My Husband Was Right

So let me preface this post with a little bit of background about myself and my Hubby. When he and I first got together, we were both what you would call overweight and unhealthy. Our eating and drinking habits were out of control and I was also a pretty heavy smoker - up to 3 packs of Camels a day at one point! He and I would go out for 3 course dinners several times during the week and drink to have a good ol' time on the weekends. I'm not sure when his AH-ha moment came but I know for me, it was not being able to tie my shoes without being out of breadth. I was just barely 30 and I'm already feeling this way? Not to mention, a stern talking to from my oncologist (that's a completely different story for another time, relevant but yeah, another time folks . . .)

So, we both started walking which turned to running and then at some point I split off to do CrossFit and weightlifting (I don't hate running per say, but I'd rather do burpees LOL). If you are a runner or know of one, you know that their diet and a diet of a weightlifter are kinda different, to say the least. A runner is going to constantly be looking for carbs and fats to refuel and a weightlifter to protein for recovery. Which is the correct way? Honestly, they both are depending on how you expend your energy and what your overall health goals are.

So, for the past decade or so my husband and I have been reeling in those bad choices. Not to the point of non-existence but doing things more in moderation. He's got his running routine for the week and I have my weight training. His post workout foods are very different from mine. For example, for me it will be a protein shake, a cheese stick and a piece of fruit (protein-fat-carbs) and for him, it's pretzels and peanut butter (carbs-fat). Last night while making myself a little night time treat, I found that the "family-size" jar of peanut butter we bought last weekend had just a few more servings in it left. I yelled out from the kitchen, "you ate ALL of this already?", to which he replied "ok, rice monster.".

And, he was right.

I am not a sweets gal. I don't crave chocolate and I don't really look to smoothies when I think healthy. When I think about nourishing my body I think meat and . . . rice. Okay, haha rice is more of a treat for me. Reason being, I cannot control myself around it so I have to be mindful to have it in moderation. Why? Because it's calorie dense not because rice is bad for you. Took me some time to learn the difference. If there are 2 cups of fresh cooked Jasmine rice or 12 cups of rice sitting in front of my face, I accept the challenge of consuming as much of it in the shortest amount of time possible. It's good with meat, it's good with eggs (what's not good with eggs?!), it's good with salted butter. Mmm mmm mmm.

My point of all this, is that we all have our food vice. For some, it's tacos and for others it's cheesecake. Is that so bad? It isn't and it's because it isn't the food that's bad but rather the quantities we consume it in. Boom. Calories. If you think eating all organic is going to make you healthy but you are eating in a surplus of several hundreds or thousands of calories a day than you expend - think again.

I am working through this myself coming back from quarantine. I had started a new nutrition plan prior to everything getting shutdown and didn't think to adjust it for the even more sedentary routine I had working from home so I put on a few pounds. Am I pissed about it? No, but I'm not exactly thrilled amount the number on the scale. What I am happy about it that I have measurable evidence that I have gotten stronger over the last several months - that has always been my goal. The rest will follow.

Not sure how many of you know this but, you can't get stronger or get "toned" while living in a caloric deficit. What you can do in a caloric deficit is lose weight. This weight consists of fat AND muscle loss. Did you know that? Weight loss cannot exist of pure fat. Yup. It's not how our bodies are engineered. Fat is ideally our emergency reserve so why would our body give it up so easily just because you want to be thinner or fit into your jeans from high school?

So, if you are thinking that what you have been doing doesn't feel right for your over all health goals, then I encourage you to book a call with me to talk about it. You might just need some guidance rather than a complete overhaul like the fitness industry wants you to believe.