06/05/11

Sleep: 6 hrs

Food:

Quinoa porridge, made with oat milk, winter fruits & walnuts - improved!

Marinaded steak, spring greens, 2 scrambled eggs, 1 avocado.

Apple.  Natural yoghurt mixed with natural peanut butter & cinnamon

Chicken breast, corn on the cob & peas.

Marinaded steak, spring greens, rocket, cucumber, cherry tomatoes & almonds

Natural yoghurt mixed with natural peanut butter & a banana

Water: 3 litres minimum

Energy Levels: Good, physically pretty tired, but mentally sharp.

Activities: Biked 15.8 miles

Temptation? The most ridiculous Easter Egg I've ever seen, that badboy must have been about 2cm thick!  (Actually I wasn't that tempted, but that night I did dream that I ate some without thinking and was mortified that I'd broken my diet so near to the end!)  Every one was very supportive - wafting it under my nose and trying to rub it on my hand, not mentioning any names Michael.

Mood: Great

Notes:

I haven't been missing pasteurised dairy much, maybe a slice of cheese every now and again.  So what's the problem with pasteurised dairy?  Pasteurisation involves heating milk to a very high temperature to kill all the bad bacteria in the milk.  Unfortunately this process also destroys all of the good bacteria and enzymes in the milk, making it very hard for our systems to digest.  Aside from lactose intolerances, this can be one of the main reasons people are sensitive to milk - symptoms include, bloating, stomach cramps, itchy skin and excess mucous production.

05/05/11 - One week to go!

Sleep: 6 hrs - booooo!


Food:
Marinaded steak, almonds & walnuts - yes this was breakfast at 05:45 - there are no rules...

Apple

Chicken & Avocado Salad.  Yoghurt Mix - Grapes, Kiwi, Blueberry Purée, Oats, Mixed Seeds, Apple Juice, Water

2 carrots

Bounce Fudgie Walnut Ball - Walnuts (13.5%), Peanuts, Rice Bran, Brown Rice Starch, Grape Juice, Puffed Rice, Rice Flour, Carob Powder, Sesame Seeds, Raisins, Vanilla, Natural Walnut Flavouring (No MSG), Sea Salt, Antioxidant (E306 from natural sources).

Leon's Grilled Chicken Salad

Protein shake with glutamine post workout & a banana

Handful of Almonds


Water: 3 litres minimum


Energy Levels: Good until after Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) - Physically and mentally shattered.  So unlike me to not eat a proper meal afterwards, but it was late & I had to be up at 6am, so I munched a handful of almonds, sank 2 pints of water and hit the sack.


Activities: BJJ - 1.5 hrs


Temptation? I saw an ice cream sign outside a convenience shop on the way home, desire was maybe 2 out of 10?


Mood: Good


Notes:
I'm finding that my energy levels are hugely affected by my quality of sleep the night before.  I was hungry today, what a strange sensation?!?  I usually eat so much and so often that I literally do NOT get hungry, but if someone asks if I'm hungry I usually reply "I could eat" or "yes"...  I was ravenous before the chicken & avocado salad & yoghurt.

04/05/11

Sleep: 7 hrs

Food:

Quinoa porridge, made with oat milk, winter fruits & walnuts

Marinaded steak, onions, mushrooms, watercress and almonds.  2 carrots.

Banana.  Protein shake with glutamine post workout.

Slow pulled pork, coriander rice, black beans, lettuce & guacamole.

Apple

Home made Turkey burgers (lean turkey mince, red onion, paprika, cinnamon, salt & pepper), wedges, large salad.  Handful of Almonds

Water: 3 litres minimum

Energy Levels:  Trained with Michael in the afternoon.  Tired in the evening, but it was a long day.

Activities: Biked 15.8 miles.  Gym workout for 1 hr.

Temptation? I think the handful of almonds after dinner were a substitute for something sweet.

Mood: Ok

Notes:

I didn't really feel like training, but had my measurements taken before and was buoyed by the results, so it was quite a good session in the end.

Marinaded steak, onions, mushrooms, watercress and almonds

03/05/11

Sleep: 6.5 hrs

Food:

Yoghurt, orange, kiwi, almonds & walnuts - sore throat's being kept at bay

Fish and mango curry with brown rice leftovers.

Rainbow Trout, spring greens, broccoli & avocado
Healthy flap jack

Apple & handful of almonds
Salmon, ratatouille & green beans


Water: 3 litres minimum


Energy Levels:  Tired after a morning rushing around on the bike.


Activities: Biked 15.8 miles - feeling it in the legs today - leg extension work in the gym and football yesterday...  Cry me a river...


