A running stitch'uation

Out on the open road, looking forward to running a new route in Villamoura, Portugal.
It was set up to be a delightful run. It ended up being one of the worst runs I have ever had - at first anyway.
Off I went, slightly uphill at first, but I was enjoying it.
I love the challenge uphill presents because most runs are flat, but this one was bearable.
Usually it takes me around 15 minutes to get into a run and four miles before I am really comfortable. About 10 minutes into it I got a stitch, something I have never had whilst running before.
And my god was it painful. I am one of those who refuses to stop while on a run, I feel like a failure if I do.
I have even run through severe bouts of sickness. Doubled over, holding back the vomit, I have still carried on.
I did try to push through it but it stopped me in my tracks. My legs could have carried on and my mind was good to go but the pain in my side was excruciating. I was putting pressure on it in an attempt to compress the pain.
Who knew something as simple as a stitch which we all suffered as kids, could really be so painful.
It hurt enough to combat my stubborn nature.
As it was my first "stitch up" since becoming a jogger and with it coming after running only a short distance, I felt I had to get to the bottom of it.
It was around two and half hours since I had eaten, however it could have been the food I ate.
I had sushi for lunch, a chocolate pastry for dessert and shop bought granola for breakfast.
The combination of high sodium and high sugar foods must have had something to do with it.
It got me thinking about my diet in general. It has not been up to scratch lately and it made me feel guilty.
A bad diet can only lead to bad running. So it is time for a change. A 10 day detox and clean eating from now on. I am determined to eventually quit sugar but as we all know it is extremely addictive. It is also in everything! So it may take a while but it is something I am willing to be patient with.
On a more positive note. I was feeling rather disappointed about stopping due to the stitch and had resolved to take the shorter route home. But as I pushed through the pain barrier I started to feel better. Before long I felt stronger again. I ended up doing a much longer route then I initially thought.
So what began as a bit of a disastrous run turned into a successful, enjoyable jog.
Bur the moral of this story is bad diet = bad running.  

Sugar rush

Here we are again, on a sugar high. 

The viscous circle has completed its loop for the thousandth time.

I really am on a mission to cut sugar from my life but my problem is, I just love food too much.

Being a big cook means I do not have to worry about unhealthy meals. 

Breakfast, lunch and dinner on the most part are home cooked foods. It is the stuff in between that get's me.

Unfortunately, the job I am in means I am rewarded by happy customers with treats.

The issue here is the people around me. I am in an office full of sugarholics, and while their intentions are good in that they like to share the food they buy, it does not help my mission.

I do not binge to the extent I used to which is a positive but I really have not restrained myself lately. If a cookie has been put in front of me, I have eaten it, if the bowl of cereal has winked at me, it  has not lasted very long. 

Now I feel my skin is awful. The sugar is punishing me.

I need help, what can I do? The world is surrounded by temptation. My will power is not quite developed enough.

Binging

I was fully prepared tonight to blog about my achievements of the day. I am sorry to say that will not be what I blog about but I will tell you all about my failures.
My post was supposed to be about how I had some little treats today, a couple of pieces of chocolate and a small amount of birthday cake (co-workers birthday, we all know the score) but at the last hurdle I failed.
Unfortunately I cannot mentally get it into my head that it is ok to have something naughty as long as it is in moderation. I go into this mindset as soon as I eat something bad that I have failed so I may as well eat everything I want in one day, get it out of my system and start better tomorrow.
So, when 9pm came and I had managed to enjoy three very healthy meals and a few small treats I felt very smug and proud of myself that the little voice inside my head hadn't got the better of me.
But I am sorry to say the one little Thorntons chocolate that wouldn't harm turned into six and then before I knew it I had binged on everything.

The cake that started it all

I don't tend to have bad food in like chocolate and biscuits but I had caved earlier today and bought a small bag of chocolate (which would be fine if I could managed one or two a day but I can't). I'm like Pringles, once I pop I just can't stop. Before I knew it I had finished the chocolates, eaten two bowls of shredded wheat and nibbled on just about everything in my fridge.
To be completely honest I have really fallen off the bandwagon lately. I lost quite a bit of weight and started to feel great so I began to go a little bit easier on myself. But that turned into ooo just one won't hurt, maybe another, oh I may as well have that and slowly I am putting the pounds back on. It is a slippery slope and one I need to fight. Willpower is something I have never been very good with. So tomorrow is a new day, and I am going to eat well, do a massive workout and set myself up for a clean eating weekend. Starting Monday I am going to feel energized and refreshed. It will set me up for a good week. I am also going to do another round of Bootea which helps keep me on track because I refuse for it to be a waste of money.
One thing for sure is I am an emotional eater. I recently hurt my ankle running so have had to stop that for a while which is something I am struggling with. I love running and I am itching to get back out there so the frustration of not being able to just go is getting to me. One more week of rest and I plan on seeing how I get on going for a short run.
But for now I am going to feel guilty about the amount of food I have consumed today and look forward to a healthier future.

