What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do - John Ruskin

It seems I've been bitten by the lazy bug again.  A thick blanket of dust has started to settle on my Nutrition textbook, as it did on my Personal Training text a few short months ago.

Part of it is sheer laziness; I got into the habit of studying in the evenings, and even when I worked floors shifts only at my new job.  However most nights now I have training clients, which of course is wonderful and the whole point of it all.  But the training has distracted me from studying, and that’s not so wonderful.

Habits can be a gawd awful thing, especially when those habits are bad ones.  Those seem to be the hardest ones to break though don't they?  Why is that ??  Perhaps because the bad ones are usually the most fun ;)

So I need to find a way out of the habit of not studying, if that makes any sense. I started by taking my books out of my locker at work where they had made their permanent home, and brought them to my actual home. However they remain there today, still in my knapsack, waiting to escape their canvas entrapment.

I suppose part of my elusiveness is that I'm working now, doing what I set out to do, so putting the remainder of my studies on the back burner comes easier to me.  There's no sense of urgency to get this next course completed.  My only motivation at the moment is not to waste the money I spent on the course, which had to be paid up front.  Well that and my general desire to earn my Nutrition Certification and expand my knowledge and job opportunities of course, which was also part of the original plan.

Everything else is going quite well and according to plan.  I completed a 12 week, 10K running training program the week before last, took one week of rest (from the running only, not from training entirely), and today I started up again.  The first program was a beginner plan, and I completed 202 miles of the 215 that were required.  Now I've signed up for the intermediate program which slates 274 miles over the 12 week period.  I love, love, love the running; the only challenge I’ve encountered is getting in weight training in addition to running.  And I do not want to give up one in favour of the other.  Some days require me to run 6-10 miles, which takes me an hour or more, so trying to squeeze in even 1/2 hour more of gym time can be quite challenging.

But hey, that’s me, I like a challenge, and running, training, working and studying should keep me sufficiently busy for the next little while.  If I don't have a number of things like this going on in my life I'd be bored to tears.  I'm not much of a TV whore, so I gotta fill my time somehow.  It's a good thing golf season is nearing its end ... but then of course hockey season starts so that should make things fun :)

And the "diet" is also going quite well.  I'm not following the proposed plan very closely, but just putting the guidelines in my head have helped me clean up my act.  I only lost 1 1/2 pounds in the first two weeks, but I feel a helluva lot better, and more importantly I'm not obsessing about it.

Progress makes perfect :)

To Carb, or Not to Carb, That is the Question

So I sorta, kinda found a diet plan to follow ... maybe. I actually started it Monday and must admit after just 5 days of clean eating I'm feeling a million times better already.  I say kinda because I'm not following it to a tee, but more on that later.  And despite some heartfelt and most likely wise advise NOT to diet from some friends and family in response to my last blog, I’m still gonna give it a go.

The plan is one that comes with a new workout craze that's out in the market of late called Insanity. If anyone stays up watching late night infomercials on t.v. you'll know what I'm referring to; it's also the successor of P90X, another very popular workout series from a few years back.

I must admit when I first heard of this workout and its accompanying meal plan, I assumed that it would be a waste of my time ... extremely low cal, low or no carb, and super restrictive in terms of choices and variety. Well I ended up eating my own words. It's actually, IMHO, a pretty damn good plan.

It has you calculate the required amount of calories to eat per day based on something called the Harris Benedict equation, the very same equation that my nutrition book recommends as a means for healthy eating.  The formula first calculates your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), the number of calories you would burn at rest; just to live and breathe. It then factors in daily activity, resulting in a number that represents how many calories you should consume daily to maintain your current weight, based on your current level of physical activity.  Then to gain or lose weight you simply add or subtract from this number.  It also recommends doing this by no more than 500 calories, which would result in a gain or loss of one pound per week.  500 x 7 days per week = 3500 calories, the equivalent of one pound. Yes, it's still ALWAYS about the numbers ;)

Other than the fact that it allows a safe and effective amount of calories that won't leave you feeling deprived and/or starving, I like it because there's lots of variety (there are over 50 recommended meals included), it has you eating 5 or more times a day (woot woot !!), and most of all it includes plenty of carbs !!

So to address the title to my post today, to carb or not to carb, my answer is abso-fucking-lutely :)

I do now, and always have, and always will, eat carbs.  And here’s why ...

* the body needs carbs - it's our primary source of energy for working out, and for basic everyday living

* carbs do not make you fat

* carbs are not the enemy

* I love my carbs :)

* and last but not least ... CARBS DO NOT MAKE YOU FAT !!

