I like to think I eat healthy. But I’ve beginning to wonder if I eat too healthy. Or rather, if I eat too much healthy food.
The thought occurred to me one night one night as I lay on the couch one night after dinner, softly rubbing a stomach bulging from a dinner of brown rice and roasted vegetables. Did I just overeat? I’m a vegan. Is that even possible? Aren’t vegetables just, like, water and vitamins?
I decided that even if none of it came from an animal, I should still know how much food I’m taking in each day. Carrots, I’ve heard, have calories, too.
But before I started tracking how much I was actually eating, I wanted to find out how much I should be eating. Using a handy calculator tool, I found that based on my height, weight, and age, my basal metabolic rate (how many calories my body burns just being) is around 1,765 calories. Since I would classify myself right now as “moderately active” (exercising three to five times a week) I’m aiming to take in around 2,735 calories a day. (Try the Runner’s World Calories Burned Calculator.)
All of this number-crunching is already burning precious, precious energy. I’d better start fueling up…
For a typical breakfast, I’ll make about two cups of oatmeal (320 calories). I usually toss in a banana (105 calories), about a tablespoon of almond butter (98 calories) and maple syrup (52 calories).
Or when I’m really feeling especially trendy, I’ll toast up two slices of sourdough bread (370 calories), drizzle on about a tablespoon of olive oil (120 calories), and top them with half an avocado (115 calories).
All in all, I’m usually my starting my day by putting between 575 and 600 calories in the ol’ plant tank.
I work as a server at a restaurant called Egg. (I wrote about it in my first Veggie Might column). I swear it’s not as hypocritical as it sounds. So if I get a little peckish I’ll snack on a small bowl of granola (400 calories per half cup) and soy milk (65 calories per half cup) or a handful of almonds (410 calories per half cup) between taking orders. So, I can safely tack on another 450 calories.
My lunch usually comes from the restaurant, too. If I sneak the guys in the kitchen enough cold brew, they’ll take a break from cranking out perfectly rolled omelets and throw me together a salad of two cups of mixed greens (15 calories), half a cup of roasted squash (90 calories), and a little splash of grapefruit vinaigrette (150 calories). Along with a bowl of our tomato soup (110 calories), my midday meal comes in around 365 calories.
One of the casualties of making a living slinging hash browns at the crack of dawn is that morning runs are pretty much shot, so after my late-afternoon trot I’ll blend up a cup of frozen blueberries (85 calories), a tablespoon of almond butter (98 calories), a frozen banana (105 calories), a cup of raw kale (333 calories), and a cup of water (calorie-free, baby!) making for about a 320 calorie recovery smoothie.
That just leaves dinner. And on one of these cold and dark winter nights, I’m more likely to try to piece together a coherent dish out of whatever I can find in my cabinet than head to the grocery store. My recent go-to has been a cup of spaghetti (220 calories) tossed in half a cup of a quick homemade tomato sauce (100 calories), dusted with half a tablespoon of nutritional yeast (10 calories), and “garnished” with a store-bought seitan sausage (240 calories). After another helping of pasta (I am nothing if not honest), my personal Olive Garden experience clocks in at 890 calories.
So that puts me at around 2,575 calories. If I have a little glass of wine (125 calories) I’m right in that 2,700 calories sweet spot! If I go back for another, well… I can I can always tack on a few extra miles to tomorrow’s run, right?
I like to think of myself as a waif-ish little leaf-eater who had to maintain a steady intake of fruits, nuts, and seeds to keep his body from going into shock, but it turns out that I’m finding plenty of ways to fuel. On an average day, I’m bumping up against, sometimes probably even going over, what I should be taking in. And this was me on my best behavior! Nary a bag of tortilla chips, nor a six pack of Modelo in sight.
I did pretty alright crafting my own vegan meal plan just by following my gut (buh duh duh!), but now that I’ve tallied it all up, I’ve found some places definite soft spots in my diet that I think a lot of athletes who are trying to eat a more plant-based diet might run into.
First, I lean pretty heavy on the simple carbohydrates. They’re a great source of energy before a workout and important for recovery, but give your body more than it needs, and it’ll break down the excess and pack it on your runner’s butt.
Second, I’ve got to tone it way, way down with the almonds. Nuts are high in protein, but they’re also pretty fatty. But here I am throwing almond butter into everything—stereotypical.
Third, it may be an unintended consequence of my foray into food journaling, but it’s come to my attention I’ve gotten myself into a bit of a rut. When you’re eating little to no animal products, it’s super important to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables to make sure you’re still getting all of your vitamin and minerals. A man cannot live on bananas and tomatoes alone!
Caloric intake alone won’t give you a complete picture of your health and fitness, but it’s important information to have if you’re trying to build muscle or lose weight. And if you’re making a big adjustment to your diet, like taking out or even scaling back on meat, tracking your calories for a day or two can give you a quick snapshot of what you’re doing right and where you could could be helping your performance even more. But don’t obsess over it! Listen to your body, give it what it needs, and take it easy on the almond butter. For my sake.
Ryan Haney is a Brooklyn-based, vegan writer, and 3:02 marathoner. Check back every few months for his sarcastic musings on being a plant-based runner.
