It’s been awhile since I talked about food here, so I thought it was time to share what I have been eating lately. I like to do this at least every couple of months because it really helps me to see how my habits gradually change over time. I’m not sure if I expected my eating habits to change when I stopped training, but they haven’t. Well, other than no longer having a raging appetite and eating 4 snacks a day.
I still start my day with coffee and blogging, but lately I have been giving myself a little more time in the morning to relax. I usually wake up at 5 and start working out between 5:30 and 5:45. This is a nice change from waking up at 4:30-4:45 and starting my run at 5am!
I am back to smoothies this week. On Monday I made a smoothie for breakfast (which I drank while getting ready for work) and also two of these chocolate chip muffins.
I’m still eating apples as a snack at work. I tend to eat them all year round, unlike berries which we typically only buy when they are in season.
For lunch I had sweet potato chili. I made a huge batch of this in the crock pot on Sunday. I am planning to bring it for lunch a few times this week and freeze the rest for later use.
My afternoon snack was a LARA bar- no change there!
I also prepped a pasta bake on Sunday so when I got home from work on Monday I just had to heat it up in the oven. It’s a recipe I just kind of threw together on my own. I would be happy to share it if anyone is interested but it’s not very exciting:)
No dessert tonight (although most days I usually have something) but I did enjoy a Christmas Ale while laying by the fireplace and catching up on blogging.
Do you eat differently if you are training for a race?
Do you like to prep/cook big batches of food over the weekend to save time during the week?
You may also like:
What I Ate Wednesday: It’s Been Awhile
Route 66 Marathon Training Week 15
Enjoying The Nice Weather While It Lasts
I made such a great sweet potato vegetarian chili last week that I am thinking to make it again this weekend to have for next week. I don’t always cook in advance but it makes things easier sometimes! My running appetite was raging yesterday!
This is the perfect time of year for chili, I think! And I love that I can toss everything in the crock pot and not worry about it all day!
I am not a great food prepper. I really am not. Largely because if it is prepped, I will eat it. Guaranteed!
Haha, I wonder how much of the chili you would have eaten on Sunday? It was a rather large batch- I got like 6 large servings out of it:)
Yum that pasta bake looks good! I’m not much of a meal prepper except for lunches. I usually cook up a lot of rice and chicken for easy lunches to pack during the work week.
I always pack my lunch so I usually do some sort of “prep” for that- but I rely mostly on leftovers, so I always try to cook large batches of certain meals.
I do not eat differently during training. I probably should. I’m sure that would make a difference. Those chocolate chips muffin sounds like they would be for dessert instead of breakfast. I’m sure they are very healthy, rather than a sweet indulgence, that’s probably why they are not a dessert.
Yes, the ingredients in the muffins are pretty healthy (no sugar or anything like that). But they are good enough to be a dessert I think:)
I definitely eat a ton of apples regardless of season. If only because other than bananas (which can get old quick, in my opinion) they’re the cheapest fruit year round!!
Agreed! We buy bananas all year round but I do get kind of sick of them.
I’m a huge advocate of prepping my meals on Sunday – its really the only time I have to do so if I don’t, its toast or take out. That’s where slow cookers and pasta dishes are our best friends. That pasta dish looks delicious, whatever it is. I’ve seen a few like this floating around and so now I have quite the craving. Yay for giving yourself more time to relax in the morning 🙂
I always plan out my meals and grocery shop on the weekends, so even if I don’t prep I still cook whatever I have planned. I try to plan things that don’t take a while, but sometimes its the last thing i want to do after work! I am always grateful when things are prepared ahead of time!
If I have time over the weekend, I do like to make big meals on both days so I have leftovers during the week. The crock pot was great to have this summer because I could cook a lot of chicken over the weekend so I didn’t have to cook in the hot afternoons.
The crock pot is perfect for that! No need to make the whole house 100 degrees.
I tend to do the same thing, apples all year round versus berries and melon in season. Too expensive when out of season, and also they don’t taste very good!
Agreed! But I am already looking forward to the summer when its berry season again:)
I’m a big weekend food prepper. The most I usually do during the week is heat something up, or toss some chicken in the crockpot if I run out mid-week. & doing that is a total life saver too. I can’t believe I used to come home with no idea what I was going to eat each night. I’ll never go back!
I always plan out what I will eat each night before I go grocery shopping, but I don’t always “prep” for those meals. I just try to plan meals that don’t take too long to cook!
Heat and eat is the best – you are so good with weekend food prep! Since being sick I’m having trouble waking up early enough to get more than 4 miles in – never thought this would be the case! I have to reset my schedule to get up at 5 again.
I actually haven’t been as good as I used to be with the meal prep! Now that I have been consistently waking up at 5 it is the time I naturally wake up everyday- usually 4:58 to be exact:)
That pasta bake looks delicious! I definitely like cooking a big batch of something to have throughout the work week. It just makes things easier and I can then make sure I’m eating healthy, nutritious meals throughout the week. I would say I eat more when I am training/running more since I just feel more hungry. Lara bars are the best!
