Failing at the Fooding, Lurong Challenge 2017 Prep

Food. When did it get so complicated?

Oh yeah, when we started adulting. Having to buy the food. Prepare the food. Eat the right food and right amounts of food. Add to that the fact that our food needs change over time as metabolisms adjust and we age and suddenly it’s even harder.

Bah. Adulting is hard.

And in my case, I sometimes… forget to eat. I get busy. Or get lost in my own head. Or decide to punish myself for something stupid. And oops, guess what, suddenly I’m starving or angry or tired and wondering why.

We’ve done many different things over the last few years. We tried Atkins. We went paleo. We did Whole30. We tried Zone. I tried the Macros thing. Though I’ve seen results when we’ve gone strict, it’s usually because we’re measuring everything and I don’t eat enough.

Some things have stuck.

• I’ve cut out 95% of the soda from my diet. At one point I used go through a 12-pack of Diet Dr. Pepper in 2 or 3 days. (I have the last can sitting on my shelf as a reminder of those days.)
  • Side effect: I now drink a lot of coffee and vanilla almond milk creamer. And I start every day with Advocare Spark.
  • Starbucks, Advocare, and the grocery store have benefitted from this change. And I only occasionally drink a Coke now and then if I’m out with my gaming buddies.
• We try to eat pretty paleo most of the time at home. I’d say maybe 80%. That leaves us room for pizza, bread, etc. when we want it. After all, we’re working out so we can be a little more free with our food, aren’t we?

Some things haven’t.

• Though I don’t drink actual beer very often, I can’t say that my alcohol intake is down all that much. I enjoy cider beers, sweet wines, and Amaretto on the rocks.
• Consistency-wise, I’m not all that great. I still eat more fat & carbs than protein. I like tortillas and bread. I’m not a huge fan of salads.

So as we approach May and look towards the Lurong Challenge 2017, I’m trying to dial in a few more things to help keep me on the straight and narrow.

My goals for the challenge (after May 15, the first day of the challenge, which is actually my birthday and all bets are off):

• Cut out alcohol for the challenge (and possibly beyond).
• Cut out coffee for the challenge or limit to one cup a day with almond milk creamer, which is allowed.
• Stick with Advocare Spark in the morning and possibly in the afternoon if caffeine crash is too horrendous, especially in first week.
• Try to stick with three solid meals a day (800 calories each on training days, 600 each on rest days) as per the Macro Calculator for the challenge
• Go with 69g protein, 33g carbs, 23g fat as Macros

We will see if this helps lean me out any.

My challenges:

• Getting enough protein.
• Updating stand-by meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
  • 3 eggs, 1 Aidells Chicken & Apple Sausage, green onion (24 protein, 21 fat, 9 carbs) = not enough protein, don’t want to add more eggs and sausage adds too much salt
  • 2 eggs, 1 slice cheese, 2 slices ham, bagel (37 protein, 25 fat, 56 carbs) – too many carbs
  • 2 eggs, piece of whole wheat toast (18 protein, 13 fat, 29 carbs) – too many carbs
  • good lunch choices?
• guidelines for eating out and measuring?
• standard paleo dishes tend to be a bit light on protein (and difficult to prepare for a family of four)
  • Good stand-by plans for dinners ??
  • prep lots of grilled chicken, taco seasoned ground beef, chicken fajitas
  • others?

A resource:

• http://www.burnthefatinnercircle.com/Burn-The-Fat-Calorie-And-Macro-Chart-V3.pdf

A few recipes I know we’ll use:

• http://www.laurafuentes.com/paleo-chili-recipe-all-meat-veggie/
• http://balancedbites.com/content/easy-recipe-fresh-blueberry-crumble/
• https://popularpaleo.com/crock-pot-fajita-chicken/
• http://www.unrefinedkitchen.com/2012/04/14/pizza-crust-primalpaleo/
• http://stupideasypaleo.com/2013/08/09/paleo-chick-fil-a/
• http://paleogrubs.com/nacho-recipe
• http://www.food.com/recipe/oven-roasted-vegetables-south-beach-81585
• http://paleomg.com/italian-meatloaf/

So that’s where I’m at. The idea of meal planning and a “diet” or “nutrition” plan never sits well with me. It’s not like it’s being forced down my throat or anything, but it always feels like a) it’s harder than it should be and b) the effects don’t last.

I’m hoping that if we can find some good stand-bys and just repeat meals as we find things we like, we can keep chugging along ok.

Does anybody else have any good tips, resources, or stand-by recipes?