quinoa and tomato salad

So, for the two weeks ended november 6th things went well. As per usual take a look at the food listed below, and if you like quinoa there

is a great recipe (also below)

Total calories from food (week 8):

• 12,512 or 1787 per day.
• 401 calories per day from fat or 22.4%
• 354 calories per day from protein or 19.8%
• 1032 calories per day from carbs or 57.8%

Total calories from food (week 9):

• 10,861 or 1551 per day.
• 391 calories per day from fat or 25.2%
• 251 calories per day from protein or 16.1%
• 976 calories per day from carbs or 57.7%

Tuesday October 25th:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

• 10 almonds
• 70 calories (4g fat/3g pro/3g carb
• Ham sandwich (2 slices whole wheat toast, 60 grams ham, Dijon and 45 cal mayo)
• 280 calories (9g fat/21g pro/28g carb)
• 3 stoned wheat thins
• 90 calories (2.5 g fat/1.5g pro/15g carb)
• 1 babybel light cheese
• 50 calories (3g fat/6g pro/0g carb)

Dinner:

Daily Totals:

1580 calories (335 fat/317 pro/928 carb)

Wednesday October 26th:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

Dinner:

1490 calories  (260 fat/359 pro/871 carb)

Thursday October 27th:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

Dinner:

• Pasta and meat sauce with 2 slices of toast
• 545 calories (15g fat/36g pro/67g carb)

Daily totals:

1668 calories (413 fat/303 pro/952 carb)

Friday October 28th:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

• apple, 30 grams cheddar, 3stoned wheat thins
• 295 calories (12g fat/9g pro/37.2g carb)
• Toast and vegemite (2 slices whole wheat toast, 7.5 grams butter, vegemite)
• 192 calories (8.7 g fat/7.3g pro/25 g carb)

Dinner:

• Rotini pasta with meatballs
• 410 calories (10g fat/29g pro/56g carb)
• 1cup spinach, ½ cup low fat (1%) cottage cheese
• 165 calories (.4g fat/9g pro/29.5g carb)

Daily totals:

1628 calories (314 fat/307 pro/1007 carb)

Saturday October 29th:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

• Apple, 30 grams cheddar, 3stoned wheat thins
• 295 calories (12g fat/9g pro/37.2g carb)
• 1 apple
• 95 calories (0g fat/0g pro/25.6g carb)
• 40g beef jerky
• 120 calories (1g fat/21g pro/7.5g carb)
• Ham sandwich (2 slices whole wheat toast, 60 grams ham, Dijon and 45 cal mayo)
• 280 calories (9g fat/21g pro/28g carb)

Dinner:

• 60 grams ham, 3 stoned wheat thins, 30g cheddar, 1 carrot
• 360 calories (14g fat/23g pro/35g carb)
• 1/2 bag almond m&m’s
• 210 calories (10g fat/6g pro/20g carb)

Daily totals:

1926 calories (451 fat/410 pro/1o65 carb)

Sunday October 30th:

Breakfast: 

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

Mid day:

• 40g beef jerky
• 120 calories (1g fat/21g pro/7.5g carb)
• 1 cup spinach, ½ cup low fat (1%) cottage cheese
• 165 calories (.4g fat/9g pro/29.5g carb)
• apple, 30 grams cheddar, 3stoned wheat thins
• 295 calories (12g fat/9g pro/37.2g carb)

Dinner:

• Lasagna, salad, appies and apple pie
• Had to guess (around 2000 calories) (60 g fat/85g pro/282g carb)

Daily totals:

2861 calories (669 fat/533 pro/1659 carb)

Monday October 31st:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

• Toast and vegemite (2 slices whole wheat toast, 7.5 grams butter, vegemite)
• 192 calories (8.7 g fat/7.3g pro/25 g carb)
• 1 apple
• 95 calories (0g fat/0g pro/25.6g carb)
• 2 carrot muffins
• 300 calories (10g fat/6g pro/42g carb)

Dinner:

Daily totals:

1633 calories (360 fat/259 pro/1014 carb)

Tuesday November 1st:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

• 1 carrot muffin
• 150 calories (5g fat/3g pro/21g carb)
• 6 stoned wheat thins
• 180 calories (5 g fat/3g pro/30g carb)
• 2 babybel light cheese
• 100 calories (6g fat/12g pro/0g carb)

Dinner:

Daily Totals:

1256 calories (185 fat/198 pro/873 carb)

Wednesday November 2nd:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• 1 carrot muffin
• 150 calories (5g fat/3g pro/21g carb)

Mid day:

• Toast and vegemite (2 slices whole wheat toast, 7.5 grams butter, vegemite)
• 192 calories (8.7 g fat/7.3g pro/25 g carb)
• 1 apple
• 95 calories (0g fat/0g pro/25.6g carb)

Dinner:

1073 calories  (212 fat/169 pro/692 carb)

Thursday November 3rd:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• 1 apple
• 95 calories (0g fat/0g pro/25.6g carb)
• 1 apple
• 95 calories (0g fat/0g pro/25.6g carb)
• 1 babybel light cheese
• 50 calories (3g fat/6g pro/0g carb)
• 3 stoned wheat thins
• 90 calories (2.5 g fat/1.5g pro/15g carb)

Mid day:

Dinner:

• 3 slices thin crust pizza
• 450 calories (18g fat/20g pro/53g carb)
• 1cup spinach, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, ½ cup fat free cottage cheese
• 165 calories (.4g fat/9g pro/29.5g carb)

Daily totals:

1836 calories (503 fat/320 pro/1013 carb)

Friday November 4th:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• 1 babybel light cheese
• 50 calories (3g fat/6g pro/0g carb)
• 3 stoned wheat thins
• 90 calories (2.5 g fat/1.5g pro/15g carb)

Mid day:

• 1cup spinach, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, ½ cup fat free cottage cheese
• 165 calories (.4g fat/9g pro/29.5g carb)
• Toast and vegemite (2 slices whole wheat toast, 7.5 grams butter, vegemite)
• 192 calories (8.7 g fat/7.3g pro/25 g carb)

Dinner:

• 1 babybel light cheese
• 50 calories (3g fat/6g pro/0g carb)
• 3 stoned wheat thins
• 90 calories (2.5 g fat/1.5g pro/15g carb)
• 1 orange
• 69 calories (0g fat 1.6g pro/18g carb)

Daily totals:

