Metabolic Efficiency - Day 16 - Thanks a Latte

Sixteen days into my metabolic efficiency study and I'm really getting used to this! Packing my lunch is probably one of the more challenging tasks, as I need to make sure I bring enough food for the day. If I run out and get hungry before the day's up, I can either 1) go hungry (not ideal), 2) raid the vending machine (they do have trail mix) or 3) go out and buy something from somewhere... I actually try to keep a stash of raw nuts in my desk drawer to prevent 1,2,&3, which is why I think my fat intake was on the higher side for the first week or so - a relatively higher nut intake. It's really easy to reach for them when I start to get hungry instead of heading upstairs to the breakroom for my next meal. However, I think I've been pretty successful bringing enough food each day!

Today I actually was able to get a run in over my lunch break. I did 45 minutes on the treadmill. Before starting the hamster wheel session, I started with some neuromuscular warm-ups and then some dynamic warm-ups. I haven't run in almost 2 weeks so these were especially important (though I try to do them before every run). I also made sure to take it easy on the run. After the warm-up I walked for 5 minutes and then eased into a jog. Then I "ran," but I kept my pace low to keep me in my aerobic zone. I wear the heart rate monitor for this. It started to creep up towards the end of the workout (I have a lot of fitness to gain back from all my inactivity since the Fall Series!) Except for my hip flexors tightening up, my legs felt strong. And I had plenty of energy...I did not feel nearly as tired today as I thought I would from my limited sleep these last few weeks. I eased back down and walked the last 5 minutes and then did a few more dynamic exercises to cool down. I stretched out my hip flexors and foam rolled for a couple minutes and got back to work.

OK, so now on to my meals! Don't have too many photos since I ate a lot of leftovers.
Breakfast was the same as yesterday - banana, strawberries, and blueberries in my protein-cocoa-peanut butter yogurt mix. I have to say this definitely rivals cereal and oatmeal!

Around 11am it was time for a snack so I had some edamame and a couple clementines.

Nice pre-run snack!

When I got back from the gym, I grabbed my carrot/apple/pear/raisin salad topped with greek yogurt and cinnamon and headed to a meeting.
At 4:30 I was a bit hungry and due to my evening schedule, that was dinner time. I had leftover chicken w/swiss chard & kidney beans, tomatoes, green chilies, topped with a slice of gouda cheese. Again this was really good, even as leftovers! See day 15 for the picture.
After finishing this I went home to let my dog out and then headed back into town for a Pikes Peak Tri Club board meeting. I'm the outgoing president (going out to be VP) and we had our last meeting of the year. I wasn't hungry there, but was a little thirsty so after the meeting I got a medium soy latte to go and enjoyed this on the drive home. No flavor, no sugar added, so it's really just drinking a glass of warm soy milk with espresso. I do hope they made it decaf like I requested...