It's been almost 9 months since I received my LEAP results... and I still kind of follow the diet. I feel a lot better too, which may be a result of less stress, a change in seasons, or who knows what else. Or, it could be because I follow the diet. I may never know...
The way I follow the diet now is that I really just actively try to avoid my "red" and "yellow," and some of the "high green" foods everyday if I can. There are times when it is just not feasible, particularly when I eat out (e.g., I order a gluten free pizza about once a week and am a big fan of getting nachos). I haven't really been rotating foods in the diet all that much (especially corn, tomatoes, peppers, dairy, eggs, and rice -- which I eat pretty much every day), but I have been trying my best to eat a greater variety of foods than I used to. Oh, and I drink pretty much an unlimited amount of diet coke, even though cola is one of my "yellow" foods. Ultimately, I end up eating a lot less preservatives and sugar than I would otherwise, which I'm sure plays a big role in my IBS recovery. I try to avoid buying ANYTHING when I grocery shop that isn't organic or that includes any extra, unnecessary ingredients. For instance, I LOVE cottage cheese but haven't had it in months because it always seems to have added gums. I just found a cottage cheese that's actually locally made in Iowa and has minimal ingredients; and, I think I might try my hand at making my own (I have had luck making my own paneer cheese on multiple occasions). Finally, I currently have a big 'ol vegetable garden and I go to the farmer's market once a week, so I have been able to eat a lot of fresh foods this summer.
But now... I want to start getting in shape! I'm really not in bad shape. In fact, I won a triathlon with my sister this summer! We did it relay style, and among women's teams we took first. I only had to bike a 20k and she did the rest. But, my weight has crept up about five pounds over the past year. I actually think I look really good at this weight. In fact, it might be ideal for me as I am probably most often too thin. But I have this irrational anxiety about my weight creeping even higher, so I guess part of this plan might be to subdue that anxiety. I would like to say that this is probably not the best way to deal with that anxiety, I think working toward acceptance of my body at whatever shape it is will likely serve me better in the long run. I do really like being strong, however. I like the strength that training for the triathlon has given me, and the fact that I can now exercise without feeling like a wimp. I also want to sort of rehab my body because of some of the problems I have, including pre-arthritis in my feet and wrist pain. I want to do yoga at an Iyengar center to better support me doing correct postures and alignment. I also want to lift weights as strength training can help people with hyper-extensible joints such as myself. Finally, I want to try and do a spin class once a week and continue commuting by bike to keep up the cardiovascular health I was able to achieve when training for the triathlon. That is super overzealous. The fact is, I know will not have time for all of that. Not to mention it is probably not healthy for my social life or my mental and emotional health to spend so much time and mental effort on exercise. I tend to become overly obsessed with diet and exercise, so I really want to find a healthy yet feasible middle ground. I'm not sure what that will be -- mentally, I feel like everything on my list of I want... is crucial! It's not, but it feels that way to me right now. Did I say I don't like to half-ass things? Haha! I'll keep thinking about what to do, for now.
Part of why I'm writing about this here is that I also want to be a bit more mindful of and/or planful about my eating. I want to continue to search for more variety in my diet, and I want to pay better attention to how much protein I eat to complement my workout regimen. I have the idea of following a rotation diet splitting the week into two -- Monday breakfast to Friday lunch as the first part, and Friday afternoon to Sunday as the second. I figure I could make food ahead of time for the week on Sunday nights and then just reheat during the week.
Here's a dish I made this morning. Typically, I've been having eggs with cheese and salsa for breakfast. That is super high protein (3 eggs + 1 oz swiss = 29g), which is great, but I want to find another alternative to switch it up from time to time. Last week I ate rice cakes with peanut butter for breakfast (2 organic cakes + 2 tbsp. peanut butter = 10g protein), and this morning I tried making a savory oatmeal. It was good! Here it is:
It's a serving of cooked steel cut oats with a serving of Eden Organic black eyed peas cooked with a tsp. peanut oil, scallions, and halved cherry tomatoes and chard from my garden. I topped it with an ounce of crumbled chevre goat cheese. Overall, this was more than 19g of protein. Not too shabby! And, after seasoning with salt, it was quite delicious.