High fat low carb

In a previous post I mentioned metabolic testing. I went and had loads of tests done on me to measure my body fat percentage and to find out which fuel I burn the most - carbs, fat or protein.
When it comes to healthy eating I have always had a higher carb diet and a reasonably low fat diet. Most of the carbs came from fruit. I always knew that fruit had sugar in it but never considered that combining the amount of fruit I ate, especially high in the glycemic index such as bananas, pomegranate and grapes, with my nagging sweet tooth would be making much difference.
But, I had hit a plateau with my weight loss. I understand a lot of the pounds are now muscle rather than fat, and I am in no way over weight but I still wanted to lose a couple more pounds.
I also know that snacking like I do doesn't help but on the most part it has never been a problem when I wanted to drop those hefty extra pounds.
So learning that my body burnt next to no fat and way too much sugar it all became clear. I need to cut back on the sugar so my body will look to my fat stores for energy.
So this week I have written a diet plan. I am in day two and so far I have stuck to it really well but I have to admit I am struggling. Usually when I am peckish and eating well I reach for some fruit, while I am still eating fruit I have to cut back considerably. So this has been difficult. But I have succeeded.

Today's results

As you can see, I keep a food diary using the My Fitness Pal app, which I think is fantastic and would recommend. It calculates everything from the amount of sugars consumed through carbs and which fats you have consumed. (I am pleased to say the high fat count comes from virtually all healthy fats and saturated fat intake is still low as always.)

But to burn more fat I need to provide my body with fat. Anyone with the slightest interest in nutrition knows that you can't have both a high fat and high carb diet as sugar makes fat stick. And there is a lot of arguments out there over which is the best, I personally think it is individual. Hopefully after a few weeks of working really hard, eating loads of fat and protein, no unnatural sugars and limiting my carb intake I will be able to make my own mind up.

Coming from someone with a sweet tooth who eats a lot of fruit to combat it, I am finding it tough. High fat and protein means I am even more limited in satisfying my need for a sweet treat but hopefully cutting back on it will help. Luckily I love yoghurt and milk which have been saviors when I have just needed a sneaky swig of something extra. One thing is for certain I MISS CEREAL sooo much. The cheerios will just have to wait for a rainy day and if my body fat percentage lowers, hopefully it will motivate me to cut back on the naughty snacks for good. 

Bootea detox

I have just spent the last two weeks using Bootea detox tea.
It has been an interesting two weeks. The tea is a blend of natural herbs and spices designed to detoxify your system.
It comes with a recommended eating plan which I must admit, I didn't pay much attention to. I pretty much eat what it recommended anyway. The one thing I did stick to was cutting out meat. It says meat has toxins that make it difficult for the tea to work it's magic. That was fine as I don't eat too much meat anyway.

It comes in packets that can be resealed for freshness. 

The first week I was so good and strict, I stuck to eating healthy, natural foods and saw a difference straight away. I could feel my body becoming almost purer.
Unfortunately, I had a couple of days where I didn't eat too terribly but not as well as I should. I also had one night drinking which it recommends avoiding.
However, even after a small mushroom pizza and quite a bit of vodka I still felt the benefits.
My skin feels better and I feel like it looks brighter. Even with the added extra bowls of cereal that have snuck in this week my stomach feels smaller.
I will be doing the teetox again. I think i'll make sure I do it when I don't have plans to drink on the weekend and see if it works even better.
It is a bit costly at £20 for two weeks worth of tea. That included breakfast tea that you drink every morning and teatime tea that you drink once every two days. The flavour of the teas are delicious and subtle and I will actually miss drinking them. I would recommend trying it for anyone who wants clear out their system and see and ever so slightly flatter stomach. Next time I will try to remember to do a before and after stomach picture.

Metabolic testing

Last week I went to a health clinic for some metabolic testing and nutrition advice. 
It was very interesting and something I hope to follow up.
Unfortunately I found myself on Thursday night mindlessly binging on cereal and cereal bars (sugar central!) So I don't think I gave myself a chance at a fair reading. Nevertheless it really helped me understand my body more. 
I also want to lose an extra seven pounds so this can only help with that. Worth a try.
So I rocked up and got started. Using a special machine that Clinical Edge Health Care have the rights to, I breathed into the apparatus to get my reading.

