Eating lighter on WorkOut days...?

[La_La_Lady]

Hi All,

Just started a new training program; W/O -Mon. Wed. and Fri.

So Tuesday, and Thursday allows me more time to do the dinner thing respectfully.

go to plan is to do a nutritious dinner full of protein, and whole grain carbs Tuesday, Thursday.

Then go pretty light at dinner on workout nights, with a post work out shake... With a plentiful lunch.

I have not started on this yet, I was hoping to get some insight first.
Just to restate question:
Is eating Lighter on days I workout, and Heavier on days I do not; possibly going to detriment weight loss goals?

[cassiegose]

Hi there!

Hmmm... Good question... Why are you wanting to eat less on workout days? Is it just because you don't have as much time on those days as you do on your non-workout days?

You are burning more calories on the days when you're working out so if I was going to fluctuation from day to day I would actually eat a little more on those days and less on the days when i don't get to the gym. That way you have more energy for your workouts and more energy after to help you recover and get through the day.

If you're eating excessively more on the days when you're not working out it could possibly be detrimental to your fat loss. However, if you're eating healthy all the time, but just eating different types of meals on your nonworkout days it shouldn't make too much of a difference. But... i would still suggest eating more on the days when your working out to help fuel your workouts.

You might post an example of your workout day meal plan and non workout day meal plan so further suggestions can be made.

Hope this helps! :)

[La_La_Lady]

Yeah, you hit the nail on the head, it is a matter of time.

And like you were saying, it makes sence to eat more on the days I am working out. Why dosn't Father Time catch on to this!

However I plan to have an impactful lunch.. Let me come up with a meal plan and I will be happy to post.

P.S.
What to do when you are on a super strict budget!!! How do you associate clean foods, when in this case they are honestly not cost effective
I swear I have had cat breath (canned tunna) for 3weeks now!
--Then I read how canned fish is not in best interest... but that is all money can afford. ANY help on this would be appreciated.

?Ceapest of cheap meal plans for a health advocate?[/b]

[swanso5]

you should eat bmore on training days then rest days...you don't cal's on rest days really, just enough to fully recover if you did it tough from the day before

you'll need to find the time or prepare better

[cassiegose]

Oh I understand that 100%! I work full time at one job, part time at another and I'm a full time college student. I'm both broke and short on time! :) LOL!

You might try preparing your meals in advance to help with the time issue. For instance you could prepare meals on sunday night to get you through monday, then tuesday night prepare wednesdays meal and so forth. See if that helps. :)

For the money issue.... I buy stuff on sale and use coupons whenever possible. We also have a grocery outlet (basically a discount food store if you've never heard of it) in town where food is about half the price of other stores. I shop there whenever possible and just make sure I watch expiration dates. I've found that its always a good idea to buy extra when stuff is on sale... so when meat or veggies are on sale I stock up big time and freeze what I can. The stuff that I can't freeze I will just keep in the fridge and try to eat as quickly as possible. For instance... spinach was on sale the other day at the local grocery store so I bought LOTS and now I'm just eating more spinach than other foods. When that runs out I'll see what else is on sale and probably be eating that for a while. When I do stock up on veggies I make sure to take them out of the bags (spinach and lettuce especially) and store it in an airtight tupperware container to help it stay fresh longer. I also eat a lot of eggs as they are relatively cheap (mostly eggwhites but a few whole eggs to) and I keep frozen chicken breast on hand at all times. I realize that chicken breast isn't the most expensive product to buy but I also consider it a necessity that I'm willing to fork money over for. This healthy eating stuff can be expensive! However... when you compare fruits and veggies to other foods (like chips, ice cream, boxed dinners, etc) it often times is only slightly more expensive if not about the same price to eat healthy. Also... if you have a farmers market in your town you might try checking that out as they usually have great deals on fruits and veggies.

I hope this helps! I'm anxious to see your meal plan. :)

[littleshelly]

Best to plan ahead. I plan lunch that I take to work. I do stick with most of the same foods, sweet potatoes, tuna,, chicken, egg beaters, wraps, cottage cheese, turkey. But I make 2 or 3 days of lunches ahead and put them in Tupperware dishes in the frig. Then I just pack lunch box each morning. Dinner is the same. Sunday is a cooking day for me and I cook meals for the next 2 or three days. Then the last 2-3 days of the week I eat things like buckwheat pancakes, eggs and toast for dinner. Stuff that is just quick to make.
I am on a budget too. I shop around, clip coupons, buy generic when I can, buy in bulk. Grow own veggies, look for the sales.

[La_La_Lady]

You guys are going to look at this with disgust!

Please keep in mind I am sooo broke! Yes I clip coupons, I go to produce stores where the produce is a week MAYBE 2weeks from going bad, and is on sale. (I have those green bags that help to preserve produce, yeah they help! If you eat a lot of produce I would suggest it!) So bare with me. I am being honest. In high hopes I will be able to put forth a little more money next month for groceries.

