Whirlwind weekend

Hey peeps!

I can’t believe it’s already been three days again since I’ve been on here (sorry Mari, haha). It’s been a crazy weekend…took a trip on Friday to Indiana to see No Doubt with Paramore, which was awesome but left us not getting home until 4 a.m.! Then Saturday I had a day trip downtown with my girlfriends to an amazing restaurant and art gallery (photos coming soon). Then that night was UFC 100 which we hosted at our house complete with pizza and boneless buffalo wings!

Needless to say, I’m ready for this week to start. I’m still trying to use up a lot of foods in the house before I start “cleaning up” my diet again. I don’t believe in wasting anything (as in throwing it away) so I’m thinking that perhaps next week or the week after I’ll be ready to get on a new track.

I’ve been reading Heather’s blog a lot recently and I’m taking a lot of what she says to heart. We have similar stories of HUGE weight loss (she’s kept hers off for 10 years!), being runners, and also experimenting with lots of different diet “strategies.” Lately, she has shared a lot about sugar (how we don’t need it) and it has really hit home for me.

I’ve cut back on sugar before and it made me feel great…until I started supplementing it with artificially sweetened products. Then, earlier this year when I went “crap free” I removed artificial sweeteners from my diet (mostly) and have also been more conscious of things like high fructose corn syrup and products whose first ingredient is sugar.

But, I know I’ve let the sugar slide a little too much lately and I am paying the price. I’m finding myself more and more tired, not getting as much out of my workouts as I used to and just overall, feeling kind of crappy (for lack of a better word). I’m also realizing that I need to do what works for me, what I’m feeling, and what I want instead of what a book or the food pyramid or anything like that says. So, even though I’m using Heather as inspiration, I’m doing my own thing and will adjust for my own needs and tastes.

This whole thing is still sort of in the brainstorming stages, but here is what I’m thinking about so far:

More : Vegetables, protein (seafood, nuts, nut butters, beans, etc.), good fats (nuts, avocados, some oils), plain Greek yogurt, cheese…

Less : Fruit, grains (bread, rice, etc.), bars as snacks, desserts, diet soda, heavily sweetened yogurt, adding sugar to anything (coffee, oatmeal, etc.), chewing gum (sugarless, but still a bad habit)…

FYI – I am not doing this for weight loss! I’ve actually only weighed myself a couple of times this summer (since starting my no weigh in challenge) and I’ve remained steady. My clothes fit fine, even a bit loose at times. I’m doing this to feel better overall, to get more energy (and more out of my workouts) and also to have a little fun experimenting with new foods and recipes along the way.

I’ll discuss this more when I’m ready to get it going and with more of a plan in mind. As for today…I have leftover pizza for lunch

Happy Monday!