Is today a good day? (food diary question).

NYCNika

Normally, I would consider a day like this to be a good day.(Sat. 19 October) I ran 4.4 miles and came under calorie. I ate at home for all 3 meals. I exceeded the goal on plant fiber and good fat.

But, after I added up some numbers, it dawned on me, that my definition of a "good day" might be way way off.

What should be considered a good day?

I am even curious how many people can see right away what the problem is.

Or are you of the camp that thinks that the only thing that matters is coming under my calorie goal?

Confuzzled4ever

I'm big on the protein goal esp if you are working out. I'm less worried about coming in under calorie then I would be about hitting my macros,. I don' t know how important protein is if you are only running, but I do know that high protein foods are generally healthier, lower calorie and more satisfying. If you lift, you definitely need to increase the protein intake. I only looked at today though, so I don't know if that is normal intake for you. Otherwise i don't see anything way off in your diet.

NYCNika

I meant the fact that 42% of my diet (48% if you include cheese in the processed food category) was taken up by a practically zero nutrition food products.

I thought I ate reasonably well because these things take up so little room on my plate by volume, but when you add percentages by calories, that is a completely different picture. Psychologically, I just don't see it due to food size.

But who can afford to waste 48% of their calories on foods that do nothing good for them? Is that a good day?

whitebalance

Looks like you do some strength training off and on, or once a week? Your whole day's worth of protein for today was less than I usually have in my lunch. I see from yesterday's entries that you're not a vegetarian... some lean meat would have gone nicely with those meals. Maybe browned, seasoned ground turkey breast or shredded chicken breast with the dinner, or any meat sliced thin and thrown in a skillet with the lunch.

My net calorie target varies between 1600ish (rest days) and 2000ish (workout days), with most days landing around 1800 or so -- pretty comparable to yours, it looks like. For my part, a day is pretty bad if it doesn't include at least 100g protein... I've had two such days this month, both rest days. I plan my meals around hitting (usually greatly exceeding) that protein target. But I do about an hour of heavy lifting three times a week and am on a slight calorie surplus... YMMV depending on your goals and the calories available.

whitebalance

But who can afford to waste 48% of their calories on foods that do nothing good for them? Is that a good day?

Valid. If your macronutrient targets are sound and you're hitting them, then the empty calories aren't much of an issue. But if empty calories are crowding out macros you believe you need, then yeah, that's probably not a good day. The protein stands out to me because of my goals, but your goals and preferences are clearly different from mine.

It's also worth keeping in mind that some MFP database entries don't include complete nutritional information. For example, I'm sure that grapes contain some fiber.

NYCNika

I usually have more than enough protein. I had enough on my strength training day and day after. But I'm having trouble limiting processed foods to no more than 25%. By that I mean bread products, pastas, alcohol, granola, etc... In a word - sugar.

Confuzzled4ever

I usually have more than enough protein. I had enough on my strength training day and day after. But I'm having trouble limiting processed foods to no more than 25%. By that I mean bread products, pastas, alcohol, granola, etc... In a word - sugar.

That's basically just a will power, mind over matter thing and (in my case anyway) you ability to fill your belly worth food others then those so you are too full to eat on them. Personally if I eat too much of them I crave them. It's like an addiction. I can have a serving of rice occasionally, but if it starts appearing everyday, my serving get bigger. When I feel hungry my first though is of the pasta or rice instead of the fruit of veggie or other stuff I have at my disposal. It's a hard habit to break. Cold Turkey works for me, I just have to say no until I can get it under control again. You clearly eat more of these items then I do. But it would be the same thing. Maybe only cook 1 serving at a time?

Empty calories are only a problem if you aren't hitting your macros. If you've got a lot of zeros across the board and you think something is off double check the nutrient entered on here. A lot of entries are incomplete, as i'm sure you know.