I think this month I have done quite well at balancing my diet. I’m getting better at keeping my calories down around 1800 per day and my nutrient balance at 25% protein to 45% carbohydrate to 30% fat. However, despite this I am struggling to ensure that the calories I am getting come from high quality sources and not junk food. I was told by the dietician my doctor sent me to that the goal is to get at least 90% of your calories from healthy sources. Now whether you allow yourself a daily treat that’s about 10% of your calories or eat healthily most of the week then let yourself go on a Saturday night out doesn’t really matter. The problem I’m having is that I appear to be doing both!
On the face of it yesterday’s stats look pretty good: less than 1800 calories, good protein to carbs to fat ratio, and just over 25g of fibre. But I got over 18% of my calories from cake and chocolate, and only four, maybe five, servings of fruit and vegetables. And I thought I was doing really well! Of course it being the Christmas season the odds of my being able to cut down on the treats is fairly low. I think just keeping the treat level constant over the next month will be an accomplishment! One solution might be to let my daily calories creep up a bit by increasing the size of my healthy meals and snacks, which decreases the proportion of calories from treats and should keep me fuller and less hungry. I’m still trying to lose weight but my exercise plan for this month is quite demanding which means I should be burning almost 2400 calories a week through exercise alone, so I can probably afford a few extra calories.
Naturally it all depends on what my health and nutrition goals are December, so I will have to have a good think about what’s more important to me this month.
The Score:
Calories: | Protein: | Carbs: | Fat: | Alcohol: | Fibre: |
1783.38 | 100.08g | 225.21g | 54.15g | 0 | 25.07g |
22% | 51% | 27% | |||
Calories burned through exercise: | 513 |
What I ate:
Time | Item | Amount |
08:00 | Vitamins - Centrum Advance A to Zinc, 400iu of Vitamin E, 1000iu Vitamin D3 and 500mg Glucosamine sulphate | 1 each |
Cold water | 200mL | |
Mattesson's Turkey rashers | 3 rashers | |
Mesa Sunrise cereal | 60g | |
Alpro Soy milk | 120mL | |
Sainsbury's orange, mango and passionfruit juice | 200mL | |
09:00 | Black Tea | 500mL |
09:45 | Easy Run - 33 minutes | |
10:30 | Lemon-Lime Nuun electrolyte tablet in water | 750mL |
11:00 | Sponser Chocolate Recovery Shake | 30g |
in Skim milk | 225mL | |
12:30 | Raspberry and Echinacea tea | 250mL |
13:30 | Lee's Hippy Farm Beans (from Leon's recipe book) | 315g |
Mrs Crimble's Gluten Free Double chocolate brownies | 1 brownie | |
14:30 | Green Tea | 350mL |
16:30 | Brazil nuts | 6g |
Cashews | 17g | |
Red Apple | about 125g | |
Orange, mango and cinnamon tea | 250mL | |
20:30 | Homemade beef stew | 350g |
21:00 | Irish Yoghurts Diet Pear and Mango | 125g |
Lindt Excellence 70% cocoa dark chocolate | 20g | |
22:00 | 500mg Glucosamine sulphate | 1 pill |
Plus 500 to 1500mL of cold water sipped from a water bottle throughout the day.