987 calories (190 fat/169 pro/628 carb)

Saturday November 5th:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)
• Toast and vegemite (2 slices whole wheat toast, 7.5 grams butter, vegemite)
• 192 calories (8.7 g fat/7.3g pro/25 g carb)

Mid day:

• 1/2 steak wrap with fries (had to guess)
• 600 calories (30g fat/20g pro/62.5 carb

Dinner:

• Greek salad, lamb, rice, potatoes and pita (had to guess-saved some for left overs)
• 1000 calories (40g fat/40g pro/120g carb)

Daily totals:

2358 calories (746 fat/358 pro/1254 carb)

Sunday November 6th:

Breakfast: 

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Toast and vegemite (2 slices whole wheat toast, 7.5 grams butter, vegemite)
• 192 calories (8.7 g fat/7.3g pro/25 g carb)

Mid day:

• left over greek
• 500 calories (20g fat/20g pro/60g carb)
• 1cup spinach, ½ cup fat free cottage cheese
• 145 calories (.4g fat/9g pro/25.5g carb)

Dinner:

• 2 slice thin crust pizza plus 6 seafood appies
• 600 calories (30g fat/25g pro/54g carb)

Daily totals:

1718 calories (541 fat/283 pro/894 carb)

Ruby and Oscar, not part of the "MO" diet

Hubris

noun [mass noun]

• excessive pride or self-confidence
• (in Greek tragedy) excessive pride towards or defiance of the gods, leading to nemesis.

Well, pretty much sums up weeks 5&6. It all started with a weekend in Vancouver to pick up our new Boston Terrier Ruby (at right with Oscar) Things in the first four weeks were going well and I made the brilliant decision to not worry too much about the diet and have a good time for a few days while we were out of town. Things were actually going well to the point that I was feeling a little bit up on myself (see above) to the point where I was actually thinking that this diet thing was going to be a cake walk. 150? No sweat!                                                                                                                               

Diets are technically easy. The rules, in their simplest form do not require to much “splitting of the atom” so to speak. Simply eat a bit less, cut out some of the “crappy” foods and get outside a bit more. The issues arise when you start to throw psychology into the mix. I made a decision to not “worry” too much about a weekend out, sadly this attitude carried right through into week 6.

Calories:

In a couple of words “too much”. In weeks past when eating the odd meal out I would guess at the calories and add a little bit. This is no big deal when discretionary calories are less than 10% of your total. In week 5 I stopped counting at 10,000 calories. Yep, thats right I ended up eating (and drinking) somewhere close to 10,000 extra calories in week 5 alone. the good thing is I still managed a decent training load of about 7.5 hours. The issue with guessing is that at some point when the majority of your calories are coming from crap that someone else is making for you it is impossible to know how many calories you are eating. These weeks were definitely transgression weeks, or I should say the sum total of a bunch of smaller transgressions (eggs bennie and two pints of Rickards for lunch-mmmm!), maybe we can call it the transgression avalanche!

The numbers:

Well training saved the day on this one, like I said in week 5 I put in a solid 7.5 hours and ended the week at 163.8 lbs for a gain of 1 pound in week 6 I upped the training a bit to 8.5 hours and managed to come back to down to 162.6 lbs. So in the end it wasn’t a total disaster, I managed to escape the diet casino breaking even, with my head just (barely) above water.

The good news:

Yes there is a bit, my 5 km tempo run is down to 22:21 from 23:11. I am guessing that 5 km speed is worth about 20 seconds per 5 pounds, doesn’t sound like much but if you lost 10 pounds of bad weight it could translate into about 5.5 minutes in a marathon. 22:21 is not that fast but I was pretty pumped, weird for someone who used to run 17 and change. I guess at some point I stopped caring about PB’s and started to care more about progression, just getting better week over week.

My “lofty” goal is to run somewhere in the 3:30 range at Ironman next year, I have done this quite a few times, but at 40 it might be a bit harder. In order to get there I will need a “threshold” 5km of around 19:30 minutes and a sub max 5km time of 25:00 (I define sub max as below 145 heart rate for me). For Ironman athletes the sub max value is the critical one as it speaks to efficiency and energy management, threshold speed and power are less important.

As for week seven, (I know it’s over and I still haven’t posted yet!) things went well and I am back to counting (and counting, and counting….) all of my calories. Ruby is also settling in and does not seem to care about caloric restriction, she’s an eating (and pooping) machine!

Cheers,

Mo

Well week 4 (ended October 2nd) is long since over, I have been hesitant to post because weeks 5 and 6 did not go very well. Having said that week 4 was pretty good. As usual please read below to see what I ate, also please see below for the beet and apple salad recipe pictured on the right.

Total calories from food:

• 12,288 or 1755 calories per day.
• 506 calories from fat per day or 28.8%
• 270 Calories from protein per day or 15.3%
• 979 calories from carbs per day 55.9%

Monday September 26^th:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• 1 bagel with butter and vegemite
• 330 calories (7g fat/11g pro/56g carb)

Mid day:

• 1 babybel light cheese
• 50 calories (3g fat/6g pro/0g carb)
• 1 bagel with butter and vegemite
• 330 calories (7g fat/11g pro/56g carb)
• 1pear
• 96 calories (0g fat/0.6g pro/25.7g carb)

Dinner:

• Homemade thin slice pizza with roast beef olives and feta (2 slices)
• 281 calories (9g fat/17.5g pro/35g carb)

Daily totals:

1386 calories (243 fat/222 pro/921 carb)

Tuesday September 27^th:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• 1 bagel with butter and vegemite
• 330 calories (7g fat/11g pro/56g carb)

Mid day:

• 1pear
• 96 calories (0g fat/0.6g pro/25.7g carb)
• Spinach, bocconcini and tomato salad with flax seed oil
• 212 calories (13g fat/10g pro/13g carb)

Dinner:

• ½ turkey dog on toast with cheese and olives:
• 400 calories (16g fat/24g pro/40g carb)

Daily totals:

1319 calories (333 fat/220 pro/766 carb)

Wednesday September 28^th:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

Lunch:

• Seafood tacos with ceasar salad (ate out, had to guess):
• 1200 calories (60g fat/40g pro/125g carb)

Dinner:

• Bag of nacho chips:
• 360 calories (15g fat/8g pro/48g carb)
• 1 san pelegrino grapefruit pop
• 150 calories (0g fat/0g pro/36g carbs)

