LET'S TALK HEALTHY EATING & EXERCISE

[Aerie]

Thanks to dzero we know what Jessica Alba eats to keep healthy, but we don't know what you eat.

dzero posted Jessica Alba's daily food plan in her very own NEWS thread and I thought I'd talk about it here. Guys don't have a clue what food females have to eat to look good.

OK magazine posted this for April. They say it's what Jessica eats. Rumors and gossip or the real deal.



This is what dzero thinks.

If that is an accurate description of her everyday diet , then she probably should be eating more. IMHO

Hmmm I gotta study this. I'm two inches taller than she and I eat a little more.

This is my usual daily meals, Monday through Saturday.

BREAKFAST:
I eat left over stir fry if I have it, and fruit. In cold weather I have oatmeal & fruit, in warm weather I eat Kashi cereal & fruit.

LUNCH:
A big salad, with protein and LOTS OF RAW VEGGIES, for lunch. Season sweet rice wine vinegar with pepper.

DINNER:
I eat out and usually have my protein in stir fry and a salad.

SNACKS: (one or two a day)
1. Baked potato with non-fat sour cream and green onions.
2. A bowl of frozen peas by my computer.
3. I always have a bowl of cooked soy beans, in the pod, in the fridge.
4. An apple, cheddar cheese strips, a wine cooler.
5. Small bag plain microwave popcorn with butter buds sprinkled all over it.
6. Fruit smoothies that I make with my little malt appliance.

This is 1800 calories which is plenty, but I go to the gym at least 6 early mornings a week. Yeah, sometimes I just sit there with a blank look in my eyes, but I do go.

I know I'll never look as good as Jessica Alba but I'll look as good as I can for as long as I can.

I admit I blow the whole thing on Sundays.

dzero, a guy needs more calories.

What do you guys eat.

[Mia22]

I am so with you on the Kashi Aerie. I used to be a fruit and tofu smoothie kinda girl or non-fat plain yogurt with a tablespoon or so of PomWow Blueberry and a handful of GoLean Crunch, but yea both of those things which take under 5 minutes became too much effort in the mornings once I discovered their Heart to Heart Blueberry cereal. So yummy!!!! And sooo no effort involved.

And 1800 calories.

That’s like my most hated thing about being short (and trust me I have a LONG list), my recommended caloric intake will always be what qualifies as a diet to everyone else. 1200 calories. It’s so sad.

Now Aerie explain this pea thing. Are you actually eating frozen peas or have they thawed?

And also your ‘malt appliance’ I see malt and I think of the little milkshake machines (stainless steel cups), are those strong enough to take on fruit? Or are you talking about something else?

[dzero]

Hit a nerve did I? ;D ;D

Ok admittedly I don't know enough about nutrition to tell the difference between how many calories a male needs and how many a female needs .

Also I took the example schedule a little too seriously at first, as if she never eats anything else, my bad . While that is probably pretty close to her normal diet, she of course has other things once in awhile. For instance, while I'm sure Aerie's schedule is also accurate I know she also likes some KFC once in awhile. And whenever she's at the beach she of course loves a nice hot dog. Not to mention her love of Cheesecake and candy apples .

It's just that when I read that diet Schedule for JA in my mind that reads as the diet of someone who is trying to loose weight and my point is that she definitely does not need to be trying to loose any weight. I say this because that diet looks quite similar to what I was eating a few years ago when I tried the Atkins diet. It worked and I would recommend it to anyone trying to loose some lbs. but JA should not be one of those people, is all I'm saying.

Now since she won't be the only one to post there daily intake , I'll post what I had yesterday.

Breakfast: bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats, followed by a Diet Mt. Dew ( I am grumpy as hell in the morning before I get some caffeine ;D )

Lunch: Lasagna, a big plate of it. With 2 slices of Garlic Bread and 2 raw carrots on the side. To drink 2 Diet Dr. Peppers and for desert a Klonnice girl bar .

late afternoon snake, some grapes and another Diet Mt. Dew.

