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Sample Menu
Nutrition
Choices
Water
I am what you
might call a creature of habit, my daily menu varies very little
from week to week. Basically the meat I make for dinner is my
lunch the next day. Thankfully, there are many ways to cook meats,
so it doesn't taste the same from day to day. The biggest changes
in my menu occur seasonally, as different fresh fruits and vegetables
are available. Lighter foods in the heat ~ salads, shredded wheat,
plums and nectarines, heartier stick-to-your-ribs foods in the
cold ~ oatmeal, soups and stews, apples and oranges.
Sample Menus
Challenge 1
Sept-Nov 1999
Meal 1 ~ 1/2 Myoplex Deluxe Bar
Meal 2 ~ breakfast burrito ( a
scrambled egg or egg beaters and some salsa wrapped in a tortilla)
Meal 3 ~ Myoplex Lite Shake.
Meal 4 ~ fajita with whatever meat
we had for dinner
Meal 5 ~ dinner, steak or chicken,
veggie or salad, and a potato
Meal 6 ~ is a hard one for me ....
sometimes I'll make Myoplex pudding, sometimes I'll have a shake,
sometimes I forget and go to bed.
Challenge 2
Jan-Mar 2000
Meal 1 ~ Myoplex Deluxe Bar
Meal 2 ~ Shredded Wheat or Oatmeal
Meal 3 ~ Myoplex Lite Shake
Meal 4 ~ fajita or sliced meat
with veggie and brown rice
Meal 5 ~ Homemade soup or stew
and piece of fruit
Meal 6 ~ Myoplex pudding, shake
or yup sometimes I still forget and go to bed
Challenge 3
Aug-Nov 2000
*started the last week of August*
Meal 1 ~ Myoplex Lite Shake
Meal 2 ~ Shredded Wheat
Meal 3 ~ Omelette, topped with
salsa, and a piece of fruit
Meal 4 ~ Myoplex Lite Shake
Meal 5 ~ Steak or chicken, veggie
and a piece of fruit
Meal 6 ~ and you thought after
a year with BFL I might be remembering to eat this meal by now
:)
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Nutrition
While better
food choices came easy to me, I realize for some it's not that
easy.
In fact it can be hard to break some of those old habits, and
quite a shock to the taste buds!
Here's a list
to help make some of those transitions a little easier.
*I have to emphasize
here, fat free does NOT mean free to eat, there are still just
as many calories, if not more in fat free foods as in their fattier
versions. Use your judgement some low-fat versions taste better
than non-fat, if you can't stand the taste of the non-fat try
the low-fat. Some things are definately an acquired taste and
may take some getting used to, a gradual step down to non-fat
may be the answer *
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Instead of |
Try this |
| Chocolate |
Cocoa |
| Creamy
Salad Dressing |
Oil and Vinegar
or the fat free version of your favorite on the side |
| Fried
Foods |
Broiled, Baked,
or Steamed Foods |
| Ice
Cream |
Sherbet |
| Mayonnaise |
Non-fat Mayo or Low-fat
Yogurt |
| Potato Chips |
Pretzels or Rice Cakes |
| Scalloped Potatoes |
Brown Rice or a Baked Potato |
| Shortening |
Canola or Olive Oil |
| Sour Cream |
Low-fat yogurt, cottage
cheese, or non-fat sour cream |
| Veggies with
Butter |
Veggies with Herbs, or Citrus
Juice |
| Whole Egg Omelette |
Three egg whites, one yolk
or egg beaters |
| Whole
Milk or Cream |
Skim or Low-fat Milk |
Whole foods are
always better than processed/bleached foods, whenever you have
the choice. Choose fresh/frozen over canned if it's in season,
if you're really into the convenience of canned ( I do prefer
canned green beans as fresh take a while to cook) or if it's
not in season, just rinse before cooking to remove the extra
sodium or buy no-salt added.
Believe it or not, microwaving is better than boiling for most
foods, unless you're planning on using the water as in a soup.
Boiling tends to leach the nutrients into the water.
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Speaking
of water........ |
Water
This is easily
the one thing our bodies CANNOT do without....ok air is the at
the top of the list but water is next. Food, emotional fulfillment
and human touch are on that list too, but we can go much longer
without those than we can water (although we would get pretty
cranky).
I know drinking that gallon of water a day is alot to drink!
I know it can be difficult at times, especially in the beginning.
So here's a couple things to help you along with getting your
daily quota.
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Wash and rinse a gallon jug,
fill it with water, and use it to fill your sports bottle, make
your shakes, make your Betagen, make herbal tea, and fill your
glasses with. You'll always know exactly how much water you've
drank.
Wean yourself off caffeinated drinks,
for every one you drink, you'll need to drink an extra glass
of water on top of the gallon you already need.
Take a sports bottle filled with
water everywhere you go....you can take the gallon jug too for
refills if you'll be away for awhile.
Take your sports bottle to the
gym with you, drink before, during, and after your work out....especially
important on cardio days.
Add a little flavor extract to
your water, lemon, peppermint, whatever you like.
(You can find these at the grocers in the spice aisle)
Room temperature water is absorbed
better, but cold water for some tastes better (you may even use
a couple calories when you're body warms it back up ).
If your water tastes nasty......buy
bottled water or get water delivery!
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OK, you've tried
these tips and you just can't get a full gallon of water in everyday.
Take heart, here's the minimum amount of water you should be
drinking.
Chances are, you ARE drinking this much.....
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*According to Leroy Perry,
D.C., president of the International Sportsmedicine Institute
in LA, a non-active, healthy adult should drink 1/2 oz water
per pound of body weight throughout the day.
An active or athletic
person should drink 2/3 oz per pound of body weight. eg a 160
lb person should drink 13 8 oz glasses of water or about 104
oz. daily.
*Prevention's Food & Nutrition
c 1993
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A gallon of water
is 128 oz. even if you're meeting your minimum requirements,
please strive for more.
Keep in mind
if you sweat alot during your workouts or when the temperatures
go up so do your water needs.
A Few Water Facts
To motivate you
in drinking your water here are a couple facts about water and
your body.
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What exactly does the body
do with all the water we drink?
1) It's a transporter: It helps
digest that salad you just ate and loads the nutrients into the
bloodstream, which it then carries to EVERY cell. Then helps
to carry all the toxins and waste products away from the cells
to the lungs, skin and kidneys. If there is not enough water
to handle the body's waste products, the kidneys may not be able
to work efficiently, and wastes can contaminate the blood and
tissues. As much as 8-10 quarts of water pass through the stomach
and intestines every day.
2)It's a temperature regulator:
Regardless of the temps outside the bodys temp hovers around
98.6* When all systems are go, the body burns up nutrients and
pumps out a lot of excess heat in the process. The body keeps
itself cool, by sending water through the millions of sweat glands
at the skins surface, where it evaporates and carries the heat
away with it.
3)It's a lubricator: Without water
our joints would stop moving....we'd all be statues., and our
lungs wouldn't be able to inflate or deflate.
4)Our adult bodies are composed
of about 60% pure water.
Babies are about 80% water.
By the time we reach retirement age, our bodies are composed
of about 50% water.
5)There is water in every cell
and every type of tissue in the body.
6) Blood is 4/5 water.
7) Virtually every biological process
in our body takes place in a watery medium
including muscle growth.
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So now we know
the reasons we need it, how much we need and even have a couple
tricks to help us meet our daily needs. Here's a toast to you....
*raising my sport bottle*
May your water always be clear and fresh!
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