80/20 Rules!

1st day back on the clean eating wagon.  Started the day with tired at a 5am alarm to get me to the gym for my only 5am weights workout.  I had a bad night of sleep last night, due to all the bad food and Coke Zeros I ate and drank yesterday.  I figure it will take about 3 days to get out of my system, and then I will start feeling better.  I am also pretty sore from Sunday's lower body workout, so being tired and sore is always a combination for me feeling bad!  But I did stay around 2400 calories for the day, with a carb count of about 160g I think. 

 

I want to experiment more with the low carb diet.  I will finish my bread and oatmeal, but I don't think I will buy any more grains.  Oh I will continue with my fruit though.  That will last for a while.  I'll give up the grains first and then work on limiting fruits and vegetables, maybe.  Maybe I should buy Protein Power and see how they say to go about it.  But all this is still in the future.  For now, I have a big can of oatmeal and a whole loaf of bread to go through first.  Baby steps.  I will still eat carbs on free meals, tho.  Not willing to give up pizza! 

 

I read Mark Sisson's 80/20 post today.  It was one of the better ones, because I can totally apply it to my diet right now.  Instead of doing the daily grade like I originally planned, I will just try to adhere to my diet as best as I can, and use the 20% as a cushion.  20% is much easier to maintain than 10%.  It really takes the edge off.  I can maintain a good, clean diet 80% of the time easily.  I will move to low carb slowly.

 

I think I will try to eat less on calorie count and more on hunger.  I will try this tomorrow.  Today, I had my recovery drink, protein shake, my banana and my oatmeal and I felt like I was stuffing it down.  Screw that!  I am not going to eat tons in the morning just because some say it is better.  I think I will ditch the recovery drink thing, and just drink Gatorade after runs.  Yep, I like the sound of that.  I think I need to start listening to my body more on how and when I should eat, and heed less to what I read on the blogs.  Low carb is appealing, and I will continue to consider it and experiment with it.  I kind of want to try the zero carb deal for a week to see what happens.  I also think I may try to give up dairy, specifically milk.  Just kicking it around. 

 

No matter how I eat on a daily basis, I will (for now) still have my 2 free meals a week where I eat whatever, however much I want for one meal.  That means one meal, desert if I want, and an appetizer if I want.  I will not go stupid, and I don't go to buffets, so I can keep it relatively sensible.  And if not, and I totally gorge myself, I will pay for it.  Hey, it's a journey.  What I need is the freedom to eat anything, in moderation.  And 2 meals a week is totally moderation.  And, I will give up a couple days like when we go to Atlanta for Peachtree.  Or if we go to NOLA, or to FWB.  That completely fits in the 80/20 rule.  Sounds good to me!