The way I follow the diet now is that I really just actively try to avoid my "red" and "yellow," and some of the "high green" foods everyday if I can. There are times when it is just not feasible, particularly when I eat out (e.g., I order a gluten free pizza about once a week and am a big fan of getting nachos). I haven't really been rotating foods in the diet all that much (especially corn, tomatoes, peppers, dairy, eggs, and rice -- which I eat pretty much every day), but I have been trying my best to eat a greater variety of foods than I used to. Oh, and I drink pretty much an unlimited amount of diet coke, even though cola is one of my "yellow" foods. Ultimately, I end up eating a lot less preservatives and sugar than I would otherwise, which I'm sure plays a big role in my IBS recovery. I try to avoid buying ANYTHING when I grocery shop that isn't organic or that includes any extra, unnecessary ingredients. For instance, I LOVE cottage cheese but haven't had it in months because it always seems to have added gums. I just found a cottage cheese that's actually locally made in Iowa and has minimal ingredients; and, I think I might try my hand at making my own (I have had luck making my own paneer cheese on multiple occasions). Finally, I currently have a big 'ol vegetable garden and I go to the farmer's market once a week, so I have been able to eat a lot of fresh foods this summer.
But now... I want to start getting in shape! I'm really not in bad shape. In fact, I won a triathlon with my sister this summer! We did it relay style, and among women's teams we took first. I only had to bike a 20k and she did the rest. But, my weight has crept up about five pounds over the past year. I actually think I look really good at this weight. In fact, it might be ideal for me as I am probably most often too thin. But I have this irrational anxiety about my weight creeping even higher, so I guess part of this plan might be to subdue that anxiety. I would like to say that this is probably not the best way to deal with that anxiety, I think working toward acceptance of my body at whatever shape it is will likely serve me better in the long run. I do really like being strong, however. I like the strength that training for the triathlon has given me, and the fact that I can now exercise without feeling like a wimp. I also want to sort of rehab my body because of some of the problems I have, including pre-arthritis in my feet and wrist pain. I want to do yoga at an Iyengar center to better support me doing correct postures and alignment. I also want to lift weights as strength training can help people with hyper-extensible joints such as myself. Finally, I want to try and do a spin class once a week and continue commuting by bike to keep up the cardiovascular health I was able to achieve when training for the triathlon. That is super overzealous. The fact is, I know will not have time for all of that. Not to mention it is probably not healthy for my social life or my mental and emotional health to spend so much time and mental effort on exercise. I tend to become overly obsessed with diet and exercise, so I really want to find a healthy yet feasible middle ground. I'm not sure what that will be -- mentally, I feel like everything on my list of I want... is crucial! It's not, but it feels that way to me right now. Did I say I don't like to half-ass things? Haha! I'll keep thinking about what to do, for now.
Part of why I'm writing about this here is that I also want to be a bit more mindful of and/or planful about my eating. I want to continue to search for more variety in my diet, and I want to pay better attention to how much protein I eat to complement my workout regimen. I have the idea of following a rotation diet splitting the week into two -- Monday breakfast to Friday lunch as the first part, and Friday afternoon to Sunday as the second. I figure I could make food ahead of time for the week on Sunday nights and then just reheat during the week.
Here's a dish I made this morning. Typically, I've been having eggs with cheese and salsa for breakfast. That is super high protein (3 eggs + 1 oz swiss = 29g), which is great, but I want to find another alternative to switch it up from time to time. Last week I ate rice cakes with peanut butter for breakfast (2 organic cakes + 2 tbsp. peanut butter = 10g protein), and this morning I tried making a savory oatmeal. It was good! Here it is:
It's a serving of cooked steel cut oats with a serving of Eden Organic black eyed peas cooked with a tsp. peanut oil, scallions, and halved cherry tomatoes and chard from my garden. I topped it with an ounce of crumbled chevre goat cheese. Overall, this was more than 19g of protein. Not too shabby! And, after seasoning with salt, it was quite delicious.
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