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Food Journal vs. Intuitive Eating
Goodafternoon blog friends :)
My favorite part about this month….JUNE GLOOM. Overcast mornings are unbeatable for 5:00am runs & I welcome the clouds!
As I blogged about last week, my summer workout schedule is off to a cardio-crazy start. Most days I run before and after work, squeezing in as many miles as I can on and off the treadmill. My goals right now for the summer:
- get into the same running condition I was in last summer. Avoiding injuries of course ;) I was able to run 16 miles at a comfortable 7:25min/mile pace, and always felt proud and accomplished with my workouts. This summer I will log miles to build my “base,” increase my long run distance, and train for a few 5k races this fall.
- Undo a few lbs. I added during the last month of school from stress & social eating. Back to the clean routine and it feels good!
A few key things? ‘Injury prevention,’ ‘hydration,’ and ‘nutrition’ are BUZZ words for athletes. We cannot get enough info & lectures on each. Because they are so ridiculously important!
Injury Prevention is a topic for another day.
Hydration is pretty easy.
Nutrition is my favorite thing to read/learn/experiment/talk about.
I am a fan of keeping a food journal. The easiest way for me is to use an Excel spreadsheet to track my meals, calories and workouts. Though my meals and snacks are usually nutritious and healthy, overeating or oversnacking will inevitably lead to incremental weight gain. Even if “extra calories” come in the form of something clean and nutritious such as cashews or avocados. More calories consumed than burned = weight gain.
Many fellow bloggers have been praising the Intuitive Eating style. I recently started noticing a trend which abandons calorie tracking, using “intuition” or “instinct” to dictate when/what/how much we eat. Yes, some people find calorie counting or food journaling stressful or time consuming. I think there are pro’s to both approaches of nutritional decisions. But speaking for myself, if I were to use “intuition” to dictate my diet, the results would be ugly. Hormones and cravings would “instinctively” tell me to load up on sodium, carbs, sugar, fat. Stress and boredom would lead me to intuitively decide I am in need of triple chunk peanut butter mocha brownie ice cream. The mid-day sleepies would yell at me to chug another latte….and better grab that peanut butter cookie there just in case. Protein, ya know.
What I mean is, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between my body’s instinctive request for certain nutrients and pure hormone-driven cravings. Anyone else feel the same? The sweet tooth is way to active to be trusted for “Intuitive Eating.” ;)
Because of my work schedule and commute, I am gone from home from 7:00am to 5:00pm. That is 10 hours, 2 meals, and a couple snacks. In order to bypass vending machines, break-room snacks and impulse buys, I pack a cooler FULL of fresh fruits and veggies, yogurt, oatmeal, nuts, and other snacks.
A typical week-day looks like this:
- 4:40am Coffee with almond milk the instant I wake up
- 6:00am 1/2 Luna bar after a run/HIIT workout
- 8:00am Breakfast: Oats with berries or banana slices
- 10:30am Apple slices
- 12:30pm Lunch: Yogurt with fruit and almond slivers; veggie slices and homemade roasted red pepper hummus
- 2:30pm Snack: Protein bar OR crackers OR mixed nuts; plus another piece of fruit (grapes, pear, peach, pineapple, watermelon)
- 7:30pm Dinner: typically 2 vegetables, a lean protein (with some sauce or seasoning), brown rice or sweet potato
- Post-dinner: right now, nothing. Only until I reverse my end-of-semester splurges ;) when I’m at my goal weight, desserts vary from popcorn, a cup of hot chocolate, Dove dark chocolate squares or a big bowl of strawberries!
The amount of produce my family buys is unreal. This week we have blueberries & strawberries for oatmeal additions. Bananas for yogurts toppers or smoothies. Grapes and apples for midday snacks. Carrots, bell peppers, celery and cucumbers for hummus-dippers and salad-toppers. Tons of other veggies to steam, saute, roast or grill with dinner. Plus watermelon and cantalope for desserts. Our fridge is so colorful!
We are so fortunate to live in a country where this abundance of healthy fresh food is available.
Food journaling helps me stay on track to reach my goals. It provides a clear picture of how my calories/carbs/proteins/fats are distributed through out the day.
Are you team Food Journal or Intuitive Eating?
Independence Day! Skinny Cherry Berry Pie
Did you remember to hang up your American Flag this morning? 4th of July falling on a Thursday means a day off of work…..translation: sleeping in after the sun rises. Waking up to broad daylight and being lazy with a cup of coffee is the ideal way to begin the day celebrating being an American ;)
Cherry and Apple pies are American classics, my inspiration for this quick and easy Independence Day dessert. Skinny Cherry Berry “Pies” made from a frozen cherry berry blend bag with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and cherries. Summertime fruit is like candy!
Sweet, single-serve, and perfectly Red, White & Blue(berry).
These are skinny mini single-serve “pies” that aren’t pies at all but totally pass as dessert because they are warm and cute.
(The star shape of the tortilla is made with the Perfect Tortilla Bowl Maker, and yes that’s totally an “as-seen-on-tv” product. Worth all $9.99!)
The bowl is made out of a whole wheat tortilla (50 calories) lightly sprayed with Pam and sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar. It bakes in the bowl for 7 minutes before cooling, while the cherry berry blend warms up in the oven. My favorite part – the warm berry juice! Messssssy.
Serve berries in the cinnamony tortilla bowl and top with whip cream, vanilla greek yogurt, or just plain ole’ ice cream. (We used Cool Whip!)
Easy as pie ;) (where did that expression come from?)
Total: approximately 150 calories. Average slice of apple pie with ice cream, on the other hand? 530 calories. If you plan on hitting up the beach or pool this weekend, you’ll be thankful for the alternative to a heavy apple pie a la mode. Fresh/frozen fruit + whole grains, not only are they bikini-approved but the antioxidants will help protect your skin from damaging elements….but don’t forget your sunscreen!
Time to catch the latest episode of “American Ninja Warrior”…that’s true patriotism right there.
Weekend Breakfast Crepes
It’s Saturday and the holidays are getting closer and it’s getting more hectic by the minute. First, I bring you a batch of light and fluffy fruit-filled crepes. Make these for breakfast tomorrow! Then I’ll share an update from New York ;)
Crepes are like paper-thin pancakes and we actually made them for dinner. (We are big fans of breakfast-for-dinner in this house!) The batter is most easily made in the blender. Cinnamon and vanilla are all the flavor you need!
Fresh raspberries and blackberries and thinly-sliced bananas were the fruity filling over some Cool Whip Lite, which we rolled like an enchilada. So much better than a heavy pancake and dense syrup! Sunday morning brunch?
Fruit-Filled Crepes:
- 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 2 tbs melted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups sliced fruit/berries
- 2 cups Cool Whip Lite
- Add all ingredients to a blender, and combine on high.
- Heat a non-stick skillet pan over medium. Pour a spoonful of batter onto the pan, tilting it until the batter spreads over the entire pan in a very thing layer.
- Once brown, flip over and cook evenly on both sides. Allow to cool for a few minutes before topping with fruit and cool whip, and burrito-folding.
Today I am flying to New York. On Thursday, I finished all of my finals and headed home to fight off a cold. I have surgery bright and early Monday morning and no time to deal with a cough and sore throat, so I spent the day in bed, catching up on TV shows and snuggling with my favorite polar-bear-wannabe Missy. And PACKING. We arrive in New York this evening, and I can’t wait to see the Rockefeller Plaza ice skating rink. Tomorrow is another day of fun in the city before I check into the hospital Monday morning. I will post updates on that for the next week or so before back to normal workouts and recipes ;)
