Let's be truthful here. Sugar is amazing. I love sugar. It's fantastic. However, sugar can actually be pretty dangerous to your health. I've also been eating more than what I need to, being as most of my day is actually spent sitting on my butt. So I decided to make some changes, and my awesome new school schedule is helping with the activity level. I now have plenty of time to go on club rides, get my runs in, and do strength training. So I set up some rules for my activity level and nutrition.
Activity level rules:
1. No injuries this year!
2. Run 4x/week, starting at a very low mileage and working my way up slowly. My next marathon is in December (California International), no need for high mileage. There will be a few half marathons before then, but easy does it.
3. Cycle twice a week- make it fun! Ride with the club if possible. No serious cycling, fun only.
4. Be consistent with weight training, stretching, and injury prevention exercises.
Nutrition rules:
1. Sugar is for special occasions only. If I have to add sugar to it in order to eat it, I'm not eating it. Oatmeal now goes in morning protein shakes instead of eating it with agave, maple, honey, or whatever.
2. Eat tons of fruits and vegetables. The bulk of my food should come from here. Fill up on that first.
3. Healthy carbs!!!! Dude-do you really need tons of pasta? No.
4. Protein should come from a variety of foods, not just beef.
5. It has to taste good. If your food doesn't taste really good, you'll crave something that does.
6. If you're hungry, eat.
Yesterday on my ride I brought along baked sweet potato wedges, and boy did they taste awesome after summiting the mountain. I also had a small bowl of fruit and a cup of coffee (I drink my coffee black and I love it). There's something about food after working out really hard that makes it so much more delicious.
So Runner's World had a section in it about breakfast bowls. I skimmed it. I had a breakfast bowl yesterday morning (I just use my own imagination, screw recipes) with butternut squash, two poached eggs, 1 tomato, and a little salt. It was pretty good. Filled me up too for the ride.
Before a short workout, I still have to eat something. But before a run I have to be really careful what I eat and how long ahead of time I eat it. So I had a smoothie for breakfast today (protein powder, whole milk, a banana, some berries, and oatmeal) before my 5 mile run.
After my run came this amazing creation:
I know, it just looks like a hot mess. Maybe that's what I should call it. Breakfast is not time to worry about presentation though. Plus this photo was taken with my flip phone, so there's that.
My breakfast bowl (aka Hot Mess) consisted of butternut squash (steamed from the day before), 2 poached eggs, one tomato, half an avocado, some green onions, and a little salt. It tasted way better than I thought it was going to! And way better than yesterday's bowl. The addition of avocado added a creaminess to it that would make you think there was cheese in it. The onions were a nice touch too.
This leads me to an important point. Fat is important. Fat adds flavor, it helps us to feel full, and most importantly, it helps us to be satisfied with what we just ate. If you aren't satisfied with what you just ate, you're either going to be miserable or you're going to go eat something else that's going to make you happy.
Some people aren't affected by food. It doesn't make them happy, it's just another necessary thing in life. I personally love food. And if what I eat doesn't make me happy, well then that's just depressing.
This makes me so excited to fill my fridge (and fruit bowl) with all sorts of fruits, veggies, squashes, etc. There's all sorts of healthy and tasty foods to be discovered and to make into new concoctions!
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