I Like PIZZA... SO!

When we talk about training, we always get to the subject of food.  What should we eat, before or after a long bike ride.  What should we eat, when we first wake up, or before the gym or after the gym or when we think we might go to the gym.  Yes, food is an integral part of training.

There is always great debates that go on about food especially within the athletic community.  Should I eat, organic, low-fat, low-sugar, no sugar, multi-grain, no-grain, low-carb, low-taste, non-gmo, non-steroidal, well you get the idea.  For most of us, we know what to do, and have all the resources at our fingertips.

We don't need a website or podcast or other would be Guru to tell us that going to Five-Guys or Taco Bell is bad for us! Trust me, we know.  My body knows.  When I strive to eat clean, and then stray and eat something high in fat and or sugar, my body will let me know, that wasn't a wise choice.

LIGHTEN UP

I have found that people who have changed their eating habits and now adhere to one of the many dietary philosophies, often become evangelists in their attempts to convert the masses.  My good friend Beth, The Discom-BOB-ulated Runner,  recently posted in jest one of Taco Bell's newest culinary disaster menu items to which  several of us commented and said we wanted one.  None of us actually went there looking to purchase this breakfast monstrosity.  However, according to one group, you would have thought fire and brimstone would rain down on her for her dietary heresy!  LIGHTEN UP people.

If you have ever been to one of my Spin classes, I often comment on how long it will take you to burn off something you ate that day or in the not to distant future, like right after class.  I make it perfectly clear to my class that my ultimate weakness is pizza!  You know what they say about pizza, even when its bad, its not so bad, just like _____ well let's not go there.  I have joked with my classes that I had pizza for lunch, or was ordering one on my way home and everyone was going to have to pedal harder to make up for it.

People do ask me for advice.  People do come to me to help train them, to push them.  They ask me to help them change.  Why do they ask me?  Maybe because I've been there.  I was over 270 pounds at one point in my life.  Yes I decided to make changes in what I ate, but most importantly it was my way of thinking that changed.  I know, I am still over-weight by most weight charts.  I did get to my fighting weight for Ironman Florida.  I have raced as a Clydesdale, but not any longer.  Finishing Ironman, was a signature moment on a very long journey to get healthy again.

I'm not an expert in nutrition.  I don't claim to be, but I know the basics and what works for me, and I know why I put on weight and I don't deceive myself by saying, I don't know what I did wrong.  I usually know exactly why the scale is tipping further than I'd like.

I love food, what can I say.  I really love pizza!

#ILOVEPIZZA