Wednesday 30 November 2011

Too Many Treat Calories

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.

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Training on a Gluten Free Diet

One of the concerns I had when I was first diagnosed with Celiac’s disease was how it would affect my exercise routine. At the time I did plenty of resistance work in the gym but very little cardio of any kind, because I was always tired and so easily winded. It turns out that I was tired because I was absorbing less than half the calories I ate and I was out of breath because I had severe anaemia. Within a week of starting on the gluten free diet both problems improved dramatically and a few months later I started running for the first time in my life.

Fast forward a couple of years and I am entering my first races and starting to take my training for these races much more seriously. In order to get the best out of any training program, whether it’s weight lifting or cycling, you need to get the right nutrition at the right times. With endurance sports getting enough carbohydrates to fuel your training is vital, as is the loading up on carbohydrates before a big race. This can be a problem for Celiacs, as traditionally the recommended carbohydrates are pasta and bread. Fortunately, the running and cycling worlds have started to recognize that there are grains besides wheat which offer more protein, vitamins and fibre, and now recommend quinoa more than pasta and sweet potatoes over bread.

So in the spirit of sharing, my favourite complex carbohydrates at lunch and dinner are: Boiled and mashed sweet potatoes, Merchant Gourmet red and white quinoa (one minute in the microwave and its ready), brown rice, long grain and wild rice mix, tinned puy lentils (usually mixed with a chilli, stir fry or curry), and Genius gluten free brown bread. Of course I also enjoy white potatoes, white or basmati rice, and pure corn nacho chips (or tortillas when I can get them), but try not to have them very often as they are not as nutritious and high in fibre as the more interesting items above.

The Score:
Calories:
Protein:
Carbs:
Fat:
Alcohol:
Fibre:
1778.16
109.03g
209.29g
55.06g
0
26.88g
25%
47%
28%

Calories burned through exercise:
444


What I ate:
Time
Item
Amount
07:45
Vitamins - Centrum Advance A to Zinc, 400iu of Vitamin E, 1000iu Vitamin D3 and 500mg Glucosamine sulphate
1 each
Cold water
200mL
Whole Scrambled egg with 2 egg whites
3 eggs
Gluten Free fruit muesli
70g
Alpro Soy milk
120mL
Sainsbury's pure squeezed orange juice
200mL
08:30
Black Tea
500mL
09:45
Workout - resistance training + 15 minute run
Lemon-Lime Nuun electrolyte tablet in water
750mL
11:00
Sponser Protein Snack bar
1 bar
12:30
Raspberry and Echinacea tea
250mL
13:30
Sainsbury's Vegetable Dhansak soup
240g
Genius brown bread toast
2 slices
Princes Tuna chunks (in brine, drained)
66g
with Hellmann's light mayonnaise
13g
and Branston gherkin relish
10g
Irish Yoghurts Diet Apricot and Nectarine
125g
14:00
Green Tea
250mL
17:30
Brazil nuts
6g
Cashews
15g
Red Apple
about 100g
18:30
Orange, mango and cinnamon tea
250mL
20:30
Baked chicken breast
81g
Mashed potatoes with butter and milk
160g
Steamed beets
107g
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference apple sauce
14g
Bisto Best Chicken Gravy
about 5g
22:00
Ellactiva Chocolate Calcium Chew
1 chew
500mg Glucosamine sulphate
1 pill

Plus 500 to 1500mL of cold water sipped from a water bottle throughout the day.

Monday 28 November 2011

Getting back into Exercise

Not too bad a diet day yesterday. Calories were a little high but as I’ve said before I’m not giving up my treats no matter how much I want to lose weight. The good news is that I got enough fibre and the nutrient proportions were dead on. However, I was still having problems with timing. I managed to have a mid morning snack at the right moment and lunch about 2 ½ hours later. I was due to have another snack at 5:30 or 6:00pm but I’d only finished having two mince pies at 3:00pm and thought we would be having supper before 7:30 so didn’t bother. But then I got to talking to my parents on the phone and next thing I know we’re having dinner at 9:00pm. I don’t think I ended up eating more than I would have otherwise, but I certainly felt quite tired and gloomy all evening.

In fact I’ve had a somewhat gloomy weekend so maybe more time in the gym and on the road will help. They do say that a regular exercise program is just as effective as most antidepressants at lifting mood. Not to mention how good it feels to progress in my training routines, being able to do the hard exercises or run a new distance. So I’m actually looking forward to starting training again today and getting back into my normal eating and exercise routines. I did OK last week at keeping the calories down but I would rather run to lose weight than diet. Hopefully all my hard work will show up in my monthly measurements on Thursday!

