My Food Journal - The Week of August 15th
Nutrition | August 24, 2016
I did my best to keep a good record of what I ate for the past week. I did not try to make the photos pretty (sorry for that), I just snapped a quick shot to document my own diet.
You can still use my own Food Journal as a template for your own weekly meal plan, but I really suggest you eat according to your own body-type.
I’m a mesomorph – athletic and muscular so I don’t have to always earn my carbs with a workout although I like doing that anyways because I tent to gain weight easily.
If you’re an endomorph – your body stores more fat and your goal is to get leaner or lose weight. You should definitely earn your carbs with a workout.
If you’re ectomorph – skinny, with very little muscle mass, then you don’t need to earn your carbs with a workout as long as those carbs come from natural sources like rice, potatoes, quinoa, whole grains, etc.
We should all exercise daily and avoid added sugar and junk food if we want to stay healthy and strong. If you do want to eat sugar and junk here and there, then at least earn it with your workout even if you’re naturally skinny. It will help you avoid lifestyle diseases such as diabetes.
Nutrition Guide with more info here.
FM – Free meal that you can eat at any time of the day regardless of your body type
WEM – Workout earned meal, or a meal you should earn with your training if you’re either an endomorph or an endo–mesomorph (athletic person who gains weight easily).
DRINK A LOT OF WATER! I have a 800ml glass bottle that I refill 3x a day to make sure I drink about 2,5l of water every day. If you’re having a trouble to drink plain water, you can always flavor it with fresh lemon juice.
These are my supplements: Supreme greens, glucosamine, essential fatty acids, and my pre-workout protein blend with a natural fat burner.
MONDAY
MY TRAINING: HIGH INTENSITY WORKOUT
TUESDAY
MY TRAINING: HIGH INTENSITY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
LUNCH – Fresh Salad with Fruit and Herbs and Skirt Steak (FM)
MY TRAINING: LOW INTENSITY WORKOUT
FRIDAY
MY TRAINING: HIGH INTENSITY WORKOUT
SATURDAY
MY TRAINING: HIGH INTENSITY WORKOUT
SUNDAY
MY TRAINING: LOW INTENSITY WORKOUT
Private Member |
I like the idea of those romaine ‘tacos’!
Private Member |
ramona, ca, usa
My boyfriend wanted tacos for dinner the other night. We just browned up some ground turkey and used one of those seasoning packets (not the greatest, I know, but we were in a hurry). I used butter lettuce leaves instead of a tortilla for my tacos and it was delicious! I could hardly tell the difference since tortillas don’t have much flavor on their own.
Private Member |
portland, oregón, clakamas
Hi Zuzka !!😃
I’d like to know how many grams of protien you eat a day.
Thank you.😊
Private Member |
lethbridge, alberta, canada
Saturday just seems so little with a coffee, a burger, and cherries no?! Maybe not if you were really busy and drank a lot of fluids that day I suppose 🙂 Just not sure how you can be sooooooo disciplined…..I need to seriously work on it!! Thanks for the post, the salads look so refreshing 🙂
Private Member |
I just don’t know how you eat so little and maintain that muscle mass, Z! 🙂 The workouts are the easy part, the diet is what is so hard for me. I eat decently clean, but I absolutely could not make it through the day with a coffee, a burger patty and some cherries. I’d be starving and grumpy! I usually have a coffee (not bulletproof, but with only about 2tbls creamer), a protein bar (clean/low sugar/high protein) for breakfast, then a clean veggie salad at lunch (little olive oil only, no bad dressings or anything and sometimes a 1/4 cup clean chicken breast on it), my workout, then another salad or Z recipe for dinner. The only thing I drink is water or Kombucha, so no sodas/etc. I have one, occasionally two, cheat meals a week and yet, I can’t get lean and lose the extra weight I want. 🙁 Frustrating. I am loving the Z recipes, though! Giving me some yummy options to break up the endless salads, lol!
