Thank you for telling me this. I can see where your diet definitely helps you with the amount of meat, carbs, veggies, breads, and fruits. This is the sort of combination I am looking for. I think my main problem is that I just need to plan my weekly meals better. It may sound boring to know what I am going to eat for the whole week, but I am realizing that taste doesn't matter as much to me. What matters to me is getting the fuel my body needs to perform to the max. Now get back to your diet, mister! Just kidding!

Thankfully Helen my wife makes my lunch everyday that includes my morning and afternoon meals, so it is easy to stay on track. She gives me a lot of fruit plus the cereal bar because it is easy and simple for her to throw into my lunch bag ... and I like it though eating like this gets a little repetitious and boring so having left overs sometimes is fine, though that doesn't happen too often.

For me after my surgery on my knee in December, I had cut back all of this to allow for me not being as active as I did not want to gain any excessive weight. I wasn't able to do all of this for months with MA for 5 months and so my activity levels were not so high and I wasn't as hungry. I started weight lifting light a few months after the surgery but not to the degree I was so still didn't need the extra food. Then I started to really get into my weight lifting but still wasn't that hungry so only increased my eating slightly. However in the last while I've become very lazy which is not something I'm liking. Knowing that once I came home that I had to weight lift or going to MA training was sapping my energy and I was hating coming home. I've got things I'm implementing to make this better and to get back on track and diet is one of them. After 10 years of weight lifting and 5 years of MA training, having a lazy period isn't too bad as long as you recognize this and fix it, which I'm doing.

For my activity levels I'm eating enough right now to maintain myself but to grow bigger, stronger and faster; I need to start increasing things again to obtain this ... and that is in my SMART Goals.

Kudos to your wife! I have to get my stuff together myself! I understand that it's really hard to get back into things especially after having surgery. You sound like you have a good plan in the works and you know what you are doing for yourself! That's all that is important! Good luck and I wish you the very best!

Good for you Helen! That's a fantastic change you've made for yourself.

Just a thought, but perhaps with the extra exercise, your body is telling you that it needs more rest to recover. Perhaps you need a little more sleep that your getting.

Am I correct in thinking eating potatoes and pasta is better after exercise? I read somewhere (stand to be corrected) that they can make you tired.

There was a post a while back about the best after workout foods by askmen.com. The #1 best post workout food believe or not was 2 cups of 1% chocolate milk. It did not have anything on there about potatoes or pasta. Here is the link:
http://www.askmen.com/sports/fitness_top_ten/34_fitness_list.html

That's what I do. I'm female =) anyway I eat 5-6 meals a day and 99% of it is "pro health" type of foods...and I am always sleepy even with doing martial arts and various other workouts afterwords....I'm not phsyically tired, just SLEEPY tired. I don't know what it is.

I attribute it to using too much brain power. You are mentally tired as compared to physically tired. I get like this as well.

Helen, you mention lifestyle changes that focus on food and exercise...but are you sure 6-7 hrs of sleep is enough? Also...do you have a sedentary job?

I sit at a desk all day long (accountant). Very boring, except during tax season. The sleepiness is getting better. I think my body just needed time to adjust to the extra activity and less food. Thanks for your help!