The Score:
Calories:
Protein:
Carbs:
Fat:
Alcohol:
Fibre:
1946.28
121.31g
219.72g
61.85g
0
24.67g
25%
45%
29%

Calories burned through exercise:
Rest Day


What I ate:
Time
Item
Amount
09:00
Vitamins - Centrum Advance A to Zinc, 400iu of Vitamin E, 1000iu Vitamin D3 and 500mg Glucosamine sulphate
1 each
Cold water
200mL
Whole Scrambled egg with 2 egg whites
3 eggs
Bob's Red Mill Pure Oats
40g
with Sultanas
20g
Sainsbury's pure squeezed orange juice
200mL
12:00
Brazil nuts
6g
Cashews
17g
Red Apple
about 125g
14:30
Fresh Roasted chicken breast
175g
Waitrose prepared fresh broccoli, leek and cabbage
116g
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference apple sauce
7g
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Cranberry sauce
33g
15:00
Sainsbury's Freefrom Mince Pies
2 pies
Orange, mango and cinnamon tea
250mL
17:15
Green Tea
250mL
19:00
Camomile, honey and vanilla tea
250mL
21:00
Baked salmon
100g
Merchant Gourmet Red and White Quinoa
100g
Frozen peas
100g
22:30
Ellactiva Chocolate Calcium Chew
1 chew
500mg Glucosamine sulphate
1 pill

Plus 500 to 1500mL of cold water sipped from a water bottle throughout the day.

Sunday 27 November 2011

Mistiming my Treats

Timing is everything when managing snacking. My husband and I went to the movies last night but decided to hit the early show then have dinner afterwards. As the movie started at 5:30pm and I knew that meant we wouldn’t be getting dinner until at least 8:30, I felt perfectly justified in getting a bag of chocolates to have during the movie. Of course the theatre only sells large packages and as the movie progressed I found myself grazing my way through the whole thing, all 725 calories of it! I knew I had had way too much so I ate lightly at the restaurant, but if we had eaten first then gone to the movie there is no way I would have bought, let alone eaten, that much chocolate. I would have eaten more at the restaurant, but I would rather have an extra 200 or 300 calories of restaurant food and no chocolate than a small meal and over 700 calories of chocolate!

Worse than the calorie count was the lack of nutrients in my diet yesterday. With over 40% of my calories from cake and chocolate, it’s no surprise the balance was way off, with only 14% protein and 34% fat. And there was a distinct lack of fruit and vegetables, though all the dried fruit in the muesli I had for breakfast and in my fruit and seed mix probably adds up to a serving of fruit. Part of the problem is that I don’t seem to have gotten the timing and snacks right earlier in the day either. I was running out of the house trying to get to the shops before noon, so I only managed half my morning snack on the way, which meant I was really too tired to cook a proper lunch as planned. So lunch was a bit low on calories and protein, which led to my being hungry again less than 2 hours later.

So for me, getting back on track has a much to do with timing and planning as the actual things I eat.

The Score:
Calories:
Protein:
Carbs:
Fat:
Alcohol:
Fibre:
2308.20
81.13g
298.65g
87.32g
0
25.34g
14%
52%
34%

Calories burned through exercise:
Rest Day


What I ate:
Time
Item
Amount
08:30
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
Gluten Free fruit muesli
70g
Alpro Soy milk
120mL
Sainsbury's pressed apple and cherry juice
200mL
09:30
Black Tea
500mL
11:00
Raspberry and Echinacea tea
250mL
11:30
Sainsbury's fruit and seed mix
17g
13:15
Sainsbury's Vegetable Dhansak soup
310g
Genius brown bread toast
1 slice
Irish Yoghurts Diet Fruits of the forest
125g
15:15
Sainsbury's fruit and seed mix
23g
Sainsbury's Freefrom Mince Pies
1 pie
Green Tea
250mL
16:00
Orange, mango and cinnamon tea
250mL
17:15
Aero Bubbles
135g pkg
20:30
Tony Roma's Original baby back ribs
4 ribs
Tony Roma's steamed broccoli
1 serving
21:00
Camomile Tea
250mL

Plus 500 to 1500mL of cold water sipped from a water bottle throughout the day.