Private Member |
ponte vedra beach, fl
I am in the same boat as you. I eat clean, do 2 workouts a day, sometimes run sprints for 15 min on our “light” days and can’t cut these last few inches. My first year doing Z’s workouts I trimmed down nicely (was still trying to get my body back after a baby) but for the past 6 months I’m just stuck here. No change. I know for a fact that I have a hormone imbalance and am waiting on further test results so my only saving grace is that that is the reason…
Private Member |
Hi Amy! Its funny you mention hormone imbalance because I’m almost 100% sure it’s my birth control pills keeping this last bit of weight on me. The pills I’m on seem to make me hold water weight even worse than I already do normally. I’ve been on the pill for longer than I even want to think about, so I suspect it’s contributing to my hormones being screwed up. Hoping to get off of them in a few months for good! If I drop even 5 lbs from that, I’ll be happy, lol!
Have you had your thyroid tested? I tend to fall in the very low “normal” range for thyroid regulation which means that even though I’m technically normal, I think that could account for why it takes me longer to see results than someone else who follows the same diet/exercise routine with quicker results.
Anyways, I hope you’re able to balance out your hormones and see better results soon! 🙂
Private Member |
ponte vedra beach, fl
Yes, My thyroid is low/normal as well. But one of my thyroid labs tells my doctor that it’s being suppressed by something else. It’s not my actual thyroid that is sluggish. I was tested for Lymes and also metal toxicity. Not sure about the lymes but she did tell me that my mercury was insanely high (mouth full of fillings) I have been sick since I was 18 (35 now) I’m pretty sure the main culprit is the metal toxicity b/c I had all the markers for high neurotoxicity. That wreaks havoc on your hormones and digestion. Both a big issue for me. I’m just waiting for her to get my hormone test back so we can go over everything and come up with a plan.
I would say definitely get off of the birth control and see if you notice any changes. Good Luck! Bodies are so difficult!
Private Member |
Maybe I can help you. It was the same by me. I used to earn my carbs or even ate no carbs, when I wanted to loose more weight. But it only worked for some time and gained weight again. After some time I got to TCM and how you should eat for your body type. For example my body is cold and demp so I have to eat 2 to 3 warm meals a day with warming spices. Also I have to avoid citrus fruits, milk products, pork, wheat and sugar. What’s really different now is that I am eating a lot more carbs than before. For breakfast brown rice or milo with fruits and protein. For Lunch some meat or fish with pumkin, sweet potatoes or Quinoa. Only for dinner I don’t it starchy charbs.
Since I started to eat like this I lost weight and have a lot more energy. Without eating tiny portion sizes and staying hungry!!! For some people it works eating less carbs and for some not.
Private Member |
toronto, canada
I agree with all you girls on all your points here. I’m still amazed as to how little Zuzka eats and still maintains that muscle mass and always that full look in her glutes and muscles. The protein seems so minimal as well. With such small portions of food I would get dizzy and the shakes. Goodness Z is so disciplined.
Private Member |
ramona, ca, usa
This is just my own observation and I could be totally wrong but I’ve noticed that Zuzka’s food journal just tends to fluctuate a bit based on her natural energy levels and calorie needs.
What I mean is that I’ve noticed that some weeks she eats more, other weeks maybe she is just not as hungry and eats less. For example, I just read her food journal for the Week of Aug. 8th and, in my opinion, it seems to be higher in calories than her journal for the Week of Aug. 15th.
So maybe last week her body just didn’t need as much food? Again, I’m just making an observation based on the information posted in her journal and it sort of matches my own personal experience. Last week I had my period and I was ravenously starving, couldn’t get enough to eat any day of the week. This week I am just not nearly as hungry. I didn’t even want lunch yesterday and today I only needed a small bowl of soup for lunch and breakfast was only a small protein drink and snack was a low-carb sour cream muffin. Dinner will only be a small pork chop and broccoli because it’s already 4pm and I still don’t feel very hungry today. There are just some days when I don’t need as much food as other days and I’ve really been trying to follow Zuzka’s advice of listening to what my body tells me rather than forcing myself to eat when I’m not hungry just because it’s been drilled into our heads that we need 4-6 small meals a day.
Anyway, just my two cents 🙂 All I know is that Zuzka is incredibly fit and strong and she clearly is not underweight or unhealthy by any stretch of the imagination so she must be doing something right!
Private Member |
ponte vedra beach, fl
I have read about this before! I am always cold. I will look it up! Thanks you!
Private Member |
Zuzka, I was wondering if you just always us olive oil and balsamic on your salads?
