Vegging Out!!

There was a time when I would have scoffed at this stuff but nowadays this looks so delicious.

I am a big believer in the idea that most fitness gains do not actually take place on the roads or in the gym. Yes, training is important, but in order to take full advantage of the gains made in intense training it's critical to make sure that we put just as much work into what we're doing in the kitchen as what we're doing in the weight room.

I will readily admit that my diet may not be the cleanest out there but I have made serious strides over the last year and a half or so. I've (mostly) eliminated dairy from my diet. I have entirely eradicated the scourge of processed carbohydrates, and while I still enjoy whole wheat bread and pasta from time to time, they're definitely on the endangered list. I've added the healthy fats like olive and coconut oil, nuts, almond butter, and fish. Fruits and vegetables are a staple at every meal now and I've begun to enjoy veggies that I had never heard of much less considered for my daily diet just a couple of years ago.

The results have exceeded my wildest expectations. PR's, a BQ, ultras, several masters and age group wins and podium finishes, you name it. Improvement across the board. A better diet combined with a better approach to training has brought me farther in less than 2 years then I was able to come in the prior 13 years that I had been running. Not only was I running faster but I was running better and that irksome pudge around my waistline that I have been unable to shake for years (and seemed to be getting bigger) was melting away. Yes I burn a lot of calories but I have always been active and burned a lot of calories and it wasn't doing me any good before. It wasn't until I cleaned it up in the kitchen that I really made progress toward becoming 'lean'. 

But with all that being said I still have work to do. I still consume way more sugar than I should. I put it in my coffee, in my daily bowl of oatmeal, and the Clif Bars I keep around the house as "healthy" snacks are loaded with it. While I have eliminated the processed flour and carbs I still eat processed meats at the various sandwich shops around my place of employment. Such meats are undoubtedly loaded with sodium and come from animals that have been shot full of steroids, hormones and antibiotics. But they're cheap and I have justified it to myself with the thought that "well at least it's lean meats (chicken, turkey) and it could be worse."

OK maybe I haven't eaten this badly but sometimes it feels like it....

Well I am not one to settle for that and I want to take the next step. After a week of generally poor dietary choices, choices that I could feel in my runs this week (strange as that may sound, I can definitely tell if I am eating light, lean foods vs heavy foods that sit in my gut) I am going to get outside the proverbial box. (For me, anyway.) So I am going to turn the tables this coming week and declare a SUGAR FREE VEGGIE WEEK!! I have never tried a vegetarian diet but I could use the change of pace. I am going to develop a plan this week for what I am going to eat. I am going to stick with the giant salads that I enjoy but I am going to supplement with some new things that I have wanted to try for a while. We'll see how I feel at the end of this week, how it affects my workouts, and where I'll go from there. It will take some work and planning but I think I am up to the task.

So let the great experiment begin! I'll be blogging this week about my progress, what I am eating, how I feel, etc. OK time to get to work on planning all of this out!