Day 7 of Week 5 How I Plan My Food Around Fitness

Weight today: lost 1 pound

Total lost: 10 pounds in 5 weeks

5 tbl of chocolate cream of wheat: 215
2 tsp of sugar:30
1/3 cup of skim milk:30
1 tbl of powder creamer for coffee:30 with sweet-n-low:0
piece of pancake:75
1 slice of bacon:40
big bite of blueberry scone:60
total: 480

1 large egg:70
1 large egg white: 13
1 lefse:30
1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese: 80
3 oz of sliced strawberries:27
1 tsp of sugar: 15
1 tbl of powder coffee creamer: 30
with sweet-n-low: 0
1 1/2 oz of dark grilled chicken: 60
few bites of corn on the cob with butter: 30
total: 345
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running total: 825

lefse: 30
Laughing Cow light Garlic Herb spreadable cheese:35
total: 65
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running total: 890

1 cup of brown rice: 170
2 tsp of Smart Balance Light butter: 30
3 oz of dark chicken meat: 140 (est)
1 saltine cracker: 11
bites of ice cream: 20
1 tbl of powder creamer for coffee: 30
with sweet-n-low:0
total: 401
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running total: 1291

1/2 cup of Blue Bunny Light Bunny Tracks icecream:150

total: 1441
Today's Challenge: Keeping myself from jumping from excitement at losing that 10th pound. YAHH, BABY!!

Fitness: Day off

Note on picture: This is 1 1/2 cup of garlic herb pasta and chicken dish that we make up from a package: 230
1 slice of Italian bread: 60 1/2 tsp of Smart Balance Light Butter: 7 total:297 Making Saturday dinner from these packages is great because they are tasty, quick to cook up (it takes like 10 minutes) and they are low calorie.

Added note: I will be writing an article later on how I plan my diet around my work-out to make sure that I have enough energy for the workout, during the workout and after the workout.

How I Plan My Food Around Fitness

This article is very important for you if you are restricting your calories and exercising at the same time.

What you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat are all things you need to plan when you want to exercise while losing weight.

Some people are able to work out first thing in the morning without eating any food. For example, they may do some type of cardio exercise and feel perfectly fine doing it on an empty stomach. My husband is one of those people. There are even studies that have shown that cardio exercise first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is optimum for fat burning.

Well, I'm not like that. And, I can burn plenty of fat doing it my way, which by the way, is what I think is the smarter way.

Lately, I've been going on runs around 8:30 a.m. The rule of thumb that I use for cardio exercise is to eat a meal or snack at least one hour before you work out, especially if you're eating protein because protein takes longer to digest. So, if I know I'm going to do some exercise whether it be weight lifting or running, or biking I make sure I've eaten some type of carbohydrate before commencing the exercise.

And for those of you who are thinking protein is the thing to load up on for energy.

Think again.

Your body uses the glycogen in carbohydrates to fuel your body during exercise. If there is not enough glycogen in your body at the time that it needs it, guess where it will take energy from? It will start taking energy from your muscles. That is a very bad thing.
We need as much muscle mass as we can get, because the more muscles we have, the more calories we burn. So, really, depriving your body of carbohydrate type fuel prior to exercise is just plain risky for your body.

So, I'll eat a bowl of oatmeal before I run, about 200 calories. My body seems to operate fine on these amount of calories. My cardio exertions may last about 30-45 minutes.

Now, what if I want to run longer than that? That's when I incorporate the use of an energy gel.

Here's another question, what if I want to weight lift for an hour after I've just ran for 40 minutes?

Since I will be pushing my body for an extended period of time without fuel, here again, I need to give it some carbohydrate fuel. I can do so in the form of an energy gel. Or, what I will chose to do, instead, is to eat a 75-100 calorie banana. I will do this in between the run and the weight lifting work-out. I have found that the digestion of the banana does not disturb my work-out and it gives me that additional fuel I need, and it's cheaper than an energy gel. I will say, though, that a positive thing about energy gels is that they are specifically designed for easy digestion and absorption into your system. So, you may feel the effects of an energy gel sooner than you might with a banana.

You see, part of my daily food routine includes a protein shake mixed in with a banana around 10 am and 3 p.m. So, by the time I eat my banana after the morning run, it's almost on schedule and is not disrupting my calorie count.

The next thing I do to insure that my nutrition needs are met is to incorporate some fuel for after my work-out. Studies have shown that if you eat a protein/carbohydrate mix of food within 20 minutes after working out, your body will not be as sore when you go to work out next. That is the optimum time for recovery for your body.

Now, is it the end of the world if you miss that 20 minutes mark? No. In fact, I miss it more times than I'd like, but I try to get close to it.

And really if you don't believe this to be true, take my word for it...it is. When I was training for a 5 k race several years ago...I noticed that my legs were feeling sore and sluggish toward the end of the week. The minute I started taking in a carb and protein mix with 20 minutes of my work-outs, my legs were noticeably less sore. So, it really works.

So, after I've either weight lifted or ran, I will consume protein with just plain protein shake or a protein drink mixed with a carbohydrate.

And finally, if your the person who is doing cardio exercise in excess of 45 minutes, I would highly recommend eating energy gels or some type of carbohydrate during the exercise so that your body doesn't start using your muscles for fuel. You want your body to keep as much muscle as it can.