Guest Post: The Great Food Debate

Almost a year ago, while training for the High Rock challenge in Staten Island, I met two amazing sisters.  They were also moms who had a love of sweat.  Over the past year, they have become good friends of mine.  Tara, one of the sisters, has become a regular running partner of mine.  She has a cupcake business and while I totally vouch for her sweets, her cooking is just as amazing.  She cooks extremely healthy food that tastes great.  She has even been known to drop off homemade soups at my doorstep.  (Keep it coming, Tara!)  Since I love to share the good things in my life on this blog, I thought it only right that you meet Tara.

xox
Jen

Tara and I with the Big Guy after a recent race

Hi I’m Tara, I have made lot of friends over the past year, both through road running and at the gym. However, I had already lost 30 pounds before I entered a gym so, inevitably I always find myself telling a new acquaintance that I started to run not to lose weight, but for peace and clarity. Moral of the story? No matter how hard you workout or how far you run, how you fuel your body determines your weight. Period! I honestly believe I changed my metabolism by changing the way I eat. Sounds like magic, right?  So as we hit February and start to lose all of our New Year’s resolution excitement how do we keep the momentum going? To me it's all about getting excited about food! Which leads to:

The great food debate!

Lately, I catch myself asking people about their food philosophy. People seem as polarized about their diets as they do about their politics. Are you Paleo? Whole 30? Vegan? Low Carb? Calorie counter?  Jenny Craig? Isagenix? Yikes!  When I tell people I rarely eat meat, don't do dairy or wheat they lose interest in my miraculous results.  Most start to glaze over and drift off. When I tell them my children eat basically the same way, except for more animal protein, I really see disbelief. How can I deny my sweet children happy meals and donuts? What kind of nutball is she anyway?

I am going to make a bold statement now;You have to find a diet you love! If you want to change your body you need to change your life. If you stick out something you hate it will be a struggle to keep it up. Why make this hard?  Food should taste good and nourish you. It should enable you to do the things you love. I love to get out to the park and run. I love to go to sweaty yoga. I love to swing a big kettle bell, but I need the right fuel to do it.

So, here is my challenge or proposal, if you will. If you aren't happy with yourplan make a new one.   Let’s start by simply getting a notebook andkeeping a log of your food for a week. Write it all down...the good, the bad, the ugly. At the end of the week you will look at what you are eating the most of. Pasta? Bread? Cheese? Soda? Gasp. Donuts? Gulp. Don't judge yourself. Where you are today is the beginning of your story. We are starting a new chapter. Now let’s work on it one step at a time. Start by limiting some of the things you love or go cold turkey. Do what works for you. More importantly,  replace those things with new foods you love to eat!  Foods that will love our body back!  You just might be able to create your own magic. Maybe it's just a slim down to help with your performance at the gym or your running. Maybe it's the very beginning of a new love of fitness. It's YOUR story. Make it all yours and love your new outlook.

To give you a kick start I'm going to share a recipe for Paleo banana bread from Elana’s pantry. I'm not Paleo, but I borrow from them on occasion. Their meal plan doesn't fit my life exactly, but we have a few things in common. I make things my own. I took her recipe and replaced the shortening with coconut oil. Sometimes,I replace a banana with roasted peaches and pears. Take the ball and run with it!  Happy eating!!

http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-banana-bread/