Learning to Eat Healthy

There are benefits to tracking what you eat on a daily basis and I would encourage most people to do this to get objective data. Since I eat very similar foods each day, I am going to evaluate meal by meal to make the process more manageable. As I assess the meal, I can develop some small changes that may lead to healthier eating. In the morning I start off with 2 cups of coffee. This is the only coffee I have all day and I feel pretty comfortable about this intake. The bigger issue is what I put in the coffee--half-and-half and sugar. This is probably the largest intake of fat and sugar I have all day. I offset this with a glass of water before each cup. I usually have a piece of all-grain toast, with a tablespoon of peanut butter, a half of a banana, and 8 ounces of milk. This is a pretty good combination of simple carbs (banana/milk), protein (peanut butter/milk), and fiber/complete carbs (all-grain toast). Calorie-wise, it logs in under 300 calories but the coffee probably adds another 200 calories--a total of 500 calories. Not too bad, but it may help to vary my breakfast every so often to include other complex carbs (oatmeal/cream of wheat/bran cereal), protein (eggs/nuts/yogurt), and fruit (citrus, berries, etc.). Keeping it under 500 calories keeps my weight down but still allows me to get through my workout. So, for breakfast the goal would be to trim down on the half-and-half and sugar in my coffee (within reason!) and vary my breakfast but keep the samy fiber/protein elements.