Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Eating healthy isnt that easy

So, after reading my friend Meyrick's blog about his "10 day nutrition blitz", I decided to follow his lead. I had been eating way too much and sometimes, it wasnt the best food for me. I love good tasty food and I cant leave a crumb on the plate. With two growing boys, they usually eat what is put in front of them, but if they didnt I would finish theirs as well as what Stacey didnt eat. I was always working out so it didnt matter but in the past few months, my training schedule has been intermittent to say the least. I wouldnt say I gained a lot but all the work I did in training for Ironman Canada was gone and I was back where I started last January, around 240lb.

Anyway, last week, Friday, I believe, I started my own 10 day blitz. I cut out coffee, alcohol, processed foods, pasta, and heaps of other things I cant remember. I do remember how much I miss the taste of things like burgers, pasta's, etc.

I went down the Whole Foods with my list. Its very expensive. I spent $75 on about 5 day's worth of food (I have a picture I will post later, the basket was very empty). I didnt tell Stacey what I was doing right away, not sure why, just didnt. She is such a good cook, I wish I told her sooner because after forwarding MJ's blog to her, she began making meals with all the things I was supposed to eat and nothing I wasnt and OMG, how great it tastes.

Here are the pro's. I dont feel bloated/full all the time. I have saved heaps of money on eating at restaurants and coffee places. Im pretty sure I dropped a few pounds just from eating more vegetables and fruits and cutting out any kind of bakery goods.

The con's. My GI system is working OT and although there is more about that, I wont go into it. Eating healthy is damn pricey. I want to eat some pie from the fridge.

I actually dont miss the coffee. I think its more the social aspect of the coffee thing. I did everything completely by the book Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday, I had a burrito at lunch during a class downtown. It had chicken, rice, black beans, peppers, onions, and some salsa. I cant think it had much in the way of bad items in it. Most likely, the onions and peppers that were cooked in something other than olive oil, but the rest was pretty grease free. Today, I had some seafood cioppino from Trader Joe's. Other than the salt content, it looked pretty healthy on the bag. I almost ate a cookie today but I was happy with my will power.

Im hoping I can keep it up, even beyond the 10 days that MJ had for his challenge. Im pretty sure I can keep away from Starbucks and Peets and maybe just have it as a treat once a week or so. My birthday is next week.... wait, thats after 10 days, YEEHAW!! But then there is Superbowl this weekend........ wish me luck.

2 comments:

MJ said...

Glad you took on the challenge! The hardest part for me has been late afternoons and after workouts - the hunger and cravings come hand in hand if you don't stay on top of it with lots of snacks.

Lots of benefits though... will post some conclusions soon. I'm likely going to adopt much of it on a more full-time basis.

PC Ironman said...

MJ,
I seem to be eating all the time. Carrot sticks are my 'go to' snack and I always have them with me. those Larabar's are GREAT. Last night on the trainer, I felt a little shaky but I am pretty sure that was just my leg not used to the workout I was doing (tempo ride w/intervals). I am enjoying the test of my will power and although it takes (according to studies) 28 days to break a habit, I am pretty sure I can go back to the time where Starbucks/Peets etc were treats, in a shorter time. Thanks, AGAIN, for getting me into something.
DS