Over the next few weeks you will all be learning about me, my own nutrition and how it influences my weight, behaviour and training. I will be very open with my eating habits so you can understand my life and way of thinking. All my clients have to open up to me and share what is happening in their lives, they show me years of frustration over not seeing the results they want with body composition changes. So now it is time to see mine and to be honest I am just like you if not I may struggle even more.
Let me explain…
Currently I am following a low FODMAP diet. I am sure most of you are like what is that?! I have never heard of it before! It truly is the best way of eating I have ever followed!
FODMAPs are found in both processed and natural foods and stands for Fermentable Oligo, Di, Mono-saccharides and Polyols. FODMAPS are typically found in carbohydrates based foods, but also in a few other fat/protein based foods. These foods are are poorly absorbed in the bowel. So in basics terms, there are many different types of foods my body doesn't like and it will sit in my gut, ferment and cause a lot of pain, bloating, diarrhoea or constipation. So it really hurts A LOT!! Imagine a razor blade going against your guts! That has happened to me a few times :(
These foods range include dairy (lactose), gluten, wheat, fruit (fructose), vegetables, legumes, lentils, nut and seeds and honey. Yes even fruits and vege!! There are many things I have to avoid but it is the best thing for my body. I consume lactose free dairy, gluten and wheat free bread or bars, I avoid legumes and lentil completely.
Fruits which I can eat include, oranges and other citrus fruits, bananas, berries, honey dew melon, grapes in a small amount and kiwi fruit. There are a couple others, but they are pretty expensive. That’s it, n apples, pears, or MANGO or pineapple, which I love which makes it even harder!
Vegies which I can eat include, sweet potato, carrots, pumpkin, zucchini, baby spinach, green beans, cabbage, broccoli in small amounts, bok choy, eggplant, red capsicum and cucumber. Again there a few more but I wouldn’t eat the others or again are expensive or are rarely in season.
So I think you can understand my diet is pretty limited, especially in healthy nutrient dense foods that I love! Which truly makes life harder. The thing I am most grateful for is that I am a Dietitian, and I know how to supplement my diet with all the nutrients I need to make sure I get the best of my training. So now you understand my diet is not like the average person, but I think it will put my diet into a little more perspective as you read it.
Now just before we take a look at my training and diet, I need to write a disclaimer, this is a diet for me only, not for everyone else to follow! This goes off my body weight, my metabolic rate (Because I know it!), training level and intensity, and because I need to lose 6kgs in just over 3 weeks. Yes that’s a lot of weight!! So please ask for help because you may end up hurting yourself!! I will not be following this plan in the long term. But in a few weeks time, I will let you know what that diet will look like.
So my training currently looks like this:
Crossfit Class five days a week
6-7 days a week, 1 hour of steady state work to help burn fat e.g. rowing, running, airdyne, Burning ~500-600 calories
Weightlifting 4 x week in the evening
Kettlebell class 1 x week
I might go for a walk on the beach maybe 1-2 x a week.
Nutrition: I have a training days and Low calorie days
Training day: around 1500 calories
BF: 1 GF weetbix + 1 C of goodness superfoods digestive plus + 1 C of lactose free high calcium skim milk + 1/3 Scoop of protein powder
Snack: 4 corn thins with a small scrap of vegemite on each + a carrot
Lunch: 2 eggs + 2-3 thins slices of ham, baby spinach, dash of above milk + 1 slice of GF Purebred Chia bread
Pre training: Gluten free muesli bar + orange or banana
Post Training: 100g of porterhouse steak or chicken breast + 200-300g of sweet potato + baby spinach, cucumber, zucchini – or I might mix in pumpkin and carrot.
Snack: 1tb of milo and 200ml of lactose free milk
Low Calorie day – 2 x a week around 600 calories
BF: 2 eggs + 2-3 thins slices of ham, baby spinach, dash of above milk + 1 slice of GF Purebred Chia bread
Lunch: 100g of chicken breast + pumpkin + baby spinach, cucumber, zucchini and carrot
Dinner 100g of white fish + pumpkin + baby spinach, cucumber, zucchini and carrot
Usually I do not exercise on a low calorie day and tell my clients to never exercise on this day, so please do not do this if you decide to attempt this, but I am doing it as a trial run to see how I go. There is no high intensity to my training on these days, I am just plugging along and getting the work done. On Sunday I did trial this and by 3pm in the arvo I was ready to eat an arm and leg haha, where normally I am pretty good until about an hour out from my last meal. So definitely avoid training on these days!
So this is my plan and it is aggressive, but I am using it as a case study. I will know what things will and won’t work, especially when it comes to my own clients. I will reweigh myself on Wednesday to see if I have succeeded with my diet and training for the last week and reassess what I need to do to make sure I am on track to continue to lose weight. This will all be in next week’s blog! So if your keen to make a change. Maybe don’t try and follow this because it is a test and wait for a few weeks!!
Of those people I have already told what I am doing with my training and nutrition, they have said I am determined and so focused on what I want. But I will tell you the truth. I am afraid. I am afraid of failing and not reaching the goals I have set in place. Failure is probably my biggest fear and it has been something that I have been faced with many times over the last month. I have failed to help my clients see the results they want to see, I’ve failed in my family relationships, my own relationship, to keep my weight lower than what it is at the moment and in training also. The last month has been a huge learning curve for me and I was in a pretty low place especially last week. My roommate gave me a few words of wisdom. He said how you choose to come away from these situations will make you a better or you can just do nothing. Sure it feels like crap now and you can feel upset about it, but don’t let it run your life. Make the decision to be who you want to be.
This is exactly what I want you guys to believe in regards to weight loss. Don’t let your failures in dieting or nutrition dictate the next stage of your life or your next meal. Make the decision to change; set yourself a goal, and work hard until you get what you want. Don't be afraid of failing, set out to become who you want to be. IF you need help ask, we all need it at some stage in our life, so don’t be proud or scared, just ask.
I am using my failures as fuel to my fire, I know what I want and will not stop until I get it. That is the hidden truth; it is all in the mindset and is what I am using! Use yours too.