Food Observations and Workout/Meals for 6/15/09

Have you ever paid attention to how you feel after eating certain foods? Does the back of your throat itch? Do you feel nauseated? Do you have high or low energy after consuming the food?

I've kept a food diary for years and one thing I know for sure is that I feel like I have amazing energy the more raw vegetables I eat. As you all know, I consume raw vegetables in the form of a drink every morning and for about a month now my mid-afternoon snack has been raw vegetables and hummus. Throw in an occasional salad as lunch or dinner and I'm practically living on vegetables.

Yesterday, I had a piece of cake at a party and I've never felt so sick. Sugar rush, nauseated for hours, felt really tired and then my knee started hurting. You heard me right....my knee! My bad knee, the one I had a cyst removed from in 2003. I think sometimes people think that "getting older" causes all these aches and pains. I think people underestimate the power of food and how it affects just about everything. Hormones, sleep patterns, exercise recovery. You'd be amazed. I require less sleep than I used to and I feel refreshed when I wake up. It's quality restorative sleep. The kind where muscles are growing ;-).

Anyway, yesterday made me think I'd like to try incorporating more raw foods into my diet. I've been reading Brendan Brazier's book Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life and there are some interesting raw food recipes I'd love to try. I love to cook and try new things so this is a perfect little experiment. My husband will eat just about anything so I luck out in that department. I plan on incorporating at least one recipe next week and see how it goes. I'm going to pay special attention to how I feel after eating these foods. Don't worry, I'm not going to turn vegetarian or vegan. I just want to try something different!

This morning there was a substitute spin teacher and she kicked butt! I mean, I was wishing I wore my heart rate monitor to see what was going on. The worst part about it is I forgot my towel and I SWEAT! So I had to take some paper towels and hold them in my hand and make do. Great way to start the week!

Here's how the rest of my day went:

a.m. - workout - 45 min spin class
1. immediately following - syntrax nectar protein drink
after a shower - green drink, w/1 tablespoon flax oil, green tea

2. chobani plain greek yogurt w/handful blueberries, serving of almonds

3. 3 oz grilled shrimp, black bean/avocado salsa, honeydew melon

4. raw organic cauliflower, broccoli, sugar snap peas w/3 tablespoons hummus, handful goji berries and cacao nibs mixed

5. free range organic chicken drumstick and thigh, 1/4 c white rice, roasted asparagus, green tea

6. handful cherries, snack pack cottage cheese, nut and seed crunch

Tomorrow, NROL4W plus sprints. Woohoo! Ready to rock it!