Daily totals:

1991 calories (684 fat/230 pro/1077 carb)

Thursday September 29^th:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• 1 bagel with butter and vegemite
• 330 calories (7g fat/11g pro/56g carb)

Mid day:

• 1 nectarine
• 70 calories (0g fat/1g pro/17g carb)
• 1 piece pizza:
• 141 calories (4.6g fat/8.75g pro/17.5g carb)

Dinner:

• Curry chicken with peppers, zucchini, onion and wild rice (had to guess)
• 750 calories (30g fat/35g pro/77g carb)

Daily totals:

1572 calories (383 fat/260 pro/929 carb)

Friday September 30^th:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• 1 bagel with butter and vegemite
• 330 calories (7g fat/11g pro/56g carb)

Lunch:

• Curry chicken with peppers, zucchini, onion and wild rice (had to guess)
• 750 calories (30g fat/35g pro/77g carb)

Dinner:

• A&W angus prime rib burger
• 560 calories (38g fat/22g pro/31g carb)

Daily totals:

1921 calories (684 fat/310 pro/927 carb)

Saturday October 1^st:

Breakfast:

• 1 bagel with butter and vegemite
• 330 calories (7g fat/11g pro/56g carb
• 1pear
• 96 calories (0g fat/0.6g pro/25.7g carb)
• 1 babybel light cheese
• 50 calories (3g fat/6g pro/0g carb)
• 3stoned wheat thins
• 90 calories (2.5 g fat/1.5g pro/15g carb)

Lunch:

• Ham & egg sandwich with ceasar salad (had to guess)
• 1000 calories (40g fat/40g pro/120g carb)

Dinner:

• Nachos with steak, olives and avocado
• 730 calories (42g fat/26g pro/62g carb)

Daily totals:

2296 calories (850 fat/341 pro/1105 carb)

Sunday October 2^nd:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

• 1 bagel with butter and vegemite
• 330 calories (7g fat/11g pro/56g carb)
• 1 bagel with butter and vegemite
• 330 calories (7g fat/11g pro/56g carb)
• 1pear
• 96 calories (0g fat/0.6g pro/25.7g carb)
• 1 apple
• 95 calories (0g fat/0g pro/25.6g carb)

Dinner:

• 2chicken drumstick
• 386 calories (22.6g fat/31.6g pro/12g carb)

Daily totals:

1803 calories (367 fat/307 pro/1129 carb)

 

Thin crust pizza with roast beef, feta, romas, and olives!

Well, week 3 (ended sept 25) is in the books. As per usual if you want the details as to what I ate see below. Also check below for the “home made” thin crust pizza recipe pictured to the right.

Total calories from food:

• 12,243 or 1749 calories per day.
• 422 calories from fat (average) per day or 24.1%
• 315 Calories from protein (average) per day or 18%
• 1012 calories from carbohydrate (average) per day 57.9%

Calories from booze:

1400 for the week

Well,a bottle of wine and 4 beers for the week, not much to say here-I don’t seem to be in a bit of a holding pattern of about 6-8 drinks per week.

Extra calories:

• 1080 calories (12 O’douls-non alcoholic beer)
• 210 calories (cream and sugar in my coffee)

Total calories for the week:

14,933 calories

Outputs:

My RMR went down slightly to 2261 calories per day, but as we discussed in previous weeks a guess of 2800 calories per day including lifestyle seems reasonable:

19,600 calories for the week

Training calories:

Thursday:

• Group speed work run 0:59 total  average HR 161/peak 190 calories: 973

Sunday:

• Long run 1:33 average HR 151/peak 172 calories: 1441

2414 calories from training, yikes! Thats bad, about 2.5 hours total

 

Total outputs for the week:

22,014 calories (estimate)

The end result:

An OK week, I went from 166.8 pounds to 164.6 for a loss of 2.2 pounds, my BF stayed pretty much the same at 17.8%. Based on my deficit is just over 7000 calories, 2.2 pounds is pretty much right on the money. I feel that I am maybe getting a bit cocky after having lost over 7 pounds in the first two weeks. This goes hand in hand with my theory that weight loss in and of itself is a simple mathematical formula: calories out have to be more than calories in simple as that. The bigger issue is always ourselves and the mental barriers we place before us.

You may have read some books like Aitkins or the Paleo diet that espouse some obscure theory as real science, when in actuality it’s just good marketing. The important figure is the amount of calories you eat-period, the macro-nutrient ratio (fat vs protein vs carbs) has little impact on weight loss! The Paleo diet is simply a border line starvation diet which cuts out carbs. Great for sedentary people, but if you want exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle low carb/high protein is not the way to go.

Thats it for this week. Speaking of carbs, please see the pizza recipe below.

Cheers,

Mo

Thin crust pizza:

To start this is not a true “homemade” pizza recipe, I use the frozen dough (western family) they sell at Cooper’s. Once thawed and proofed its hard to tell the difference!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 loaf of western family whole wheat frozen dough (225 grams)
• 100g of ham or lean roast beef
• 50g feta
• 50g cheddar
• 4 roma tomatoes
• 1/2 green pepper
• 2 tbsp black olives
• 3 mushrooms.
• 2 tbsp BBQ sauce

Monday September 19^th:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Toast and vegemite (2 slices whole wheat toast, 7.5 grams butter, vegemite)
• 192 calories (8.7 g fat/7.3g pro/25 g carb)

Mid day:

• Spinach, bocconcini and tomato salad with flax seed oil
• 212 calories (13g fat/10g pro/13g carb)
• 1 orange
• 69 calories (0g fat 1.6g pro/18g carb)
• 1 plum
• 40 calories (0g fat/1g pro/11g carb)
• 1 kiwi
• 50 calories (0g fat/1g pro/12g carb)
• Orange pepper sticks
• 25 calories (0g fat/1g pro/6g carb)

Dinner:

• Home made lean beef chili on soft taco shells with cheddar
• 517 calories (19.5g fat/37g pro/44g carb)
• 2 wasa crackers with avocado
• 230 calories (13g fat/7g pro/28g carb)

Daily totals:

1616 calories (497 fat/301 pro/818 carb)

Tuesday September 20^th: 

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

• Spinach, bocconcini and tomato salad with flax seed oil
• 212 calories (13g fat/10g pro/13g carb)
• Toast and vegemite (2 slices whole wheat toast, 7.5 grams butter, vegemite)
• 192 calories (8.7 g fat/7.3g pro/25 g carb)
• 1 kiwi
• 50 calories (0g fat/1g pro/12g carb)
• 1 peach
• 40 calories (0g fat/1g pro/11g carb)