Private Member |
Hey Zuzka,
Like all the others I wonder how you are able to sustain the energy to do your workouts and able to maintain your fully rounded muscles and not having them look flat with the little amount of food you consume. I get that it is all whole foods/organic approach which I totally follow myself, but a bullet coffee for breakfast, a peach for lunch and a side salad for dinner? I’m sorry I am not trying to be the devil’s advocate here, but seriously I feel that we are somehow being deceived here. Please put this subject to rest. Please don’t take this question in anyway as a blow to you. I admire you and have been following you since way way back, but this diet that you follow just doesn’t make sense. Best regards!
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
I don’t have a reason to be deceiving with my diet 🙂 that’s a bit ridiculous accusation in my opinion. I eat for my body type which is a Mesomorph – my body builds muscles easily and I also tent to gain weight more easily. People who are natural Ectomorphs (naturally skinny, it’s harder for them to build muscles) have to eat differently than Mesomorphs or Endomorphs (naturally gain weight, mostly fat).
Private Member |
Thank you Zuzka.
Private Member |
belgrade, serbia
Yes mesomorph may eat waaaay less calories & can still gain muscle.
Private Member |
tx
what is the recipe for the chocolate with protein?
Private Member |
In my opinion every person and body has different nutritional needs. We all have different metabolisms, activity levels, age, fitnessgoals, health issues and so on so on.
Some need more protein and fat, others do better on a more carb based diet. Some can get away with sugar and fried chicken twice a week, and some cannot.
Sometimes in the fitness world it seems like diets are some sort of religion.There is so much heated discussion about what is
best. But we people, are not the same….like if we ate Zuzka’s diet, one will feel very satisfied, onaother would feel empty and dizzy.
I believe it is about figuring out what works for you. Maybe this diet looks like somethng you could not survive on, but Zuzka looks super healthy and beautiful, and knows her own body best. She has found a balance that works for her, but
that does not mean that her food diary works for me. Yet I can enjoy and try her tips. Be open to be playful with different kind of aproaches to see and feel how my body responds on it.
For me diet is not about a strict set of rules, but respecting and and loving your body. To give it nutrition that suits me, my activity level and all other goals I want to achieve in live.
I think it is pointless to judge eachothers diet, it is more helpful to support eachother in our journey to fitness…
Living proof is that my 100 kg boyfriend eats less that my 60 kg frame…
Private Member |
va, united states
Well said!
Private Member |
curitiba, parana, brazil
Hi Zu…I feel we have seen enough about what you eat…and it is really boring to keep taking snaps of everything everyday. I think if you also feel the same, you could start posting just some dishes or something special you cooked and would like to share with us. Anyways…this is just my opinion and I am thinking also in reducing the work for you since now we are aware of the way you eat. See you, take care.
Private Member |
uk
I agree. Also because Zuzka seems to be eating the same thing day after day, week after week with no variety (just an observation) so its like looking at the same journal every week. At least this way she will have one less thing to stress about 🙂
Private Member |
astoria, or, usa
I’m so confused about this. I went back and read the body type post (https://zuzkalight.com/health-fitness/body-types/) but I don’t feel like I fall into any category. I’m not one of those stick figure girls that’s just always skinny no matter what, I can and have gained a good amount of weight with poor diet and lack of exercise but I have never been one of those girls that is just naturally big no matter what they do. With minimal exercise (one of your less intense workouts 4-6 times per week) I am able to maintain a good boys shape and firm muscle tone without even thinking about my diet. Other than making sure it’s organic if I eat at home, I eat whatever I want. I live off of Whole Foods pizza by the slice (usually 2 slices), their organic pumpkin spiced lattes and lots of ice cream! This started during the beginning of my pregnancy (my diet was fairly strict then, little sugar/carbs) and has continued nearly 9 months post partum. I know part of it could be from breastfeeding but this has been fairly typical as long as I work out. How do I know which category I fall into??
Also, I eat A LOT. I have a big appetite and did Paleo and Keto in the past and feel like I need carbs like toast or something dense or I get nauseous. Especially after coffee.
Private Member |
I dont understand it – I dont see any WEM meals after the high intensity workouts… Are you now eating strictly low carb (only fruit and veggies) even after your intensive sessions??
Private Member |
Hi Simona, the oatmeal and the chickpea salad are definitely both WEM! Zuzka is the typo queen hehe 😉
I’m not sure about cherries and peaches though, they might be WEM as well (for Z at least 🙂 )
Private Member |
Thank you Hannah!
Haha yes, now it makes more sense :))