Runner's Diet

I traveled over six miles by foot today. It was mostly walking, but I threw in some jogging and running when the spirit moved me. It was very hot, so that dissuaded me from running the whole time. My weak stamina, sore joints, and asthmatic lungs didn't help either.

My new apartment is about three miles away from Planet Fitness, my gym of choice, and I decided that's close enough for me to jog to. The round-trip endeavor was a little over two and a half hours, including over thirty minutes of doing upper-body weight machines once I was at the gym, but I'm hoping to trim that time down to under two hours soon.

This is the most exercise I've gotten in recent memory, and I'm hoping to stick with it as one of my aforementioned "I just moved into my new apartment" resolutions. I will also be posting recipes, sticking to a food budget (I think I'll be starting at $200 a month for my initial goal), and listing my daily food intake (as I used to do religiously).

I used the "Scooby's Workshop" calorie calculator to arrive at my eating plan, with the goal of losing a pound a week. I guessed that I'm at 160 pounds right now, and that I'll be getting "moderate" exercise for 3-5 hours a week. I'm hoping for more than that, but I figured I should be conservative to play it safe. I'm going with the default 55% carb, 25% protein, and 20% fat (with a total caloric intake of 2,152) that the calculator recommended for "someone like me." I was going to do 50 carb/25 fat based on some article I read in a runner's magazine, but going lower fat seems valid. Hell, I don't know what I'm doing, so who am I to question the default percentages I was offered?

My scale hasn't moved in with me yet, which is why I am guessing my weight. I also don't have plates, or glasses/cups for liquid beverages. I've been making do. Here's what I ate/will eat today:

• 4 tortillas: 436 cal, 80 C, 16 P, 8 F
• 16 oz. rice milk: 240 cal, 46 C, 2 P, 5 F
• 4 tablespoons rice protein: 220 cal, 24 C, 30 P, 0 F
• 1 16 oz. block of hard tofu: 450 cal, 15 C, 50 P, 20 F
• 1 cup F-Factor high fiber cereal: 140 cal, 54 C, 8 P, 2 F
• 8 oz. rice milk: 120 cal, 23 C, 1 P, 3 F
• 2/3 cup (dry) refried black beans: 232 cal, 44 C, 16 P, 0 F
• 3 tortillas: 327 calories, 60 C, 12 P, 6 F

Totals: 2165 calories, 346 grams of carbs, 135 grams of protein, 44 grams of fat


Well, now I'm going to Veggie Heaven. A bubble tea is approximately equivalent to high-fiber cereal with rice milk, right?

New Projects

 

I know my recent lack of food and fitness updates must be at least as disappointing for you as it is for me. Fear not, the wheels are turning. I'm going to be living alone very soon, and I'm taking it as an opportunity for new resolutions and lifestyle projects.

Here are the three main things I'm hoping to work on:

1. Posting recipes on my blog and cooking more decadent things than I've been eating lately. Consistent with my periods of obsessive calorie-counting, I want to include extensive food stats and play around with recipes to make them fit my dietary goals.
2. To make this a bit more challenging, I also want to reduce my food budget significantly. It's typically $200 to $300 a month right now, and I want to start tracking my expenditures and displaying them for public scrutiny. The main goal of this plan is to show that eating lots of delicious, healthy, vegan food can be cheap.
3. I have not worked out in a long time, and I would like to start jogging regularly. I also hope to start doing the machine circuit at my gym at least three times a week.

Those were the main things I've been thinking about. I'm so out of the habit with meal-planning, but I can sense the bug coming back. I've gained some weight in the past few weeks, and I'm just really feeling like I don't have any control over my food intake. The time is now.

So, starting Thursday... Get ready.


(Note: The Ramadan thing only lasted two days. I'm still trying to educate myself more on Islam this month; I just don't feel compelled to also damage my body and mind in the process.)

Pretending to be Muslim

It's 13 minutes until dawn, so I've been up for almost an hour, eating and drinking what I can. Last night all I ate was french fries and Gardetto's. I'm working all this out, but for the moment I am observing Ramadan.

To heighten the experience, I listened to Islamic podcasts all day at work. I probably won't be drinking any alcohol during this month, and I guess I'll try to do some other Muslim things. Already I've noticed I have increased empathy for Muslim people engaged in revolutionary struggles in the Middle East, which is what happened the last time I tried this experiment in 2001. That year it was Nov. 16 - Dec. 11, and I did it out of solidarity with Muslims after the irrational backlash against the community in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Back to the moment, I need to drink more water. I realize I should down at least 32 oz. both AM and PM. Ugh, I was not that thirsty. Bleh. I'll probably be thanking myself later though.

Limerick #3

KFC says it has “world’s best chicken”

Such good bird meat that it’s “finger lickin’”

This has gone on too long

You bastards, you’re wrong

Only good chicken’s one that’s still tickin’.

In other news, apparently it's Ramadan now. I'm tempted to do a Ramadan-style fast...