Dinner: well no dinner really, I did have a light beer and some popcorn

Fairly average for me. I hardly ever eat much for dinner. No idea of the calorie total and don't want to know .

[dzero]

Oh geeze, I didn't think anyone else was going to respond . If I had known I wouldn't have bothered ;D ;D.

mia22 said:

I

Now Aerie explain this pea thing. Are you actually eating frozen peas or have they thawed?

So glad i'm not the only one confused by this .

[Aerie]

I am so with you on the Kashi Aerie. I used to be a fruit and tofu smoothie kinda girl or non-fat plain yogurt with a tablespoon or so of PomWow Blueberry and a handful of GoLean Crunch, but yea both of those things which take under 5 minutes became too much effort in the mornings once I discovered their Heart to Heart Blueberry cereal. So yummy!!!! And sooo no effort involved.

Yeah, drinks just don't cut it for me in the morning and the machines are too much work, make too much noise, and I gotta have something I can bite on in the mornings. (I do live alone.)

And 1800 calories.

That’s like my most hated thing about being short (and trust me I have a LONG list), my recommended caloric intake will always be what qualifies as a diet to everyone else. 1200 calories. It’s so sad.

At 5' 8" I wouldn't survive on 1200 calories.

Now Aerie explain this pea thing. Are you actually eating frozen peas or have they thawed?

dzero

So glad i'm not the only one confused by this .

They are frozen petite peas. They are crunchy, cold and refreshing when the weather is hot. They defrost slightly before I finish. During the season I buy them in the pod at the produce market, pop 'em out of the pod and crunch 'em down. They are wonderful in salads. I adore them.

And also your ‘malt appliance’ I see malt and I think of the little milkshake machines (stainless steel cups), are those strong enough to take on fruit? Or are you talking about something else?

Yup, it's a milkshake machine with the metal container. Keeps the slushie, smoothie, whatever, very cold. I cut the fruit a little smaller, but it will take the frozen fruit.

I use ice chips, ice water, powdered non-fat milk, and whatever fruit I have. Also good with chocolate diet powder, a teaspoon of instant coffee or a teaspoon of vanilla.

Blueberries are my favorite.

No alcohol before 6 pm



For a long time I used a blender, then my little sister gave me this goodie. I love it and use it almost every day.
I throw in my vitamins and I'm good to go. ;D

It only makes enough for one person so I had to decline my last marriage proposal. ;D




edited to add I scooted over to www.thecaloriecounter.com/ to count dzero's calories, but will keep it a secret.

I'll be responding to dzero's scurrilous attack later.

Sorry 'bout that. Scurrilous is the word on my "word of the day calendar."

[shywriter]

mia22 said:

That’s like my most hated thing about being short (and trust me I have a LONG list), my recommended caloric intake will always be what qualifies as a diet to everyone else. 1200 calories. It’s so sad.

You're not alone! Under 5'2" so I'm limited to around 1200-1300 calories too (although I read once that for any adult, under about 1300 daily puts your body into 'starvation mode' and slows the metabolism, as it thinks the food source has dried up... )

I have to chime in if you're talking my favorite topic, FOOD. Typical day for me:

Breakfast: Zone meal replacement bar (in the car on the way to work. 210 calories)

Lunch: Whatever Lean Cuisine I find in the freezer at work (hoping it's mine, but then, I've lost several to others doing the same thing) Approx. 230-250 cal)

Dinner: A huge salad with either chicken or taco-prepped beef, OR stir-fry with whatever veggies I have on hand & chicken...

Downfall: the cheap, nasty cookies one of the secretaries insists on buying for the office... I can pass up designer eclairs and fresh donuts, cakes and all that... but for some reason those nasty little cookies can attack my will power!

[dzero]

aerie said:

edited to add I scooted over to www.thecaloriecounter.com/ to count dzero's calories, but will keep it a secret.

posted 2 hours ago and I still haven't looked

[mari]

Am I the only female here regularly eating sweets? Or nuts? I may just get complexes… Or is there a special thread for sweets and I'm not allowed to mention them here?