I like making a batch of something over the weekend too when I have time. I am always glad later in the week to have something ready to go!
I definitely eat MORE when training for races or if I’m doing an intense exercise program. More of the same things, just bigger volume I guess, and more snacks!
Meal prepper… eh, I’m definitely not a “hashtag ‘mealprepSunday'” kind of girl. I do like to make bigger portions of things and have leftovers a couple nights a week, but a whole humungo shop to prep everything in little containers for the week? While in theory sounds like it’d save time and be convenient, it’s just not me!
I fall somewhere in the middle, too! I definitely rely alot on leftovers, and once in a awhile I will make something specific over the weekend to eat during the week.
I love my Keurig machine. Best Christmas gift ever!! The sweet potato chili looks delicious and I’m saving that recipe. I’m hung up on Zone Bars as my morning snack and greek yogurt as my afternoon snack. Raspberries are still good in our area and I’ve been buying the little mandarin oranges. Since I have male teenagers in the house, there is absolutely nothing ever left over from the weekend! LOL.
The Keurig really is the best:) And I hope you like the chili if you try it!
i love apples for a work snack, i also bring a banana for the morning snack. i dont typically prep meals in advance but we do cook things that serve more than 2 so we can have lunch leftovers for work. that didnt really start as a healthy thing but a money saving thing cause buying out lunches can be super expensive
I do the same thing with making bigger meals that have leftovers!
Healthy girl! I think I’m always training, so my intake doesn’t change much. Ha ha! And I wish I was on the ball more and prepped during the weekend. I went through a phase of doing that and I need to get back at it.
Its tough to do the meal prep on the weekend but I am always so glad I did when I start to get busier during the week!
That’s my favorite flavor lara bar! Wow, you sure do get up early – I wish I could be that early of a riser, but I agree that it is so nice to have some extra time to drink coffee and read blogs. I want that sweet potato chili!
I probably wouldn’t sleep in too much later even if I didn’t set an alarm- I’m definitely just naturally a morning person! But 4:30 is a little too early, even for me:)
Not having to get up super early to run is a very nice treat! Soon I will be back to my 4 a.m. wakeups–not looking forward to that part of training! You have made me hungry for a pasta bake! I think I am going to make one this weekend. 🙂
4 am wake ups definitely take discipline! I am glad to be done with that for a little while:)
That chili is on my list to make soon- and the chocolate chip muffins too! My appetite doesn’t change much when I stop training… it takes a few weeks sometimes to realize I’m no longer training as hard!
I don’t think my body has realized yet that I am not training! It’s used to a routine so I typically stick with that regardless of my workouts.
That sweet potato chili looks awesome! I had been doing well with meal planning on Sunday’s but between work and holiday stuff, I’ve fallen out of the routine. This is good motivation to get back on the wagon!
It can be so tough to keep up with the meal prep. Ive definitely backed off a bit too but it was so helpful to make a crock pot meal so I might need to keep doing that.
I’m a big fan of the weekend batch cooking. It saves my sanity throughout the week, but sometimes the meals do get a little old.
Apples are always my go to year round fruit as well.
I am always happy to have meals pre-made even if I get a little sick of them. It saves so much time when you don’t have to cook!
Would love to see the recipe for your pasta bake- it looks delicious!
I’ll try to share it one of these days!
Larabars are my go-to snack and that flavor is my favorite! That pasta bake AND the beer look phenomenal 🙂
Larabars are my favorite snack- portable and lots of good flavors!
YES prepping big batches of food is ALL we do. 🙂 Oh, and Paul sometimes puts sweet taters in his chili! I see you make yours with them already in, but he just adds his later. I can’t wait to tell him sweet potato chili is actually a thing! I don’t really eat differently when I’m training for a race because I am pretty active all year, even if I am not doing race specific like training. I eat a lot of food, I’m not going to lie. I’m actually more hungry on days I lift than on days I run. Sometimes it freaks me out that I eat so much on those days but I just try to embrace it and go with it. I tell myself if I am legitimately hungry, there is nothing wrong with eating.
I remember when I used to take body pump I would be so hungry on those days! I love having sweet potatoes in my chili- I am so glad I discovered it because I’m really not a fan of beans!
My favorite flavor of Larabar!
I love it too! Also the chocolate chip cookie dough.
All your food looks delicious! I always dream of prepping food on the weekends, but never actually do!
I used to do food prep every weekend, but sometimes there just isn’t enough time. I felt like I was super productive last weekend!
Mmmm the pasta bake and sweet potato chili look awesome! I’ve never even thought of making chili with sweet potato before – what a great idea!
It’s really good! I don’t really like beans so this recipe was perfect.