I need more food.

My apologies for the length of this entry.


06:10 - BREAKFAST

• Porridge with 1/2 cup of milk and 1 tbsp of Golden Syrup

Another cold morning and the porridge beckons. It's damn tough to resist it because it's not only tastylicious but it's just so quick to prepare. Oats in a bowl, cover with water, a pinch of salt (the true Scottish way), and bung it in the microwave for 4 minutes. Add some milk for creaminess and a bit of golden Syrup for sweetness and you have the perfect hot breakfast. Now I know this is something that I shouldn't be having due to the amount of carbohydrates in the oats and the Golden Syrup, and it doesn't fit in with those three things I need to have in each meal.


Here's the break down of my porridge breakfast:

• 50g Rolled Oats
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 tbsp Golden Syrup

*What that yields is:
FOOD                 PROTEIN     CARBS     FAT
-----------------------------------------------
Rolled Oats           7.5         35         5
Milk                  4            6         5
Golden Syrup          0           10         0
-----------------------------------------------
TOTAL                 11.5        51        10
*I use http://www.nutritiondata.com/ to work out what is in my food.


Now I'm way off the mark for the amount of protein I need to have for this particular meal and need to boost it by about 20g. I'm thinking a shot of protein powder will fix that, just not sure of the taste. The other thing I need to replace is the Golden Syrup. Dried fruits might be the best go. Some apricots, dates, sultanas, etc. Will get some various dried druits to see what combination works best.


The next problem is the amount of carbs that's in it. I can eat high energy carbs but only withing a 3 hour window of starting an intense training session. That's another rule I have to try to stick by.


So tomorrow morning is a 5:30am start with a half hour weights session, meaning I will be able to have my porridge with a protein powder boost. I still need to find a substitute breakfast for the non-training days though. It has to be hot, and it has to be quick.


10:00 - MORNING TEA

• French Vanilla protein shake

Yawn. So boring. Would much prefer something hot and the thought of a nice Thai curry chicken soup is still very tempting. I think there is some experimenting to be done in the kitchen in the next few days.


10:38 - HUNGRY


I'm actually feeling quite hungry now. I need to get that 2 cups of plant food into my morning tea somehow. I still think the soup would be OK but until I actually make it I can't be sure if it's going to meet the nutrition needs. Or had another idea of a bowl of blanched veg (cabbage, carrots, broccoli, sprouts, etc) with spring onions and chilli or a chilli and satay type sauce mixed through it. Fat content might be a bit high though. Will think on that one.


12:30 - LUNCH

• Corned beef, cheese, and salad WRAP!!!

Yes, I've made a switch from the very tasty and chewy Hungarian Parmesean Rolls from Baker's Delight, to the thin and see through Mountain Bread wraps. The difference in the carb levels is quite dramatic.

FOOD               PROTEIN    CARBS   FAT
-------------------------------------------
Baker's Delight     12         60      3
Mountain Bread       3         13      0.5
-------------------------------------------
DIFFERENCE           9         47      2.5


So for my actual lunch the break down today is this:


FOOD               PROTEIN    CARBS   FAT
-------------------------------------------
Corned beef         15          0      15
Mountain Bread       3         13       0.5
Cheese               7          0       8.5
Tomato               0          0       0
Lettuce              0          0       0
Onion                0          0       0
-------------------------------------------
TOTAL               25         13      24
So this is probably more in tune to what I should be having however it didn't really satisfy my appetite. Bulking it out with a lot more salad might be the key.


14:05 - HUNGRY AGAIN
Definitely need to increase how much I eat at lunch. That wrap just wasn't enough or there just wasn't enough salad in it. Will hit the supermarket at 3pm for maximum veg overload.


15:30 - AFTERNOON TEA

• Celery stalks
• Sardines in tomato sauce

FOOD           PROTEIN      CARBS    FAT
-------------------------------------------
Celery           0           2        0
Sardines        20           0        3
-------------------------------------------
TOTAL           20           2        3


Simple but it tastes like crap. Celery and sardines aren't that great a combination, however it did meet all the key points for what I had to have in every meal. Mind you, a tin of Homebrand Sardines in Tomato sauce was only $0.65 and by themselves was quite a nice treat. Will have to revisit the sardine for afternoon tea again. Perhaps a Caeser style salad with sliced boiled egg.


18:00 - DINNER

• Paella

It was left over from Tuesday night and needed to be eaten.  As much as I want to change my nutrition I don't want to waste food.  Lesson here: cook less when I make paella.


