How I’m eating and now feel about cheat meals

Howdy folks! First I want to give a shout-out to an adorable vegan I met at a book signing for Rory Freedman’s new book Beg (Katie was it??) who said she is loving my new fitness blog. It made me super happy to know you guys are reading and enjoying the posts! Please do leave comments and let me know if you have any questions or want me to write about certain topics! 🙂

I’ve been pushing it hard on the weights and lightening up on my cardio a bit. I was told by many trainers and bikini competitors that I could afford to eat more carbs and lift more weights while doing less cardio and figured I would give it a try for a few weeks. Everything is an experiment at this point since I’ve never done a bikini competition or tried to get as fit as I possibly can (my mission).

The plan is to weight train 5x a week, do HIIT training 1 or 2x a week, incline walking or Stair Master 1x a week, one other fun cardio class if I feel like it (spinning, Zumba, or kickboxing) and yoga 1x a week. My diet will consist of 5-6 small meals throughout the day, eating every 2-3 hours. I will also be more conscious of eating the right kind of foods before and after my workouts.

For a recap of my juice cleanse click here.

I will admit that I don’t like the rigidity of a schedule like this and I refuse to weigh my food and calculate nutritional values for all my meals like most competitors do. That’s just not how I ROLL!! I’m going with my instincts, making balanced meals that have good carbs, protein, and veggies and laying off the carbs in the evening. Snacks like fruit and protein smoothies will be had throughout the day to make sure my blood sugar insulin never drops and my metabolism stays strong.

After 3 weeks of unprocessed and eating at home (save for one meal a week), I feel really amazing and can already tell a difference in my physique. What is most noticeable is I no longer have sugar cravings and don’t even want to “cheat” with desserts and pastries, which I thought would be the hardest to give up. I’ve allowed myself one restaurant meal a week where I can eat whatever I want and I found myself yesterday going over in my head all my options. How crazy is it that I was looking for the healthiest option I could find??!!

Austin and I ended up going to get dosas, which is sort of in-between healthy and naughty. It was just ok and I didn’t feel satisfied. Then today my stomach was tore up! Not too be too graphic but I did not have my usual perfect bowel movement this morning. All day my stomach has felt acidic and queasy. I’m to the point now where my Sunday Funday (cheat) meals are not even worth it if they make me feel like crap the next day. So most likely those fun meals will be something healthy like a meal at Casa de Luz or Beets Raw Cafe. I may not be able to eat at any of my favorite restaurants anymore.

Surprisingly I’m perfectly content with not eating out. I cannot believe I just said that. The food I’ve made at home taste so good and more importantly makes me FEEL good. Since I don’t have a full time job outside the house I can really take the time to prepare fun and delicious meals that will satisfy and never leave me bored. And since I don’t have to spend so much time doing cardio I can finally get those meal plans done that everyone has been asking for!! I’m so close to having one completely raw one and one cooked meal plan done. I look forward to having more time in my day to work on stuff that matters to me.

SO tell me, have you tried eating like this before? What do you find challenging about preparing your daily meals and making sure you have time scheduled out for fitness?