Typical for me in the last four months or so (and I have no idea whether it’s appropriate for my size (1,71 / 5’6’’ and of the un-sturdy (what’s the right word?) bone-built):

A yoghurt for breakfast when I’m at home, which is the only thing for which I know calories: 110 according to the label.

Four apples (or any other fruit which is available, but I just love apples (inspected about 20 stalls of the farmer’s market yesterday to find the best) ;D)

Vegetables or salad (today half a bell pepper, a quarter cucumber, two tomatoes (from Spain, but I just couldn’t resist), about two tablespoons of yoghurt, two kinds of vinegar and diverse spices)

One and a half whole meal roll with cheese (or a portion of whatever I’ve cooked, usually vegetables too)

And sweets: For example about three (or even more) of these Surely not the most healthy things, but okay I guess as long as I’m too thin (enough for stupid people to gossip) (Always been thin, but it has gone down a bit too much with my metabolism going down to annoying hibernating-bear level in the last few years )

If I’m still hungry apples and nuts (Pecans, cashews, macadamias - yummy).


My brother (who lifts weights) easily eats twice of what I eat… but then he can lift twice my weight, so I guess it fits.

Exercise… Twice Karate and once or twice swimming or biking per week, but I really have to force myself to do it. Just never been a sport-obsessed person…

I love fresh peas, both the peas only and the sugar-pod version, we used to have them in the garden… but frozen ones? The ones I ate as a kid (stealing some before my mother cooked them) didn’t taste well at all.
But then I love kefir with fruit juice and everybody around finds this very weird … ;D

Seems like stir-fry is some kind of American national food?

[Mia22]

mari said:

Am I the only female here regularly eating sweets? Or nuts? I may just get complexes… Or is there a special thread for sweets and I'm not allowed to mention them here?

Haha, as I was reading your post I was totally munching on some baked cheetos, only 3 hours after I had chocolate fondue (and nearly snapped the guys’ heads off as they suggested we could only have one for a table of 6….With 4 girls and 2 guys they’re lucky they lived through that dumb ass statement).

I’m a massive sugar junkie and even when I’m eating right I eat chocolate, it’s like a total requirement, I could never stay on track otherwise and none of that healthy dark chocolate.

As for nuts, didn’t even JA’s food journal state that she does. The raw, unsalted almonds that are so widely hyped, I also eat walnuts and pumpkin seeds (which I know, not nuts, but still a good fat).

aerie said:

And also your ‘malt appliance’ I see malt and I think of the little milkshake machines (stainless steel cups), are those strong enough to take on fruit? Or are you talking about something else?

Yup, it's a milkshake machine with the metal container. Keeps the slushie, smoothie, whatever, very cold. I cut the fruit a little smaller, but it will take the frozen fruit.

So seriously, the blender discussion inspired me to make a smoothie, I pop in my ingredients and then I screwed a separate top on because I needed to go do something else for a bit (I have the magic bullet knock off, it’s my love). I go back fifteen, twenty minutes later, go to take off the top and yea totally stuck on it. It’s been over a day now. I think that’s a sign I shouldn’t have a smoothie.

Breakfast:
I’m a simple: Tropical fruit (all frozen, pre-cut thanks to the oh so wonderful Trader Joe’s (a chain market in the US) without whom I would starve since everything I eat is partially pre-done for me), tofu, a little juice. It’s like drinking a steak, one lasts me the entire morning (then again, yea sooo don’t work out in the morning on a regular basis…I did walk 20 blocks the other morning before hoping in a cab for the last 10-does that count?).

Or

Stawberries, blueberries (or occasionally the entire Berry Medley), possibly half a banana, strawberry soy milk and even more soy in the tofu.

Of course I haven’t done this in months (it’s winter and we had very large shirts this year…Damn beach weather snuck up on me. Going away in 15 days and I live about 7 minutes away from the beach….One of like a billion near me. They are completely not as cool as Dzero’s and Aerie’s. I live on the sound. It takes me a half hour to get to the ocean.).