19:00 - POST-DINNER

• A bucket of Coke Zero
• A shit load of popcorn

Went to the movies again and the two lasses I was with 'demanded' that I get popcorn for them.  What was I going to do?  Who am I kidding.  Poor choice on my part.


SUMMARY
Not a great day however I think I'm starting to take some small steps in the right direction.

Getting a feel for the challenge

Today I was concentrating on not so much making major changes, but more working out what I'm eating and where I could make improvements. So I just wrote down everything I ate and at what times into a small journal I made up. This will form the basis of the daily blogs.

05:45AM - BREAKFAST

• Porridge with 1/2 cup of milk and 1 tbsp of Golden Syrup

Ahh porridge how I love thee on a cold morn. Just brings back so many good memories of my youth. I really don't want to find a substitute for this. :(

10:00 - MORNING TEA

• Cuppa Soup - Cream of Tomato with croutons

Yeah not the best choice here however that was all that I had at my desk. I do like soup though and was thinking I could come up with a cracking soup recipe that I could make into a thick concentrate and freeze it in blocks, thaw them in a mug and add hot water to it to thin it out a bit. Have different styles like a minestrone, a thai or spanish flavour, yet still getting those three things I need to have in each meal. I realise there's only so much you can fit into a mug, but it's worth a go. Was even thinking of a creamy style soup but using protein powder as a base for the creamy part with a few dashes of coconut essence to give it that Thai style. Will get back to you on that one.

12:30 - LUNCH

• Corned beef, cheese, and salad roll
• Small popcorn
• Small lemonade

The corned beef and salad roll was OK except for the bread roll. Too high in carbs when I hadn't done any exercise before hand. However it's a cheap and easy lunch for work. Perhaps lowering the carbs by having mountain bread instead of a roll from Baker's Delight will be a better, yet not ideal, option. I know I should simply have a salad however they just don't fill me up and I find myself spending twice as much on food just to satisfy my appetite.

The small popcorn and small lemonade was definitely avoidable however I took Lucy to the movies and being her first movie experience I weakened and bought popcorn and drinks. Absolutely no excuses here.

15:00 - AFTERNOON TEA

Yeah this didn't happen at all. :(

18:00 - DINNER

• Curried sausages and rice

Wednesday nights I have dinner with Jen and Lucy so I don't have much control over what is put on the table unless I start cooking for them on these nights that I visit.

22:45 - POST DINNER

The only thing I have in the fridge is corned beef, cheese, and left over paella. And to be honest it's too late for me to eat anything just before I go to bed.

SUMMARY

Not a successful nutrition day but I didn't expect it to be, but it does give me things to think about. The soup stuff I'm really keen to try soon. The porridge thing is going to be a big hurdle.

One small step for the fatman...

So I've been on the 'exercise wagon' for about six months now and have been pretty happy with the results. I could have been doing better if I had also jumped on the 'nutrition wagon' at the same time however having one foot on each would probably have seen me fall flat on my face. So it was my decision to tackle one thing at a time.

It's now time to reach out and grab hold of the nutrition side of my new lifestyle.

MY GOALS

Essentially I want to look and feel a lot better about myself. I also want to be able to see Lucy grow up and live longer and be healthy enough to fulfil my own ambitions and dreams.

My short term goal date has been set for the 12th of September 2010 (my 40th birthday). What do I want to acheive in that time? Lose fat and gain muscle obviouly, however I've been told I need to be more 'specific'. I'm unsure as to what is a realistic amount though. Is a 10% body reduction in body fat actually achievable and if it is, is that setting the bar too low? I guess it's someting to ask Paul at the next training session.

I really want to tackle this food issue in a way that I can have some control over what I can cook. I want that creative freedom and not be stuck to someone else's recipes. Don't get me wrong, I still need to conform to some rules and these being:

• Six meals per day with each containing:
• 30g of protein
• 2 cups of plant food
• Essential fats and oils (omega 3)

That's a lot of food but the idea is to keep my metabolism running so that it becomes more efficient in processing food (fuel).

Now I refuse to have shakes and what-not all the time. I'm not fond of having the same thing over and over again (unless it's something I absolutely love) so it's why I really want to retain my creative freedom in the kitchen. Plus I kinda like to actually 'chew' my food.

WHY A BLOG?

I need to keep myself on track and acountable. I want to be able to find tasty and creative ways to get my nutrition needs while still keeping the costs down. So I figure you the reader can share in my achievements and failings and maybe get a few cracking recipes from it as well.