Food as Fuel

Thai Coconut Soup

 

Now that you have some background, you may want to know what I'm doing to help me move to the next level.  Over the years, my eating habits have changed quite a bit. According to my parents, it all started in fourth grade with Limpy Yellow.  He was the chicken we watched grow from embryo  through fuzzy chick phase.  I loved that little chick and I guess I loved it so much that I stopped eating chicken and eggs. I never realized that Limpy was the reason but it makes sense.  It took until my sophomore year of college before I ate another egg without it being in baked goods.  Even then, I would only eat scrambled but now, I can't eat enough.  Chicken....well, that's another story.  To this day, I don't touch it.

Fast forward through the garbage phase of college and working in retail to the time when someone started showing me how to cook with more than the 5 spices I kept in my pantry.  I became obsessed with food.  I wanted to try everything I could and I wanted to understand the science behind ways to make simple ingredients taste so great. I ate out as much as possible and I learned a lot.  It has a downside though.  I am now a self-professed food snob. Once I had that under my belt, I started researching where our food came from.  It' s a subject I could say way too much about so I will spare you right now.

At each phase of my food progression, I have given up something in favor of adding something better.  I make educated decisions on what I put in my body and I am at peace with myself when I eat a treat or replace a meal with coffee.  When others act shocked because I indulge in some crispy pancetta or beef carpaccio I shrug it off. I don't label myself.   I'm not perfect.  I'm realistic.  I care more about moderation than rules.  I eat clean 90% of the time.  I love food too much to worry about the other 10%.

So what am I eating these days?  Clean food. Healthy fats. Protein. Low sugar. Very little processed foods.  I recently cut out most wheat and feel better than I have in a long time.  I will share some meals and recipes with you as I continue on this journey.  I get that some of you feel you can't change.  Believe me, you can if you want to. I have done it but not overnight.  Please keep in mind that every small change you make adds up.  Also remember that everyone is different.  I eat what makes MY body feel good.  It doesn't mean your body will respond the same way.

 As far as exercise; I mentioned that I started running a few years ago.  It's a bit more than that. One day a week, I take a Zumba class.  This, I feel the need to defend.  It's not just a bunch of people dancing around for an hour.  It IS fun, and the music is great but I leave there feeling full of life and like I got a great workout.  My heart is racing, my clothes are soaked with sweat and I'm mentally recharged.  In addition, I was going to the gym 3-4 days a week focusing on free-weights and cable machines.  This past fall, I started working on using my own body weight as resistance and started going old-school with pushups, burpees, pull ups etc.  I have always looked at CrossFit and wondered if it was something I would enjoy.  After this fall, complaining daily that I was bored with my routine, I took a CrossFit class.  Ummmmm... kinda hooked.  It's the challenge I have been looking for. What's even better is that as much as you are competing against others, you are working together to reach a common goal.  In only a few weeks, I can see the camaraderie and family feel of the CrossFit Community.  It's worlds away from a standard gym.  Really, there are no words to describe the difference.

There you have it.  I won't make this blog all about food and exercise but it is important to me and among everything else, I want to share it with you. I welcome your input, your questions and your support.