Wednesday, October 3, 2012

You Reap What You Eat

I've always struggled with my food. I love love love love anything sweet and have lots of trouble with portion control. For more than a year I've been working out at Body Evolution 3-6 times a week, that has really been the biggest consistency in my life. For a good 6 months I was pretty insane about my eating habits then I got married. Then I went on my honeymoon. Don't honeymoon if you have issues with food. Well do, but then have a plan to get back on the horse when you return. Then execute that plan! 

My summer was awful. I didn't really gain any weight until later in the summer and once I did, I cried. We got married the first week of June, honeymooned the week later. We had 3 weddings this summer, a week in DC for my husband's bone marrow donation, and a week home for a death in the family. That last trip was when I realized how destructive I had been with my health and weight. I had to buy a new pair of pants so I could have something to wear to work because most of my pants were too small once again. Walking through target, I cried. Yup, cried. I didn't cry because I was fat again, I cried because I was so disappointed in myself. It wasn't anyone else's fault but mine that this had happened. Now I was a little frustrated with my husband's lack of support, but truthfully, it is not his responsibility to keep me away from cake, beer, candy, pizza, etc. 

So when I returned home after my long summer of "vacations" (I hesitate to call all of them vacations because there was very little relaxing outside of our honeymoon) I sat down with my husband and carved out another life plan. Then I shared my thoughts with the people at my gym. Everyone says 80% diet, 20% exercise, I know it's true but this time I am the walking example of it. I exercised, burning on average 800+ calories each workout, and I was still gaining weight. I gained about 15 pounds back from my wedding day. 15 FREAKING POUNDS, that was almost half of the weight I had lost in the last year. What a waste!!

So now, it's been about a month since I've stopped traveling so much. I have made strides in what I eat daily. I've committed to eating clean (well as much as I can). I've committed to myself. I've committed to crossfit. I've committed to my gym. 
The first week I was back, I stayed close to my caloric allowances, but I was usually higher than I should have been. The second week I was better, still high on a couple of days but mostly I was good. Then I really sat down and figured out where I could cut calories and where I needed to improve. I ditched the processed protein bars and started to make my own. I ditched the peanut butter on my oatmeal/eggwhite waffles. I ditched the daily lunch out with friends and decided to cut it down to 2-3 times a week and when I do, I get a salad. And like usual, I know what I'm going to order at said restaurant before I show up. 

Now I've begun my crossfit journey. And holy shit what a journey that is!! I've been doing crossfit 5 times a week since the beginning of September and let me tell you, this is when I truly realized that I reap the benefits of my food. We were home last weekend for a wedding. Friday night we ate food at the rehearsal dinner, had drinks, and didn't get in bed until midnight. The next morning we attended a crossfit gym in Ann Arbor and OH MAN!! I was fatigued so quickly, my food, drinks, and late night, had a direct effect on how I performed in the WOD. It was pathetic. Then Monday morning I felt that my muscles fatigued so much quicker from the exhausting weekend and the lack of total clean eating. So to wrap this up, you reap the benefits of what you eat. You eat well, you can exercise to your fullest potential. You eat well, you lose weight. You eat well, you succeed in life, well maybe not, but it will probably help.