I'm over it.
As you may know by now, I have been living and training in Thailand for the past seven weeks with the intention to get fitter, stronger, leaner, and maybe come out the end of it with a six pack (girls gotta dream). The first couple of weeks saw a massive weight drop (to be expected, mostly water weight) and I over-trained which you can read about here. After I got my shit together I found a good routine that included morning yoga classes, Crossfit, circuit training & afternoon runs (obviously not all in one day but a nice alternate pattern spaced over my six day training week).
I found that yes, I was certainly getting fitter, but I felt that my eating was off. Obviously being in Thailand and being a foodie, I love to try new foods every day. If you didn't know already, most Thai food is very highly saturated in sodium (salt) which can leave you feeling a bit squishy. So I did some research on what foods to eat, what is good to eat together, food timing and how much I should be consuming (cause the internet is sooo reliable...). I re-downloaded MyFitnessPal from back in my Powerlifting days (RIP) and started tracking. I was strict, but let myself have a treat once or twice a week, allowing some meals to be eaten out because #balance. After another couple of weeks doing this I did see results, but did I see sustainability? Not a chance. I find it very time consuming and frustrating when tracking foods and get angry when I can't fit in a large fried rice and have to settle with a small. That is not a way to live (always go large).
'Fuck it' I thought. The human body has built-in signals that let you know if what you're doing is right or wrong. Eating too much? You'll feel sick and uncomfortable. Not eating enough? Bring on the thunder stomach. Your body lets you know if you are allergic, intolerant, tired, happy, sad & even if your performance is up or down, and considering your gut is your second brain I would tell you to listen very closely to what it has to say.
"Nothing is absolute in health and fitness."
I am not training for any competition, sporting achievement or event. I am training because I love it and want to be the healthiest, fittest & happiest I can be. Once I told myself this I changed my mind on the way I was thinking about food & tracking. There was one line I came across in my research that made me think; "Nothing is absolute in health and fitness." That sentence hit me like a truck. Everyone is different & all body's have individual ways of functioning and processing what you consume. The fact that I thought that an app could tell me how much I needed to eat, or a research article could tell me not to eat for 16 hours is ludicrous. I have half a mind to start my own nutrition program, appropriately called 'The Human Body: Listen To It And You'll Be Right'.
Right now I am eating peanut butter on toast. Fats & carbs TOGETHER. I hope that made all you health & fitness people reading this cringe at the fact I am mixing these two macros.
I am happy, fit, healthy and so grateful to be able to move my body and make my own food. Sometimes it only takes a few words to put something into perspective and change the way you think.
Eat whatever makes you feel good. And eat a damn cookie.
PS. Move more, move better
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