Rugged Elegant Living: > for the body > Jennifer Carolyn King's Food Diary > Day One

JCK's Five-Week Food Diary - Fall 2002

Day One

5:30 a.m. It was extremely tough getting up this morning having been to the Harry Potter Premier last night. (Not that I'm complaining.) Ate 1/2 a Strawberry Zone bar before heading out the door with my bottle of water and Peets mug full of green tea. So far so good!

After fasting for ten hours, Tim has encouraged me to "get in the zone" as quickly as possible, even if it's just a snack size portion of food. This will bring my blood sugar up and give me the energy I need for the hour long work-out with Teresa and all.

6-6:50 a.m. Drank a 12 oz. bottle of Volvic water (Excellent tasting spring water...available at CostPlus).

8-8:15 a.m. Got in line behind Robin Williams on the way to school. (Just a little SF urban drama editorial added for kicks.)

8:30 a.m. Breakfast: 1 cup of slow-cooked Quaker Oats oatmeal, 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 t of brown sugar.

I understand the slow-cooked oatmeal is better because it converts into blood glucose much more slowly than the Instant oatmeal and most cereals.

I should have had some protein (sliced turkey, cottage cheese, yogurt or hard-boiled egg whites) to go with the oatmeal but was on the run to get to work. Breakfast time is also the time I take my supplements and vitamins.

10:30 a.m. Snack: 1 frozen Chocolate Mint Zone bar. 6 oz. water.

Almost tempted to eat a Milky War bar in the freezer, but resisted since this diary is holding me accountable to staying 'on track.'

Noon: Feeling hungry. Too busy to stop.

2:15 p.m. Lunch: DimSum appetizer, Tuna pita sandwich, 6 baby carrots, 12 oz. water

Food Carbs (g) Protein (g) Fat (g)
DimSum Appetizer 24 6 8
1/2 Small Avocado 8 2 15
1 Roma Tomato 5 0 0
6 oz. Tuna in Water 0 33 1
2 tbsp Italian Dressing 3 0 8
2 tbsp Raisins 8 0 0
2 Tbsp Sunflower Seeds 3 4 9
2 Small Pitas 26 4 1
6 Baby Carrots 7 0 0
Total (g) 84 49 42
Total (blocks) 9 7 14


To determine whether or not this was a 'Zone friendly' meal, I divided the total # of carb grams by 9, the total number of protein grams by 7 and the total # of fat grams by 9. This gives me the number of blocks of each macronutrient that I've eaten -- 9 blocks of carbs, 7 blocks of protein and 14 blocks of fat! Definitely not zone friendly. I should have had three blocks of each macronutrient (carb, protein, fat).

So, how's this for a wake-up call. I make this killer lunch. Tim tells me "It's fabulous." Then, we go work the #s afterwards, and find out that in one meal we ate more than a half-days worth of carbs, protein and fat. Next time, I'm going by the book.

This is a great concoction, however, if anyone is interested. Just plan to share it!

 

 





The emphasis should be on getting the right ratios of carbs, protein and fat. Again, based on my lean body mass and fitness regimen, my total intake of carbs should be 13 blocks for one day, or 3 per breakfast/lunch/dinner meal. So, in fact, I ate three (3) times as many carbs as I should have, more than twice as much protein and more than 5 times as much fat as I should have.

In retrospect, what could I have done differently?

First of all, I shouldn't have waited until I was starving to eat. Popping the two minute microwaveable DimSum appetizers could have been avoided had I eaten lunch on time. So I could have nixed the DimSum.

Second, I should have had one pita bread tuna concoction instead of two.

Third, I should have had either the dressing or the avocado but not both.

Personally, I'd rather have a smaller portion of a more delectable meal rather than twice as much that is bland tasting. So, for me, eliminating the raisins and sunflower seeds is not an option.

Interesting that by doing the above I come up with a perfect Zone meal:

Food Carbs (g) Protein (g) Fat (g)
1/2 Roma Tomato 2 0 0
3 oz. Tuna in Water 0 16 0
1 tbsp Italian Dressing 1 0 4
1 tbsp Raisins 4 0 0
1 tbsp Sunflower Seeds 2 2 5
1 Small Pita 13 2 0
3 Baby Carrots 4 0 0
Total (g) 26 20 9
Total (blocks) 3 3 3


Live and learn.

3:30 p.m. I'm craving carbs. Tim says that this is the result of eating too much for lunch, which led to a blood sugar crash and now the carbohydrate cravings.

4 p.m. Phew. The craving has passed.

As Sears say in the Zone books, "Put your mistakes behind you. Let your next meal become your opportunity to get back into the Zone."

Needless to say, I'll forego a late afternoon snack today.

Monday's are always hectic because we have a 6:30-9:30 p.m. meeting.

6 p.m. Threw in a Lean Cuisine Chicken Orange and shared it with Tim.

7 p.m. Ate 1 cup of red grapes and 16 oz. of water.

Evening Snack Made the mistake of not eating a small snack before bed.

For two months I've been dealing with insomnia. Then, Tim got me going on eating 1/2 cup of yogurt and some sliced almonds before bed, and for the past week I've been sleeping through the night. Not this night, however. My daughter woke me up at 3 a.m. and I never got back to sleep. Boy, was it tough getting out of bed when the alarm went off this morning at 5:20.

Other Comments: Tim mentioned this past weekend that my face looks puffy. Probably due to all that chocolate I've been eating since Halloween.

 

Rugged Elegant Living: > for the body > Jennifer Carolyn King's Food Diary > Day One

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