"No Krispy Kremes in the house!"
-Tony Horton, P90X
Thoughts
I know it may not seem like a big deal, but for me it is. The last two times I've done P90X, I've never kept to the program. I was eating unhealthy foods, and justifying it by saying "well, I'm working out, so it's okay..." (And by unhealthy I mean deep-fried things, milk chocolate, meat, dairy products, and even putting frozen yogurt into my smoothies. Bad Nikki!)
Really, it wasn't okay. Do you want to know why? I'll tell you. Eating "treats" too often, and not maintaining a diet of healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, protein, and all that other good stuff we need to function, prevented me from having the endurance to maintain the P90X schedule. I would experience muscle fatigue easily, and would get tired and give up half way through a work-out. I would also skip days of work-outs, and then before I knew it, a week would pass without me doing anything.
That's one of the challenges of working out at home instead of working out at a gym. With a gym membership, I'd be motivated to use it because I'm paying for it... Right? (Although that motivation doesn't work for everyone.)
Adding, Not Subtracting, From My Diet
One of the steps I've taken to improving my health, and a major step I believe has given me the energy to push through each work-out, is going back to being a vegetarian. I'm not going to go into detail about all of the benefits, because there are at least a million articles you can find on-line by people far more qualified to talk about it than me, but one thing I will say is this: I have never had as much energy as I've had in the past few weeks since I gave up meat/fish/dairy 100%. Even being a vegetarian in the past, I would still eat fish, dairy products, eggs, and would even "cheat" once in a while with chicken or turkey. I also didn't eat a lot of whole foods, and was more the type to eat anything that just didn't have meat in it, regardless of whether or not it was healthy.
So this time around, I'm giving it my 100%, and making an overall lifestyle change instead of merely "giving up" things. I really don't even feel like I've given anything up, because I've added so much more into my diet that gives me more than enough energy to get through the day. The majority of my time in a grocery store is spent in the produce section, with a short stop in the aisle that has beans, grains, and nuts. Another thing that I feel has helped me is cutting sugar out of my diet. I was using honey, but have knocked that out and switched it up for agave nectar. I don't know if I'll ever go 100% vegan, but I'm pretty close. As for having a raw diet, I'd say about 75% of my diet consists of raw foods, which is pretty awesome.
Challenges I've Faced
There are a lot of challenges one faces when they decide to completely change the way they eat. The biggest challenge I've experienced is eating out. I'm one of those people who loves to go out for food. I love experiencing new restaurants, and seeing what some of the chefs in Toronto come up with. I'm a food fanatic. (My TV is on the Food Network 90% of the time...) So when I go out with friends, I don't like being that person who says "well this place is a pub, and I can't order anything but a salad", so I just suck it up and... Order a salad.
The silver lining to this is that in Toronto, there are so many people who are either vegetarian, vegan, or have a 100% raw diet. Which means, there are restaurants that cater to this niche. That makes me happy! One place that I've gone to a few times now is the Live Organic Food Bar. These people know how to get it done right! If you're in Toronto, this is a place you NEED to experience. I can't even say what my favourite food is there, because everything I've had tastes amazing. They're so creative, and their food is so fresh! Luckily, there are also so many restaurants that have realized there are people who don't eat meat or fish, so they'll either offer alternative options on their menu, or they'll have massive salads that double as a meal.
Well, that's all for now!
-Nikki
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