21 Day Fail (update + food diary)

Hi loves! In my previous post I updated you about my skinnyfat to healthy journey, and my experience with clean eating and working out so far. I was going to start meal prepping and shortly after I quit. See, what had happened was...  (↑ rice mix w/ legumes and spices, egg muffin w/ spinach and tomato)

I was actually trying out the new 21 Day Fix hype, which is a clean eating diet combined with portion controlled clean eating. And actually, I got really into it for a few days. I got up at morning to work out and meal prep for the day. I ate lots of veggies, protein, a teeny bit of carbs (only 1 cup a day; brown rice w/ quinoa and legumes), did not consume any sugar (aside from natural sugars found in fruit), and used very little salt to season. I prepared most of the food by steaming it in a dimsum steamer basket or boiling it. My snack for the day was always two tablespoons of peanutbutter (only form of sugar) topped with two tablespoons of unsweetened rasped coconut.

But then... I have to note that I have been through some turmoil regarding unfortunate personal circumstances. Especially for me, these experiences and down days are reasons to reach out for fatty foods and sweets to make me feel better. Yes, I am an emotional eater with a substance abuse problem (i.e. bad food). But knowing in the back of my mind that bad foods only provide short term comfort and will only make me feel worse in the end, I stayed strong and ate clean. Up to a point, that in an effort to prevent myself from feasting on my usual grub (lots of rice, veggies and protein soaked in sodium rich sauces) I ate myself sick.

I stubbornly ate food I prepared that day although it had been sitting in the car all day on a sunny day. In other words, my delicious omelette w/ veggies, veggie burger and pasta salad probably went bad a while before I consumed them. I tried to wash down the knot in my stomach and nausea with cups of black sugarfree coffee and painkillers, but to no avail. And then I was sick, meh. Needless to say I threw my clean eating habits out of the window and lived off soup and bread for the rest of the week.

But slowly, I have been regaining my apetite and cravings for healthy food. I actually try to incorporate at least one day of cheating in my week to prevent myself from crashing and binging. I have noticed that even on these days I cannot eat as much fatty stuff I was used to, and an immediate feeling of being sluggish and tired when I decide to skip my workout for the day. (↑ salad w/ veggie schnitzel, wholeweat bread w/ tuna salad)

I have been loving the 21 Day Fix workouts, even though I have not been consistent with them. I really enjoy the workouts being split into categories and focusing on one type of exercise or body part for the day (e.g. Pilates or upper body workout). Autumn's voice is very pleasant and looking at her gorgeous body is a motivation to keep on going by itself. Although I admittedly cuss at my laptop screen half of the time, I would definitely recommend them! (↑ grilled zucchini salad, wholeweat bread w/ rosebeef)

So, what now? How will I proceed? One part of me wants to get back into the 21 day challenge and be strong. But another part of me is not sure whether this is the best way to get used to a healthier lifestyle, seen as it is so extreme. Both starting to work out ánd focusing on clean eating might be a bit too much for my plate all at once. One of the reasons I have not been consistent with the workouts (although I have been getting more exercise done these past weeks than in the past year) , is because of the muscle aches afterwards! How in hell am I supposed to workout with a soar butt and stomach, when I can barely get through my warming up because of them?! (↑ feta cheese salad, wholeweat bread w/ avocado and smoked salmon)

Although these weeks have not gone like planned (oh you know, life), I must say that I have already made some progress in my books. I have been working out way more than usual (which was not difficult to do seen as I never worked out aside from my 'stripper but not really' antics on the pole) and been enjoying it. I wake up feeling more energized and pumped to start off the day with a workout. I have really limited my intake of bad food compared to my usual diet (which is to eat ANYTHING I feel like eating) and drinking lots of (lemon infused) water. And well, my cheatdays are there just to keep me on track! To prevent my body from going into starvation mode you know (excuses, excuses). (↑ corn waffles, my fav new snack)

Lobi,

p.s. I neglected to mention that I found out I also scored bad on a cholesterol test, and unfortunately it concerned the bad kind. I am only slightly over the maximum, so nothing that cannot be fixed with a healthy diet and active lifestyle :)