I make the protein shakes up myself as 30g of Natures Best chocolate whey protein, 30g Myprotein egg yolk powder and 10g Myprotein cold milled flax seed.  Together, each shake gives me 370 calories, with 35g of protein, 23g of fat and about 6g of carbohydrate (most of which is fibre).

Building them into my diet means that when I want to cut weight, I can just lose the two shakes and I don’t really change the amount of solid food I’m putting into my stomach.  Therefore, I don’t really feel any less full.  But the effect of removing them is 740 calories per day.

So my meal plan looks something like this…

Breakfast

• 5 eggs
• 50g broccoli
• 413 calories, 33g protein, 28g fat and 6g carbohydrate (most of which is fibre)
• +4 fish oil soft gels (2,800mg DHA/EPA), 500mg glucosamine

Lunch

• 2 eggs
• 50g hard cheese
• 100g sliced meat
• 1 stalk celery (chopped)
• 1/5 cucumber (chopped)
• 563 calories, 45g protein, 39g fat and 7g carbohydrate (most of which is fibre)

Afternoon snack

• ½ tin tuna
• 1 cup raw cabbage
• 1 tablespoon full-fat mayonnaise
• 312 calories, 44g protein, 12g fat and 3g carbohydrate (most of which is fibre)

Pre-and-post workout snacks (only on workout days)

• 2 apples
• 1 orange
• 250g cottage cheese
• teaspoon of black treacle
• 420 calories, 34g protein, 7g fat and 50g carbohydrate

Dinner

• 125g beef mince (chilli, curry or Bolognese) with onion and pepper
• 50g broccoli
• 470 calories, 37g protein, 25g fat and 17g carbohydrate (most of which is fibre)
• +4 fish oil soft gels (2,800mg DHA/EPA), 500mg glucosamine

Summary

So that works out as 2,430 calories on a workout day with 234g of protein, 121g of fat and 82g of carbohydrate (including 72 calories for the fish oil).  On a non-workout day, it comes to about 1,830 calories with 158g of protein, 113g of fat and 33g of carbohydrate.

It could be better but it could also be a lot worse.  Brian St. Pierre has done a great article recently on his diet and he puts me to shame.  I suppose that’s what happens when you get a nutrition degree, though… Anyway, if money were no object, then I would probably eat a lot more different kinds of fruit and vegetables and improve the quality of my protein sources. 

For example, I would almost certainly: 

• have a mixed vegetable omelette rather than plain eggs and broccoli for breakfast;
• load up on blueberries, blackberries and other fruits high in anti-oxidants for my pre-and-post workout snacks;
• cook up organic lamb chops instead of sliced meat at lunchtime;
• prepare smoked salmon and vegetables for my mid-afternoon snack; and
• take more supplements.