My maintenance is 1400. I’m 5’3. Sucks to be a short female. To lose it is like 1200. I have a lottttt of “natural” energy. I walk a lot, basically. So I usually get to eat more than 1200 kcal/day. FWIW, according to Fitbit (which maybe I live or die by) I average around 20k steps/day. That would be double what is recommended by the AHA for the average american in order to maintain weight.
1200! Do you just get to look at an apple for an afternoon snack? 20k steps in intense though, I recall having a challenge like that at my old work place; we formed teams and tried to get everyone to do 10k steps a day, but we're all desk bound so it was quite an undertaking. I walk to and from work (inner city living in a place that barely counts as a city is great) and coupled with all the sports and training, seems to keep me battling to get enough food in. I guess it's a good problem to have.
You know that doctor in the article who said he had an egg for breakfast? I was like yeah me too Seriously, I've been mealplanning. Here's what an average day looks like: Breakfast: 2-5 days a week, skip breakfast. Most of the rest of those days a week, 1 hardboiled egg with salt around 10 am. 1 of those days a week, an egg sandwich with bacon and cheese and sriracha (480 kcal) Lunch: 4-5 days a week, a mealprepped standard usually consisting of 12oz of a vegetable/lentil soup and 8 oz of a protein/veg mix. ranges between 490-650 kcal. dinner: a variation on the above. snacks: hardboiled egg or protein stick. also remembered that sugar free jello is 10 kcal a pack yay lol . or frozen vegetable packets hit minimum 12,500 steps a day, a 12-25 minute yoga session (at home) 3ish times a week, at least one set of 10 push-ups 4x a week, and that is my general daily. on weekends i like to max my steps bc i do step competitions on fitbit. that's how i average 20k a week when m-f i usually hit 1500 lately i keep my drinking to 3x a week, if i drink i try to take the calories out of meals. i allow myself a cheat day a week but it's usually a weekend day during which i also hit 25-34k steps. etc etc etc i have a beautiful mfp streak
Nice! Thanks for writing it out. Mine is quite.. straightforward - I guess that's a perk of not being too bothered by eating the same stuff over and over. Breakfast: Banana on toast, vegemite on toast or baked beans on toast. Depends on my mood that morning. Morning Tea: Two protein bars and a biscuit Lunch: Sandwich with any variation of ham/lettuce/bacon/tomato/cheese along with some nuts or crackers to snack on. Afternoon Tea: Banana and some mandarins Dinner: The big one, usually some kind of meat with sauce (beef or chicken), a head of brocolli, spinach, mixed veg on rice or potatoes. if I'm doing a vegetarian dish this changes quite a bit and I'm doing that more and more often, but the staple is always a big, big dinner. Protein Shake to see out the night. I walk about 3km a day at least, just getting to and from work. Then the gym training 6x a week for about 90 minute sessions. In Rugby season those sessions get cut down, with trainings twice a week with a Saturday match, in Touch Rugby season two games a week so on day gets dedicated to that - last thing I want is maxing on deadlifts only to be rapidly accelerating an hour after. Unfortunately I've developed a taste for craft beer. It may be my undoing.
I don't mind eating the same thing every day...but I really enjoy cooking. My compromise is to take one day a week and cook a bunch of things, so I get my cooking fix, and then eat it through the week to do the right cal/macro balance (or at least try!). :) If I didn't enjoy cooking so much, I would aim for the classic chicken and broccoli...but the truth is, my cheat day and the day I drink the most is the day I get to go grocery shopping and start cooking with a glass of wine and go for like 4 hours doing different things. Alcohol for a long time has been my undoing, which is why I limit myself so consciously now. When I drink, I also try to minimize the calories -- but I definitely have been expanding my appreciation for beer (had a great dark ale tonight, an almost-stout, brewed with coffee and pb which just tasted like coldbrew) -- so now each beer is more precious!
Can we get #Grubski up in here? Is there a go-to veg/lentil soup recipe you use?
I like to switch it up because I cook different things. My go-to food recipe website is budgetbytes because hey, cooking that is also budget conscious? How could you say no? Here is the soup I had this past week; morrocan veg and lentil. my opinion: it was ok. i like cauliflower so i liked that add in. however, could use more spice. (I am a CHRONIC hot sauce consumer. My current belief is anything another person would look at and go "hey that'd probably be good with some cheese in it," is something that I would think "hey that'd be great with some hot sauce in it." it is an enjoyable theory.) this is the one i've made the most, chunky vegetable and lentil i have also made this mexican lentil stew -DONT forget the lime it really makes it! I do find lentils don't really have a lot of flavor so here is a bonus cabbage and veg soup recipe which I also really enjoy. As you go on the site, I encourage you to check out the Zuppa Toscana recipe; I've made that easily half a dozen times and man. That is one soup that doesn't even need hot sauce. I love it. I plan on trying the golden coconut lentil soup recipe this weekend.
Can we get #Grubski up in here? Is there a go-to veg/lentil soup recipe you use?