That said, I used to weigh about 25 pounds more than I do now. I was in the throws of the late night nachos and beer routine. I viewed food as something that was to be restricted, then I'd go overboard (this was in my pre-running days when a workout was the occasional aerobics class in my leg warmers). Over time, I didn't really diet to lose that weight, but changed my attitude about food. Here are my two tips.
1. Understand (and I mean really understand) that food is not the enemy. Food is fuel. Food is good for you. Get in touch with your body. Eat when you are truly hungry (my rule of thumb to find if I am truly hungry or not is to ask myself if I am hungry enough to eat an apple. Stupid, I know, but if I am not hungry enough to do that, then I'm probably not really all that hungry. I probably just want the taste of food in my mouth or am trying to satisfy some other issue that I have going on like boredom or anger or television watching). Voila moment: food tastes much much better when you are really hungry.
2. Once you know you are truly hungry (apple test), then don't just start shoving food in your pie hole while standing with the refrigerator open. Think for a second about what you really want to eat. What wold truly satisfy you at the moment. It could be an egg or it could be a side of beef. You get in touch with what it is. That's not my problem.
For some reason, I really enjoy reading about what people eat. I think it's kind of fascinating and sometimes it gives me ideas. Other times it makes me feel superior or greatly inferior. Here's my breakdown
Early morning (6:30 a.m.): Cup of strong Peet's coffee with an insane amount of half and half.
I don't usually wear shorts over my tights because it's dorky, but it keeps my ass
from turning into a full blown ass-icle
Post run (usually around 8:30 a.m.): Toast topped with smashed avocado, a fried egg and some cheese. Option #2: sauteed spinach and mushrooms mixed with scrambled eggs and feta. Also, a second cup of coffee. If the run is going to be longer than an hour, I will eat something before hand like a banana or a piece of toast.
Lunch: I usually will make something at the beginning of the week for my lunches. My favorites are home made vegetable soup, Moroccan vegetable stew, or roasted veggies with brown rice or couscous. Usually accompanied by a kale salad with kalamata olives, feta, tomatoes and Olive Garden Italian dressing (<this stuff is incredible, try it if you haven't)
Snack: I don't know. Probably a cookie or a handful of some snack food in the pantry (Goldfish, pretzels, etc)
Dinner: This really varies. Emma is a vegetarian, so I will usually have veggie option for her. Some staple dinners for us are: Black bean burgers (favorite recipe HERE), pizza burgers, spinach lasagna (favorite recipe HERE), tortellini, potato soup in slow cooker, red beans and rice, burrito bowls...the list goes on. Always served with aside of some kind of leafy green veggie.
Post Dinner Feast: This is when things go down hill a bit. 2-3 glasses of wine and some kind of salty shit while watching Netflix or This Is Us or RHOBH. I'm only human, you know.
Throughout the day I'll try to drink water (I also drink hot tea and flavored seltzer water). But, most of the time I'm probably a bit dehydrated. You can tell I'm not big on sweets. Salt feeds my soul.
I don't think my diet is too bad, but I was sent a copy of Matt Fitzgerald's The Endurance Diet, so I was interested to see where I can be doing better.
Pretending to ignore Heidi and read the book. I DID really read it.
Matt (<yea I like to think we are on a first name basis) talks about there being 5 Core Habits to focus on, based on the diets of the world's fittest people (a result of his 20 year research of the top endurance athletes):
1. Eat Everything (yes) - meaning to eat from all of the food groups not Twinkies and Cheez Wiz
2. Eat Quality (yes, except for when I don't)
3. Eat Carb Centered (yep, no problem) - there is controversy around that but I see carbs as fuel so it works for me
4. Eat Enough (yep, I think so. Not like I'm wasting away)
5. Eat Individually (This just means eating in a way that works for and is unique for you)
Matt explains clearly what it means to do all of these things and the best foods to consume. There are also recipes at the end of the book (my favorite is the Moroccan veggie stew). To get the full gist, you need to just read the damn book, but essentially, you don't have to be a pro athlete to adopt some strategies to help you perform at your best. And, just cause I love super food lists, here's his take:
Almonds, bananas, beets, black beans,brown rice, cherries, coffee,corn, eggs, garlic, olive oil, peanut butter, potatoes, red wine (score), salmon, spinach, sweet potatoes,tea, teff (millet like grain with a lot of iron) tomatoes, tuna, yogurt.
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Good luck!
SUAR