Lunch:

Salad (my basic normal one): Greens (romaine, spinach, arugula, or mixed), chicken breast or a hard boiled egg, feta cheese (my fave for salads), a little avocado, shredded carrots, half a serving of a ripped up whole wheat pita or tortilla, a tablespoon of creamy basil dressing (or vinegar).

Dinner:

NO STIR FRY!!!!

1) A fish of some sort, brown rice or whole wheat couscous, veggies.
2) Whole wheat pasta (in which I throw in waaay too many healthy options with sauce which just so don’t mix on that first bite).
3) A bean dish (Madras Lentils are my favorite, Tomatoes, lentils, red kidney beans), Naan or a slice of whole wheat bread.

Snacks:
1) Almonds/pumpkin seeds or walnuts.
2) Cheese sandwich.
3) Yogurt
4) Cottage Cheese
5) Luna or Kashi bar (I keep them in my purse at all times).
6) Kashi crackers
7) Whole wheat flatbread with cream cream
8) Straight chicken breast.
9) Soydog
10) Spinach Munchies
11) Soup
12) Kashi Waffle (with or without raw almond butter depending on flavor)
13) Eggs
14) String Cheese
15) Tuna fish
16) Milk (chocolate or strawberry for the sweet tooth)


If I’m eating right, which sadly I had to revert back to (dumb summer and all my cute clothing, which I’m too poor to replace). I eat bw 7-8 meals a day. I lose weight and keep it off the easiest making sure I eat every two hours (I can also eats loads of extra crap and work out less). It keeps my BMI in the 19’s, which is the lowest I can go and not look gaunt, dumb face goes hallow, while I’m stocky on the bottom, it’s very unfair.

Sadly though while I calculated it out last week, it’ll take me 4-5 weeks of that and the gym 5-6 times a week, to get back to where I was before winter hit (and trust me I ate and drank my way through it). Which I’ll live with since it’s not really beach weather here yet.

shywriter said:

You're not alone! Under 5'2" so I'm limited to around 1200-1300 calories too (although I read once that for any adult, under about 1300 daily puts your body into 'starvation mode' and slows the metabolism, as it thinks the food source has dried up... )

Isn’t it 1200? People have been spouting to me about 1200 for as long as I can remember. Hmmm 1300…. (hmm that extra 100 probably wouldn’t do that much for me) (PS- Totally with you on splurging on items that are just not worth it)

Unlike Aerie’s 600 more. You’re already tall, you can do a whole slew of things that I can’t and you can eat more!!!! It’s just not fair!!! (and I totally typed a long angry list of all those things, but umm yea it shows how bitter I am over being short so I’m leaving it off).

Now Mari…

Explain the picture of the three cookies/cakes donuts…

And Kefir. I got how it’s made, I got how it’s supposed to help those who are lactose intolerant and raise folic acid levels, anything else? Oh and drinking it with juice is apparently normal. (You know I need the entire lesson behind words…Speaking of which how did your bday dinner turn out?)

PS- Aerie I totally thought of you today in both the Fruit Market and the Supermarket. And totally bought my big sis a blender for Xmas, which I yelled at her for after finding out it was for smoothies (thought it was mixed drinks related), too much hassle and clean up with the regular blenders, I may have to look into yours for her bday. How's cleanup and storage?

[mari]

mia22 said:

And Kefir. I got how it’s made, I got how it’s supposed to help those who are lactose intolerant and raise folic acid levels, anything else? Oh and drinking it with juice is apparently normal. (You know I need the entire lesson behind words…Speaking of which how did your bday dinner turn out?)

Well, I think it’s normal too, but apart from me I’ve never met anyone drinking it and everybody looks at me as if I was odd and drinking dish-water… I really stood out with it back at school. ;D Well, food-conservative environment.
I had no idea what kefir does exactly (only that it has a bit of alcohol), I just love all kind of fruit with something-drinks. So this whole smoothie-discussion sounds very interesting, I think I’ve never drank one.

