I've spent the majority of the last 9 years being on some sort of diet in the quest for the 'perfect' body. But really, is there such a thing? Yeah my abs need work, but i wouldnt trade my legs or butt with anybodys'. My shoulders were narrow, but two years later they are now popping. My body represents my journey, and it is my 'art'work in progress, and without the need for improvement what challenge would there be?
I can sit back and laugh at some of the diets i tried back in the early days and think to myself, 'What the hell was i doing!?"
I've tried: the no junk food diet, starve yourself for half a day ( then eat whatever you want) diet, Atkins, Zone, Keto, the leek diet (now don't EVER try this one lol, i still can't look at a leek withouth dry reaching!) detox diets, Blood type diets, Allergy diets, Vegetarian diets, Gluten free/Dairy free diets ( i still follow this approach 90% of the time) and the list goes on.
Sometimes i wonder if i'd only knew what i knew now, would i have been a better athlete? Would i have ran the 400m at state titles if i actually had fuel in my body?? ( its a grueling race!) Would i have done better academically if i wasnt exhuasted and falling asleep in class all day??
Ah, so many questions. But what i do know now is that, i have been on the most amazing journey for nearly a decade now, and yeah bloody oath it has been a rollercoaster ride BUT the knowlege and experience i have gained in nutrition and training is priceless. You can't teach it all. We all learn by trial, and a lot of error. But that makes us who we are. There are so many 'gurus' in the industry who claim to know best, but you what? Sometimes what looks good on paper DOES NOT work in real life!
One of the most valuable sources of information i bought back in 06 was an ebook by Tom Venuto called Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle : http://www.burnthefat.com/. Its 350+ pages on goal setting, meal plans, carb cycling, training etc. Check it out.
So this next phase of my life i AM getting away from this 'on season/off season' mentality cos 'A body builder is for LIFE, not just the season'. I dont wanna look and feel average for 10-11 months of the year and then feel tired for the month when i do look awesome. I also dont wanna be on a DIET to look great year round either.
So what am i doing now? I'm living a balanced lifestyle! simple. Geez, so simple it only took me 9 years to figure out lol. But as a society today we are bombarbed with so much media hype on 'fad diets and magic pills', that is so easy to get side tracked. So back to basics it is.
Week by week i'm slowly breaking free of my binging habit so right now, no more extremes for me. I'm eating for fuel 90% of the time and eating for pleasure 10% of the time. ( i still get a square or 2 of my delicious 85% Lindt every day =) ). I'm training hard for 5 x 1hr sessions a week, plus a bit of walking here and there. I'm sleeping 8 hours a night and spending lots of time with my friends. I'm focusing on the positives in life and laughing as much as possible.... Yesterday i even enjoyed a conversation with the Hemmorrhoid!
So 2010 is around the corner... you'd better watch this space!
Smile =)
Sounds like a plan! We're both travelling very similar journeys although mine not as long as yours but not far behind. It's certainly been a learning experience for us and some we'll never ever forget. I look forward to following your journey into 2010. :o) xxx
ReplyDeleteHey Michelle. Whats worked for us is having one big bad 'cheat' meal a week and sticking to the 90% rule (you've prob heard all this before). That can be interpreted a few different ways, but Jon's interpretation is that you look at how may meals you have in that week, eg. 6 a day. So thats 42 meals a week, and the 10% 'off time' would equate to 4.2 meals... So for those 4 meals a week we eat something off the plan but still matching the same cals and macro profile as the meal you're replacing. It's really worked for us. Keeps you satisfied but ensures you keep making progress. An example of an off meal for me would be 4-5 sushi rolls in the afternoon before training instead of Tuna, rice and fruit. But I wouldn't have sushi instead of my vege, chicken and nuts meal because the macro's are too different even though they almost match in calories.
ReplyDeleteJust sharing what has worked for us :)