 |
| Keep strong. |
I honestly did not have high expectations for my results from the Clean Eating Challenge. I was not a fan of cooking. I didn’t like how you had to time everything just right when preparing a meal, like when to start cooking the pasta so that it is finished by the time everything else is ready. It felt like most things I spent so long cooking and preparing only for them to come out mediocre tasting. It was just so stressful and too much work. I found it so much easier for me to go out to eat or pick up some take out. Also, being a student, when you come home from class you’re not done with your day like many other jobs. I still had plenty of homework to do, so spending the time to cook my own food at home was low on the totem pole when it came down to having a lot of work to do. Ordering food was just so much easier and there was no mess to have to clean up afterwards.
Before the start of the challenge, I was planning on doing the Zone Diet for the month of April. When I heard the word paleo, it was associated with all kinds of negative connotations in my mind. My boyfriend had gone on the paleo diet for a month and I remember him spending all his time preparing and cooking to sustain himself on it. He said he never felt full on the diet. I didn’t want that. I was heading into the end of my semester when things get really busy with finals and the last thing I needed was to have to worry about cooking for myself and cleaning up afterwards. Some of the boys in the gym tried to convince me that it was actually less time consuming to prepare a bunch of paleo meals for the entire week and simply freeze and refrigerate them. But that’s not what I wanted to hear. I couldn’t fathom taking an entire day of not doing schoolwork in order to cook and prepare for the week. I wanted a sustainable diet that I could keep up for the most part even after the challenge was over and to me paleo did not fit that description.
At weigh-in, it was a little unsettling. I knew I had gained weight since moving to Savannah, but I mostly attributed it to muscle gain from joining crossfit. Not necessarily the case. It was eye-opening and put me more on board with sticking to and making the challenge work. But in the first few days with weighing food and only allowing myself a certain amount of protein, fats, and carbs, I was feeling weak. So I stopped limiting myself on veggies and meat. Before I knew it, I had naturally gravitated towards the paleo diet by the end of the first week. So lesson 1 was to let your body eat as much healthy food as it wants and you will find yourself subconsciously eating what’s best for it most of the time.
The built-in cheats were a savior for me. To those who know me, it's no secret that I have a vigorous sweet tooth. The more I deny it what it wants, the more it wants to eat sugar. It also made the diet much more sustainable. The second week I was away at a conference and I got my second lesson in clean eating. Eating out at restaurants, while not ideal for prolonged periods in conjunction with clean eating, can be done. It not only taught me how to order smart, but also it taught me that I could make food that tasted better at home than what I could order out at a restaurant. This was a turning point for me and boosted my confidence in the kitchen. For once, going out to eat wasn’t as enjoyable for me as cooking at home. I returned from the conference with a new confidence and vigor to cook and try out as many new recipes as my finals would allow. Cooking got fun and creative. I ran with it. Towards the end of the challenge, I couldn’t believe that I wasn’t craving milk, peanut butter, or pasta, previous staples to my diet. I didn’t really miss them that much. The foods I was eating must have been good enough substitutes to make me forget I was missing out on them.
During the 3rd and 4th weeks, I didn’t feel like I looked any different, but I sure felt different. I was sleeping much better, working out harder, and recovering faster. That after lunch slump where your eyelids start to droop no longer happened to me. The final weigh in brought about nice results of 2% body fat loss and a 6-pound weight drop. To be honest, I was just glad I didn’t gain any weight with all the muscle I was gaining. The results and the way I was feeling pushed me to vow to stick with paleo. Well mostly. I decided that when at home, I would only cook paleo dishes, but if I went on vacation or out to eat I would be more lenient. Most days I eat completely clean, but don’t bat an eyelash if I eat 80/20 two or three times a week. I’ve learned to make paleo work for me and like joining crossfit months ago, this challenge has become one of the best decisions of my life.
WOD FOR THURSDAY
5 rounds
10 thrusters (115/80)
10 burpees
Now you know the WOD
- CLICK HERE to sign up for your class.
No comments:
Post a Comment