Dinner:

• Curried pork chops with wild rice & veggies
• 663 calories (24g fat/46g pro/76g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Daily Totals:

2008 calories (478 fat/403 pro/1127 carb)

Wednesday September 21^st:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

• ½ serving Curried pork chops with wild rice & veggies
• 331.5 calories (12g fat/23g pro/38g carb)
• ½ red pepper
• 15 calories (0g fat/0.5 g pro/4g carb)
• cucumber slices 60 grams
• 10 calories (2.5g carb)

Dinner:

• Roast beef with veggies and salad (and dessert) and about 60g of trail mix
• 1500 calories (guess) (60g fat/60g pro/180g carb)

Daily Totals:

2422 calories  (686 fat/424 pro/1312 carb)

Thursday September 22^nd:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

• 1 san pelegrino grapefruit pop
• 150 calories (0g fat/0g pro/36g carbs)
• 3stoned wheat thins
• 90 calories (2.5 g fat/1.5g pro/15g carb)

Dinner:

• Home made tomato soup
• 200 calories (2g fat/6g pro/39g carb
• 3stoned wheat thins
• 90 calories (2.5 g fat/1.5g pro/15g carb)

Daily totals:

1096 calories (100 fat/126 pro/870 carb)

Friday September 23^rd:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

• Pear, 30 grams cheddar, 3stoned wheat thins
• 295 calories (12g fat/9g pro/37.2g carb)
• Toast and vegemite (2 slices whole wheat toast, 7.5 grams butter, vegemite)
• 192 calories (8.7 g fat/7.3g pro/25 g carb)

Dinner:

• Potato skins and seafood rolls (had to guess)
• 800 calories (33g fat/25g pro/100g carb)

Daily totals:

1853 calories (521 fat/255 pro/1077 carb)

Saturday September 24^th:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• Vector plus skim milk
• 285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

• Pear, 30 grams cheddar, 3stoned wheat thins
• 295 calories (12g fat/9g pro/37.2g carb)
• 1 apple
• 95 calories (0g fat/0g pro/25.6g carb)
• 40g beef jerky
• 120 calories (1g fat/21g pro/7.5g carb)
• ½ Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 140 Calories (0.5 g fat/4.7 g pro/30 g carb)

Dinner:

• Homemade thin slice pizza with roast beef olives and feta (5 slices)
• 705 calories (23g fat/43.75g pro/87.5g carb)

Daily totals:

1921 calories (366 fat/404 pro/1151 carb)

Sunday September 25^th:

Breakfast: 

• Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)
• 281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)
• 1 apple
• 95 calories (0g fat/0g pro/25.6g carb)
• 1 babybel light cheese
• 50 calories (3g fat/6g pro/0g carb)

Mid day:

• 40g beef jerky
• 120 calories (1g fat/21g pro/7.5g carb)
• Homemade thin slice pizza with roast beef olives and feta (2 slices)
• 281 calories (9g fat/17.5g pro/35g carb)

Dinner:

• Salad with roasted leeks and pear
• 500 calories (20g fat/20g pro/60g carb)

Daily totals:

1327 calories (306 fat/296 pro/725 carb)

Spinach, beets, and cherry smoothie, tastes great and has real staying power!

Week two is done, sorry this took a few days too post (we’re almost done week 3!) As per last week if you are really keen you can see exactly what I ate it’s posted below, to start a few observations:

I have started to be a bit more consistent day to day. Take breakfast: smoothie and vector with skim milk pretty much every day, this is about 550 calories total. I feel that this combo has real “staying power” and I am not getting hungry for about 3-4 hours. As for the smoothie I am putting in about half vegetables (lots of tomatoes from our garden!), it usually looks something like this:

• 2 cups spinach
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes or 1 med size beet (cooked)
• 1 cup frozen cherries
• 100 grams fat free yogurt
• ½ cup of juice

As for mid day, I have gone to more of a “grazing” model where I don’t really eat lunch, I just pack around 800-1000 calories and eat a little bit all day long, I haven’t eaten any fast food yet and I feel this is partly due to planning a bit ahead and packing fruit, cheese, crackers, veggie sticks etc and just eating a bit whenever I feel hungry. This seems to be working so I’m going to stick with it!

Total calories from food:

• 12,679 or 1811 calories per day.
• 397 calories from fat (average) per day or 21.9%
• 316 Calories from protein (average) per day or 17.4%
• 1098 calories from carbohydrate (average) per day 60.7%

Calories from booze:

836 calories for the week.

Better than last week but still not perfect, 1 bottle of red wine and three gin and soda’s with a twist of lime. The good news is that I did not combine this with 2000 calories of pub food like last Saturday!

Extra calories:

• 900 calories (10 O’douls-non alcoholic beer)
• 180 calories (a bit of juice/water on my thursday ride)
• 210 calories (cream and sugar in my coffee)

Total calories for the week:

14,805 calories

Outputs:

My RMR this week was up slightly to 2390 and as we discussed last week my total “burn” rate with lifestyle and everyday activities (excluding exercise) is somewhere in the neighborhood of 2800 calories or:

19,600 calories for the week

Training calories:

Thursday:

• Mountain bike ride 2:01 average HR 149/peak 193 calories: 1615
• Group speed work run 1:08 total (5km tempo with 4X1 min after) average HR 158/peak 189 calories: 1060

Sunday:

• Long run 1:15 average HR 151/peak 157 calories: 1191

3866 calories from training, or about 500 more than last week

Total outputs for the week:

23,466 calories (estimate)

The end result:

Another pretty good week, I started at 170.4 and ended up at 166.8 for a loss of 3.6 pounds, my body fat went down slightly to 17.8% BF. If you take a look at my deficit (8661 calories) this only works out to about 2.5 pounds, so it is likely that my RMR with lifestyle is closer to about 3000 calories per day. It also got a bit cooler here last week and I was able to take our dog out for a few longer walks of about 6-8km (he’s a boston terrier so 6km is a huge walk!), normally when its really hot we just go down to the dog beach by the river- the dogs play and the owners just stand around!

All in all things went OK, my protein is still a bit low, as are my training volumes- 4 hours a week is not even treading water! Stay tuned for next week, I’ll be posting on monday!