Mon:
--stuffed pepper; egg, deli turkey, green onions in a bell pepper
- string cheese
--Canned tuna w/ low fat mayo, celery.
-apple sauce
--PBn’J

Tue:
--yougurt
- string cheese
--Canned tuna w/ low fat mayo, celery.
-apple sauce
--Spaghetti and lean meat sauce (parent’s house)

Wed:
-- stuffed pepper; egg, deli turkey, green onions in a bell pepper
- string cheese
-- Canned tuna w/ low fat mayo, celery.
-apple sauce
-- protein shake

Thur:
-- oatmeal
-bananna
--left over whole wheat noodles w/ ricotta, broccoli, and tomatoes
- apple sauce
--chicken skillet; chicken breast, black beans, bell pepper maybe rice

Fri:
--Beagle (it’s free)
-broccoli
--canned tuna!
-v8
-PBn’J
(Probably have alcohol w/ diet soda; I’m young and a party girl, it happens)

[La_La_Lady]

P.S.

I really appreciate all you guys have to say! I'm trying. will power sucks when it comes to dieting, BUT I am getting better...

[cassiegose]

Hey there!

We can work with this. Your eating plan isn't too bad... but I think we can definitely work with it to make it a bit better. I'm definitely not looking at this with disgust. :)

biggest concerns with this eating plan are the order in which you're eating the foods and the lack of calories. I'm also a bit concerned with all of the tuna fish you're eating. I know tuna is affordable and easy to prepare... but it is also quite high in mercury and isn't a healthy choice to be eating every day. You might consider cutting that tuna back to once every 2 or 3 days. Instead of tuna, I've found that eggs are a great substitute. They are cheap, easy to prepare, and are a good source of protein. I just boil up a bunch in the morning and then eat one whole egg with about 2 or 3 eggwhites (I just throw the yolk away). Instead of the applesauce can you afford to buy whole apples? These are great because they aren't processed and have nothing added too them while applesauce often has sugar and other stuff added to it. Also... its a good idea to combine protein and carbs at every meal. Instead of having just applesauce or just string cheese, it would be best to have an apple with string cheese for one meal. You might even add a few nuts for extra fat and a few extra calories.

Have you tried beans or legumes (black beans, pinto, garbanzo, chili, navy etc)? They have both carbs and protein and you can buy them dried and cook them up. They are very affordable! :) Other great sources for you might include couscous, quinoa, brown rice and barley. You can usually find these all in the same isle and they too are quite affordable. You might also consider looking in the frozen foods isle for veggies. Sometimes you can get them cheaper frozen then you can fresh (I'm not sure why?).

Soooo... What about this for an example of a daily meal plan?

Meal 1-Oatmeal with protein powder or egg/eggwhites
Meal 2-apple, cheese, nuts or peanut butter
Meal 3-turkey sandwich with veggies (on whole wheat bread)
Meal 4-brocolli (or other veggies), chicken breast or turkey breast, or tuna (every 2-3 days), or eggs or tofu, with either a few nuts or bits of avacado
Meal 5-stuffed pepper: egg, turkey, onions, and beans of some sort

I've added in nuts as your diet is low in calories and healthy fats and these will boost them. You could also buy avacado or guacomoli and put that on your sandwhich for additional calories and fat. Notice that i put oatmeal in the morning. This is relatively higher in carbs but will be ok in the mornings as you should burn most of those off throughout the day. It is also very affordable so you could eat that every day (if you don't get tired of it). I also replaced your applesauce with an apple. I know this is a bit more expensive but i also think it is a better choice. For lunch I took out the pbandj that you were eating later in the day and put it here as a turkey (or meat) sandwhich. PBandJ isn't the best choice later in the day as the jam is realitively high in sugar and the whole meal is relatively low in protein. I also took the stuffed pepper and placed it as a dinner meal. I think you would be better having something like oatmeal for breakfast to get your system fueled, then you could have the stuffed pepper later in the day as it is pretty low carb and your body would be less likely to store it as fat (compared to the pbandj or other higher carb meal).

Sorry for the long message. What do you think? Would that be affordable? I totally understand the money issue. It sucks being broke! LOL! I wish I could offer you better advice with the whole grocery issue.

Let me know what you think. :)

Cassie

[La_La_Lady]

Cassie your great, thank you for following up with me. Gave me some good ideas, Im always excited to go grocery shopping!

Yesterday I went to the produce store, hooked it up with some apples bananas and bell peppers
I'm excited to just put any sort of plan into action... I have been so off course lately. So it is nice to have some varied insight to what could be best/ reccomended.

*thanks all*

[cassiegose]

You're welcome for the advice. Happy to help! Keep us posted on your progress! :)

[cassiegose]

That is a very valid point Katie! Thank you for pointing that out. I hadn't thought about that before. :)