What I Eat In A Week

With the significant increase in training, my appetite has been yo-yoing like crazy. I've been making more effort to match my diet to my training needs, more carbs on days I'm training hard and protein for recovery. I'm not always sure if I'm over eating, and I'm trying not to reward myself with food too often. So I decided to record what I ate for five days.

I don't calorie count at the moment, although I have gone through phases, but the most effective way I've found to track my diet is to take photos. I mean, I just about always have my phone with me, it captures portion sizes and doesn't rely on my having to remember what I've had. MyFitnessPal has been useful in the past but can be a bit of a faff.

So for those of you who wonder what a fledging ironman trainee eats in a week... here you go!

Monday

Breakfast: Waffles, yogurt, nut butter, granola and fruit
Lunch: Cheese and beans on toast
Dinner: Pie and veg
Snacks: Yogurt raisins, protein shake, two brazil nuts, a peak of toblerone
Activity: 1hr turbo session, taught three classes

Tuesday

Breakfast: Carlusscios vegetarian breakfast
Lunch: Quorn ham, cheese and chutney bagel with tomatoes and radishes
Dinner: Omelette and salad
Snacks: Latte, banan, satsuma, two brazil nuts, skyr with nut butter
Activity: 3km swim, taught class

Wednesday

Breakfast: Peanut butter and jam on toast
Lunch: Halloumi and grain salad
Dinner: Dinner out at Zizzi's for mum's birthday, beet balls, wild garlic fetticuni and adffogato
Snacks: Banana, skyr, two brazil nuts, nut mix
Activity: Half hour run

Notes: I certainly didn't match food to activity today but I made some healthier choices and reined in the guilt (oh I do not have an especially healthy relationship with food when I'm training).

Thursday

Breakfast: Granola, banana and skyr
Lunch: Carrot, cheese, cucumber and chutney sandwich with tomatoes and radishes
Dinner: Roasted veg and halloumi on grains
Snacks: Latte, Apple and nut butter pudding, chia charge bar
Activity: 1hr bike, 20 minute run, taught Zumba Gold and three other classes
Notes: I ADORE these little puds. They take about 2 minutes to make with 3-5 ingredients, depending on whether you want to add flavours like cinnamon or chocolate. I don't know who though of blending an apple with nut butter and microwaving it but all hail! Here's the recipe.

Friday

Breakfast: Peanut butter and jam on toast
Lunch:Soup and bread
Dinner: Jamie Oliver's green spaghetti
Snacks: Hot chocolate, Apple and nut butter pudding, two brazil nuts, a peak of toblerone
Activity: Rest day!

So there we have it. I try to eat a balanced diet, with a few treats thrown in. I'm vegetarian so my 5-a-day isn't usually a problem and I eat the brazils to top up my selenium levels. Nut butter features heavily as I adore it and it's healthy fats, good for energy and not bad for recovery either.

Is there anything there you'd tweak? Does your diet change when you're training? What's your favourite recovery food?