Laboring Away

Today marks the beginning of a new approach to food for me.  Actually, it's more like a return to a previous plan but with a twist.  Last summer, I started following a meal plan where I cycled between "fat" days and "carb" days.  That's how I was eating when I was really crushing it across the board.  I'm not returning to that exact plan because of the protein restriction I have due to my kidneys.

Another request that I put out to Nikki (my trainer's wife who is a trainer herself and very food-savvy) was that I wanted to have a variety of "real" foods in my diet.  I can generally hold my own when people ask about my meals or comment on the "weird" foods.  However, this talking about having children has got me thinking about what I'm modeling for others.

So Nikki put together this great plan that I've listed below.  One of the pieces that has me excited is the versatility.  For example, breakfast on a "fat" day could be my 3 egg whites and 1 egg or perhaps 4 egg whites and some cheese.  Dinner could be steak, chicken with avocado, or chicken with cheese.  All of those options still work within the plan and I can have so many different combinations.  Yup, I'm excited about avocado, cheese, pasta sauce, and oatmeal.  

I will admit that, in anticipation of starting on this new plan today, I totally binged and ate myself silly for several days.  Over the weekend, I noticed that many of the binge or cheat foods I gravitate to carbs - breads, macaroni and cheese, pizza, ice cream.  Yeah, it was a really unhealthy and it shows.  There's a reason why the scale has gone up about 10 pounds over the past 10 days.  I know that a fair amount of it is being digested this very minute.  I'm also realistic and recognize that my weight has gone up because I haven't been exercising or keeping strictly with my eating plans.

With summer wrapping up and fall around the corner, I'm using this as a chance to re-focus and start fresh.  Yes, I'm forever stuck in the academic mindset where September is as much the start of a new year as January.  For the month of September, I'm in town (except for next weekend) and I'm returning to my more-or-less routine schedule at work (after a summer of disruption).  This is an opportunity for me to set the stage for the holidays and festivities at the end of the year.

Honestly, this is probably why I haven't been blogging as much recently.  I don't feel like I've had much to say about nutrition and exercise aside from "Huh?  What are those things?"  I'm trying to re-focus and make space for the different priorities in life.  I haven't been bringing my work laptop home most nights in an effort to set boundaries.  Instead of exercising many evenings, I've been opting for time with my husband or running extra errands.

Okay, it's late and I'm starting to lose my focus here.  Brief re-cap:

- New meal plan has variety and "reality"

- Recommitting to exercise, even if it's not to the same level of intensity as before

- Trying to balance exercise/nutrition with the other parts of my life

- Trying to not get a case of the "fuck its" with hormones, PMS, and thinking about pregnancy

And since I don't want to write it all out right now, today was a carb day and I was all on-plan.  I skipped Meal 2 because I wasn't hungry for it.  I did exercise on the elliptical for 60 minutes today and kept it at Level 1 as I have ZERO conditioning right now.  Weigh-in this morning was around 160 and I'm hoping it will drop a bit over the next day or two with digestion.

Pro/Carb Day (DAY ONE):
Meal 1:
3 egg whites
veggies
40g oatmeal (27g carbs)
1/2c fruit or 1 small piece of fruit (10-15g carbs)


Meal 2:
0% or 2% flavored Chobani Greek Yogurt


Meal 3:
3 oz lean meat
1/2c cooked rice, whole wheat pasta or 4oz sweet potato
veggies
can add 1/2c low fat (under 3g), lower carb (under 10g) pasta sauce


Meal 4:
3 oz lean meat
1/2c cooked rice or whole wheat pasta or 4oz sweet potato
veggies
pasta sauce


Meal 5:
0% or 2% flavored Chobani Greek Yogurt


Pro/Fat (DAY TWO - DAY THREE):
Meal 1:
3 egg whites
1 whole egg
veggies


Meal 2:
1/2 scoop protein powder in water
2tsp coconut oil


Meal 3:
4 oz lean meat
2 tsp coconut oil
veggies


Meal 4:
4 oz lean meat
2 tsp coconut oil
veggies


Meal 5:
1/2 scoop protein powder
3 tbsp peanut butter




SUBSTITUTIONS:
Lean filet will replace the meat and fat on a pro/fat day
2/3 oz almonds = 2tsp coconut oil
1.5oz almonds = 3 tbsp peanut butter
2/3 oz cheese = 2 tsp coconut oil
1/4 oz cheese = 1 egg yolk
1/2 avocado = 2tsp coconut oil