I found another blog that has me spending hours at a time reading through the archives. Skwigg is a former anorexic/bodybuilder fanatic + a good many other phases. I totally identify, having been through the anorexic thing and the fanatical exercise thing. Her blog got me thinking about my approach to life/fitness/eating and I thought I'd share my thinking (because if you're like me other people's thoughts about nutrition and fitness are fascinating. If you're not like me feel free to ignore me:)
I will not eat diet food. I did for years and the stuff tastes nasty and I'm just not doing it anymore. I still do like using protein powder BUT I mix it up with other stuff because I don't like the taste of whey (although MuscleTech puts out a protein powder that I can drink by itself). I eat full-fat yogurt (although I am currently enamored by Brown Cow's non-fat Lemon yogurt) and mayonnaise and butter, just in small amounts. I also love whole milk. Again, I only have a serving or half a serving. Totally worth the calories/fat.
I love muscle. I do not understand the ladies who are afraid of "bulking" up and using weights and prefer to be cardio bunnies (I love that phrase. It makes me laugh.) I did the cardio thing and injured myself because my fitness approach wasn't balanced. Now I'm doing a nice mixture of strength and cardio training and I have avoided injury.
I can't do diets or fitness plans. The thought of doing a diet sounds like the most absolutely evil and insane thing I could do. Been there and done that, have the weird food habits to prove it. I also cannot do fitness "plans", again because of my obsessive habits. I stick to doing strength and cardio workouts but don't try to plan them further than that until I'm about to do them because otherwise it ceases to be fun. I enjoy flipping through my magazines and Evernote clippings to figure out my routine. I do tend to do some of the same exercises so I can track progress but I don't hold myself to it.
There's this thing called intuitive eating. Google the term; lots of stuff will come up. Basically you get in touch with your body and eat what it tells you to eat. Doesn't work for everybody (especially if it's telling you to eat ice cream) but I've been noticing that I can tell what my body is wanting. For the first time in years I've salivated over a piece of fruit and I've had a craving for protein. Formerly I only craved/salivated over junk foods. I think I've gotten to this point because I refuse to become obsessive again and won't outlaw any type of food or exercise for hours at a stretch. I'm balanced!
I've decided not to cut carbs. I posted about trying to reduce carbs but I've decided against that. I could feel the lure of fanaticism and I simply won't do that again. I'm totally cool with sticking to whole grains but I can't do the fitness competitor's diet of chicken breast+steamed veggies+ maybe one serving of oatmeal. Bleh. I have thought about buying the book Eat Stop Eat. The author is a proponent of fasting for a 24-hour period two times per week. You don't fast an entire day, though. You start after dinner and fast until the next dinner time, thereby never going a day without calories. It appeals because, although I enjoy tracking and writing down what I eat, it does become tiresome. It would be much easier to not have to think about food. I'm not sure, though. The idea of fasting brings up warning signals and I want to consider the idea more.
I want to eat more fruits and vegetables. With some protein and carbs added on. I do feel better on the days that I eat raw stuff, although I have no leanings towards vegetarianism. I adore bacon cheeseburgers. Not giving those up.
So there you go. I could go on but I don't want to produce that glazed look, which I do on a regular basis anytime I launch into the whole nutrition/fitness topic.
I will not eat diet food. I did for years and the stuff tastes nasty and I'm just not doing it anymore. I still do like using protein powder BUT I mix it up with other stuff because I don't like the taste of whey (although MuscleTech puts out a protein powder that I can drink by itself). I eat full-fat yogurt (although I am currently enamored by Brown Cow's non-fat Lemon yogurt) and mayonnaise and butter, just in small amounts. I also love whole milk. Again, I only have a serving or half a serving. Totally worth the calories/fat.
I love muscle. I do not understand the ladies who are afraid of "bulking" up and using weights and prefer to be cardio bunnies (I love that phrase. It makes me laugh.) I did the cardio thing and injured myself because my fitness approach wasn't balanced. Now I'm doing a nice mixture of strength and cardio training and I have avoided injury.
I can't do diets or fitness plans. The thought of doing a diet sounds like the most absolutely evil and insane thing I could do. Been there and done that, have the weird food habits to prove it. I also cannot do fitness "plans", again because of my obsessive habits. I stick to doing strength and cardio workouts but don't try to plan them further than that until I'm about to do them because otherwise it ceases to be fun. I enjoy flipping through my magazines and Evernote clippings to figure out my routine. I do tend to do some of the same exercises so I can track progress but I don't hold myself to it.
There's this thing called intuitive eating. Google the term; lots of stuff will come up. Basically you get in touch with your body and eat what it tells you to eat. Doesn't work for everybody (especially if it's telling you to eat ice cream) but I've been noticing that I can tell what my body is wanting. For the first time in years I've salivated over a piece of fruit and I've had a craving for protein. Formerly I only craved/salivated over junk foods. I think I've gotten to this point because I refuse to become obsessive again and won't outlaw any type of food or exercise for hours at a stretch. I'm balanced!
I've decided not to cut carbs. I posted about trying to reduce carbs but I've decided against that. I could feel the lure of fanaticism and I simply won't do that again. I'm totally cool with sticking to whole grains but I can't do the fitness competitor's diet of chicken breast+steamed veggies+ maybe one serving of oatmeal. Bleh. I have thought about buying the book Eat Stop Eat. The author is a proponent of fasting for a 24-hour period two times per week. You don't fast an entire day, though. You start after dinner and fast until the next dinner time, thereby never going a day without calories. It appeals because, although I enjoy tracking and writing down what I eat, it does become tiresome. It would be much easier to not have to think about food. I'm not sure, though. The idea of fasting brings up warning signals and I want to consider the idea more.
I want to eat more fruits and vegetables. With some protein and carbs added on. I do feel better on the days that I eat raw stuff, although I have no leanings towards vegetarianism. I adore bacon cheeseburgers. Not giving those up.
So there you go. I could go on but I don't want to produce that glazed look, which I do on a regular basis anytime I launch into the whole nutrition/fitness topic.
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