Eating is just as important as a good training session, they go hand in hand. You will not achieve the results you are looking for if you only eat well, or only train hard. You need to eat regularly and you need to eat complete meals. Your body was not designed to survive only on liquid diets just as it was not designed to survive by eliminating carbohydrates from your diet. Regular eating, knowing your serving sizes and eating clean are important when adopting a healthy eating plan.
When I trained for my body building competitions, I had to change up my eating habits in a big way. I was eating Burger King Chicken sandwiches, french fries and drinking Root beer like it was going out of style. I thought that because I was working out to the latest fitness video, rollerblading and riding my bike 12+ miles a day with 3 small children and a dog in tow I had a license to eat as I wanted. While I was in my late 20's during this time, running around raising a family I had no idea what healthy eating really looked like.
When I decided to commit myself to a healthy lifestyle, I did it and while it had some challenges, I did not let anything stop me. There was no more fast food, no more ice cream, no more pop. I cut it all out when I decided to do my first competition. I began eating every 3 hours and spent time measuring my foods, journaling and preparing food for the days ahead. Immediately I noticed a big change in the way I felt and I like it. Here is what a typical day looked like for me when I was training and eating during that first 12 weeks leading up to my first show (I found one of my journal sheets) :
3:30am 1/4 cup dry oatmeal with water and 1/2 small banana; 2 egg whites scrambled with 1 cup wilted spinach
4:00am 1.5 liters of water
4:30am go to gym and train: 20 minutes of cardio with sprints on the bike and weight training for 1 hour
6:30am 3 oz chicken breast, 1/2 cup wild rice, 1 cup mixed vegetables
7:00am 1.5 liters of water
8:30am 20 minutes of cardio and 1 hour of weight training
9:45am 3 cups spinach with 3 hard boiled eggs and only 1 yolk, beets, chick peas, cucumbers, bean sprouts, peas
10:00am 1.5 liters of water
12:45pm 3 cups of spinach with 3 oz of chicken, 1 cup steamed broccoli & cauliflower
4:45pm 3 oz of canned white tuna stuffed in a tomato
5:00pm 1.5 liter of water
6:30pm 20 minutes of cardio on the bike
7:45pm 3 cups of spinach salad with 3 oz. of canned white tuna, 1 cup steamed asparagus, tomatoes, cucumbers
8:00pm 1.5 liters of water
10:00pm bed
For me, that was a typical day of eating during my training. It wasn't too difficult to adjust to, and I didn't miss any of the fast food or pop. In fact, after my first competition, I tried to drink a root beer and it tasted like syrup, I couldn't do it and never again went back to drinking pop or eating Burger King. I can't even tolerate milk chocolate, if I want chocolate it has to be dark chocolate; the milk is just too sweet for me.
Here is what I ate yesterday:
6:15am 8 oz. Water
7:45am cardio & Workout
8:45am 2 eggs plus 1 white; 1/2 whole grain toast dry, 1/2 cup orange juice;
9am Black coffee 9:00 am
11:15am Black coffee 11:15am
11:30 8 oz. Water
11:45 1/2 chicken sausage, 1 cup mixed broccoli, beans and while grain rice
NOON 16 oz. Water
1:30pm 6 whole grain crackers, licorice & 8 oz. water
3:00pm 1 egg plus 1 white mixed with 3/4 cup wild rice, broccoli and beans
4:20pm black coffee
5:10pm 8 oz. water
5:15pm cardio & monthly challenge
7:00pm 8 oz. water
8:00pm 3 oz venison with 1/2 oz of shredded cheese, 1 cup yellow cherry tomatoes & 1/2 Roma tomato
8:30pm 4 oz. glass dry red wine
10:00pm bed
Yesterday could have been a little better. Notice anything? No salads at all and I've taken up drinking black coffee too. I didn't drink nearly as much water as I did back then either. And while this may not have been the best example to use, I didn't want to "plan" something to post.
Do you journal what you eat and drink and how you train during the day? If not, grab a notebook and start. Journaling makes a great tool to use to look back and see where you can make improvements and sheds light on what you may or may not be eating on a regular basis. Research has shown that people who journal on a regular basis lose more weight and keep it off than those who don't. What do you have to lose by keeping track of what goes into your mouth?
In fact, this gives me a great idea for the August monthly challenge. Maybe instead of a fitness challenge this month, I will challenge all my followers to journal everything they eat and drink during the day for the entire month. Will you join us?
Follow me on Facebook at Get Fit with Ris - Marissa Jarrett Certified Personal Trainer
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