Cheers,

Mo

Monday September 12^th:

Breakfast:

Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)

281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

Vector plus skim milk

285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

3 stoned wheat thins plus butter & vegemite

140 calories (7g fat/2g pro/16g carb)

3 stoned wheat thins plus tuna:

190 calories (5.5g fat/5.5g pro/19g carb)

10 almonds:

70 calories (6g fat/1g pro/1g carb)

Dinner:

3 slices of home made pizza (dough, buffalo mots, feta, roma tomatoes,  parsley, basil, sauce, prawns)

607 calories (17.5g fat/42g pro/94g carb)

Daily totals:

1573 calories (357.8 fat/292.6 pro/912.6 carb)

Tuesday September 13^th:

Breakfast:

Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)

281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

Vector plus skim milk

285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

Peach, 30 grams cheddar, 3stoned wheat thins

295 calories (12g fat/9g pro/37.2g carb)

10 almonds:

70 calories (6g fat/1g pro/1g carb)

1pear

96 calories (0g fat/0.6g pro/25.7g carb)

cucumber slices 60 grams

10 calories (2.5g carb)

Spinach, bocconcini and tomato salad with flax seed oil

212 calories (13g fat/10g pro/13g carb)

Dinner:

Perogies with ham, mushrooms and yellow pepper:

463 calories (8.4g fat/25.6 g pro/ 73g carb)

Daily totals:

1712 calories (392 fat/274.4 pro/1045.6 carb)

Wednesday September 14^th:

Breakfast:

½ portion of perogies

232 calories (4.2g fat/12.8 g pro/ 36.5g carb)

2pear

192 calories (0g fat/1.2g pro/51.4g carb)

yogurt

80 calories (0g fat/3g pro/17g carb)

Mid day:

Spinach, bocconcini and tomato salad with flax seed oil

212 calories (13g fat/10g pro/13g carb)

1 san pelegrino grapefruit pop

150 calories (0g fat/0g pro/36g carbs)

1 apple

95 calories (0g fat/0g pro/25.6g carb)

1 kiwi

50 calories (0g fat/1g pro/12g carb)

Dinner:

2 fahitas with organic beef, avocado, lettuce, cheese and tomatoes

544 calories (28g fat/34.5g pro/43.5g carb)

70 grams rice chips

420 calories (10g fat/5g pro/50g carb)

Daily totals:

1975 calories (496.8 fat/270 pro/1208.2 carb)

Thursday September 15^th:

Breakfast:

Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)

281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

Vector plus skim milk

285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

yogurt

80 calories (0g fat/3g pro/17g carb)

1 orange

69 calories (0g fat 1.6g pro/18g carb)

1 peach

40 calories (0g fat/1g pro/11g carb)

Dinner:

Salmon with spinach, quinoa and homemade salsa

372 calories (6.5g fat/29g pro/45.5g carb)

16grams rice chips

90 calories (2g fat/1g pro/10g carb)

Daily totals:

1217 calories (86 fat/232 pro/899 carb)

Friday September 16^th:

Breakfast:

Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)

281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

Vector plus skim milk

285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid day:

1cup spinach, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, ½ cup fat free cottage cheese

165 calories (.4g fat/9g pro/29.5g carb)

2 pieces of cheddar

200 calories (18g fat/12g pro/0g carb)

50grams quinoa

160 calories (2g fat/6g pro/29g carb)

3stoned wheat thins

90 calories (2.5 g fat/1.5g pro/15g carb)

Dinner:

Turkey dog on fajita

290 calories (18g fat/12.5g pro/18g carb)

42 grams rice chips

260 calories (6g fat/3g pro/35g carb)

Daily totals:

1731 calories (437 fat/266 pro/1028 carb)

Saturday September 17^th:

Breakfast:

Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)

281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

Vector plus skim milk

285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

3stoned wheat thins

90 calories (2.5 g fat/1.5g pro/15g carb)

Dinner:

Ate out at thistle farms, (a local farm that hosts an outdoor buffet) I have to guess at the calories

2000 calories (60 g fat/90g pro/260g carbs)

Daily totals:

2656 calories (600 fat/456 pro/1600 carb)

Sunday September 18:

Breakfast:

Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)

281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

Vector plus skim milk

285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Mid Day:

Toast and vegemite (2 slices whole wheat toast, 7.5 grams butter, vegemite)

192 calories (8.7 g fat/7.3g pro/25 g carb)

4 stoned wheat thins

120 calories (3.3 g fat/2g pro/20g carb)

80 grams beef jerkey

270 calories (4.5g fat/33g pro/21g carb)

10g trail mix

70 calories (4g fat/4g pro/4g carb)

½ honey stinger cookie

80 calories (2g fat/1g pro/14g carb)

Dinner:

Home made lean beef chili on soft taco shells with cheddar

517 calories (19.5g fat/37g pro/44g carb)

Daily totals:

1815 calories (415 fat/427 pro/973 carb)

Ingredients:

• ½ cabbage shredded
• 2 med sized carrot shredded
• ½ lime
• Hot sauce to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Shred cabbage and carrots, place in bowl. Squeeze the half lime, then add hot sauce and salt & pepper to taste. And there you have it in 5 minutes or less-serves 4!

Calories per serving:

35 (.1g fat/1.75g protein/9.25g carbohydrate)

tomoato, prawn and feta pizza

Well, week 1 is in the books and things went pretty well. For all the gory details about what exactly I ate see below (way below-there’s a lot of info) otherwise here’s the summary:

Total calories from food:

12,216 or 1745 calories per day.

431 calories from fat (average) per day or 24.6%

332 Calories from protein (average) per day or 19%

982 calories from carbohydrate (average) per day 56.4%

Calories from booze:

1240 calories for the week.

Well there might be a few issues here, to start the one bottle of wine per week thing went well I only had about 0.8 of a bottle or about 480 calories. Not bad right? That was until Saturday after a 2 hour mountain bike ride myself and a few friends went to the pub and I had wings a chicken wrap and three pints of Belgian pepper ale (I’m guessing around 200 calories each) top that off with 3 gin and soda waters (only 60 calories each) and that’s 9 drinks for the week.

About the pub, I had to guess at the calories for food and beer, but rest assured in the span of one meal and a few beers I had at least 2000 calories (see Saturday)-Not so good! Next time I’ll skip the wings and have two more beers!

