A Great Diet Day

Now this is more like it. I think this is the closest I have come to meeting all the goals I have for my diet. Less than 1800 calories, the right balance of 25% protein to 50% carbs to 25% fats, over 25 g of fibre, over 6 servings of fruit and veg, and meals spaced an even 2.5 to 3.5 hours apart. I didn’t feel particularly hungry at the wrong times either, so adding some popcorn to my post-workout snack seems to have helped. The only time I wanted to eat more was in the evening after dinner. My husband had to stay late at work so didn’t get home until almost 8:30pm – and he arrived carrying a large pizza! I had had my healthy dinner more than an hour before and that pizza smelled so good . . . I guess it’s a good thing I’m celiac and couldn’t have any even if I wanted to. Otherwise there is no way I would have kept the calorie count so low!

It does raise the issue of family members and spouses though. Studies have shown that people who hang around or live with overweight friends and family tend to become overweight themselves. One of the reasons is that your perceptions of what is acceptable behaviour, such as snacking in front of the TV or eating lots of junk (or eating an entire large pizza yourself, which is what my husband proceeded to do), are greatly influenced by those around us. What we see becomes ‘normal’. I think living with my husband has been a great help on the exercise front, as he is really into cycling, but not so much on the food front as he is larger than I am and can eat a lot more without gaining weight, especially when he’s training hard on his bike. Something to be aware of!

The Score:

Calories:	Protein:	Carbs:	Fat:	Fibre:
1785.03	111.96g	224.18g	48.49g	27.31g
	25%	50%	25%
Calories burned through exercise:		344

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
	Mesa Sunrise cereal	60g
	Alpro Soy milk	120mL
	Sainsbury's pressed apple and cherry juice	200mL
08:00	Black tea	500mL
09:30	Raspberry and Echinacea tea	250mL
10:30	Brazil nuts	8g
	Cashews	15g
	Seedless Red Grapes	100g
13:15	Sainsburys extra lean beef escalopes	70g
	Tiger Tiger Gluten Free Brown sauce	8g
	Brown rice	130g
	Roasted beets	150g
	and Roasted carrots	50g
	all brushed with olive oil (and herbs)	1 tbsp
14:00	Green tea	250mL
14:30	Workout - resistance training
	Citrus Nuun electrolyte tablet in water	500mL
15:45	Total Greek yoghurt	125g
	Sainsbury's frozen mixed blueberries and strawberries	100g
	Butterkist salted microwave popcorn	25g popped
19:15	Baked chicken	100g
	Merchant Gourmet tinned puy lentils	100g
	Spinach	25g
	Tomato	106g
	The English Provender Balsamic Italian Dressing	15g
	Sainsburys Taste the Difference Cranberry sauce	10g
	Sainsbury's Blackcurrant Fruit Dairy Split	60g
21:30	Ellactiva Chocolate Calcium Chew	1 chew
	500mg Glucosamine sulphate	1 pill