Carb, Fat, Protein breakdown sample.
I had a few request for a picture blog post on what I eat on a normal day, similar to what I did for binge day. I have been on the Paleo (no grains, refined sugar, soy, legumes, gluten, and dairy) diet for three months.
As I was gathering data for this post last week, I thought it would be neat to log my meals in FitDay to get a carb, fat, and protein breakdown. As I logged my food in, I was shocked at my carb intake! Normally I do not eat fruit, but since it's almost the end of mango season and since Whole Foods had mangos on sale, I have been eating a lot of mangos. Off-topic note: Mangos are my all-time favorite fruit, and possibly my favorite food. To give you an idea of how much I love mangos, one time I ate over 50 mangoes in one week and lost my voice. Apparently one is not supposed to consume too much of an "exotic" food in a short amount of time. Though mangos are paleo and natural, they have a ton of sugar... and the body treats sugars the same. Each mango I consume increases my carb percentage by ~4%, which isn't THAT bad unless I consume 4-5 mangos a day. Holy crap!
So for this blog post, I decided to post a FitDay chart of how I normally eat (little to no fruit) versus how I have been eating last week (mangos++). When I don't eat fruit, I eat more fat and veggies. Regardless, I consome on average, approximately 3500 to 4000 calories a day: >50% fat, ~25-30% protein, and ~10-25% carbs, depending on whether or not I eat fruit, or more specifically, how many mangos I eat!
Please note, the Zone Diet recommends 40% carb, 30% fat, and 30% protein. There is a variety of ratios for the Paleo Diet: 10-30% carb, 30-60% fat, and ~30% protein. Some say <50 grams of carbs/day and 1 gram of protein/bodyweight lb. Jason says most lean CrossFitters are more 30% carb, 40% fat, and 30% protein.
As I was gathering data for this post last week, I thought it would be neat to log my meals in FitDay to get a carb, fat, and protein breakdown. As I logged my food in, I was shocked at my carb intake! Normally I do not eat fruit, but since it's almost the end of mango season and since Whole Foods had mangos on sale, I have been eating a lot of mangos. Off-topic note: Mangos are my all-time favorite fruit, and possibly my favorite food. To give you an idea of how much I love mangos, one time I ate over 50 mangoes in one week and lost my voice. Apparently one is not supposed to consume too much of an "exotic" food in a short amount of time. Though mangos are paleo and natural, they have a ton of sugar... and the body treats sugars the same. Each mango I consume increases my carb percentage by ~4%, which isn't THAT bad unless I consume 4-5 mangos a day. Holy crap!
So for this blog post, I decided to post a FitDay chart of how I normally eat (little to no fruit) versus how I have been eating last week (mangos++). When I don't eat fruit, I eat more fat and veggies. Regardless, I consome on average, approximately 3500 to 4000 calories a day: >50% fat, ~25-30% protein, and ~10-25% carbs, depending on whether or not I eat fruit, or more specifically, how many mangos I eat!
Please note, the Zone Diet recommends 40% carb, 30% fat, and 30% protein. There is a variety of ratios for the Paleo Diet: 10-30% carb, 30-60% fat, and ~30% protein. Some say <50 grams of carbs/day and 1 gram of protein/bodyweight lb. Jason says most lean CrossFitters are more 30% carb, 40% fat, and 30% protein.
Here we go! A day in Jes' belly:
4:30am, rise and shine! My body is protein deficient. Progenex More Muscle. While I wait for Progenex to do it's magic, I do my bathroom routine and then head to the kitchen to make a quick meal. I wake up early so I can get a decent breakfast in before I workout, with enough time in between so I don't feel sick... and to do blog related stuff.
20-30 minutes later, Breakfast: Beefy Eggs with 5 eggs (normally 6, but I ran out of eggs) and ~0.4lb of ground beef. Since I ran out of eggs, I ate it with an avocado. In the past, I experimented with eating less for breakfast but I just get sooooooo hungry at the gym (especially with the added strength work) that I have to drink a protein shake in between so my stomach isn't obnoxiously loud. I also take my fish oil in the morning. Love Amazon's Subscribe and Save!
3. Lots of protein and good fats <333333.
6am, Philz Coffee time!!!!!!!! Ahh so addicted! If you live in the Bay Area, or are visiting, please visit Philz. The make the best coffee ever! My current favorite is Julie's. I get it black on weekdays, and with cream on Saturday's.
4. Daily dose of caffeine.
9am, Post-Workout: Body is calling for protein again, Progenex Recovery time! My favorite! Something about it really helps with feeling less sore and recovery. I like the vanilla flavor. 21 grams of my daily carb intake comes from Progenex, but it's totally worth it!!! Protein quality is superb.
5. If you buy a lot , somehow everything you own becomes Progenex: blender bottles, shirts, bras, jacket.. and men's shorts?!
At Work: Everyday I bring a big bag of food with packed lunch and some of the following: Primal Energy Bars, hard boiled eggs, guacamole, avocados, nuts, meatballs, grass-fed jerky from the Farmer's Market, Steve's Club Grass-Fed Paleo Stix, some other Steve's club products (Grass-Fed / Coconut Paleo Kit), sausage, celery, almond butter, cooked chicken pieces, and/or kale chips. I like to keep a variety at work since I am there most of the day. I don't necessarily eat all the food I bring for a given day, but most of it (except for some of the dry stuff) will definitely get eaten by the end of the week. Lunch is usually leftovers from last night or lots of meatballs. At the start of the week I will always have some Primal Energy Bars and meatballs.
6. What I brought a couple days ago. I left my wallet at Philz that day so when I went back to get it, I got another coffee, anesthesia this time, hehe.
7. Enough avocados for a couple days.
8. Lunch halfway done.
9. Snack and code, all day baby.
Lunch: 8 marvelous meatballs! I also tend to eat 1 large container of guacamole, or ~4 avocados during the day. I start eating it around lunch time and just kind of eat it all day. I almost always have guacamole or avocados at my desk... all day.
Post-Lunch until I leave work: I snack, all day long. It's so easy to eat when I sit at a desk all day. That day I had 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 large container of guacamole, 1 avocado, 2 primal energy bars, handfuls of nuts. Normally I eat a lot of beef jerky, but I ran out. :(
Dinner, 8pm: After work I go to Whole Foods. I go almost every day. I've been quite busy. Since I came home late, I ate Beefy Lettuce Tacos and mangos (only a few days last week). If I do not eat mangos I will usually eat an avocado and/or more veggies, most of the time spinach.
10. Yup those are slices from one mango. The ones at Whole Foods are so large!!
12. 1 mango day fat/carb/protein ratio.
13. 2 mango day fat/carb/protein ratio. Carb went up to 20%! Fruits tend to have a lot of sugar! 1# heavier in the AM with not much ab definition.
14. For comparison purposes, no fruit day. Instead I ate nuts. Hello abs!
Pre-Bed: If I do not eat dinner past 8pm, I will usually have 1-2 pieces of beef jerky, just to get some protein in the blood stream before sleeping... and to keep my tummy from growling all night long.
11. Someone gave me this. First time trying the MRE kit!!
Analysis:
I am not saying one should never eat fruit. I am just trying to show that fruit can really increase one's carb percentage. Though natural and Paleo, fruit causes an insulin spike, and the body treats it the same. They are kind of like candy bars that grow on trees, so just be careful. Increasing fat intake gets the calories without the insulin spike.
As you can see, I am literally eating all day. I enjoy eating Paleo and I think my meals are delicious. I do have a cheat day on Saturday's though for social purposes and because I love ice cream!