Food journal

Big pat on the back to me. Its not perfect, but I've been successful in keeping a food journal for September. I don't go crazy with counting calories or anything, its just to keep myself accountable to what I'm putting in my body and helps me look at my carbs/protein/fat ratio. I haven't been able to go grocery shopping in two weeks due to my horrible habit of overspending, so I got to get creative with clearing out my pantry and freezer.

I looked it over today, and I've done absolutely fantastic with snacking. I basically don't, except for maybe a handful of a nut mix I keep at the office, or a handful of raisins. This, of course, leaves out the pre and post run snacks, which I eat as part of my breakfast anyway. I've also had dessert maybe three times this month, which is surprising (of course, once it was an entire pint of ice cream). I also have resisted the free juice and soda at the firm, and have switched over to black coffee or espresso, therefore reducing my liquid calories to zero, other than the couple times I've drank alcohol this month. I haven't even had Diet Coke!

I think its been easy to keep up since I saved it as a google doc and can access it anywhere. This allows me to update it at work or at home. At first, I was going to leave out the weekends, but as you can see I started doing it again.

So, what are my eating habits and what do I aim for? I'm trying to get in 100 grams of protein a day. I try really hard to keep a balanced diet of lean meats and fish, red meat, legumes, veggies, fruit, and whole wheat carbohydrates to fuel my training. Diet is key to energy, recovery... and really I'm putting my body through a lot so I need to treat it well. I do my best to cook everything from scratch so I know whats going into my food. I make enough for 2 or 3 at dinnertime, and then put away leftovers to microwave at work later in the week. I aim for more than two colors of vegetables a day, and add a frozen mix of yellow, red and green peppers to nearly everything. I have Eastern Market close by to get fresh fruit and vegetables, but I get broccoli, green beans, and peppers frozen since they are cheaper and just as wonderful. I try to go minimal on sodium and added sugar.

What do I dish out money for organic? Anything with dairy. Skim milk, yogurt (whole foods has Stonyfarm plain yogurt really cheap! Buy the big one for less that $4 and make your own parfaits and shakes), and my whey protein. Whole foods and Yes Organic Market have good bulk sections, so I tend to get bulk organic as well. I get my hummus, turkey bacon, and chicken sausage at Whole Foods because I like the brands. My vegetables come from the farmers market, and I always try to buy cage-free/free range meat and eggs.

Ok, I guess that's just about anything. I rarely go out to eat, so I let myself dish out money for good food. I've gotten to the point where I like my food better than any restaurant's or friend's food anyway. Start looking at food labels, and you might join us crazy people who cook everything themselves.

At work, I used to be good at (and will be better at once I get to the grocery store tonight) bringing in a bag of sliced carrots, celery, and maybe cucumbers to snack on throughout the week. I also keep mixed nuts and dried fruit at my desk. My favorite sweet snack is frozen fruit. I go through bags of frozen fruit a month between shakes, snacking, and my berry-crumble dessert.

I've been eating a lot of pasta lately because its cheap and I ran out of rice and quinoa (sad face). I usually always stay stocked on lentils, rice, quinoa, and oats. I'm lately obsessed with chickpeas, beans, and curries. Making your own curry is so easy and healthy, and legumes are a great source of protein! Now that fall is on its way, my diet will likely revolve around squash, apples and pumpkin. Yum!

Of course, I drink about 10 glasses of water a day.

A link to my food journal is (gulp) now under the "My Links" section on the sidebar.

Now, the whole world can see what I eat... that should be good motivation!