a recovery shake or drink. As I am going to be working out five days a week (I hope) I need to make sure my recovery is spot on so my body is ready to run again 24 hours later. A good recovery shake has the protein to carbohydrate ratio sorted, with very little fat, plus a load of vitamins and minerals. I like using the large cans of powder so I can adjust the portion size based on how hard my workout was and what else I have had to eat that day, which should help keep the calories down. I know several people who don’t use sports nutrition products because they don’t like the taste or texture, but I think that has a lot more to do with the brand you select. I quite like the taste of the Sponser products I use and find they dissolve easily in milk or water, so it really is just like drinking chocolate or strawberry milk. Not a bad way to reward yourself after a hard workout or run!

The Score:

Calories:	Protein:	Carbs:	Fat:	Alcohol:	Fibre:
1832.76	98.21g	204.49g	57.98g	15.5g	28.32g
	21%	45%	28%	6%
Calories burned through exercise:		354

What I ate:

Time	Item	Amount
07:15	Vitamins - Centrum Advance A to Zinc, 400iu of Vitamin E, 1000iu Vitamin D3 and 500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 each
	Mattesson’s Turkey rashers	3 rashers
	Gluten Free fruit muesli	70g
	Alpro Soy milk	120mL
	Sainsbury's pressed apple and cherry juice	200mL
08:00	Black tea	500mL
09:30	Green tea	200mL
10:00	Brazil nuts	8g
	Cashews	15g
	Be Fruity dried fruit bar with strawberry	25g
13:15	Home-made chicken risotto	300g
	Spinach	25g
	Tomato	85g
	The English Provender Balsamic Italian Dressing	15g
15:30	Short Easy Run
16:15	Lime Nuun electrolyte tablet in water	500mL
16:30	Sponser vanilla Recovery Shake	23g
	mixed with skim milk	150mL
	Butterkist salted microwave popcorn	13g
19:30	Red Wine	150mL
20:30	Homemade chili	250g
	Homemade guacamole	100g