What does everyone's typical daily meal look like?

[oink]

By that I mean your brekkie, lunch and supper, to stay in good running shape

Please share

[carm]

I'm probably not as strict as I should be but here goes:

Breakie: Plain Greek yogurt with muesli or granola, 1 hard-boiled egg OR a small breakfast smoothie with kale.
Morning snack: Banana
Lunch: Soup and a 1/2 sandwich OR a large salad with some protein (chicken, egg or a bit of feta cheese); cottage cheese, uncooked veggies (carrots, bell peppers)
Afternoon snack: Some almonds, an apple or other piece of fruit, uncooked veggies
Dinner: It varies but it usually involves some meat (fish, steak or chicken breast) and a ton of veggies (kale, green beans, beets, sweet potatoes...whatever we can get at the farmer's market). Sometimes we'll treat ourselves to homemade pizza.

[QuickChick]

I am pretty regular for breakfast and lunch. Dinner varies somewhat, and it varies by season as well (I crave different stuff in fall/winter). I have berries, granola and oats, and plain yogurt for breakfast pretty much every day. For lunch, I usually have quinoa salad (I make a batch with quinoa, peppers, tomato, goat cheese, oregano, olive oil and balsamic that is good for 3 lunches at the start of the week), or a cheese/tomato sandwich, or soup/leftovers. I always have a piece of fruit also. Dinner lately has been chicken a lot of the time (I'll get a whole chicken most weeks). I'll roast it and we'll have chicken breast first, then the next night I'll make chicken curry or stirfry with part of the rest of the meat, and the next night I'll sometimes make soup if there is enough meat for a third meal. Sometimes there is, sometimes there's not. I've also been doing a lot of pork chops/tenderloin, beef stew, "stovies" (basically sausages, potatoes, onions and carrots in broth... mmmm), and other soups. In summertime I crave salad more, and often we'll just have a huge caprese or Greek salad with a baguette for dinner. I make pretty much everything from scratch, but I don't do anything difficult. I just like to know everything that's in my food.

[La]

Breakfast: smoothie made with almond milk, banana, apple butter, protein powder, fibre powder and frozen strawberries. Coffee with milk.

Snack: Greek yogurt w/ a splash of maple syrup and berries.

Lunch: Salad with protein (chicken or tuna), piece of fruit, baby-cut carrots

Snack: tea and something crunchy (cookies, chips, etc.)

Dinner: this varies a lot, but usually some kind of protein with lots of veggies and something starchy (potatoes, rice, pasta). 90% of the time I cook for myself at home from scratch (sometimes it's leftovers or stuff I've made ahead and frozen). I rarely eat out or get take-out/delivery. And wine. I almost always have wine with dinner.

[wind-hater]

OMG - stop it! You guys are making me feel bad.

I admire you for being so disciplined about your nutrition. My snacking has gotten out of control - thankfully the high mileage has meant that I haven't gained - but this thread is a good reminder of what's missing from my routine if I'm going to shave the last 7 1/2 minutes off to BQ in the spring. I'm booked with my GP on monday to check the ticker out and blood sugar and cholesterol levels. I've read too many stories about guys who drop dead who were otherwise in good shape.

Quinoa eh? Wow you guys are good! Do they have quinoa Doritos?

I can't contribute constructively to the thread but thanks for this - it's a good motivator!

[oink]

Wind-Hater....I hear ya

I am not bad eater, but my only problem is that I seem to have stayed between 160-165lbs for years now, and am looking to drop a few lbs. Don't get me wrong, I still do 5k in 20mins or less and marathons under 4hrs

May be I just have bigger bones and genetics is playing into this? Hmmmmm

[La]

Wind-Hater....I hear ya

I am not bad eater, but my only problem is that I seem to have stayed between 160-165lbs for years now, and am looking to drop a few lbs. Don't get me wrong, I still do 5k in 20mins or less and marathons under 4hrs

May be I just have bigger bones and genetics is playing into this? Hmmmmm

1) Muscle mass and bone density will factor into your weight, but it will also contribute to how quickly you burn calories, so it's both good/bad, depending on how you look at it.
2) One of the easiest ways to drop a few pounds is to stop drinking your calories: pop, beer, wine, fruit juice, etc.
3) Cook your own food. We eat 21 meals a week. Aim to make 17 out of those 21 meals yourself (from scratch, not out of a box/can).
4) Track what you eat/drink. When you see it written down you realize where any excess calories might be.

[oink]

Thanks for that La....you are absolutely right.

I don't eat junk food and neither do I drink alcohol nor smoke. Brekkie is usally cereal or bagel followed by cups of tea.

