Dissect my 3 day diet please...

[phathui5]

Can you ladies give me tips on transitioning to a healthier way of eating? I had fallen into the Standard American Diet over the past year, on and off, and am trying to be more mindful now. I did post this on another forum too, to get input.

I already know I should have had more calories the first two days, but I just wasn't hungry and one thing I've been trying to work on is not eating if I'm not actually hungry.

Day 1- 912 calories

B- 1/2 banana
L- 6 oz. salmon w/ 1 whole apple
S- tortilla chips & salsa, baby carrots
D- salad: spinach, strawberries, pineapple, chicken

Day 2- 750 calories

B- baby carrots
S- watermelon, baby carrots
L- 2 organic turkey hot dogs, 1 oz cheese, blueberries, 1/2 of a yam with butter
S- 3 tortilla chips with mashed avacado
D- spinach, strawberries, chicken

Day 3- 1143 calories

B- 1 apple with a couple tablespoons of almond butter
L- 1 oz cheese, 3 strawberries, 1/2 apple
D- ground beef cooked with diced baby red potatoes, "spring mix" salad with feta and dried cranberries
S- 2 eggs, 1 slice cheddar cheese

[bluebirdiemama]

I see the "typical all-american" thing with the hot dogs, kinda. But seriously, that's a pretty good diet IMO. I would grains though.

[Koalamom]

Are you trying to be grain free?
And are you trying to cut calories for some reason? I would just add more food or supplement as you will be missing nutrients if you don't eat more.
http://whfoods.org/foodadvisor.php
This is pretty good test to see what kind of nutrients you are missing.

...Time for me to take it as I haven't for a while.

[Ms. B. Sprout]

Have you considered tracking your food on FitDay or The Daily Plate? If you are wondering about nutrient intake, tracking will give you a wealth of information. The tracking programs will also calculate your daily caloric needs.

Being primal myself, I do see a fair amount of carbohydrate in your diet, and room to add more good fats. But I am coming at this from my own personal point of view and goals (weight loss/minimizing insulin), which may or may not coincide with your personal goals and beliefs.

But I think it looks pretty good overall!

[phathui5]

Oh, right, goals. I have 14 pounds to go until I'm at my goal weight. I'm 139 now (5'2") and aiming for 125.

Overall, I want to be lean. Muscle = yes. Flub = no.

[AAK]

I would add in a grain and swap out one of the fruits for more veggies. Most fruit is high in sugar and most veggies are low in sugar. (But, I have been trying to be mindful of my sugar --not just added sugar-- intake, so I am biased). I am not saying fruit is bad, but it seems like you eat more fruit vs veg and I think it should be the other way around.

Amy

[blueridgewoman]

I feel like you may not be getting enough protein and definitely not enough calories. My body would shut down if I got less than 1200 calories three days in a row, honestly. I sometimes skip a meal, but I tend to make up for it at others.

I also feel like you may not be getting enough protein or veggies, particularly if you want to build muscle mass. A lot of primal folks shoot for .8g per lb of lean body mass, and I don't necessarily see that happening with your diet. I would particularly make sure you're getting enough protein in the morning and last thing at night.

I tend to disagree with the other folks and think that grains aren't necessary, but I think it depends on the rest of your diet and your goals, plus your body composition. I know that I really have to avoid grain and most dairy to feel and look my best, but I acknowledge that it's different for everyone. I can drop weight like nobody's business (and gain muscle) by eating probably twice the calories you are, but no grain/dairy. YMMV, just my opinion.

[Magelet]

I agree that you are eating a scary low number of calories/food. If you are trying to only eat when you are hungry, that's awesome, but if that means you aren't hungry a lot, then you need to eat higher calorie (but not sugary) foods. I would up the fat intake (actually, I would recomend upping the (good) fat intake anyways.) Any since you aren't eating many grains, I'd definitely increase protein as well.

I agree it's a lot of fruit. Which isn't nessicarily a problem, but 3-4 fruits a day (despite being the nationally recomended) is a lot of sugar. It's also a lot of vitamin c, and other vitamins and minerals, but for the most part, most of those vitamins are also found in veggies. You do have to eat some raw veggies to get the vitamin c if you aren't eating much fruit (and I'm not sure that salad has a lot of vitamin c), but fruit has a lot of sugar for the amount of vitamins. If your trying to lose weight, I'd increase the variety of veggies, and cut back on the fruit so it's just a treat, and not a big staple part of your diet.

Also, it looks (though I suppose it could be hard to tell) that everything other than the chips and salsa is homemade? not processed? if not, I'd work on that.

grains would add more calories, but not a ton of nutrients for them. If you don't want/feel a need to eat grains, don't. But you will need more fat and protein.

[phathui5]

Also, it looks (though I suppose it could be hard to tell) that everything other than the chips and salsa is homemade? not processed? if not, I'd work on that.

Yup. It's all homemade, whole foods at this point. (Ok, I didn't make the chips or salsa.)

Goals for the next 3 days:

- more veggies
- more protein
- more calories

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by phathui5

Goals for the next 3 days:

- more veggies
- more protein
- more calories

I'd add more fat to this list as well. Fat is a fabulous way to add in really nutrient dense, satiating calories...

What kind of salad dressing are you using? Homemade w/ EVOO, or a cream/milk based dressing? Salad dressing is a way to add in some extra (good) fat. I'd also be sure to eat lots of fat (butter/ghee/CO/etc) w/ the added veggies--that will help you better absorb the vits/minerals from them. Also, do you like/have access to/tolerate eggs? That's another cheap, quick, yummy and simple way to add in calories, fat and protein (and you could add veggies to them and hit all of your above goals! ) You could also toss some nuts on that salad (if you can do them).

You've been in the primal/paleo/grainfree thread too, so I'm linking this post from MDA about a sample daily diet, in case it helps/gives you ideas. I personally do more fat than him on average, probably less protein--we each need to figure out what works for us.

[mbravebird]

Originally Posted by phathui5

Yup. It's all homemade, whole foods at this point. (Ok, I didn't make the chips or salsa.)

Goals for the next 3 days:

- more veggies
- more protein
- more calories

I say more fat, too! It will help you absorb all the nutrients from your other food, is protein-sparing and calorie dense, a brain-builder and mood supporter, etc etc etc. I've seen great results just this winter from adding home-rendered lard to our diet. (and home-rendered lard is really affordable.)

Can you add making bone broth to your weekly rhythm, and then add a soup from the broth to your menu? Don't skim the fat, and you've got a great nutrient-dense meal.

In general, I would say that the food you're eating doesn't look quite nutrient-dense enough. Fat would help that, superfoods like liver would help that, cultured/fermented foods would help that.

But seriously, kudos on the whole, homemade foods. That's no small thing, and will get you very far.

[crunchy_mama]

Originally Posted by phathui5

Yup. It's all homemade, whole foods at this point. (Ok, I didn't make the chips or salsa.)

Goals for the next 3 day s:

- more veggies
- more protein
- more calories

That sounds like a good plan to me. I think you are doing great, but we all have times where it is harder to keep up with everything.