Carb Cycling

I am beginning down a road that is known as Carb Cycling. Just for the next few weeks. I don't know if any of you have heard of carb cycling but it is basically eating a higher amount of carbs one day and a lower amount the next. Generally you will eat a higher carb day when you are planning to lift weights or do some form of anaerobic exercise and than on the lower carb days is when you would generally do cardio.

I have found so far that this take a fair amount of math and planning. Which those tend to not be my strong suit. But the people who have done this properly seem to have nothing but good things to say about it. Sooo I will give it a go.

Yesterday I had a medium carb day because I went hiking but than I ended up lifting free weights at home. I suppose the thing I do like about this is that you can adjust it throughout your day depending on what type of exercise you decide to do because if you're like me, that sometimes changes or things come up. So this is how my day looked as far as food. (I'll start taking pictures from now on)

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 slices of turkey bacon, 1 cup of oatmeal, banana

Snack: Smoothie

Lunch: Tuna, salad, radishes, peppers, balsamic dressing, pumpkin seeds

Snack: Almonds, pumpkin seeds, and a few dark chocolate covered almonds (love my chocolate)

Dinner: Steamed broccoli, cauliflower, peas, 1 1/2 cup of quinoa, 1/2 lb of cubed steak

And to drink I just had lemon water, tea, and water all day.

I felt so full! I am normally a binge eater and will go all day without eating than eat all at once at night so it was kind of hard to keep up eating throughout the whole day but I did it! I generally had more energy so that was noticeable. Today I have had a late start though but I am setting my timer on my phone so that I am eating a meal every 3 hours. Using a timer will definitely help keep me on track! Anyways...I'll get my starting weight and measurements today and some pictures and check back in in a few days with you guys to let you know how its going! Below are some articles on carb cycling that I have found helpful if you yourself are interested in trying it with me!

http://www.laurengleisberg.com/2012/12/carb-cycling-101-to-burn-fat-build.html#

http://vaultermagazine.com/chris-powells-acceptable-foods-list/

http://chrispowell.com/carb-cycling-101/

http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/carb-cycling-build-muscle-lose-fat

http://www.livestrong.com/article/217520-carb-cycling-meal-plans/

So It Begins.

So here's the thing about me, I'm not overweight. I am a fairly healthy person. Not particularly in shape, that was made perfectly clear after I struggled to climb a very small hill with my boyfriend the other day. I had to stop and take a few breaths about 4 times. That was a bit embarrassing.

Also...I am, legit, addicted to terribly processed food. I LOVE chocolate, to the point of feeling the need to have it every day in some form or another. I will honestly be cranky and, at times, rude to others if I go too long without it. The following are also terrible foods that I have consistent cravings for:

1.) Orange chicken
2.) Mac and Cheese
3.) Pizza (of course)
4.) Ice Cream
5.) Copious amounts of cheese and crackers. Like, by the truck loads.

Nutrition and health have become a small passion of mine over the last few years of my adult life. I don't really know or remember why but I just noticed myself reading articles and studying charts and reading food labels and it somehow just has become important to me.

But....I still have these cravings and I still cave to these cravings and than I feel bad about caving and have periods of self doubt than I continue to eat poorly till I feel like crap and than try to change my diet and exercise routine but than I have another craving sneak up and I start the cycle all over again. It sucks...and it's exhausting.

I personally have been on a 5-20 lb weight flux for pretty much my entire adult life. I have jeans in my closet ranging from a size 4 to a size 10 and I keep all of them because my weight will change that much over short periods of time. Another thing to know about me, I am chronically tired and I have stomach issues up the yin-yang. I am also a person who has high levels of stress due to constantly putting too much pressure on myself to be better than I am and to always be improving my life and my place in the world. Self improvement is definitely important and something to strive for but there is something to be said for being happy where you're at while working towards where you want to be. I heard that somewhere...most likely Pinterest.

Anyways the thought of this blog (I have had a few failed crafting blogs in the past) is to focus on health. To focus on being happy with my life and with my body while working towards improvement. I have a gym membership, I have a few extra bucks for some good food, and I have the ability to carve out time in my schedule to quit complaining and actually become healthy and hopefully get rid of my stomach issues and my chronic exhaustion. Yes I have talked to my doctors about my issues and after multiple tests and a year of frequent visits to the doctors office I got labeled with IBS and was given a shoulder shrug when the question was asked on how to deal with it. So...I will just try to work this out on my own. Things I know about myself:

1.) I react negatively to high amounts of stress
2.) Positivity makes me positive
3.) Tracking and documenting progress keeps me motivated
4.) I get very lazy very fast
5.) If I don't have easy to grab healthy food I will succumb to a drive through

So there are my hurdles to overcome. So begins my research and my trial and error period of how to become a healthy, happy, vibrant person. We shall see how this goes! I apologize now for any break downs or ranting and raving that may come from these very opinionated fingers of mine. Just take it with a grain of salt and keep in mind that it is probably a day without chocolate.