What I eat and what I weigh (click here)

OK-truthfully why did you click? Yeah-you'll have to PM me if you are genuinely interested in my weight-ha! On to the food post!

*Disclaimers*

I am not a dietician, I have eaten Fritos with cheese dip out of a can (I liked them), I break my own rules....

So, I have gotten a couple of emails in the past month about what I eat especially during training and so I’m going to address them quickly here. I’m not offering advice, simply answering the questions. I’m no expert on food although I can tie a cherry stem into a knot with my tongue and that is kinda food related…..So, although not an expert, more like a rookie, I AM quite interested in nutrition.

Since food and weight are often related, I will preface my “food” post by touching on my weight, not in numbers, very briefly. I’m at a pretty happy place with that-I rarely weigh myself these days but you wouldn’t mistake me for a heroin addict or a Calvin Klein model! Right now, I’m not a scrawny “knees and elbows” kinda girl! As much as I desired prominent hipbones and visible ribs at one point in my life and practically ruined myself in the process, my focus has changed and this is nothing I currently strive for. LEAN STRONG POWERFUL muscle definition –I want THAT!!!! I will always be working in this area (still trying to achieve EMZ and SUAR ab status-ha) but I do carry a fair amount of muscle, I’m in pretty good shape, and although I don’t know my body fat %(very curious here), I don’t have junk hangin’ out right now. I will gladly take some junk if it deposits itself in my chest. Although “content” with my body at this point, I have had some struggles throughout like most women whether they want to admit it or not. I definitely gained weight when I broke my hip and also in about the 5 weeks surrounding taper and recovery for both of my marathons. I would be totally lying to say it didn’t bother me at all…. For me, it’s keeping that in check, accepting that there are seasons and not letting it define me like it once did. If I decide to drop my weight here a little bit in the next few months which I might (researching ideal race weight which I I believe I am over) , it’s going to be performance reasons that drive it, not as much obsessive physical appearance reasons. I will also do it in an educated healthy manner:) I have plenty of corners I could cut:)

Seriously, I go off on tangents here. Back to the food. Exercise totally drives my desire to eat well and properly fuel my body. When I’m really in training or just involved in a good regular workout regimen , I am just very interested in giving my body the nutrition it needs. When I'm on crutches, I'm interested in donuts. Again, this is so different from a few years back. It was all about calories and fat grams. Now it’s WAY more about fuel and health. I don’t really ever view exercise as a way to lose weight at this point. I exercise regardless of my weight.

Currently, my diet operates kind of like a Monday-Friday work week. I am pretty specific about what kind of food goes into my mouth from Monday to Friday. I prep a lot of my food ahead of time because my weekdays are busy and I find it’s easier for me not to think about what to eat when I’m hungry. As a “general” rule, (*I’ve always been an occasional rule breaker) I steer clear of most processed foods, most white carbs, foods with a shelf life of over 14 years…. a lot of refined sugar, artificial sweeteners and anything that says Fat free (because it’s just gross) I'm human. Again, this is just a general rule-not the 10 commandments to me! I have eaten potatoes, white rice, deli meat, and Burker King and I'm still alive. Last Tuesday, DURING the week, I ate half a bag of flippin’ Doritos at a hockey meeting because they were sitting on the table, I was starving and didn’t get home to eat. Am I perfect-why yes! Did I have a heart attack over this-not really-a little ticked at myself but they were good, I was over it and headed to the gym. I can honestly remember a time that if I ate the Doritos, I would have scrapped the gym because since I blew my food intake, the whole day was a wash …... I can also remember a day that I would have died before even eating a Dorito. Anyway, moving on. The weekends aren’t a free for all food wise necessarily but if I want a Caribou coffee or popcorn I’m not going to beat myself up over it. It’s a good balance for ME.

I don’t count calories. I am planning to keep a food log with my running log starting today to evaluate later.

If I go out to eat (which isn’t too often) I really don’t look for low fat things on the menu. I eat what I want and enjoy it.

I take a multivitamin and Calcium. That's it.

I drink almost exclusively water and Cabernet

I am not vegan or vegetarian and have no plans to become one. I like chicken and occasionally cow! I totally respect those who choose this diet.


So, to actual food.

