As I learn and immerse myself in nutrition and fitness, I'm beginning to feel more at ease with it all. Balance is the key and the balancing of my personal life was a bit easier this past week as my wife began to join me at the gym.
Low Carbohydrate, High Fat & High Protein
This was the formula and plan I incorporated in week four. The difficult part was finding foods that are low in carbs, high in fat and protein. In order to accomplish this during the week, breakfast through dinner looked very similar every day with minor adjustments here and there. A sample meal plan looks like this:
Breakfast:
3 eggs (I used to eat egg whites but I switched to whole eggs to get more fat)
2 pieces of turkey bacon
1/2 avocado
Black coffee
Snack:
Protein shake
1 tbsp of Peanut Butter (great source of good fats & protein)
Lunch:
Chicken breast (about 4-5 ounces)
Salad
Snack:
1/2 avocado
Dinner: (this is where I like to consume some carbs)
Steak (rib eye, sirloin, carne asada, flank, etc.-pretty much anything I find on sale)
Sweet potato fries (I buy sweet potatoes from our local farmers market and cut them up into french fries.)
Measuring & Weighing Your Foods
"The case for weighing food is accuracy. Weighing your food would prevent all the guesswork that comes with tracking your calories." (Richardson, 2011) If you notice my lunch in the sample meal plan I listed above, I mentioned I ate "5 ounces" of chicken. One of the biggest health issues I had growing up and throughout most of my adulthood was portion control. I grew up with parents that would supply buffet style meals throughout the day. My mom would make tons of food as if we were going to have company over but we didn't. I ate and ate until I could eat no more. It took reading a book when I was around 30 years old that taught me the importance of portion control. One of the recommendations was to purchase a food scale. (see picture below) I don't weigh everything but I like weigh anything that is meat such as chicken, steak, pork, and fish. My LoseIt app has most foods and calories categorized by ounces so it makes really easy to track. My wife doesn't like it when she serves me a plate of food and I strategically remove the meat, weight it and then place it back on my plate. Not the classiest move but when you have goals, you have to do what you have to do! Right?