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[JNicole2009]

7:45 a.m. Breakfast: MetRx Protein Plus bar (180 cal)
12:00 p.m. Lunch: Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal (160 cal)
3:30 p.m. Snack: Oatmeal...again...(160 cal)

- I usually wake up and run in the mornings but I missed my alarm this morning so I am headed to the gym after work. I plan on running atleast my usual 5 miles this afternoon then abs and upper body.

Dinner will probably consist of canned tuna (water pack) with pineapple and green beans...have to love that college budget!!!!

[swanso5]

we're getting some cuties on here these days aren't we...

this will not work...

1 - you need at least 5 meals a day with 6 - 7 being better
2 - you need breakfast everyday, as soon as you get up
3 - you need protein with every meal, solid protein at that

can you post your training program too? goals etc?

hopefully you're eating before that morning cardio too

[Boss Man]

Exactly, you're eating about 800 calories a day looking at that. 900 would be a distinct impossibility from your totals, and if you don't eat better, you risk things like bad mineral deficiencies.

Your Bone health could suffer too. I just ran your choices through a calculator for Bones, which I downloaded and bar Vit D, you are considerably low on K, an your Calcium is very, very bad.

Okay, I couldn't include the bar, but that might go in your favour, but realistically your Calcium would still be very bad, and K could be a bit off too.

I knwo it must be hard with your kind of budget, but if you don't change things you risk not only poor bone Health, but possible Anaemia, from things like Low Copper and Iron. Possibly low immune health from things like Low Zinc etc etc, so you need to make changes.

3 meals a day consisting of Oatmeal x 2, a protein bar, and some Tuna, Pineapple and Green Beans won't suffice, and the Pineapple might digest in a less than beneficial way combined with other foods.

So things have to change and soon okay .

[katiesuarez]

Hey Jaclyn,

I was once anorexic myself, up until early last year. I used to consume fewer than 1000 calories per day, plus, I would run anywhere from five to ten miles mornings and evenings. It really took a toll on my body. I am still recovering from it. It was difficult for my psychologically to eat anything with fat or go as high as 2000 calories in a day. Last year, I ended up with a fracture in my sacrum from too much running. My orthopedist said I was malnourished and my calories were still excessively low. My illness had affected my bone density. The pain was excruciating. Every time I stepped down on my right leg, pain would shoot from my lower back to my knee and I had no feeling in my calf or foot. It took three full months to heal. I am not trying to discourage you from participating in something you enjoy. I just want to warn you that your recovery is a very long process no matter how healthy you think you feel. Please, please, please try to increase your calories as much as possible, add a good quality vitamin supplement to your diet, including calcium and magnesium, and improve your strength and bone density with weight training.

Best of luck to you.

[Boss Man]

Indeed. The main thing here is, to have the goal which is great, but be good to yourself too, and remember that if taking good care of you, means possibly coming in the last 10% of runners, so be it, but there will be a next time, and you will still have done something to be proud of, but if it means having to add 30 minues ont oa run time, just to be sparing on the body during the prep phase, so be it.

Like I said elsewhere be proud of your goal, and just keep pushing as well as you can, chin up, and no worries.

Hopefully that warm smile you can clearly see you have, will be on show again at the end of race day .

[JNicole2009]

So the end of yesterday consisted of 6 oz grilled chicken, green beans, pinapple, and a protein bar (350 cal/ 30g protein) and a big glass of 1% milk before bed.
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This morning, I ran 3.25 miles and did a spin class for 45 minutes.
Breakfast : had to make it quick so sigh...protein bar (Clif Builder's - 20g protein/ 270 cal)
I brought oatmeal and fruit with me to work and going to try the idea of every 3 hours eating. I am a secretary and runner for a law office so I am going non-stop and no real time for "gourmet" meals lol!
Dinner tonight I already have planned as 6 oz. grilled red fish, can of mandarin oranges, cooked carrots, and another protein bar before bed with milk.

I am anemic but take Calcium + Iron pills and Fiber capsules as well. I have a bone test once a year since my release from the hospital to check density and all is fine. Hopefully I will be able to start increasing my intake soon enough, but with everything I do (training and life), all in baby steps!!!

[Boss Man]

Well your Cals are better, however

1. You won't get good Fruit consumption with Dinner, and Fruit would be a waste like that eaten later in the day, and not digesting properly with other foods.

2. Your body might not require so much Protein from all that Fish, so it's a waste of Protein, and the Kidneys will get a lot Uric Acid from the Nitrogen to Uric Acid conversion, from the Protein.

If you needed to, you could always cut back a bit on Fish, have a smaller portion like 4OZ, and recover some of the calories from something like Olive Oil, put on the fish after cooking, so you get some of the Oil Calories back.

Then just boost up your Cals with extra Veggies.

You've just highlighted a problem as well saying you're on Iron Pills.

That's not good, and you need to be in a situation where you don't need those. I appreciate it's difficult at the moment, and I certainly don't want to sound pushy or hard, as it's not what is right in this situation.

I would at least have had Oatmeal again today. You shouldn't have any need to take ages over it, unless it cooked, and if you don't need to cook it then have it cold, to save time. Especially as having it cold will spare some of the Carbs, as you would lose some from cooking.

