New Eating Strategy

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Sueven
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New Eating Strategy

Post by Sueven »

So, grad school is kicking up again. Last time this happened I ended up eating Subway and Boston Market for 4 months. Given my desire to eat healthy foods that will help me maximize the value of my gym time, I needed a new plan. After reading the advice of people on this board (thanks Kwon!), here's what I'll be doing.

Sundays are cooking days. Every Sunday I will cook two large meat dishes, two large vegetable dishes, a soup, and I'll whip up a batch of tuna salad. This food will be supplemented with healthy cereal w/ bananas, yogurt, and protein shakes.

So, today I roasted a large pork tenderloin and a whole chicken (skin removed), with vegetables. I picked all the meat off the chicken and packed it away. I then used the carcass, along with a few vegetables, to make broth. I turned that broth into lentil-vegetable soup. I also cooked up 2 pounds of Kale (sauteed with garlic) and a bunch of ears of corn.

So the whole thing yields something like this:

Breakfast: Cereal w/ Milk and a Banana, Yogurt, Orange Uuice
Lunch: Tuna Salad Sandwich or Pork or Chicken w/ Kale and an ear of Corn, Water
***workout***
***go home***
Snack: Immediately make and consume Protein Shake
Dinner: Pork or Chicken w/ Lentil-Vegetable Soup

Other snacks can be any of the above.

Assuming away all beverages, oils and butters used in cooking, and the protein shake, the whole thing yields a daily average of about 65% of my fat requirements and 220% of my protein requirement, according to the stupid little nutrition label calculations. Add in the protein shake and the protein skyrockets.

I know that this isn't a totally ideal diet, but I have some logistical constraints (ie, I don't have any food prep capabilities beyond a microwave from 9 AM - 7 PM). Also, I'm not a big eater in general, and this marks a dramatic step up in my food consumption (last year's diet was probably: lunch = cup of soup and powerade, dinner = subway turkey sandwich or boston market caesar salad, midnight snack = tortilla chips & salsa). So it's definitely an improvement.

I'd be happy to take suggestions for improving it even more!
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Winnow
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Re: New Eating Strategy

Post by Winnow »

First time ever posting in this forum and this is one of the rare times I've even entered it.

I just wanted to say that I'm impressed by the planning that went behind your new eating strategy and that you actually cook and take time to prepare food.
Sueven wrote:Last time this happened I ended up eating Subway and Boston Market for 4 months. Given my desire to eat healthy foods that will help me maximize the value of my gym time, I needed a new plan.
Man, Subway might be the healthiest food I eat with everything else falling below that. I may have to reevaluate my diet if Subway is considered junk food.

You might cc this post over on VV's Food Forum. I don't go there either but it appears to be a pretty active place with knowledgeable food nerds so you might get more comments about your new diet.
Sueven
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Re: New Eating Strategy

Post by Sueven »

Subway can be healthy, it just depends what you get on it. If you get, say, a turkey sub on wheat bread, load it up with vegetables, and skip the cheese / oil / mayo / fatty sauce stuff, then it's pretty good. If you get, say, an italian BMT on white with provolone, lettuce, mayo and southwest sauce, then that's bad.

I may very well cross post some of this in food later.

And thanks for the compliments.
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Xatrei
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Re: New Eating Strategy

Post by Xatrei »

Yeah, as long as you stick to the "6 Grams of Fat or Less" menu, and don't add all the fatty stuff, it's one of the better fast food options out there. You can double or even triple the meat on a turkey sub to boost the protein to 27g or 36g while only adding a couple grams of fat. The biggest problem is the sodium. A turkey sub with double turkey and no added salt has something like 1500mg of sodium, which at nearly 2/3 of the RDA is a wee bit excessive.

Sueven, personal chefs typically prepare a week's worth of food for their clients during a visit, and package it for quick preparation / consumption throughout the week. Many of the techniques that they employ are very applicable to what you're trying to do, so it may be worth your time to look into some personal chef resources / forums online. Also, here are a couple of books (sorry, I can't think of the titles atm) that focus on preparing meals in advance, storage methods, which foods work and don't work for this sort of thing. etc.

You can roast a couple of turkey breasts, which make pretty versatile bases for any number of other dishes. You can bake a bunch of potatoes or sweet potatoes and reheat them throughout the week, or you can cut them into wedges and roast them. They store pretty well.
"When I was a kid, my father told me, 'Never hit anyone in anger, unless you're absolutely sure you can get away with it.'" - Russel Ziskey
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