What Do You Think So Far?

You have now been clean for about nine days. Surely by now you are getting into some sort of groove. Planning and preparing meals for the day and week should be easier, maybe your cravings for sweets, grains and dairy are fading, you're noticing some minor changes in your body composition and hopefully you flat out feel better. If this isn't the case stick with it! I have read from lots of people that they didn't start seeing/feeling the effects until week three or four. Don't be discouraged.

The beginning of last week my workouts were feeling sluggish. It was hot and I couldn't keep my breath. I admit I was a bit nervous about my new diet playing a role in this. Of course I knew it was going to take time to adjust and figure just how much I should eat and what would work best for me. Friday rolled around and we did "Jackie". My previous PR as Rx'd was 8:53 and I dropped it to 8:21 (in the heat!). My goal is still to break 8 minutes, which I will. Saturday morning was a completely brutal WOD and I managed to maintain a good pace and post a good time with minimal recovery from Friday evening. Needless to say, the end of the week restored my confidence.

How are you feeling during your workouts? Pay attention to how you feel this week. Are you feeling sluggish? Maybe you need to adjust some of what and when you are eating? Maybe you need to up your water intake? Do you have boundless amounts of energy? Good for you! How are you recovering? Quickly? Not at all? Take notes and make adjustments. I encourage everyone to keep some sort of journal so you can tell if what and when you eat correlates with how you feel. This will help you tremendously when trying to make adjustments in your diet. Getting some fruit in my system quickly after a workout makes a world of difference to me.

I had another weekend out of town which meant I had to battle the urge to reach for cornbread or biscuits at Cracker Barrel, say no to onion rings at Johnnies and once again forgo the yogurt at Orange Tree. It is getting easier. I find that if I just take a minute to think about how I feel while I am eating then the desire to reach for the bread goes away. I do feel full from protein and veggies. I don't need the biscuit.

REALLY AWESOME SHRIMP I made this up so it is not a very technical recipe!
1 TBS olive oil
minced garlic (eye ball it...I like a lot)
chopped cilantro
1 cup peeled shrimp
1/2 avocado (chopped)
Fresh lime juice
Pico de Gallo

Heat Olive oil, garlic and cilantro. Add shrimp. When fully cooked place shrimp in bowl. Add pico de gallo and chopped avocado. I bought my pico pre made. Make sure to check the label for added salt! Squeeze a fresh lime over the shrimp and eat. Oh my, so yummy. It is really good the next morning cold.