Diet Analysis

When I was off last week, I took the time to put everything I was eating into NutritionData to see what came out.

The main observations:

Calorie-wise, I am eating pretty much what I thought I was (slightly less even) but:

I eat a lot more carbs than I thought

I eat less protein than I thought

I don't eat enough fat

I'm consistently way under my RDA for Vitamin E, and iron, zinc and calcium are a little lower than I'd like.

Do I think this has anything to do with my current health niggles?

Probably.

My skin is really dry and I've had amenorrhea for over a year (two periods since I stopped taking the pill in December 2009) despite being within the normal weight range for my height. I quite like not having to deal with periods but for a woman of my age I should be at the peak of my fertility and if I'm not capable of getting pregnant at all (also kinda like this bit), then that's not a great indicator of my overall health, I'd say.

So, what's the plan?

I'd really rather not take a supplement, but I haven't ruled this out. Any opinions?

What I am going to do, is try eating 'primal'. I have been reading a lot about this, and when I stuck a sample Eimearified 'primal' eating day into nutrition data, it corrected my nutrient deficiencies. Fat was making up about half of my calories, and a quarter each of protein and carbs. It means three meals made up of generous quantities of leafy greens and colourful veg plus a protein source usually eggs, fish or quorn, cooking with more oil than I have been, snacking on nuts, seeds (especially those high in Vitamin E, i.e. almonds and sunflower seeds) and the odd bit of low sugar fruit (berries, citrus, and a banana post workout). For now I intend to keep eating some fermented/cultured dairy (yogurt, quark, goat cheese) even though it's not terribly 'primal' and the odd bit of legume in the form of socca and unsweetened soya milk. I've already spent this month cutting processed sugar out of my diet and now it's time to try moving grains out for more vegetables and nuts.

Sample meals:

Breakfast

Kale and bell pepper omelette, berries on the side, or

Fruit smoothie with hemp seeds or whey protein, or

Quorn and salad

Snacks

Almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, nut butter, pumpkin seeds, tahini, apple, pear, grapefruit, dried fruit, cocoa powder in yogurt

Post (intense) workout

Dried fruit, banana, piece of socca, glass of unsweetened soya milk, yogurt

Lunch/dinner

Big heap of veggies, salmon/quorn/homemade nut burger

Treats

Really dark chocolate, full fat yogurt, coconut, avocado pudding, glass of red wine

Tonight's dinner:

Collards, red pepper, garlic, two eggs, couple of slices of Quorn 'ham', hot sauce

And two treats...

Yes, my Gymboss timer arrived today!! So excited. Also, some quark, cocoa and berries.

In the spirit of self-analysis, I'm still super stressed. While exercise seems to help, training for this 10k is just feeding my stress, I get so fixated on the target. So when it's over, I'm going to switch to the fun of Bodyrock, weights, and a weekly sprint session and a weekly long SLOW run.

I'm also going to give up my pool membership in a bid to simplify my routine (and save a little bit of money for pampering treats like a nice bathbomb or a manicure).

Another stress reliever I want to bring back in my life is doing yoga for 15 minutes first thing, followed by my walk to work through the park. I'm hoping this will be an approach to exercise that brings me the stress relief I need- rather than increase my stress levels. I enjoy running, but I just can't train for a specific goal without pushing myself way too hard. I also need to get more sleep, so without further ado, I'm away to bed!