My birthday dinner? Certainly nice (lots of food ;D), except that it snowed like mad and people had to leave rather early to get home safely. This reminds me, I still have a bit of the sesame-cherry-chocolate I got… (With a picture of ants on it, so my stupid first, spoken out loud thought was they gave me insect-chocolate )

mia22 said:

The raw, unsalted almonds that are so widely hyped, I also eat walnuts and pumpkin seeds (which I know, not nuts, but still a good fat).

Aren’t almonds in general eaten raw / unprocessed (like in that picture above)? The only reason I know for cooking almond is to peel them for baking. And why is there a hype about it? I’m so clueless…

Also clueless because I had too google half of the food mentioned here, because I’ve never even heard of them before: Baked cheetos, almond butter (seems like this is like peanut butter? Sounds yummy), string cheese (looks weird), zone meal (sounds like astronaut’s food), Kashi (seems to be some kind of cereal bar?)…. and what are spinach munchies and taco-prepped beef?
Now I want to come over and try it all. ;D

All this food-talking made me cook a kind of Ratatouille / Chili-mix with couscous (from France, because it’s so much cheaper there) today and with the rest of the couscous sort of a taboulet.

mia22 said:

Unlike Aerie’s 600 more. You’re already tall, you can do a whole slew of things that I can’t and you can eat more!!!! It’s just not fair!!! (and I totally typed a long angry list of all those things, but umm yea it shows how bitter I am over being short so I’m leaving it off).

Okay, I don’t get it, why is it so bad to be short (whatever your definition of that is), apart from the calories? Did I miss your list?

(I always was a small and skinny kid (and ate tons then, definitely more than now) and I disliked it because everybody just lifted me up without asking and such (but I guess this doesn’t happen to adults), and I hated having smaller than average feet because at that age I wanted to be a strong and sturdy boy (which I assume isn’t your complaint either))

Guys don’t seem to like women being taller…. I have the distinct impression that whenever in Karate I train with a guy who is smaller than me (and I’m not really tall after all), he hits me with extra-force (like the guy who broke my rib)…

[lisa316]

It’s so interesting that we have started a discussion here. It just so happens that I follow practically to the letter the same diet that Jessica Alba does.

I also enjoy a cup of healthy oatmeal for breakfast, preferably when it’s mixed with butter, brown sugar, and bleached flour and baked into oatmeal cookies. Fruit is also great, especially strawberries topped with whipped cream and served over pound cake. (On the days that I'm filming, I have both.)

A salad with protein is great for lunch when the protein is fried chicken strips and the dressing is ranch. When I’m trying to cut calories for bathing suit season I leave out the salad part and just dip the chicken strips directly in the dressing.

It’s such a luxury to have unlimited vegetables for dinner. My favorite unlimited vegetable is potato cut into long, thin strips and fried in hot oil. They go great with a burger.

And almonds are certainly a healthy and satisfying snack, particularly when they are surrounded with caramel and covered with milk chocolate in the form of a candy bar. Come to think of it, popped corn is also good covered in caramel and chocolate. Is Harry&David's Moose Munch considered a diet food?

I have to confess that, like most of you, I *do* give in to the occasional temptation and a carrot or celery stick sneaks through, but I do try to control my cravings. I mean, do I really need all those extra calories? After all, it’s all about self-control…

^{That's about 1200 calories a day, right?}

[mari]

And moose munch? I once munched moose (or was it reindeer?), but I guess that’s something else…

Off to get my share of almonds in form of home-made marzipan-amarettini pralines…

[AngelZ]

I feel depressed reading this thread

While I am a pretty healthy eater (just finished my bowl of lentil soup for lunch) my exercise regime is currently non-existent. I must be one of my gym's favorite members...because I haven't been there for 4 months It's a sweet deal - I pay them to let me stay in bed.

[dzero]

angelz said:

I feel depressed reading this thread

Nice job Aerie

[dzero]

Lisa316