Dieting is Not for Me

Ok, maybe I am a quitter and I really hate being a quitter, but I don't think I am cut out to have abs. I'm not lazy, at least I don't think I am lazy, but I just can't diet enough to have abs.

I am starting to think that our body is either designed or trained to react certain ways to food, and that everybody's body is different. I keep reading how protein shakes and chicken breasts fill people up so that they do not get hungry as often. I keep reading how people perform better when they have whole grains as opposed to white grains. But this was not the case for me. I was starving 30 min after eating chicken breasts, 5 servings of veggies, and a cup of brown rice. After being on the diet for a week, I had no energy. I could barely make it through a 90 second sparing match. I was hungry, tired, and lacking any sort of concentration or focus. I was not a happy person.

I gradually added back in "bad" carbs and red meat. I did this gradually because I did not want to gain a ton of weight super fast. But I ended up losing weight anyways. I feel so much better, I have more energy, and I am a lot less moody. So I started to think about how I used to eat when I was a competitive runner. I remember we would carb load before races, and our coach even encouraged pizza parties the night before state meets. This is how my body was trained. It was trained to perform on carbs and fat.

After using "white carbs", red meat, and fatty foods for fuel for so long, I don't think that my body can perform on anything else. It is used to having these foods for energy. Now, I am not making an excuse. I am going to continue to make healthier choices and try to integrate more whole grains and less white grains into my diet. But I need, at least for now, to have food that I like and that my body likes to use.

What does this mean? I am not going to do the figure competition in August. I am going to continue the weight training, eating protein (just adding more red meat, and not eating quite so much), and trying to cut back on bad carbs. Maybe I'll do a figure competition later when I can make changes to my diet without feeling like crap for months.

I am still going to do the US Open, and I am going to focus on more martial-arts competitions in the future. In fact, I just got done kicking paddles in the front yard...I love love love my paddles.

Egg Salad

Today I had an egg salad sandwich. I made egg salad with 3 egg whites and 1 whole egg mixed with a tablespoon of fat free mayo. I didn't eat all of it, I gave about 1/4 to my 5 year old for a sandwich. He devoured it. I love when my kids like things like this. I put the rest on whole wheat. I had some fruit with my sandwich and this seemed to tide me over.

Now I need to find a good protein snack besides more eggs (twice a day is enough for me). I don't feel like grilling or making anything big and I don't have any left overs. Looks like its time for some peanut butter and an apple.

I lifted shoulders, did some lower back, and finished with some abs this morning at the gym. Then I did the stair master (the stair mill was occupied the whole morning) for about 30 minutes. I have tournament training tonight, so I did not what to kill myself on cardio.

I have lost my ability to do taekwondo forms at the gym because kids are out of school, so I have no idea how I am supposed to get in practice for the US Open. I thought about going outside, but the grass in Florida makes pivoting impossible, and the hard ground is hot enough to cook my feet. I wish my gym had racquetball courts.

I'm going to cut my apples for my snack. I'm feeling a little more motivated now that I can actually eat and enjoy myself.

Such a Bad Bad Girl

I was down to zero energy, I was hungry, and I was gaining weight. I have to admit I was ready to just give it all up. I can't live like that for 3 months, and I was really sad that I lost my flat tummy. Before I started I had a flat tummy, it was squishy, but it was flat.

So, I decided to eat! I'm not going crazy or anything. I am still sticking to whole grains and making sure I get plenty of protein, but I am also eating a little more sugar than I was. Everything I researched said to cut out sugars and processed grains such as white bread and white rice. As with any diet to lean up, I read that I needed to eat low fat foods. This means lean protein such as chicken and fish, and of course nothing fried. Well, this wasn't working for me...obviously!

The first thing I did was to cut out the protein shakes and actually eat! This alone has given me a little more energy. Maybe I am getting too much fat, maybe I am eating too much sugar, but I feel a lot better.

I hate chicken and fish for the most part! Don't even get me started on turkey burgers...YUCK! So today I decided that I am NOT going to limit my protein to these sources. I am going to eat some chicken, but not for every meal. Fish will be a once a week thing I choke down. But I am going to eat ham sandwiches on whole wheat, real hamburgers made with beef, and steak...yes real red meat steak. I'll have bacon after I compete, not a big deal, but other meat I need.

If I am going to train, I am going to need carbohydrates. Maybe its just a Paula thing, but I need them to function. I was dying last week at taekwondo without having bad carbs in my system. I know that on most low carb diets people get moody and lose focus and concentration. I was totally lacking brain function as well as body function. I was training, but I was losing endurance and speed. Not a good thing when you are training for sparing matches.

Here is my new plan. I am going to eat my protein to build muscle, I am going to stick to whole wheat bread, but I am going to allow myself to have rice and pasta occasionally. I may need a couple crackers to help me through a taekwondo class, so I am going to eat them, but first I will make sure I eat the good carbs. Fruits and veggies are never an issue. I eat those all day long and enjoy them. So first protein, then produce, then good carbs. After I eat the good stuff, I'll eat to fuel myself without going overboard.

Tonight I was really bad though. I had pizza. Let me tell you, the pizza was delicious! I enjoyed it :-) Now back to dieting...