What I eat A LOT of:

Egg whites-way more than I should probably eat in a week. I eat some yolks but I don’t like them unless they’re scrambled. We buy both chicken and eggs outside of the grocery store.
Black beans
Greek Yogurt
Tuna
Spinach-literally up to 3 bags a week. I do not need “Green” smoothies. I LOVE spinach and I will eat it right out of the bag like potato chips.
Broccoli-I rival Janae here. I buy 12 oz steam fresh bags and eat one almost every day.
Romaine lettuce
Tons of veggies in general. In the summer I have a huge garden, more like a plantation actually, and the kids and I LOVE growing stuff and eating it! One fact-I hate cooked carrots.
Almond Butter
Salmon, Walleye(an awesome white freshwater fish), tilapia, chicken breasts
Wild rice, brown rice, black rice
Quinoa
Sweet potatoes
Cottage cheese
Apples
Bananas
Tabasco, RED HOT sauce, Horseradish, Wasabi!!!!!!!!!
Flax Prairie Bread which I make every week and I also wear an apron around the house.
Of course these I have way more variety but these things are pretty much staples.


A typical week day:

Breakfast- I eat one of 2 things. Either a 6 (yes 6) egg white omelet (don’t judge me-I refuse to change) for breakfast with spinach, cheese(goat, mozzarella,or feta) garlic (because I work at a dentist and people like to smell garlic), and whatever other veggies I feel like throwing in. I dump at least half a bottle of Tabasco on this, throw down a piece of flax toast and chase it with a cup of coffee! My other option is generally old fashioned oats (raw) mixed with cinnamon, a scoop of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling people) and greek yogurt. I top it with bananas and dates. If I’m hungry I’ll eat a lot. Seriously, A LOT!

Lunch-most days I eat salad especially when I’m working because I can cut everything up and put it in the work fridge on Monday and then it saves me time packing a lunch every day. I eat my salad out of a huge popcorn bowl and my coworkers stare at me. They are all on Weightwatchers or Jenny Craig (not dissing these programs) and eat meal replacement bars all the time. They are done their bar in like 2 seconds, it takes me 20 minutes to get through that salad bowl!! Tons of spinach and Romaine and I throw black beans, tuna, cottage cheese, whatever else on top. I don’t know if I can adequately describe how big this bowl is. Sometimes, I eat wraps but either way a LOT of veggies are packed into this meal. I don’t stop eating if I’m still hungry but I also think I’ve learned to know when I’m full.

These are core meals. I snack on things every couple of hours but avoid most things in the form of a “bar” and and stick to mainly Whole foods. (Yes, I know they make whole food bars-I could eat 15 Lara bars) Almonds, apples, bananas etc., Swedish fish (OK not usually but I do really like them)

Supper-This is generally my favorite meal. I cook up rice ahead of time. I use this a lot and it’s really good. I bought it at Whole Foods but I see that even some Walmarts carry it.

I boil it with a bunch of dehydrated salt free seasonings. Then I separate it into baggies and freeze it so I can just pop one out in the morning. I take out the frying pan, pour in some EVOO, wine, fresh garlic, tons of fresh spinach, grape tomatoes, mushrooms whatever else and stir fry with a load of spices! Then I throw in chicken that I’ve already pregrilled on the Foreman or outdoor grill in the summer, stir fry in the ready rice and eventually mix in the bag of steam fresh veggies. Dump on top the fresh pico that I always have in my fridge and I’m in heaven. I make lots of substitutions here because I often use fish or quinoa to change things up but this is primarily my go to meal during the week. (one awesome substitution is mango added to the pico and salmon glazed in a pomegranate mango chipotle sauce over the rice veggie mix!!! TDF)

My go to weekend meal is brick oven pizza on hockey trips-ha! I could eat pizza for every meal. (My hubby is building a brick oven outside of our deck-this may not be good for me) Actually, I’m a money freak and I don’t eat out too much on the weekends nor do my kids. We buy most of our food at a grocery store and eat it in the hotel room. Speaking of my kids, they don’t always eat the same food as me although they are pretty good eaters. I won’t go into this but I don’t feed them chicken nuggets and fries for every meal. On the flipside, yes they have macaroni and McDonalds sometimes. My husband is gone a lot but he is a total nuts and berries type of guy. When he is home we eat the same food.

There you have it!

Running: I officially started a marathon training program today. I will post a bit more on this later. This is really the race I love and I’m just excited to be working toward shattering my PR (by 1 second) in this distance. On the plan for today. 10 easy miles @about 8:15. Reality 10.6@8:12. Very happy about that. I did NOT want to go faster than this and was able to keep myself in check. God, thankyou for the 30 some MPH gusts from the South that simulated Mount Everest for 3 miles. I know you want me to be a better runner so amidst the constant bad language I uttered under my breath, I thank YOU!