Counting calories

Thursday, 28 September

I took the Lance Armstrong approach to eating today. Just for today. I weighed and wrote down everything I ate and then did the math. Partly I wanted to know how many calories I consume, partly I wanted to see how much protein I'm getting. I quit eating meat and fish about 18 months ago, and I pretty much shun protein powder, so I wondered whether my nutrition is adequate.

So, the numbers. About 2400 calories total. I thought that was a lot. Especially since I didn't pig out on almonds or peanut butter, like I usually do. 31% of those were from fat (30% is the recommended amount). Depending on what scale you use, I need to get somewhere between 46 and 55 grams of protein per day. I got 69. I take a multivitamin every day that I remember it, so I wasn't going to count up vitamins and minerals. But I ate 4 servings of vegetables and 6 servings of fruit--and more than 4 servings of dairy. Olive oil may be great stuff, but it sure jacks up the fat intake fast, and I'd rather get that from dark chocolate, which gives you more antioxidants than anything else on the planet.

In hindsight, I think my ability to ride for 12 hours at Ring of Fire proved that my diet is not too far out of whack. But it was good to see where the numbers are. I guess the next step is to figure out how many calories I burned today by riding 13 miles, walking 4 miles, riding the trainer for 30 minutes, and lifting for 20? 30? minutes at the gym. That's for another day when I feel like a science project.