Extra calories:

180 calories (a bit of juice/water on my Saturday ride)

210 calories (cream and sugar in my coffee)

Total calories for the week:

13,846

Outputs:

If we go back to last week my RMR was 2334 calories per day and I allowed for 2500 total for the day. Based on this I would burn about:

17,500 calories for the week

Training calories:

Tuesday: Easy mountain bike ride 1:15 average heart rate 127/peak 184. Calories: 784

Thursday: Group speed work out 55 minutes (only 5X2min hard) average heart rate 156/peak 193. Calories: 858

Saturday: Mountain bike ride 2:11 average heart rate 142/peak 186. Calories: 1731

3375 calories from training.

Note: The calories are calculated from VO2 max tests I did in May. The best I can do is take average heart rates and extrapolate based on my exchange ratio data (the ratio of O2 vs CO2) I will be re-testing myself over the next few weeks (maybe when I hit 165 lbs) so the burn rates may change.

Total outputs for the week:

20,875 calories (estimate)

The end result:

Well I went from 174.2 pounds to 170.4 or a loss of 3.8 pounds. The predicted weight loss based a deficit of 7029 calories should be around 2 pounds. The issue appears to be in my “lifestyle” calculations for the RMR test, if we look back to last week when I pegged my daily rate at 2500 calories I acknowledged that this might be a bit low, it is likely closer 2800-2900 calories per day.

My body fat % went from 18.6% to 18.0% my protein consumption was a bit low so there may be a bit of muscle attrition, which is to be expected if my goal is around 150 pounds (if I lost just fat then I would be somewhere in the 4% body fat range-not healthy!)

I also crashed hard twice on our Saturday ride, maybe my metabolic rate went up on Sunday due to recovery (I was pretty sore Sunday and Monday)-who knows? My wrist and shoulder are still a bit tender.

My resting metabolic rate went up slightly to 2390 calories per day.

Things to work on:

• “mo”re whole grains (just bought some quinoa and wild rice)
• “mo”derate booze and trips to the Pub
• “mo”re training, just over 4 hours for the week is a bit too low
• “mo”derate fat compared to protein, I should be closer to 20% fat and 25% protein
• “mo”re consistency My daily calories went from a low of 1300 to a high of about 3000 with beers (on Saturday) not good-I’ll aim to do better

I feel that there are no “best” or “worst” diets only shades of grey in between, week 1 was better than the week before, so hopefully week 2 will be better than week 1.

Cheers,

Mo

Monday September 5^th:

Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)

281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

Toast and vegemite (2 slices whole wheat toast, 7.5 grams butter, vegemite)

192 calories (8.7 g fat/7.3g pro/25 g carb)

Ham sandwich (2 slices whole wheat toast, 60 grams ham, cucumber, Dijon and 45 cal mayo)

280 calories (9g fat/21g pro/28g carb)

10 reese’s peanut butter candies (yes, I know- total garbage)

150 calories (8g fat/4g pro/16g carb)

75 grams pork tenderloin with asparagus and honeydew salsa

160 calories (3g fat/22g pro/4g carb)

Cabbage salad (cabbage, carrots, fresh lime, hot sauce to taste)

 20 calories

Vector plus skim milk

285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Daily totals:

1368 calories (296 fat/307 pro/765 carb)

Tuesday September 6^th:

Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)

281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

Ham sandwich (2 slices whole wheat toast, 60 grams ham, cucumber, Dijon and 45 cal mayo)

280 calories (9g fat/21g pro/28g carb)

Mid morning snack:

Apple, 30 grams cheddar, 3stoned wheat thins

295 calories (12g fat/9g pro/37.2g carb)

Carrot sticks (0 fat/1g pro/8g carbs)

35 calories

1 banana

105 calories (0.4 fat/1.3g pro/27g carbs)

Vector plus skim milk

285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Lean turkey burger (turkey, cheese, bun, panko bread crumbs, egg, pickles, dijon and mayo)

484 calories (19g fat/35.5g pro/43.8g carb)

10 reese’s peanut butter candies (yes, I know- total garbage)

150 calories (8g fat/4g pro/16g carb)

1 san pelegrino grapefruit pop

150 calories (0g fat/0g pro/36g carbs)

Daily totals:

2065 calories (473.4 fat/376.8 pro/1214.8 carb)

Wednesday September 7^th:

Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)

281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

1 cup spinach and low fat cottage cheese

100 calories (1.5g fat/16g pro/6g carb)

1 tomato

22 calories (0.2g fat/1.1g pro/4.8g carb)

Mid morning snack:

Apple, 30 grams cheddar, 3stoned wheat thins

295 calories (12g fat/9g pro/37.2g carb)

1 banana

105 calories (0.4 fat/1.3g pro/27g carbs)

½ red pepper slices

23 calories (0.2g fat/0.75g pro/4.5g carb)

Carrot sticks (0 fat/1g pro/8g carbs)

35 calories

Toast and vegemite (2 slices whole wheat toast, 7.5 grams butter, vegemite)

192 calories (8.7 g fat/7.3g pro/25 g carb)

ham (96 grams)

96 calories (1.5g fat/16.5g pro/2.5g carb)

3 stoned wheat thins

90 calories (2g fat/2g pro/16g carb)

2 small pork chops (164 grams) with peanut sauce

310 calories (18g fat/30g pro/7g carb)

Corn salad (flax seed oil, corn, feta, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, green onions & parsley)

172.5 calories (7.5g fat/5.75g pro/18.75g carb)

Daily totals:

1721.5 calories (477 fat/400.4 pro/844.1 carb)

Thursday September 8^th:

Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)

281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

1 banana

105 calories (0.4 fat/1.3g pro/27g carbs)

½ red pepper slices

23 calories (0.2g fat/0.75g pro/4.5g carb)

Mid morning snack:

295 calories (12g fat/9g pro/37.2g carb)

Corn salad (flax seed oil, corn, feta, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, green onions & parsley)

172.5 calories (7.5g fat/5.75g pro/18.75g carb)

1 serving home made gyoza (5 total with cabbage/ham)

145 calories (1.75g fat/7g pro/16.75g carb)

1 san pelegrino grapefruit pop

150 calories (0g fat/0g pro/36g carbs)

1 toasted bun (1 bun, 7.5 grams butter, vegemite)

240 calories  (9g fat/6g pro/31g carbs)

Vector plus skim milk

285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Daily totals:

1696.5 (315.45 fat/208.8 pro/1171.75 carb)

Friday September 9^th:

Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)

281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

Vector plus skim milk

285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Ham sandwich on a bun (bun, ham, cheese, dill pickles, spinach, mayo, tomato)

440 calories (18g fat/18g pro/45.5g carb)

1 small pork chops (82 grams) with peanut sauce

155 calories (9g fat/15g pro/3.5g carb)

Beet, apple and blue cheese salad

210 calories (10g fat/8g pro/32g carb)

Toast and vegemite (2 slices whole wheat toast, 7.5 grams butter, vegemite)

192 calories (8.7 g fat/7.3g pro/25 g carb)

Daily totals:

1563 calories (449.1 fat/282.8 pro/831.1 carb)

Saturday September 10^th:

Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)

281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

Vector plus skim milk

285 calories (3.2g fat/13g pro/54g carbs)

Pub food: (these numbers are a pretty big guess!)

