This is one in a series of food photo diary posts in which I track my food in pictures. I’m also counting my calories. Read all about it in this post or click here to view my calorie intake in a nifty spreadsheet.

Sunday was by far the most beautiful day London has seen all year. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and it was actually warm enough to get away with just a t-shirt. I tried to spend as much time outside as possible, first with a long walk around Clissold Park and Finsbury park, then with a BBQ at our friend Henry’s in Bethnal Green.

Food-wise, I feel pretty good about things. I came out with a 75 kCal surplus – my goal is about 100. Unfortunately, a good chunk of those calories came from alcohol, but I just couldn’t pass up this rare opportunity to have a cold drink in the sun. In retrospect, I probably could have done without the second and third beverage. Actually, there’s no probably about it.

Lately, whenever I have more than a half pint of beer or a glass of wine, I always feel really rubbishy afterwards. Not hungover, just kind of foggy and tired and altogether poopy. There’s a lesson here. If I’m going to be serious about getting strong, I shouldn’t really cut corners, especially where alcohol is concerned. I don’t have to give up barbecues or nice meals, and I don’t have to totally go cold turkey. I just need to make drinking more of a “special occasion” kind of thing, and limit myself to one when I do have a tipple. Hard work in London. But if I’m going to be strong in body, I’ve gotta be strong in mind, too. And on this plus side, this gives me an excuse to learn to make tasty lemonade and other similarly refreshing cool summer beverages.

On the exercise front, I’m very happy about the walk, but I didn’t really do the strength training I wanted to do. I did however do a pushup max-test and am going to start the one hundred pushup challenge again. I’ve had great success with this previously, and am hoping it will encourage me to set aside time every day to work on getting strong.

Diary for Sunday, May 24, 2009

Calories in: 1,987
Calories out: 1,912
Surplus: 75 (woo hoo!)

Breakfast

Buckwheat crepes filled with banana, topped with Greek yogurt, berries and homemade blackberry jam.

This breakfast was a little insane. I put way too much yogurt on there, and since it was the Greek stuff, it was reeeeally rich. Good at first, but too much after a few bites. I ended up not eating half the Greek yogurt shown.

Calories: 309 kCal
Protein: 12 grams
Fat: 10.5 grams
Carbs: 43.5 grams

Breakfast #2

Vegan buckwheat crepe filled with sweet creamy tofu and apples, topped with soured cream and homemade blackberry jam.

This tofu filling has really grown on me. I love it with apples, and the blackberry jam brings everything together. That’s a drizzle sour cream on there, not at all necessary, but delicious.

Calories: 157 kCal
Protein: 5.7 grams
Fat: 4.2 grams
Carbs: 26.2 grams

Walk

7.6km walk with Tim around Clissold Park and Finsbury Park. Calories burned: about 315 kCal.

Tasty Beverage

Orangina, consumed while walking around Finsbury Park.

Calories: 150 kCal
Protein: 0 grams
Fat: 0 grams
Carbs: 39 grams

Lunch

Simmered black beans and brown rice with sauteed chard.

I love simple meals like these.

Calories: 357 kCal
Protein: 13.6 grams
Fat: 14.8 grams
Carbs: 47 grams

Pushups

I did the pushup max test, a la the one hundred pushup challenge. I managed 24 pushups, which I was fairly pleased with. This puts me in column two of week three.

Dinner

BBQ at Henry’s – Black bean veggie burgers, cabbage salad, watermelon salad, bulgar salad, grilled veggies, and drinks.

Calories: 1,014 kCal
Protein: 23.6 grams
Fat: 19.5 grams
Carbs: 114.5 grams