En Garde, Whole Foods!

~A little diversion from race reports and workouts~

As I've mentioned before, triathlon training has become more of a lifestyle for me rather than just a hobby. The majority of my “free” time (aka when I’m not at work) is consumed with training, planning out when I’m going to train, how much money I can spend on more clothes and gear, choosing what to eat to properly fuel my body before, during and after training, and making sure I get enough sleep in order to recover and make it through the next day’s workout.

See what I mean? It didn't become a lifestyle on accident… I had to switch around a lot of things in order just to maintain my current level of training and fitness. Gone are the days of Margarita Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, Wet Wednesdays, Thirsty Thursdays… you get the point. Working out the hours of sleep needed and finding time during the day to complete a workout can be a bit tedious, but can become manageable and  (being childless), I can nail down a routine I can commit to. But the DIET! It’s a constant battle trying to combine eating for pleasure and eating for fuel. Unfortunately you can’t eat solely for pleasure (cupcakes, pizza, ice cream, bacon) but also can’t eat solely for fuel (beets, raw kale) if you care at all about enjoying food. If you’re anything like me, you like to make smart food choices but don’t have a ton of time, money, or patience for foods without carbs and/or that taste like dirt.

This will be a constant evolving process of discovering which foods are “the best”. Here’s what I know so far: I know that I’m terrible at following any certain diet (Paleo, Vegan, Atkins, etc) because I need to have an occasional cupcake or almond croissant. I also know that eliminating fast food, sodas, and most frozen foods with raw juices and a higher vegetable intake does, in fact, make a HUGE difference in the way I look, feel and perform. I’m still debating whether or not to eliminate gluten and meats. I've definitely cut down on both but I’m not sure I can commit to giving them up completely!

I also know that it’s super fun, easy, and inexpensive to MAKE YOUR OWN healthy (and tasty!) foods. I hear the complaint about how “healthy” foods are too expensive… but that’s because most of time you’re buying the pre-made packaged stuff. Hear me out! There are so many things that are very easy to make, that taste yummy, are cheap AND healthy. In the past few months alone I've started making my own Kombucha, almond butter, raw juices, chips and granola. Feel free to use the recipes in this blog J. They’re all tried and true by yours truly (and by my guinea pig roomie).  I don’t need to plug titles of documentaries in order to prove my point about why you should give up certain foods and drinks... your body already knows what’s good for it.

Cheaper and healthier… you just need to get off your butt and into the kitchen and… *gasp* farmers markets! Give it a try and tell me I’m wrong…