Nutrition

Nutrition Philosophy:

My nutrition philosophy is constantly evolving, much like training to run. There is no master plan or specific diet I’m following. That’s why this page is called “nutrition”. I’m just trying to fuel my training with as much nutrients and natural products as possible. That doesn’t mean that I’m eating 100% clean or vegetarian or anything like that. It’s a process over time to continually improve what I eat.

Some of my changes include:

• Avoid diet soda, G2 or any drink with chemicals.
  • Why? I know in my heart that I need ingest less chemicals. I don’t want to wait for a study to tell me it’s not a healthy choice and it’s too late to undo the damage. I know it’s not helping my training, so I stopped drinking anything that isn’t all natural like water, green tea, coffee.
• Avoid processed type snacks (baked chips, snack bars that are not all natural, etc.)
  • Why? Things I do eat need to have as many nutrients as possible, so I need more plants in my diet. Again, the less processing can mean less chemicals.
• Eat things as close to their natural state as possible, with little or no processing.
  • Example: Apple over applesauce
  • Why? To get the full fiber and nutrients out of the plant. I stay fuller longer too.
• Meat-eating: I still eat meat, just not much of it. We mostly keep shrimp and fish (wild caught if possible) in the house and make a lot of meals with just veggies. When we do have chicken I get Smart Chicken brand. Eggs and milk we also look for animals that are grain fed, free range, anything where the animals are actually allowed a farm life and not just kept in a shed or in the dark, fed awful things and treated poorly (check out the movie Food, Inc. if you haven’t yet). I don’t know if we will ever be vegetarian, but we are significantly eating less meat.
• Out and about: While I like healthy eating, I still eat things that go outside of that when we travel or go somewhere special. If a restaurant is known for their dessert, you bet I’m trying it! If we get all dressed up fancy, I’m having something with alcohol and trying new foods. To me that is part of experiencing life. I just make sure to not celebrate the fact that’s a random Tuesday and it’s all good!

I’m no nutritionist or doctor, so you make your own choices and seek medical care and health advice from professionals. I’m sharing with you my experiences for reference. As with training, we are all an experiment of one.

Here are some of our typical meals and snacks.

Snacks and Breakfast Items:

• Raw nuts (cashews, macadamia nuts, almonds, etc.)
• Fruit: (preferably organic and locally grown. The fruit in our house rotates based on what is in season. We have usually 2-3 types in the house at all times) Bananas, Grapes, Strawberries, Clementines (great in Jan), Oranges, Grapefruit, Blueberries
• Chobani Plain Greek Yogurt w/Fruit
• Egg sandwiches: pepper ring sautéed with olive oil spray, add a free range vegetarian egg cook and flip, add reduced fat slice of cheese and add to whole wheat toast to make a sandwich.

• All natural snack bars
  • Larabar
  • KIND Bars
    • My current favorites are: Coconut Almond, Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew, Cinnamon Apple)

• All Natural Nut Butter (the less ingredients the better), we get all sorts of brands and types (almond, peanut, cashew)
  • Justin’s Maple Almond Butter is like crack. I have to be careful when it’s in the house that I don’t only eat it at every meal it’s so good.
• Drinks
  • Starbucks: Non-Fat (or Soy) Cafe Misto or known at other coffee shops as a Non-Fat Cafe Au Lait

•   Green Tea (Meijer Brand, really any brand. My current favorite is Trader Joe’s Jasmine Green Tea)

• Gluten-free Peanut Butter Cookies
  • Beat 2 eggs, add 1 cup natural peanut butter (chunky if you have it) and 1 cup of sugar
  • Put dollops on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes, then let cool

• Hungry Girl’s Pumpkin Muffin: Any cake mix (Spice flavor is my fave), 100% Pure Pumpkin in the regular size can, mix together, bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Post Workout Snacks:

• Fat Free Cottage Cheese, salsa and veggies

• Chobani Greek Yogurt (lower in sugar than most, great for post workout recovery)

Lunch/Dinner:

• Green Monster
• Salad with lots of random veggies (Peas, Beans, Cucumber, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Artichokes, Beets, Celery, Baby Corn, Sunflower Seeds) and no dressing or 1 Tbps of Low Fat Italian Dressing (or balsamic vinegar or no dressing) and Hummus with carrots, celery, cucumbers
• Loaded Potato: Baked plain potato, vegetarian chili, 1 serving of light shredded cheese, two tablespoons of light sour cream
• All Natural Spiced Oatmeal w/Almond Butter
• Chipotle: Fajita Vegetarian Bowl (White or Brown Rice, Black Beans, Fajita Veggies, Mild and Green Salsa, Guacamole)
• Local Chinese Restaurant – China Star: (Steamed Shrimp Broccoli, Brown Rice, Garlic Sauce on the side)
• Panda Express: Steamed White Rice and Entree from Smart Wok Menu
• Subway: Veggie Salad with no cheese and sweet onion sauce w/apples and water
•  Jimmy Johns: Beach Club on Whole Wheat, No Cheese, No Mayo
  