Lunch is fruitmix, cereal, yoghurt and more tea

supper....omelette with some bread sometimes, toast sometimes and more tea (Green and red rose)

I am 5' 9" but will love to be 150lbs or even 145

Wind-Hater....I hear ya

I am not bad eater, but my only problem is that I seem to have stayed between 160-165lbs for years now, and am looking to drop a few lbs. Don't get me wrong, I still do 5k in 20mins or less and marathons under 4hrs

May be I just have bigger bones and genetics is playing into this? Hmmmmm

1) Muscle mass and bone density will factor into your weight, but it will also contribute to how quickly you burn calories, so it's both good/bad, depending on how you look at it.
2) One of the easiest ways to drop a few pounds is to stop drinking your calories: pop, beer, wine, fruit juice, etc.
3) Cook your own food. We eat 21 meals a week. Aim to make 17 out of those 21 meals yourself (from scratch, not out of a box/can).
4) Track what you eat/drink. When you see it written down you realize where any excess calories might be.

[La]

Then I would say up your lean protein and veggies and decrease the amount of bread/cereal you eat. Sometimes just shifting things around will help you lose weight. Also, if you eat the same thing every. single. day. your body will get used to it, so mix things up.

Do you put sugar in all those cups of tea?

[Engmomma]

I am a fairly consistant eater when at work unless I am traveling.

Bfast: oatmeal, banana, black coffee

Lunch: soup or prefab meal like Shepard's Pie (todays), lasagna, or frozen dinner. I prefer to make big batches and freeze into portions

Dinner: varies but I have a picky eater at home so mostly meat and potato or variations. Last night was homemade meat balls with pasta and homemade on the fly pasta sauce; other night was slow cooker pulled pork; often chicken with side of rice

Snacks: yogurt, veggies and fruit

My crap eating mostly happens in the evening. I think I need to go to bed at 5:45 PM.

[oink]

Thanks La...just splenda in each cup. What would you say is your idea of "lean protein" ? I know books and the internet have different ideas

Then I would say up your lean protein and veggies and decrease the amount of bread/cereal you eat. Sometimes just shifting things around will help you lose weight. Also, if you eat the same thing every. single. day. your body will get used to it, so mix things up.

Do you put sugar in all those cups of tea?

[ultraslacker]

whatever I'm in the mood for!

breakfast is usually oatmeal when I'm at home and tim's when I'm at work. there is no consistency for the other meals... or I'll just snack when I'm hungry.

[La]

Thanks La...just splenda in each cup. What would you say is your idea of "lean protein" ? I know books and the internet have different ideas.

Most fish, lean cuts of beef, pork, chicken breast, turkey, fat-free dairy, egg whites. Beans, legumes and some grains have protein and little-to-no fat, however they do have carbs.

[QuickChick]

The Canada Food Guide is actually, IMO, a pretty good resource. I don't think you need to go crazy... the important thing is that you manage portions and get a good balance. By manage portions I mean do NOT deprive yourself, but don't eat like a pig either (haha). I need a snack at the end of the school day or I get really hangry (that's La's word!!) so I'd say pre-emptive eating is important too (i.e., an apple or a handful of almonds eaten at 4pm often prevents a few handfuls of chips when I get home DESPERATE for food at 5:30!). I feel fortunate that I honestly really like veggies and healthy food. I do have a sweet tooth, and I love, love LOVE those Kettle brand chips (buffalo bleu!!) and cheese, but hey, that's why I run. I just try not to eat too much of that stuff and more of the good stuff.

Fitday.com is a great resource for tracking calories, and I've heard Livestrong.com is as well. If you're concerned, it may be a good idea to track what you eat for a couple of weeks to see what you're getting a lot of and a little of. Cooking from scratch is really NOT hard, either! Trust me! It doesn't have to be gourmet or difficult. Roasting a chicken, for example, is probably the easiest thing in the world- season with salt/herbs, throw in some potatoes and veggies with it, chuck it in the oven, take it out an hour and a bit later. It's as easy as frozen pizza and yields at least 2 meals.

[Joe Dwarf]

myfitnesspal is also good for tracking, and they have a nice smartphone app. You can scan bar codes of products to make it easier to track.

If you are cutting and not counting, that's a mistake IMO. People often have no idea how many calories they are eating.

[purdy65]

I use my fitness pal a lot. It's a good one!

Meals? Good and bad

Breakfast = cereal
Snack =. Granola bar, or apple
Lunch= turkey sandwich, baby carrots or something like like that.
Dinner= a meat usually plus rice, quinoa, something like that
My treat is usually a hermit cookie.

Other favorites are yogurt and fruit, almonds, dried pineapple.