It’s 7 am, my sweat session is complete and I’m off to start the rest of the day.
Rushing through the door I’m greeted by Little Red who is apparently starving. After fetching him a bowl of cereal and a “snack” I turn around only to be greeted by BigE who is also starving. Cue more cereal.
At that point the cat starts crying for food too, and I think to myself, seriously am I ever going to be able to shower.
Late as usual I make my way through the shower, get dressed, get everyone else dressed, load up in the car, speed all the way to school, barely stopping to let BigE out of the car. Drop Little Red at preschool, and listen to him cry the entire way out the door.
Finally, I arrive at work and the moment I sit down my stomach roars. In all my rushing to feed everyone else I forgot to feed myself. The banana I had at 5:45 that morning was only faint memory as my stomach started its hunger cries.
This isn’t the first time this has happened nor will it be the last. I’m sure I’m not alone in this forget the food thing.
As an athlete nutrition is so important and yet, it’s my nemesis.
When I talk with other athletes there always seems to be a divide. There are those that love to eat healthy – the fitness foodies. Then there are the Fitness Fanatics – the ones who would rather work out for two hours instead of watching what they eat.
I’m one of the latter.
In the beginning of my fitness journey my food issues were apparent. It was the enemy, calories in calories and definitely don’t eat any fat. Over the years, I’ve learned that low calorie doesn’t mean healthy.
In fact, people should be looking more at the chemicals they ingest than the calories. However, in obvious cases these can go hand in hand.
My goal over the past year or two has been to eat clean. Fresh from the garden or the produce aisle, which a bit difficult when you have a phobia of green food. However, thanks to a few friends who have introduced me to green ice cream and gluten-free options, I’m starting to branch out a bit.
My of us who embark on fitness journeys have bucket lists. Sometimes these lists include races, accomplishments like Yoga inversions or box jumps. I have all these items on my list too, but one top items is start eating healthy.
I’ve contemplated doing the Whole 30 and would love any feedback you all have on the program. Also, if you’ve tried any nutrition program or hired a dietician I’d love to hear about that too.
Even though I’m an athlete I’m by no means perfect, and just as every superhero has a nemesis so do I, and it’s time to beat it.