Temptation?  Nothing


Mood: Ok


Notes:

Lunch was the most textbook meal I've had so far.  Rainbow trout shallow fried in coconut oil, plenty of green veg with olive oil drizzled over, and a whole avocado - If you look at the picture, half of the plate is filled with veg, this is how it should be every meal!  You never hear anyone say "you know what I just couldn't stop eating brussel sprouts last night", the more veggies the better - they're providing the majority of the carbohydrates in this meal, the fish is obviously my protein source and the avocado my healthy (monounsaturated) fats...

Rainbow Trout, spring greens, broccoli & avocado

Ok Glycemic Load - As I mentioned in an earlier post, Glycemic Index (GI) is the rate at which a food will elevate blood sugar levels.  Glycemic Load is calculated by multiplying this figure by the amount of carbohydrate contained in that serving.

E.g.  Food 'a' contains 100g's of carbs and has a GI value of 10.  GL = 100x10/100 = 10

Food 'b' contains only 10g's of carbs but has a GI value of 100.  GL = 10x100/100 = 10

These foods have radically different GI values, but due to the carbohydrate content, have the exact same Glycemic Load.  This demonstrates that we have to take into account both the carbohydrate content and GI value when making food choices.

The Glycemic Load scale; Sub 10 = LOW.  11-19 = MED.  20+ = HIGH

100g's of white French baguette is roughly 50% carbohydrate and has a GI value of 95 (more than twice as high as a slice of chocolate cake!) = a Glycemic Load of 47.5 (very high!)

02/05/11

Sleep: 8.5 hrs - woop woop again!

Food:

3 Scrambled eggs, handful of mixed almonds

Protein & glutamine shake post workout. 1 Banana

Fish and mango curry with brown rice leftovers.

1 orange & 1 kiwi - throat's feeling a little sore, so this is my defence!

Mackerel, watercress, walnuts, 1 carrot, 2 healthy flapjacks

3 chicken thighs, patatas bravas, salad & almonds

Water: 3 litres

Energy Levels:  Very good

Activities: Biked 7 miles.  Football for 1.5 hrs.  Gym workout - 40 mins.

Temptation? Nothing

Mood: Good

Notes:

Pretty happy with today, I even turned down a yoghurt and banana dessert!  Dinner was very nice, but something gave me acid reflux, possibly the tinned tomatoes in the patatas bravas - I had a food sensitivity test a few years ago and tomatoes were one of the foods I was sensitive / intolerant to - Food sensitivities can be another stress on the body, your adrenal glands respond to stress in the same manner, by elevating cortisol levels.  It doesn't matter what form this stress comes in.

01/05/11

Sleep: 6 hrs

Food:

Porridge with 1 scoop of protein powder & sliced banana

2 mackerel fillets, beetroot, olives & monkey nuts

3 oat cakes with tahini

Nak'd bar - Raw cashews, raisins, dates & cocoa

Yoghurt, orange & walnuts

Thai fish & mango curry with brown rice

3 banana, apricot & date flapjacks - Healthiest dessert option I could find

Water: 3 litres minimum

Energy Levels: Ok

Activities: Biked 1.4 miles

Temptation? Cinnamon rolls in ASDA

Mood: Ok

Notes:

Thai fish & mango curry recipe from good old Delia...

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/asian/thai/thai-fish-curry-with-mango.html

Flapjacks

http://www.mumsnet.com/Recipes/i/1329-Banana-and-date-flapjacks-sugarfree

I used 3 tsps of butter instead of vegetable oil and added chopped apricots too.

Thai fish & mango curry with brown rice

Banana, apricot & date flapjacks

30/04/11

Sleep: 8.5 hrs - woop woop!

Food:

Smoothie - Frozen winter fruits, yoghurt, 2 eggs, scoop of protein powder & cinnamon

Handful of monkey nuts

Protein shake post workout

Olives.  Courgette, mushroom & ginger with quinoa.  Kiwi.  Yoghurt, oats & cinnamon

Porridge with 1 scoop of protein powder & peanut butter - Yes, this was dinner.  As I said, need to go shopping!

Protein Shake - Just before bed, I was hungry & there wasn't much else going!

Water: 4 litres minimum

Energy Levels: Very good

Activities: Biked 8.2 miles.  1.5hrs of BJJ

Temptation? Nothing

Mood: Very good

Notes:

3 scoops of whey protein in one day, not like me.  There's nothing wrong with whey protein, it's perfect post workout because the body absorbs it quickly, but it's not a long term substitute for decent lean meat, fresh fish or eggs.