• Panera: Pick Two – Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich and Fuji Apple Chicken Salad with No Dressing
• Potbelly’s:
  • Skinny TKY with no cheese and all veggies
  • Chickpea Veggie Salad with non-fat vinaigrette

 Starbucks and Potbelly’s = Heavenly Post Run Lunch

• Subway: All the Veggies on Whole Wheat, No Sauce

Watch out! Post run-hungry!!

• Noodles and Company: Med Salad or Pad Thai with Shrimp
• Italian Shrimp Pasta:
  • I just made this recipe up. I cook shrimp in Olive Oil, fresh garlic, zucchini (or squash, spinach, diced tomatoes, basil, whatever is on hand) and mix with cooked whole wheat pasta. If I have it I garnish with fresh herbs like chopped basil.

So much fresh basil in this pasta it looks like a salad, yum!

• Shrimp (or Veggie) Stir-Fry (Made At Home):
  • I just made up this recipe. Cook soba noodles and drain. Take a little olive oil and brown a meat, either grilled shrimp, steak, chicken. Add veggies (any kind) after meat is cooked with any stir-fry sauce and add cooked soba noodles

Before and After

• Fish Tacos:
  • I just made up this recipe. I cook the fish with a little olive oil, lime juice, paprika, chili power, onion powder, cumin and garlic salt for 15 minutes @ 425 degrees. After cooking I serve it with corn tortillas, fresh salsa and guacamole.

• Hooters: Big Fish Sandwich Grilled with No Tartar Sauce, Just Lemon
• Chilis: Caribbean Shrimp Salad, substitute the dressing for non-fat honey mustard and I add avocado slices.
• Lots of sushi, preferably brown rice and Miso Soup
• Polenta with Basil
  • I just make up this recipe. I slice any flavored polenta and cook in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil. After browned, serve stacked with fresh basil slices in between. Add slices of herbed goat cheese or whatever in between if you want. Serve with marinara or pesto on the side.

• Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken Fajitas:
  • I just made up the recipe and throw in whatever veggies and spices that I have on hand, let it cook all day on low and then shred chicken before serving with whole wheat tortillas or on a salad greens.
  • Every time: 1 package of boneless, skinless Smart Chicken breasts cut into cubes, 1 can diced tomatoes (with juice), .5 jar all natural salsa, shake in spices I have (paprika, garlic salt, sea salt, black pepper, little cummin)
  • This picture I cooked it with orange and yellow pepper, red onion, and fresh cilantro.

• Rachael Ray:
  • Grilled Honey Lime Chicken Sandwiches
    • It can be served up on thin wheat buns or slice the chicken up and put it on a salad.
• EatLiveRun’s BBQ Chickpea and Carmilized Onion Pizza (with Namaste gluten free pizza crust)

• Skinnytaste.com
  • Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice (I added scrambled egg to this. Next time I will make it with brown rice)

• Broccoli and Macaroni and Cheese Bake

 

• Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution:
  • Chicken fajitas and homemade salsa (I usually use Shrimp just because I’m obsessed with seafood and no cheese or sour cream)

Sides:

• Sweet potato fries
  • A little extra virgin olive oil or spray on a baking sheet
  • Cut up sweet potato into strips (leave skin on)
  • Sprinkle on any spices I have on hand (sea salt, black pepper, paprika, chili powder, little cummin, garlic salt)
  • Bake at 450 degrees until they looked baked and fry-like (flip half way through to avoid burning)

Before baking sweet potatoes.

• Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts
  • A little extra virgin olive oil in a baking pan
  • Cut sprouts in half and toss in oiled pan
  • A little ground black pepper and sea salt
  • Bake at 450 degrees until they are roasted, flip half way through if you want less burn

Some people will say that eating healthy is costly. Yes, almond butter, eggs from a free range chicken, shrimp are all pricey items, but we’ve cut so many other expenses out with this type of eating. We purchase a lot less meat, no soda, alcohol only if we have company, no pre-packaged snacks, no season packets, etc. which in turn frees up some cash for buying higher quality items. Fruits and veggies are very filling too, so I find that we keep less food on hand than ever before.