Eating Clean---Why waking up in the middle of the night just ain't worth it

Okay, folks.  Now that I have become a 6 day a week athlete (core fitness, swimming, biking and running), my body has become a machine.  What you put into the engine reflects directly how said motor operates.

Last night, I woke up at 3am sweating and feeling awful.  I had run a great 10 mile run in the morning, and guess what I ate for two meals yesterday.  Ding, Ding...give that man/woman a prize...JUNK.  There is something in my brain that signals to me that one day a week I need to "junk it up" in order to make up for the calorie deficit that I usually create with all of the activity I do during the week.  Let me put it plainly to you all:  Junk food is crap.  It's kind of like putting stale, 10 year old gas which has been sitting in a red can in your garage then putting it into your car.  Ick.  Calorie dense food such as nuts, etc. are much better choices for making up calorie deficits.  Is is easy for me? No.  I mean, come on, I can make up that calorie deficit in minutes from Chic fil-A or Pizza (or in yesterday's case...both...what the..?).  Do I feel sick hours after eating that crap?  Yes, but they are manufactured to make you feel euphoric while eating and after consuming.

How do restaurants/manufacturers of foodstuffs keep you craving and wanting their food?  Process and additives.  Every time I even think about going to McDonalds, I think about Super Size Me, the movie.  In it, the documenter discovered that McDonalds calls its patrons "users" and those who eat more that a few days a week "heavy users"....Huhhhhh?????  If you haven't seen this movie, it will change your life, your perception of corporate food America, and cause you to think twice before putting that kind of stuff into your body.  The experiment was to see what effects eating McDonalds every meal for 30 days would do to your system.  I won't spoil it for you, but the results were STAGGERING.

I would much rather be a "user" of clean food than "food filled with crack."  A simple rule of thumb:  if you can't pronounce one or any of the ingredients on the label, it's processed.  Oh, and "made with natural ingredients" doesn't mean it's so....SO FRUSTRATING!!! AAARG!  Elizabeth and I have been really trying to live by asking the following questions:  Does it come from the ground?  Did it have a mother?  Easy questions?  Yes, easy to do all of the time?  No.  This is what makes us human.

The question that we all need to ask ourselves as athletes or even human beings  is, "is this crap going to help me get healthy, faster, or fitter?"  Quickly the answer makes itself clear.  Hell. No.  I'm not perfect.  I eat white flour bagels as a pre-race or hard workout glycogen spiker.  I eat Clif Builder protein bars.  I'm just in the habit (wow, there, Freudian slip...habit?  Yes, most processed foods are a part of habit and addiction, perhaps??).  I think that balance is great---cutting out white flour is really the way to go, but eating a high fiber meal before a hard workout just spells gastro challenges that I just despise (bloating, cramps, etc).

I made some amazing raw soup the other day, and I could sense how clean the food I was eating was.  It's 93 octane clean gas for your engine....put it in, and I guarantee that you will notice the difference.  There are recipe books for clean eating, and a quick google search can point you in the right direction.  I've found a lot of recipes that I absolutely love, and I hope to, this week, to create my own clean protein bar recipe using raw honey instead of sugar.  I will post my recipe as soon as it becomes ready to roll, and I'll post the other recipes I consider my favorites in the future.

Let's do this, people!  Yes, it does cost more to eat clean, but isn't it worth the investment in your body, your future?

Now, people, get outside, get yourself on that bike, in those sneaks, or in that pool, and GETCHUSOMMADAT!!! :)