Breathing into this mouth piece sent readings into a machine to measure my fat.

It measured my carbon dioxide output and from that worked out what type of fuel my body burns the most.

Now, I could have guessed that sugar would be high, my low blood sugar and constant sweet tooth made that blindingly obvious but what I didn't expect was the shocking numbers.

My body burns 88% sugar (as I said before this was probably a little inaccurate due to my binge, but I doubt it is far off) and only 12% of fat. Ideally it should burn between 48-83% fat and 17-52% sugar. 

I was given lots of advice and I learnt quite a bit too. At this clinic they recommend a higher fat and protein diet and lower carbohydrates. They completely made me re-evaluate the type of food I eat and at what times of the day. So starting on Monday (when I have finished my current detox (will blog about that at the end of the week)) I will be changing my lifestyle and seeing if it works. Instead of carby oats for breakfast I will eat more protein like eggs and yoghurt. I already eat a huge amount of fruit and vegetables but I will be trying to cut back on sugary fruits and eating more berries and plowing even more veg onto my plate.

I am not sure how I will react to this because I love cereals and oats for breakfast but I will keep updating the blog on my progress.

Bad blogger and bad eater

So I haven't blogged in a while.
It did not seem worth wasting time when I have had such disgusting eating habits.
You see my grandparents visited me at the weekend and I love them to death. The only problem is they come with a few added pounds.
They had about five bags of food for me. A lot of the food was biscuit orientated.
Now, I don't buy biscuits because I eat the entire pack so it has been a nightmare for me.
Needless to say this week I have eaten many a wheaty treat.
This whole week doesn't look too good to be honest and work has gotten in the way of work outs.
That always makes it extra naughty.
Today I went to my spin class again for the first time in a month (due to holidays and work commitments) and it was one of the hardest yet.
So I feel great for that but unfortunately I didn't feel like cooking at 8pm so I had two bowls of cereal instead.
Yeah I know not too bad but I had toast prior to the class and a big lunch.
The good news is, I didn't snack today. I think the key to it is have a big lunch. Dinner is usually my biggest meal which doesn't really make sense.

Today's lunch, not the healthiest but the most delicious

I don't burn anything after eating it because I just slob on the sofa. I think I may have to look into making lunch my biggest meal from now on.
I have no inspiration for yummy hot lunches that I can take to work though. It isn't the same as being in your own kitchen.
Next week is detox week. Very hard with little solid food. I will update every day with my progress but as for the weekend, I am having visitors so I am not watching what I eat.
We're all allowed to do that sometimes.
Remember guys, nobody is perfect!

Get a Grip

I started this Blog because I thought publicly humiliating myself and my eating habits would help me.
The past two weeks I think it is safe to say I am disgusted in myself. I will not even go into what I have eaten today.
I have been slacking from the gym too. I have been going but I don't feel like I have been working very hard.
Well that is it. I am sick of telling myself at the beginning of the week that I will be good this week and then by the weekend I over indulge beyond belief.

My enemies of the day

Now, I have no desire to be stick thin, hungry and missing out on food but I need some self control.
Believe it or not some of the healthiest meals I cook are my favourite. It is the snacking I need to control. Chocolate and cereal are my worst enemy.
I am horrendous with biscuits but since I stopped buying them I seem cured. A chocolate bar or chocolate mousse is all too easy to pick up and I will not give up my cereal.
Cereal is my favourite thing in the world. I could live on it.
Yes you may say you could be eating worse things but it is the quantity that is the problem.
Most of my cereals are healthy, oats, Special K and Alpen which I adore on a morning and intend to stick to eating.
I believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day and is the best time to indulge. So I need to remember that when I go for a bowl of Frosties at 9pm.
As I said in a previous post, I have made two big batches of soup. That is lunch sorted. I have also planned dinner time meals.

Monday: Tomato and basil chicken with salad. 20 minute run on the treadmill, ab weights and Zumba.
Tuesday: Fish and steamed vegetables, 1 hour 30 minutes gym routine.
Wednesday: Spiced chicken and quinoa salad, 1 hour 30 minutes gym routine
Thursday: Soy glazed Tuna with spiced steamed vegetables and 45 minute spin class
Friday: Homemade pasta, pesto and scallops, 1 hour 30 minute gym routine
Saturday: 3 mile run and cottage pie.
Sunday: Rest day and carvery.
I will stick to this, snacks will be fruit and nuts which I will constantly have to hand and I will make a mango mousse for dessert on Saturday for being good. (If I am good). I feel more determined then ever to stick to this. I feel I am letting the Blog down as I started it and have barley reported anything good. Wish me luck and I will update daily.

Eat smart this week folks.