Diet Frustrations

In one of my prior posts I laid out my new diet that I wanted to strictly follow and in my last post I stated that throughout the entire 4th cycle, I followed my diet nearly to perfection. I began following my preplanned diet on January 1st. The first week or two of following the diet were shaky at best. I followed it well, with a few days of binge eating and drinking. However, the previous 9-11 days I followed it nearly to a T. I had no beer, no sweets, treats, unhealthy fats, or processed desserts. I was feeling very good about myself. That was, until, I stepped on the scale this past Thursday morning. It came up with a weight of 177.4 pounds. YIKES.

2 years ago I ran two of my fastest marathons to date. I ran both the Green Bay marathon in May of 2010 and then the Fox Cities Marathon in September of that year. I ran a 3:04 at the Fox Cities Marathon. Both marathons were Boston qualifying times of under 3:10. That same year I raced the High Cliff Half Iron Triathlon in June in 4:40. I had the best race season of my life. Yes, I trained my ass of that summer, no doubt. I was also in the best physical shape of my life. On top of training hard and being in great shape, my weight and body composition were at an optimum level. My body weight would fluctuate between 155 and 160 and my body composition was in the area of 4-5% body fat. In very simple terms I was at the peak of my game. I now want to get back to that more than ever.

In 2010 I was a vegetarian, unless the meat was locally raised. I would only eat hunted deer or fish caught by my family. Other than that I would not even touch meat. My choice not to eat meat had nothing to do with animal rights or PETA, but strictly a quality of food choice. I watched Food Inc, which still to this day influenced nearly all my choices in food and diet. Food shouldn't be a massed produced product, but a source of fuel and locally produced holistically. Another thing had a huge impact on my nutritional choices during this time. Sarah and I had our first child and I wanted to give her the best. So, food quality took on a extremely high priority for not only my daughter, but me as well. After about a full year of eating a vegetarian diet, I quit and went back to eating meat. I did this for a few reasons. One of them being time. It became very labor intensive prepping meals on a nightly basis. In order to eat a healthy vegetarian diet, in which your eating a wide variety of foods to get the most nutrients as possible, it took significant amount of effort to plan out meals and purchase the right foods. Yes, a very simple vegetarian diet can consist of potatoes, oatmeal, rice and other stereotypical vegetarian food. But, I didn't want to eat a bland diet. So, with spending the extra time cooking rather elaborate meals with obscure foods, comes a financial commitment. Our grocery bills increased following an all natural vegetarian diet. So, I went back to eating a stereotypical Wisconsin diet of a meat, starch, and another side. A typical dinner became a steak, potatoes, with a side of vegetables.

After qualifying for the Boston marathon in May and September of 2010 and letting go of a strict diet, my weight increased significantly. I ran the Boston Marathon in 2011 at a weight similar to were I am currently at, in the range of 165-175. This could be due to several reasons. I am not here to make excuses because it ultimately falls onto me and the decisions I made over time. But, my weight gain came right at the time I changed careers and began working 3rd shift. I think the concept of meeting the goal of qualifying and ultimately running in the Boston Marathon, which lead to the feeling of "now what." I'll fully admit that after I ran Boston, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do. I had reached my ultimate running goal and honestly kind of let myself go. Ultimately I feel the combination of a significant career change, including the start of working 3rd shift, coupled with mentally falling into a rut, led to all my weight gain.

Now, here I am, 177 pounds wanted to get back to my lean racing weight of 155. I am fully aware that my weight could have been higher due to a high level of hydration and/or a larger amount of solid foods still in my system. But no matter what the scale still read 177 pounds. The diet I put together is based mainly on whole foods, but also has flour tortillas, breads, and other carbohydrates worked in. Carbohydrates cause our bodies to store water, which inevitably will cause a weight increase, there's no way around it. Starchy foods, such as baking potatoes, rice, and bananas have this same effect and can also cause a large spike in blood sugar. It doesn't end there either, a protein found in wheat products, called gluten can have a largely negative impact on our health. Gluten is a high inflammatory food, which can reek havoc on our digestive system. I will also fully admit to also having a binge eating habit. I have a huge sweet tooth, baked goods, ice cream, anything with sugar. Once I started eating these items I literally wouldn't stop until they were either gone or I simply could not eat another one. I know this had a huge impact on my weight gain, no doubt. But, on the whole, I eat pretty healthy.

So what do I do now? I am a huge fan of podcasts. I have been listening to podcasts now for at least 2 years. I listen to sport shows and endurance sports podcasts. The type of diet that nearly all endurance podcasts recommend are high fat - low carb diets. This type of diet is similar to a Paleo diet or a Warrior Diet. Eating this type of diet turns your body into a so-called "fat burning machine." A fat burning machine is ideally what you want as an endurance athlete. Eating a high fat diet forces your body to burn majority fat for fuel and controls blood sugar levels. It is a much healthier diet to follow, especially if you are an endurance athlete. I have also read about the highly negative effects of wheat and breads, namely gluten. As I stated before, even if you don't specifically have a gluten intolerance, gluten can still be considerably harmful to your system. Taking all of this into consideration, I have ultimately decided to give up on my diet, and simply start eating more naturally. I am no longer going to follow a "diet" per se and just eat real foods. I am going to work in some days of intermittent fasting and really cut back the sheer number of carbohydrate I eat on a daily basis. I do not plan on following a carb free diet but cut any processed carbohydrates from my diet. I will focus on healthy fats, such as coconut oil, olive oils, olives, fish, and avocados. I will continue to get moderate amounts of protein from lean meats, nuts and nut butters, and various forms of dairy. But, i do still plan on getting a low to moderate amount of carbohydrates from whole grains, such as quinoa, amaranth, rice, and oats. I am and need to change the way I think of food. Food needs to be a fuel, not a comfort item, not a reward, not a mood lifter, but strictly a fuel.

From here on out I need to eat to fuel.

Be fast, be strong, and carry on!