Odd Lots,
I will start by giving you a typical day for me. I get up at 5:45, grab the lunch and breakfasts/ snacks I've prepared the night before and head to the gym. I'll have a few sips of coffee (splenda and a little bit of creamer) on the way so I am working our virtually on an empty stomach. There is a lot of debate on the prudence of such actions but we can take that discussion offline. Once at the gym, I'll run for 45 minutes keeping my heart rate in the 145-150 range- roughly 75-80% of my max. I'm in the office by 8 and I have a whey protein shake. When I was drastically cutting calories, I had a DZL Gear 90 calorie, 20g of protein, shake. Later in the process, I went to my typical 240 calorie, 48g protein, shake. At about 10:30, I'll have half of a container of fat free cottage cheese with pineapple- 160 calories and 24 grams of protein. I'll have lunch at 12:30 or 1. My lunch can vary quite a bit. For the first month of the contest, I had a huge salad every day- 4 cups of greens- only about 25 cal per cup- with 2 tablespoons of avocado, 4 egg whites, onion, carrots and fat free balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The salad was about 250 calories. At 3:30, I had the other half of the container of cottage cheese. On the days where I was able to get out of the office at 5:30 (about 2-3 days per week) I headed to the gym to lift and do a second cardio session. Post workout, I had another protein shake. Again, early in the contest, that was a 90 calorie DZL. Later, it was the 240 calorie version. For dinner, I had to accommodate my wife. She wasn't a part of this contest and she is a meat eater so we had to be creative. At least once a week, I would have 2 Morning Star Spicy Black Bean Burgers (no bun), a little cheddar, home made guacamole, salsa and fat free sour cream. The burgers are only 140 cal each. The cheddar 110. Salsa 20. Sour cream 40. Guac about 45. Every night, regardless of the amount of calories in my budget, I had a glass of red wine- 100 calories.
Other typical dinners: general tsao's tofu with brown rice and broccoli. I used, in parlance, the Iron Chef, OTR version. Watch out as each tablespoon is 55 calories. I also would do a vege Quesadilla. Sauté onions and peppers in a touch of olive oil and season with Emeril's Southwest mixture. I made them open face as each whole wheat tortilla was 170 calories. I added a little cheddar. We would also make up a mixture of a little brown rice, black beans and corn to have on the side. Add sour cream, salsa and guacamole and you have a nice dinner. Avocado is considered a super food. We eat a ton of it.
Most other dinners involved whole wheat pasta. Sometimes, I added eggplant. Sometimes, I would do a Lean Cuisine/Smart Ones/Healthy Choice dinner. Watch out for the sodium.
Sometimes, I eschewed the cottage cheese meals and instead had a kashi bar in the morning and Pure Protein bar in the afternoon. Both are around 170 calories. Pure Protein isn't the best for certain but I was looking to maximize protein while keeping calories under 200. For lunch, I mixed in a few 4-cheese pizza lean pockets. 290 calories and they are actually good. Every couple of weeks I had a slice of pizza or a Quiznos vege sub- small of course.
Really no secrets there. Portion control and a healthy amount of gym work is the key here. I can share with you the spreadsheet I developed if you think it will help you.
Good Luck,
D
I will start by giving you a typical day for me. I get up at 5:45, grab the lunch and breakfasts/ snacks I've prepared the night before and head to the gym. I'll have a few sips of coffee (splenda and a little bit of creamer) on the way so I am working our virtually on an empty stomach. There is a lot of debate on the prudence of such actions but we can take that discussion offline. Once at the gym, I'll run for 45 minutes keeping my heart rate in the 145-150 range- roughly 75-80% of my max. I'm in the office by 8 and I have a whey protein shake. When I was drastically cutting calories, I had a DZL Gear 90 calorie, 20g of protein, shake. Later in the process, I went to my typical 240 calorie, 48g protein, shake. At about 10:30, I'll have half of a container of fat free cottage cheese with pineapple- 160 calories and 24 grams of protein. I'll have lunch at 12:30 or 1. My lunch can vary quite a bit. For the first month of the contest, I had a huge salad every day- 4 cups of greens- only about 25 cal per cup- with 2 tablespoons of avocado, 4 egg whites, onion, carrots and fat free balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The salad was about 250 calories. At 3:30, I had the other half of the container of cottage cheese. On the days where I was able to get out of the office at 5:30 (about 2-3 days per week) I headed to the gym to lift and do a second cardio session. Post workout, I had another protein shake. Again, early in the contest, that was a 90 calorie DZL. Later, it was the 240 calorie version. For dinner, I had to accommodate my wife. She wasn't a part of this contest and she is a meat eater so we had to be creative. At least once a week, I would have 2 Morning Star Spicy Black Bean Burgers (no bun), a little cheddar, home made guacamole, salsa and fat free sour cream. The burgers are only 140 cal each. The cheddar 110. Salsa 20. Sour cream 40. Guac about 45. Every night, regardless of the amount of calories in my budget, I had a glass of red wine- 100 calories.
Other typical dinners: general tsao's tofu with brown rice and broccoli. I used, in parlance, the Iron Chef, OTR version. Watch out as each tablespoon is 55 calories. I also would do a vege Quesadilla. Sauté onions and peppers in a touch of olive oil and season with Emeril's Southwest mixture. I made them open face as each whole wheat tortilla was 170 calories. I added a little cheddar. We would also make up a mixture of a little brown rice, black beans and corn to have on the side. Add sour cream, salsa and guacamole and you have a nice dinner. Avocado is considered a super food. We eat a ton of it.
Most other dinners involved whole wheat pasta. Sometimes, I added eggplant. Sometimes, I would do a Lean Cuisine/Smart Ones/Healthy Choice dinner. Watch out for the sodium.
Sometimes, I eschewed the cottage cheese meals and instead had a kashi bar in the morning and Pure Protein bar in the afternoon. Both are around 170 calories. Pure Protein isn't the best for certain but I was looking to maximize protein while keeping calories under 200. For lunch, I mixed in a few 4-cheese pizza lean pockets. 290 calories and they are actually good. Every couple of weeks I had a slice of pizza or a Quiznos vege sub- small of course.
Really no secrets there. Portion control and a healthy amount of gym work is the key here. I can share with you the spreadsheet I developed if you think it will help you.
Good Luck,
D
