I’m going vegan – starting today!
What a great idea to reset the pallet after a few days of not-so-great food choices. I’ve done it in the past and recall having excellent energy from it. It will be fun to try something different again!
Four hours later…
I found myself ravaging for food after my workout when I realized the lentil ferry did not get the memo about my plan. All I could find was anything and everything meat and dairy.
Suddenly, my inner child emerged, and I wanted to rebel when I quickly began to recall how restrictive the diet is. Luckily, I can be pretty easily influenced when things don’t go as planned, especially when it comes to food.
While listening to my favorite health and fitness podcast, Mind Pump (no affiliation, just really love them), I was drawn back to my tried-and-true basics. The guys reminded me of what an amazing powerhouse an egg is.
They talked about this guy who only ate eggs, and a lot of them, for a certain period of time as an experiment to see what would happen to his overall health and strength gains in the gym. The results were profound.
His cholesterol levels were impressive, lowering the bad and upping the good significantly. But the part that got me was how much his strength gains improved. Don’t get me wrong, I am no body builder, but I do love a good empowering lift when I can get one.
I’m also not professing my deep desire to only eat eggs like that guy did. My point is, if you can find a way to fall in love with healthy eating, or at least find a way to make it meaningful, it makes the journey that much simpler and a little more exciting.
By associating something positive, like the potential to lift heavier, with a challenge like resetting my diet, I was able to spark an intrinsic motivation and feel empowered by the potential end result and take action.
I’m not saying going vegan is a bad option, it just so happens that in my moment of hanger I reverted to what seemed more doable and realistic for me.
After talking myself out of the crapshoot idea of thinking I wanted to bloat out on lentils and sweet potatoes, I realized that eating well does not have to be complex. I know that when I focus on high protein, whole foods, and stay away from the idea that fluffy vanilla sweet cream foam on my coffee is a good option, I do well and I feel really good.
A lot of people are easily intimidated by feeling the need to follow a hard-core meal plan or program that typically is unrealistic in order to lose weight, get healthy, or perform better in the gym. It has taken me nearly a lifetime to figure this out, and apparently, I still tend to fall for that faulty form of thinking when I am looking for a quick fix.
The reality is, there is no quick fix diet. As redundant as it sounds, healthy eating must become a lifestyle choice if we truly want to nourish our body long term. If you stick to a few basic rules, and keep a few go-to foods in your back pocket to prepare for the week, you can help prevent the derailment that often happens when you’re ravaging for that post-workout meal.
Basic rules I follow for keeping it simple:
- Eat food in its most natural state as possible
- Eat as much fruit as I want (this helps immensely with my sweet tooth)
- Eat more protein than you think is enough, especially if you want those strength gains! (I sometimes have 4 eggs for breakfast)
- Drink water every chance possible
- Keep sabotaging foods out of the house!
My favorite go-to foods to batch prep for the week:
- oats topped with nuts and seeds and some sort of fruit
- greek yogurt flavored with vanilla extract, sweetened with honey and topped with berries or apples and cinnamon
- scrambled eggs with or without veggies
- for a sweet fix – pitted medjool dates and dip them in peanut butter for extra indulgence.
- always have chicken breast and ground turkey or lean ground beef on hand for dinner, along with rice and various whole beans for salad toppings, chili, or just adding into chicken and rice
Most importantly, it is key to have grace with yourself if and when you do fall off course. If you have read my article, Cake and Burpees, then you should know I understand the journey is not perfect.
We are all here just doing the best we can with what we’ve got. There will be phases when we’re dialed in on nutrition and fitness, and times when the best we can do is opt for an apple over the doughnut.
Life will always challenge you, so before we go blaming the lentil ferry for not prepping us up for success, always remember the following: keep it simple and realistic, know your baseline rules and go-to foods, and be patient and kind with yourself through the journey.