Monday, April 5, 2010

Meal and Snack Ideas

I was putting together a list of meals and snacks to pick from and decided to stick them here for future reference, since I use this blog as an archive too. Most of these ideas come from Jake so I can't take credit for them. He has been THE major influence on the way I eat, which is a radical change from two years ago. The great thing is that it didn't come about through pressure or guilt but from his message that eating is about performance. That really appealed to my competitive drive and desire to know going into a race that I had trained, rested, and fueled up in the most optimum ways possible. It gives me tremendous confidence which I think translates into a mental (and physical) edge. But really it's about feeling good and being healthy. The bottom line is simple foods, a variety of meats, grains, veggies, and fruits; a consistent balance of carbs, protein, and fat; and frequent meals, about 7 x per day works for me.

Snacks
  1. cottage cheese, oatmeal, cinnamon, and stevia
  2. greek yogurt (fage) with granola and/or fruit
  3. wasa bread with sliced hard boiled egg
  4. almonds
  5. rice cakes and peanut butter
  6. apples and peanut butter
Breakfast
  1. banana, peanut butter, granola
  2. steel cut oatmeal with one of: fruit, chopped nuts, chocolate whey, natural peanut butter
  3. Ezekiel sprouted bread with almond butter, peanut butter, hummus, or fruit spread
Lunch/Dinner
  1. diced apples, chipotle hummus, chicken, and baby spinach (my favorite lunch)
  2. flatout bread with hummus, chicken, spinach, and dried cranberries
  3. chicken, broccoli, pasta and peanut butter
  4. tuna, spinach, brown rice, avocado (or healthy simple guacamole)
  5. brown rice (or quinoa or other grains), finely diced chicken, veggie of choice, with hummus or flax oil or amino spray or flax oil
  6. sweet potato topped with diced flank steak, veggies, and amino spray (like soy sauce...health food aisle)
  7. egg whites, asparagus, and hummus
Post-Long Run
  1. whey powder, milk, banana, oatmeal - blended together
Post-Resistance Training
  1. whey powder, oatmeal OR carb powder, water
Bedtime
  1. casein protein mixed with peanut butter and water
As an aside, I recently found out my bad cholestorol (LDL) went from 134 in '06 to 123 in '08 to 107 in 2010 and my HDL went from 51 in '08 to 55 in 2010. While it was never bad, and never a focus, it's neat to see that the body is responding in good ways!