You might get minerals and Vits from a Protein Bar, but Oatmeal would be a better yield, and then you could always have the Protein bar later on if you needed it, say as a mid morning or mid-afternoon snack.

That calorie total looked better than before, but you're still going to have to make some changes, as you're low, and also some aspects of nutrition, (like Fruit with Dinner), are not making good use of the nutrition you do get.

I appreciate it's baby steps as you say, and I know it will take time, but of course time is what we are willing to give, to help you, so don't take this as a "do something now or else" kind of message, as I know it will take time.

We will support you as best we can, and I wish you good luck again, and best wishes getting through this ..

[swanso5]

this is from aother post of mine but i always refer people back to it..basically covers timing of nutrients around your day...


this is something I made up for work and thought I'd post it here for everyone;

SYT Food Plans

Non Training Days

Meal 1 eaten within 30mins of getting up and as soon as you get up if possible – fruit, high fiber cereal, optional ½ protein shake
Meal 2 – fruit, solid protein
Meal 3 – Solid Protein, Veg, Salad
Meal 4 – Solid Protein, Veg, Salad
Meal 5 – Solid Protein, Veg, Salad
Meal 6 – Solid Protein, Veg, Salad

Training Days

Things will need to change a little now as we need to implement a “post training workout window plan” to replenish the body. As soon as you finish training or at the very least within 30mins of finishing training, you need to have a liquid protein source for immediate recovery. Failure to do this almost ensures that you will not recover optimally between workouts. You also need some carbs here too for replenishment as your uptake of carbs here is optimal because your stores have hopefully been depleted through your training. You will actually “supercompensate”, where you can actually store more carbs than usual in the muscles and liver so this the ideal time to get your rice, pasta, bread or sugary cereal fixes. Again the 30min recovery rule applies here. After this you simply continue on with whatever meal you are up to from the non training day plan.

Morning Training Days

Meal 1 – eaten as soon as you get up
– fruit, protein shake
Meal 2 – protein shake, sugary cerial, pasta, rice or bread
Meal 3 – Solid Protein, Veg, Salad
Meal 4 – Solid Protein, Veg, Salad
Meal 5 – Solid Protein, Veg, Salad
Meal 6 – Solid Protein, Veg, Salad

Now depending on your body type and how hard your training is, you could possibly insert some rice, pasta or bread with your lunch meal but no later than that.

Evening Training Days

Meal 1 – eaten within 30mins of getting up and as soon as you get up if possible
– fruit, high fiber cereal, optional ½ protein shake
Meal 2 – fruit, solid protein
Meal 3 – Solid Protein, Veg, Salad
Meal 4 – Solid Protein, Veg, Salad
Meal 5 – Solid Protein, Veg, Salad (refer below)
Train
Meal 6 – Protein Shake, Sugary Cereal, Rice, Pasta or Bread
Meal 7 – Solid Protein, Veg, Salad

Depending on what time you train in the evening, you may need a little “half” meal here so that you’re not already hungry before training. In this case it’s a good idea to either:

A – split your lunch meal into 2 separate meals so that your usual mid afternoon meal is closer to your workout time

or,

B – split your dinner meal in half and half before training the other half as your last meal

Tips
- Solid protein sources include pork, turkey, red meat, kangaroo, fish, sardines, tuna, salmon, chicken and eggs (whites too)…obviously protein is also found in seeds but you want about 20g per meal for satiety and that is a lot of seeds
- eat every 3 hours your awake
- at least 2 liters of water everyday
- don’t eat carbs by themselves
- have protein at every meal
- nuts, almonds etc can easily be added but they are best had at meals that are not in place for replenishment (breakfast and post training meals)
- eat until your content, not stuffed than simply eat again when you’re hungry
- in accordance with the previous point you will need to be prepared pre preparing and/or taking food with you to work or where ever so some Tupperware containers are required here

Food Diary / Compliance Grid

A Food Diary is what you’ll use to keep track of your meals and the Compliance Grid is what you’ll use to evaluate the quality of those meals.

Food Diary

Write down what you have with each meal with approximate portion sizes (palm sized, 1cp etc), the time you have it as well as any liquid intake you have (water, coffee, soft drinks etc)

Rise at 6:15am
Meal 1 @ 6:30am – Large Banana, small bowl of oatmeal, coffee
Etc…

Compliance Grid

This will allow us to see the actual quality of our meals throughout the entire week. For example let’s say you’re aim is to have 5 meals a day, everyday which equates to 35 meals a week. We already have our meal plans in place above so we already know what they supposed to look like. What we’ll do at the end of each week is to count how many of our 35 meals come from the plan with your aim to be at least 90% of them. The 10% of the time that you don’t follow the plan won’t really matter in the end if you abide by this. This is essential in planning cheat meals or when you are set to go out for dinner so you can have what you want. Simply abide by the 90% rule the week leading up to your cheat meal and go for your life. This requires self discipline and consistency of quality so that you are indeed at at least 90% before indulging in something you shouldn’t have.

Any further questions please post.