9 chicken wings

567 calories (30.6g fat/65g pro/8g carb)

Chicken wrap with mushroom risotto and maple squash soup

1000 calories (guessing 30g fat/30g pro/150g carb)

1 san pelegrino grapefruit pop

150 calories (0g fat/0g pro/36g carbs)

4 stoned wheat thins with peanut butter

210 calories (10.75g fat/6.75g pro/21g carb)

Daily totals:

2493 calories (679.5 fat/496.6 pro/1316.9 carb)

Sunday September 11^th:

Breakfast smoothie (2 cups spinach, yogurt, 1 cooked beet, 1 cup frozen cherries, ½ cup of juice)

281 Calories (1 g fat/9.4 g pro/60 g carb)

Beet, apple and blue cheese salad

210 calories (10g fat/8g pro/32g carb)

1 orange

69 calories (0.2g fat/1.3g pro/17.6g carb)

3 stoned wheat thins with butter and vegemite

142 calories (8.2g fat/2g pro/16g carb)

3 slices of home made pizza (dough, buffalo mots, feta, roma tomatoes,  parsley, basil, sauce, prawns)

607 calories (17.5g fat/42g pro/94g carb)

Daily totals:

1309 calories (332.1 fat/250.8 pro/726.1 carb)

the best damn chocolate bar on the planet, but not classified as a food group in the "mo" diet

Well it appears it might be time for a bit of a “lifestyle” change! Having just signed up last Monday for the 2012 Ironman Canada I decided it might be time to take stock of my current fitness levels and see how I might improve things.

To start my current weight at 174.2 pounds is about 31 pounds over what my race weight was about 6-10 years ago.

My best 5km time this year is 23:12 compared to being able to run around the mid 17 range back in the day.

In years past when I would resume training after the off season I would usually expect the initial 4-6 weeks to be a bit tough. I found that going from an off season (zero training) into a relatively low training volume of 10 hours per week was a lot tougher than some of the 20-30 hour weeks I had done mid summer.

It seems that the initial resumption of training would always come as a bit of a shock. Fast forward to my last Ironman in 2008. When I started training in early December It seemed to take a good 10-12 weeks before I started feeling really good in training. There is no doubt that as you get older things get tougher but I feel that it had a lot to do with the extra weight (I was about 173 lbs) I was carrying around at the time. Not only was my body trying to adapt and compensate for the new demands of training, it also had to struggle with the extra demands that 30 pounds of “bad weight” places on your body.

Any one who has lost even a small amount of weight knows that doing a long run at 150 pounds compared to 175 is a lot easier and/or faster, the math is quite simple on this, in endurance sports the lighter you are (within reason) the faster you will go.

So as of September 5^th I will be starting a 12 week diet geared towards losing 2 pounds a week (24 pounds total). About half of the weight loss (1 pound) will come from some basic changes in diet and another pound will come from a moderate output of 6-10 hours of training a week.

The facts:

Here are my basic details as of September 5^th:

Weight: 174.2 pounds

Resting metabolic rate: (as measured by metabolic cart) 2334 calories per day

Body fat percentage: (as measured by body metrix ultra sound) 18.6 % or 31 pounds of fat mass

The Rules:

2000 calories per day with the basic ratio of 20% fat, protein from 20-30% and carbohydrate from 50-60%.

My metabolic rate as measured is 2334 calories per day

The “Mo” diet is based on two very simple rules “mo”re  good of the good stuff (fresh veggies, whole grains, good protein) and “mo”derate amounts of the crap (booze, junk food, most calories that you can drink, most things processed)

This diet does not represent the “best” diet, it simply strives to be “better” (than last week). The goal is to reduce overall calories to create a 500 calorie a day deficit through diet and make the rest up in training.

“Mo” derate the following:

Booze: Beer and wine can represent a pretty big portion of calories. Three beers a night can add up to as much as 500 calories a day or when converted up to 1 pound of fat per week. My goal is simple: one bottle of red wine per week. This represents about 600 “extra” calories.

Fast food: Gone, for the most part I will be eating from home or stuff that is made at home. I was never a big fast food eater, so this won’t be too tough.

Junk food: Gone, or I should say mostly gone. The odd bag of BBQ kettle chips might make its way into this diet.

Drinking calories: This means pop, juice, “so-called” energy drinks, etc. If I am thirsty I will drink water or maybe a soda water with some fresh lime. I am of the opinion that juice is about as bad as pop. Some people may argue that there are vitamins etc in Juice, I feel that the additional sugar content out weighs this benefit. If you need vitamins and are thirsty eat an orange and then drink some water. There will be a few exceptions, half a cup of juice in my morning smoothy (for taste-about 60 calories) and for workouts over 90 minutes I will be using some form of gel or energy drink- extra calories from training activities will be noted separately.

Sauces, spreads, dressings: For the most part, I am trying to lower or eliminate the amount of  sauces, spreads etc that are calorically dense or high in fat. For the most part this is easy, however I do enjoy mayo on my ham sandwich or burger (not good for you) and I love pesto and homemade guacamole (Ok in moderation)

Nuts and seeds: Good for you in small quantities, but high in fat. Also calorically easy- in other words its pretty easy to eat to much- I will try to keep these amounts low.

“Mo”re of the good stuff:

Veggies: Not much to say here everyone knows that veggies are good for you and it is hard to impact your total calories by eating more. I am throwing some spinach and cooked beets (sometimes tomatoes) in my morning smoothie- believe me not as bad as it sounds!

Fruit: Again, not much to say, a bit more fruit is not going to kill you.