I really don't want to get in to all the technical aspects of it, but please please please trust me on this one. This is actual fact, not information from some journalist, or a "doctor" with a PhD in horticulture that decided to get on the multiple-million dollar diet bandwagon by taking advantage of the latest fad and writing a diet book, thereby getting rich off millions of desperate hopefuls looking for a miracle cure.

The bottom line is you get fat by exercising too little and eating too much, of anything !!  Anyone who loses weight on a low carb or no carb diet does so because by limiting or restricting carbs they are by default reducing their caloric intake. Period.

Yes yes, there are "bad carbs" out there that we should try and avoid, or at least minimize. Cakes, pies, sweets, donuts and all those other sugary sweet treats that most people tend to crave. However not all carbs fall into this category and the rest of them are not only part of a healthy, balanced diet, they are 100% completely necessary in your diet. Whole grains, fruits, veggies, brown rice and pasta; for god’s sake people please eat and enjoy these wonderfully delicious and nutritious foods.

That being said, it’s even okay to eat those bad, evil carbs now and again (white bread and white rice ... OH THE HORROR !!!).  Eating them in moderation won't kill you or make you fat. Deprivation never works in the long run, trust me on this one.  You know how many times I've heard people say "I'm gonna do that (insert the name of a low carb diet here) again, it really worked the first time"?  If it really worked the first time, why do you need to do it again ?!?!

So that's why I said in my first paragraph that I'm not following this new diet to a tee. I'm following the general guidelines and have used several of their meal suggestions this week, but even then not 100% of the time. If I go out with friends or to a party or event, I will enjoy said event and not think about restricting my food or alcohol intake. I mostly just need to keep that in check. No stopping off at 7-Eleven to load up on junk food on my way home :(  No more 3, 4 or 5 day binges of eating everything in site until I’m nearly ready to puke.

OK maybe not never, but not nearly as often ;-)

A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti - Hannibal Lecter

I’m going to do something I am always swearing to people I never, ever, EVER do.  I’m going to go on a diet.  Ugh :(

I’ve been struggling so much with my diet lately, and I’ve come to realize that my issues with food are way bigger than I realized.  Remember back, what … six months ago, when I said I was 5 or so pounds overweight and committed to losing those last few pounds?  Well that commitment was half-assed at best, and although several times in those 6 months I did come very close to my goal and started feeling really good about myself, that weight loss and those good feelings were very short lived.

Up, down, up, down, up, down.  This weight loss roller coaster is making me fucking dizzy.

I think about food CONSTANTLY.  I think about what I’m going to eat, what I should be eating, what I shouldn’t be eating, how much I’m eating, what I want to be eating.  It’s a major problem, and it’s consuming my life.  I need to get this fixed, and I need to do it now.

I get into these zones, where I’m eating so well and I quickly start to see results and feel better about myself; then one little thing will happen, and every effort I’ve made goes crashing out the window.

I have one night out with a friend, or a work event or a party or a family function, and I gorge on all the bad, forbidden foods like the earth as we know it is coming to an end.  But it doesn’t stop there; if it did, it wouldn’t really be that serious a problem.  I leave the party or whatever it is, drive home and stop at the store and load up on all kinds of crap, foods I wouldn’t ever normally eat.  I come home and shovel it all in, quite literally to the point where I’m feeling nauseous. 

And then there’s the booze.  Since I’m eating all the shite foods, I may as well pour in all the calories I can while I’m “cheating”.  So I down several beers, or a bottle of wine, or a couple or several glasses of vodka, or some combination of the above.  Booze = calories, so in my mind it’s a cheat too.

For some reason I have a hard time enjoying a night out or a nice meal with a friend without the warped logic in my head saying “get it all in now while you can”.  I wake up the next morning feeling fat and gross and full of regret.  It’s gotten to the point that sometimes I will refuse invitations simply because I know it will throw all of my clean eating efforts into a major turmoil :(

Can someone please tell me what the fuck is wrong with me ?????

The only solution I can think of right now is to get strict, and follow a plan.  Ten weeks ago I signed up for a running program on the Nike+ Running website.  It’s a 12 week, 10K training plan, and to date I have only missed 2 runs in 10 weeks, and there have been 4 runs scheduled each week.  My dumb-ass Type A personality works well when I have a detailed plan set out in front of me.  The program tells me how much to run each day, and I do it !!  It’s really quite that simple.  So I’m thinking, hoping, praying ?!?!  that if I set out a detailed diet plan that tells me what and how much to eat each day, perhaps this will finally help me reach my goal and stay there !!

So the big question now is what plan will I follow ??  I’m going to do a bit of research in the next day or two and get back to you on that one …

To quote many a calorie counter from days past, the diet starts Monday :)