I definitely can't eat whatever I want, and I've never tracked calories (until last week). No matter how much I train, a steady diet of junk food will
cause weight gain. It would also reduce the energy needed to sustain a high
training volume. To better control what I eat, I choose to meal prep.
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| Sunday Meal Prep |
My typical lunch consists of hardboiled eggs, carrots, avocado, an apple, yogurt, chips, granola bar, a “main dish” and a piece of candy. The main dish last week was slow cooked chicken with black beans, salsa, pineapple and cream cheese laid on a bed of rice and lentils. Recently, I’ve been prepping a 2nd main dish for lunch each day to keep my energy level up.
Reason to Meal Prep:
It’s Quick - With a full-time job and
15-20 hours of training each week, time is limited. With the main dish prepared,
assembling my lunch takes a minute. Having that little bit of extra time is
invaluable when I’m jumping between workouts and trying to have a life.
It’s Cheap - Eating out/using
the cafeteria adds up! With how much I consume, I’d be spending at least
$15 a day on lunch. Based on grocery bills, a week of meal prepped lunches costs
me around $20. Some quick math shows me saving at least $55/week, $220+/month and almost $3000 a year! Helps pay
for the sport =)
It’s Healthier – By controlling
what I bring to work every day, I am forced to either eat what I brought or go
hungry. When I DO get hungry, I eat everything in sight. So at work, I’m stuck
staring at container of carrots and an apple every day. Sure I can order a
salad at work, but I’d like to refer back to the green point =)
Since I always gave a ballpark on how many calories consume, I used
MyFitnessPal to track consumption last Wednesday. The app allows you to conveniently scan bar codes and create recipes by listing the ingredients and quantities. For items that can't be scanned, there is a search option for restaurant items and miscellaneous foods. Below is what I entered in the App:
Breakfast
2 hardboiled eggs, 3 slices cinnamon bread, ½ cup baby carrots,
2 Tbsp Guacamole, Plain Bagel with cream cheese, 2 clementines
Lunch
Mountain Dew (a rarity), 2 servings of Famous Dave’s Georgia
Chopped Pork with 1 bun, 1.5 cups hand mashed potatoes, 1.5 cups Cheesy Mac
& cheese
Dinner
2.5 cups of my pulled chicken and salsa recipe, avocado, 1 cup
2% milk, chocolate chip cookie
Snacks
Zone bar, protein shake, Honey Stinger Waffle, Packet of
Emergency
= 5,700 Calories!!!
That day, my workout was a 2:45 trainer ride at a low Zone 2
effort. Garmin estimated I burned 4,200 calories that day. I would guess that
my typical intake is around 5,000
calories/day, and the catered Famous Dave’s made the number a little high
when I was tracking.
As always, I’m up for feedback and future topics if anything
interests you!