It's based on how much lean mass I have and it's really the minimum I should be getting in a day.

It's funny to think about how my eating has changed since I started working out with a trainer. When I started with her I was still doing a 200k a month and so I was doing a good bit of riding. And I ate a lot of crap. 2- 4 Red Bulls a day was not uncommon, a homemade chocolate chip cookie every day, pizza multiple times a week... My weight then fluctuated between 155 - 158 and I was 26% body fat. In spite of riding 300 - 400 miles monthly on my bike.

Today I had:
B: a protein shake after my morning workout with my trainer, 3/4 cup non fat Greek yogurt, mixed with some sweetened yogurt and 1/2 cup of cereal
S: a Fuji apple with 2 tbs peanut butter, about 2/3 in the AM and the rest after work
L: 6 oz of chicken and some unknown amount of green beans
D: Thom's away, so I had a whole wheat EM with 1/2 tbs of butter and jam and another protein shake.

I weigh 146 and have 19.8% body fat. Dinner is usually a plate of fish, steak or chicken and little else, but I didn't feel like doing that just for me.

What I eat has been an evolving process. I just recently took out the yogurt I had been having with my lunch. It was 140 calories and I really don't miss it.

I do drink coffee in the morning and I use whole milk in my coffee, my protein shakes and oatmeal. We have tried going to the lighter milk and the calorie and fat savings just aren't worth the loss of taste for us. I also drink a container of oj over about 10 days. I like it when I first wake up. Mostly I just drink water.

It's working and I feel good. I don't feel unduly hungry and my energy level is good. I had gotten into some bad habits over the late summer and fall (pizza is so evil!) and had started gaining fat and losing muscle. It's nice to see that trend reversing.

Weekends are much less structured for me and I don't eat so cleanly then. My latest thing is guacamole with Trader Joe's pita bites. Yeah... I know not the worst thing in the world. And a bottle of champagne.

Veronica