You are disciplined. You are constantly aware and have put your personal monitoring systems in place. The next step is to eat right. I am no expert (I keep trying to get that point across) but I have a diet that has kept me at 155lbs for eight months, without physical exercise. Everyone has different needs but I have found that this diet keeps me at my ideal body weight, though on it’s own it doesn’t give me shape.
Breakfast
My breakfast is usually high in fibre. I have a manual mix of cereals. I use Morning Flake combined with Aveeno Quick Oats combined with Raisin Bran. The reason I added the Raisin Bran is because I really like raisins. It makes the cereal mix palatable. Sometimes I may add a banana to breakfast as well (I like banana.)
When doing weight training your appetite naturally increases. Consequently I also added a pair of fried or scrambled eggs and some whole-wheat bread. I do not normally butter my bread- but that is a preference. I never skip breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day, especially since dinner after working out is so small.
Lunch
Lunch is the largest meal in my day, unless I go out to eat with friends in the evening. Let me start with a disclaimer. I do not eat Fried Chicken. At all. Anything fried except fish is not consumed by me. I avoid Pork, but I love Jerked Pork so I am not always successful. I love lasagne, I eat it at every chance I get- but those occasions are rare.
My typical lunch consists of:
- Ground Provisions: Banana, yam, sweet potato, dasheen, pumkin etc.
- Steamed Vegetable
- Cooked Meat (or baked)
- Orange Juice
Where possible I avoid rice. If you live a sedentary lifestyle like me rice just sits on your stomach idly. Sometimes I have a ‘cold plate’ with the above. Cold-plates consist of fresh vegetables, example lettuce, carrots, tomato, cucumber, beet root as well as corn and green peas. That makes the meal over-the-top healthy. Unfortunately, that meal holds me for all of 2 hours, maybe 3.
Snacks
Snacking is important. Healthy snacks are ideal. I haven’t figured this out yet. Recently when I was banned from eating most foods (by my doctor to treat gastroenteritis) I found eating fruits to feel quite rewarding. Bananas and apples were my snack of choice. I often have salted peanuts- but if you are hypertensive this may be wrong for you. I have granola bars sometimes as well, but those bars feel pretty gimmicky.
What usually happens though is that I snack on something filled with sugar and no protein or health value- buns, bulla etc. In my ideal world I would snack on fruits and nuts only, especially if raisin is a fruit.
Dinner
The basic concept of dinner is that it needs to be completed by 8pm. Eating after 8 at night is called late night eating in my (and my trainer’s) book. It should not occur. How is your body going to effectively burn the calories you ingested when your activities have come to a halt?
When doing any kind of exercise, but particularly weight training, the meal after eating determines the rate of muscle growth. Consequently I have a high-protein dinner. I used to have a tuna sandwich (I only have whole wheat bread, remember) but I don’t really like Tuna and I can’t eat it without copious amounts of mayonaise. I like Turkey breast sandwiches, which increase in value when I add lettuce and tomato. Currently however I have a banana, soy milk and oats protein shake. I figure I will do that after training so that I cut the belly fat a little faster. On the weekends I still have the Jamaican/Caribbean traditions of soup on Saturday and Rice and Peas plus meat on Sunday. I haven’t and probably won’t give that up however, I have a much lighter lunch to compensate.
I still go out with friends and kinda close my eyes to my diet on those occasions. It is so easy to be unhealthy- to have that patty, burger or pizza. However, if I happen to fall off the wagon I get back on it. The aim is to have a plan and stick to it but you don’t have to be obnoxious.
I try to limit my fat intake but they are a part of life. Thankfully because of my high-intensity workout my body’s metabolic rate seems to take care of the extra calories that need to be burnt post-workout. Let me go through my workout routine next.