Protein: For the most part I will aim for about 500-600 calories from protein or about 1 gram per pound of lean body mass. As I won’t be doing a whole lot of strength specific activity (this is my transition period) this should be more than enough to meet my daily demands (lifestyle and training). The goal at first is a wide diversity of sources, moving gradually to sources that are fresh, lean and for the most part hormone free. Finding good sources of protein in Kamloops may prove to be one of my bigger challenges-I’ll keep you posted. The one thing I will try to do from the start is reduce sources which are high in fat or highly processed. This is common sense: stuff like bacon, sausages, high fat cheeses etc should be reduced.

Whole grains: Quinoa, wheat berries, red river cereal, some types of oatmeal, whole grain pasta. Just some examples of things that are better than plain white flour.

Good fats: Just bought some flax seed oil, good for salads or home made dressings, extra virgin olive oil is another good one. Some people are starting to look at coconut oil as another “good” oil.

Supplements:

Supplements, which advertise an increase in metabolism, are (in my opinion) making claims which simply aren’t provable by science. Looking for the magic pill? Sorry at this time they don’t exist. Having said that I do advocate supplementation in athletes who have high training loads and are getting everything they can out of a healthy diet. An athlete may be doing all the right things diet wise and still require extra vitamins or minerals just to get back to normal healthy levels. Testing is key here, advising people on what supplements to take or not take is way beyond the scope of my insurance policy (and my expertise) the best way is to get tested, do some research on your own and then talk to a trusted health professional.

Exercise:

For the most part changes in metabolism come from changes in output or exercise. I often hear of studies which mention how high protein diets increase metabolism. I haven’t seen credible evidence to reflect this, for example R Crovetti did a study in 1997 which compared 2 groups of people on a 2000 calorie diet. One group took in 15% protein the other 30% the outcome? The higher protein group burned an extra 20 calories per day or around 1%. So there is  a slight thermogenic effect from protein, but for endurance athletes carbs are king.

Having said that….you will notice that my protein intake is closer to the 25-30% range. Like I said this diet is not perfect, but I do like meat and seafood and 25-30% is enough but not a crazy high ratio-my bigger concern is trying to get enough carbs to meet my output demands, fat should take care of itself- as my training volume increases over the winter carbs will increase and protein and fat will stay relatively static. I am a firm believer in matching daily diet to daily output demands.

Back to exercise, like I said increases in metabolism primarily correlate to increases in output. Volume and intensity are the variables which make us better athletes. Too much volume and/or intensity and we over train or get injured. Not enough and we fail to super compensate and get better. If you hit the sweet spot right in the middle….well anyone who’s nailed a great race or performance knows what that feels like.

Simply put if you add 500 calories a day in output, you are effectively increasing your metabolism by 500 calories and in the process your body is restructuring and adapting to handle future training loads.

My exercise goals are simple 6-10 hours a week. I will not have too much structure, the weather is great right now so I will probably get out on my mountain bike a bit more, throw in a run or two and maybe some swimming, a bit of light core stuff and there you go!

Analysis:

As we speak I am counting every calorie-good or bad- and making notes. I want an accurate input log for every day. As far as output goes, I will be using my exchange ratio data from my V02 max tests to calculate calories burned. These are direct measurements of oxygen versus carbon dioxide so at this point in time this is the best way known to science to measure calories burned.

As far as resting metabolic rate goes my RMR was 2334 calories per day. This is my directly measured expenditure. There are many formulas which add on sleeping, work etc and give you a rough guess at how much you burn through lifestyle and daily activities. I am being conservative and saying that 2500 is my total number which on a 2000 calorie diet equals a 500 calorie reduction. This will be a bit low, so I have as Warren Buffet would say a “margin of safety in my numbers”

So what am I eating? Well diets start with the best of intentions….over the past 2 days I have actually gone under the 2000 calorie guide line and there were a few bad things in there, but overall things are going pretty good, tune in Monday for the complete analysis!

The three main areas which affect peaking are physical, neuromuscular and psychological.

Physical:

For the most part the rate of physical adaptation or absorption of training loads is based on the previous years or months of cumulative training and is individual to each athlete and their circumstances. However regardless of previous history individual physical condition can and should be maximized in the last 1-2 weeks before a key “A” race. Peak physical conditioning is achieved through correct unloading (tapering) or reductions in training volumes and especially intensity as it is the primary variable or training stimuli for triathlon. Tapering allows the body to recover and supercompensate (become stronger) and hopefully peak before your main competition. Proper and complete recovery and the use of recovery techniques have a direct correlation to absorption of training loads and the supercompensation associated with peaking. An athlete who is in peak or close to peak shape usually demonstrates a high capacity for work and an ability to recover quickly.

Neuromuscular:

Voluntary muscle contractions start at the brain and end in the actomyosin cross bridges or the nerve muscle junction. Neuromuscular fatigue as it applies to endurance sport is usually described as low frequency or is the result of continuous long duration low to moderate level activity. It occurs on a cellular level and often results in reduced ability to fire or activate muscle groups completely. It is important to note that complete nerve cell regeneration and supercompensation usually takes 7-10 days compared with 2-4 days for muscle cells, this is why the last “big” or “hard” workouts should be done 7-10 days before your main competition. Extreme neuromuscular fatigue (CNS Fatigue) or overtraining will result in a reduction of several hormones including the following :adrenaline(epinephrine), noradrenaline, HGH, cortisol. These hormones may sound familiar as there is increasing instances of illegal use and supplementation among endurance athletes.

Psychological:

Psychological peaking is best achieved by eliminating, to the best of your ability, any and all negative influences, situations, or stimulus. It also involves objectively confronting and eliminating any race related anxiety (rational or otherwise). A positive mental state is also a function of correct unloading or tapering, as confidence comes with good physical conditioning.

Putting it all together:

Well, this is the tough part tapering or unloading is different for everyone. The main focus should be on being as fit and as possible on race day. For triathlon the key seems to be cutting down the volume of “tear down” workouts so that your last hard workouts are between 12 and 7 days out from your key “A” race (ie thursday ten days out may be 10-12x 800m on the track, compared to 2-4X800 4-5 days out) Aerobic or endurance fitness seems to last longer than race pace fitness in most athletes. Leading into an Iromnman or a key olympic distance race long slow distance workouts can be cut by up to 60-75% to ensure adequate recovery and rest.