I’ve been trying to improve my diet lately. I’d like to get back down to my old walking weight that I maintained back in my competition days, but this time be a bit healthier. I’ve been reading a book on health and fitness and one of its suggestions was to take a picture of everything you eat for five days and make this information public. The idea is that it will make you consider your choices more critically since in a way you will be judged and scrutinized. Also it shows clearly what you are putting into your body in a meaningful way. Here is my day 1 – one thing to keep in mind is that I’m a vegetarian so you won’t be seeing too many steaks or chicken wings on my plate.
When I wake up I have a Hemp protein shake. Hemp is one of the only complete plant based proteins which makes it an ideal choice for vegetarians. I also ground a few tablespoons of flax seeds in for added Omega 3’s. Flax seeds actually have the highest concentration of essential Omega-3 fatty acids out of any food.
I always have a morning cup of coffee, I mix in a little cream and cinnamon for flavor
I take a bunch of supplements to fill in the gaps in my nutrition, I take this cocktail twice a day. The list includes Zinc to keep my testosterone levels where they should be, Vitamin D for my bones and immunity, magnesium is super important for too many reasons to list I make sure to take it often since I’m a big coffee drinker which often leads to deficiency, Acidophilus and Garlic help fight off bacteria and fungus internally which is super important for anyone on the mat regularly who wants to avoid ringworm and staph, I take potassium to avoid muscle cramps, a B-Complex for energy, vitamin C for my immune system and flax seed oil for healthy Omega fats.
I don’t really eat meals in the traditional sense. Aside from when I’m on the mat teaching or training I’m always chewing on something. Orchard fruits are my favorite source of energy since they are high in fiber which helps control the effects of the carbohydrates. Here I’m eating a Washington apple.
I took a break from my business meeting to have a house salad topped with a little blue cheese dressing. I’ve always believed the most positive change most people could make to their diet is to simply eat more vegetables. Today I had 9 servings of veggies, which makes it the primary staple of my diet.
I ate an orange while I worked on learn to grapple
Before training I ate a handful of strawberries for energy
After boxing pad work, wrestling and BJJ I was starving. I began my feast by finishing the strawberries I had left. Packing a lunch helps keep me on the right path and away from my junk food pitfalls.
My indulgence for the day was a coconut “Lara Bar”. The ingredients read – dates, unsweetened coconut, almonds, cashews, extra virgin coconut oil. Coconut oil is supposedly a great form of fat and provides a bunch of health benefits so I hopefully that balances the fact that dates are something of a junk food.
I ate a garden salad and threw some Greek dressing on it. They say you don’t make friends with salad, but I beg to differ.
I ate a handful of walnuts. Nuts are a great source of healthy fats and are supposed to provide a million other health benefits too.
I’ve been staying away from eggs lately which I typically use as my protein source. As a result I grabbed this Muscle Milk at the gas station. I try to focus on eating whole foods with short ingredient lists, but this was an easy way to get my protein intake up. People act like you’ll die of starvation if you’re a vegetarian athlete, but I logged about 75 grams of protein for the day which I really feel is all I need.
Overall I think this strategy has been pretty successful so far. I would feel so much shame if I was posting pictures of cheetos and oreos. Today I’m proud of what I ate.
By the way, if you live anywhere near the Hudson Valley you should definitely check out my Poughkeepsie MMA gym Precision MMA – we’ve got BJJ, boxing, muay thai, self defense, wrestling, mma, judo and thumb wrestling classes call us!
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