McDougall/Blue Zone

Well, I'm back from "vacation," i.e. my break from religiously tracking my food and having self-respect. The thing I notice most when I don't have a set eating plan is that I eat a whole lot of fat and sugar. I guess that's not surprising, but the astronomical quantities really wowed me. Gross.

I finished reading The Blue Zone today, and I have broken down the main food points from the book, in a way that I can easily include them into my new eating plan:

Food group servings:

• fruit (2 per day)
• nuts (5 per week)
• legumes (3+ per week)
• tomatoes (3+ per week)
• vegetables (4 to 6 per day)

Supplements:

• B12
• D2
• DHA

Per the recommendation of the book, I am going to consume 1900 to 2000 calories as my long-term average intake. My biggest goal right now is to have adequate energy and avoid indigestion, rather than having any weight/fat loss goals. Now that I'll be consuming more carbs, I really should get more exercise too.

The main things I'm incorporating from the McDougall plan are high carbs and low fat. I will also be eating significant quantities of whole grains. After a discussion with my equally food-obsessed friend Raquel, I will be making a point to consume at least 50 grams of fiber a day.

Here's the protein/carb/fat breakdown:

• Protein: 10-20% (50 to 100 grams)
• Carb: 60-70% (300 to 350 grams)
• Fat: 15-25% (22 to 44 grams)

[I realized that I was making myself crazy trying to hit numbers exactly, so I included a +/- 5 percent cushion. Ideally I would be doing exactly 15-65-20, but then I would stress myself out. And stress causes inflammation. And inflammation kills you.]

Because one of my new projects is to get enough sleep, I'm going to have to quickly jot down my eating plan for tomorrow and hit the hay.


July 8

• 1/4 cup mixed nuts - 220 calories, 8 grams protein, 6 grams carbs, 19 grams fat
• 2 cups oatmeal - 294 cal, 12 P, 51 C, 5 F
• 2 packets of McDonald's preserves/jam - 70 cal, 0 P, 18 C, 0 F
• 1/2 can of lentils - 150 cal, 4 P, 9 C, 0 F
• 3 T barbecue sauce - 60 cal, 0 P, 15 C, 0 F
• 1 bag lima beans - 550 cal, 30 P, 100 C, 0 F
• 1 cup spaghetti sauce - 160 cal, 4 P, 26 C, 5 F
• 1/2 package spelt elbow pasta - 420 cal, 18 P, 84 C, 2 F

Total calories: 1924, total protein: 76 grams, total carbs: 309 grams,  total fat: 31 grams, total fiber: 71 grams