Why is it that when you are training for something you tend to eat healthier?
When training we are more conscious of everything we eat and do. We are more structured and disciplined. As you might have experienced, when you are training for an event, or working out regularly, you become more structured as a person. YOU have to fit workouts into your busy day. The more you have to do, the more you try to get done. When your daily canvas is blank, you can easily procrastinate because of the abundance of time so you are more likely not to structure your life. The same goes for nutrition. If you workout & train, you find a purpose to everything you ingest. You know what will keep you healthy, give you the right energy and strengthen your body. When you aren’t working out you tend to eat whatever sounds good.
What I experienced when I got injured, what a total emotional devastation. NOW WHAT- that’s how I felt. So I went from eating anywhere between 3000-4000 good calories a day and working out a couple of times a day to laying on the couch and emotionally eating. Not needing to think about what I was eating I continued to eat 3000-4000 calories a day, except they were empty calories.
So how do you snap out of it and balance a healthy diet when physically and emotionally down. After a few weeks of a total depression because I couldn’t get my endorphin fix and feeling bad for myself thinking when will I ever be able to run, bike, swim, lift and play again. I hit the wall- THE REAL WALL. At some point you must look around and assess the situation, and realize there is always something you can do. Even if all you can do is move your eyeballs- you are then exercising your eyes.
You have to start somewhere. Set goals, make a list and look at your diet. If you are not burning 4000 calories, then you don’t need to intake 4000 calories. Find the balance. It was hard for me to realize that I had to start from walking 1 block (and that's kicking my ass) to slowly three weeks later getting in the pool and swimming for 15 minutes, to only doing standing postures in yoga, but the more you accomplish the more powerful you feel and the light begins to shine again.
So to all of you, who are down, GET UP, EAT RIGHT & TAKE A STEP. It is the first step to an eternal way.
