Met with my nutritionist yesterday. She’s pleased with my long-term progress and thinks I should keep doing what I’m doing for the most part. We recalculated my BMR and protein requirements based on my new weight.
With a weight of 179, my BMR is 1517.
If I apply the Harris Benedict equation (I just love writing that – it sounds so scientific!) for a moderate activity level, I see that I need to eat 2351 calories a day to maintain my current weight. That assumes I am working out 3-5 times a week at a moderate pace. (I do more than that, but I’ve gotten a little resistant to weight loss after 3 years of losing, so I use the lower formula to be sure I hit my goals.) So I should be losing 2 pounds a week if I keep my calories to under 1400 calories per day.
While that is not very different from what I have been eating, we are going to try changing the balance of carbs to protein to fat. Instead of doing 40% Protein and 35% Fat and 25% Carbs, I’m going to begin increasing my carbs and shift to a 40% Carbs, 30% Protein and 30% Fat ratio. I’ll do this by using more non-meat sources of protein, such as beans and quinoa. That should give me a lot more energy for the increased workouts that I’m doing and help me reduce some of the belly fat that I still have hanging around.
So I need to revisit my meal planning and come up with some sample meals that fit the new criteria. Livestrong.com/myplate is a great tool for that. I just go to an unused day and start adding different foods/amounts and looking at the resulting numbers for the day, including the percentages. Here is a one day menu plan that would work on my new plan:
| Meals | Item Name | Calories | Sugars | Carbs | Fats | Protein | Sodium | Dietary Fiber |
| breakfast | Applesauce (unsweetened) | 6.5 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Oatmeal | 40.0 | 0.3 | 6.8 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 1.0 | |
| Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter | 52.5 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 30.0 | 0.5 | |
| Whey Matrix Vanilla Protein Powder | 65.0 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 11.0 | 30.0 | 0.0 | |
| lunch | Avocados | 58.8 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 5.5 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 1.8 |
| Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast | 60.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 13.0 | 20.0 | 0.0 | |
| Ezekeil Whole Grain | 80.0 | 0.0 | 15.0 | 0.5 | 4.0 | 75.0 | 3.0 | |
| Peach, Small | 31.0 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.2 | |
| afternoon snack | Fage 0% Yogurt | 60.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 42.5 | 0.0 |
| Blueberries, Raw | 42.0 | 7.5 | 10.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.0 | |
| Honey | 18.0 | 4.8 | 5.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Smokehouse Almonds | 85.0 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 8.0 | 3.0 | 75.0 | 1.5 | |
| dinner | Dove Dark Chocolate Hearts | 37.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Goya Black Beans | 90.0 | 1.0 | 19.0 | 0.5 | 7.0 | 460.0 | 6.0 | |
| Organic Free Range Chicken Broth | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 142.5 | 0.0 | |
| Quinoa Cooked | 127.0 | 0.0 | 23.4 | 2.0 | 4.5 | 10.0 | 2.0 | |
| Shredded Cheddar Cheese | 57.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 4.7 | 3.5 | 88.0 | 0.0 | |
| post-workout | Banana – Small | 19.8 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.0 |
| Ice | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Natural Peanut Butter, Creamy | 100.0 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 8.0 | 3.5 | 45.0 | 1.0 | |
| Organic Cocoa Powder | 10.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | |
| Peanut Butter Cookie Protein Powder | 132.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 25.0 | 94.0 | 0.0 | |
| Skim Milk | 55.0 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 62.5 | 0.0 | |
| Totals: | 1229.1 | 42.9 | 123.5 | 40.5 | 96.4 | 1178.9 | 22.7 |
