This again...?

I just got back from getting ice cream -- well, frozen custard -- with Christina at the Dairy Godmother in Del Ray.  This is at least the 4th time in the last 8 days that I've consumed some form of overly sugared-up dessert product.  And holy shit, am I feeling it.  I have a slight persistent headache, I don't sleep well, I am TIRED, I'm bloated, I'm not recovering as fast, my joints don't feel good... overall I just don't.  feel.  good.

Since my Whole60 ended last Saturday, I have done incredibly rude things to my body while still demanding excellence of performance out of it.  I asked for performance both mentally: Level 1 (which I passed) and Mobility and Movement certification in 8 days with 5 days of day job in the middle, and physically: hello, 13.2 on Thursday and Friday, and I got it, but as I sit in my couch in lulu, I have nothing left to give.  This is, for the record, NOT the way you are supposed to come off a nutrition program.  I didn't need to do the tenative, gentle off-ramping because I did that last time and know how foods effect me.  But I went a little nuts because I knew that come Monday (aka, tomorrow) I would be going back on a strict eating challenge with another small group from my gym.

My participation came with a caveat that I'm going to refer to as both an experiment and exercise for me.  I will be eating clean from March 18 until the evening of April 7.  From there, I will proceed to take a stab at gluten-free eating while I spend 3 full days living, sleeping, breathing a work conference in National Harbor.  When I am able to pack up my car at the end of the show on April 10 and drive back in to Virginia, I will be back to compliance for the last 8 days.  I think this is going to be really good for me, actually: to be realistic with my expectations for those 3 days at the Gaylord, buffered by 3 weeks of compliant eating before and a guaranteed week after.

Speaking of realistic expectations, I have two frameworks going in to this next stretch of clean eating.

1. Consistently max it out in the gym.  This means doing everything I can to support optimum performance when I am in the box, including sleep, days off, pre- and post-workout nutrition (and supplementation).  I am going to add in two days a week of running in preparation for a 5k I am doing in May, so I need to figure out how to cycle that in as well.
2. Portion control.  I have spent the last 4 months eating clean but without a lot of regard for portions -- half a chicken and two avocados?  SOUNDS GOOD!  I am going to use the Whole30 meal template as a start -- palm size portion of protein and dialing back on my fat consumption.  It is my plan to do this for the first week, and then reevaluate my hunger levels and see if I need to adjust from there.  Eating compliant food in non-compliant portions was only going to work for so long, unfortunately, and I am not quite halfway to my body composition goals.

As a personal challenge, I would like to try experimenting with at least one, hopefully two, new recipes every week.  It is easy to get complacent in the kitchen (or in the Good Stuff/Chipotle lines), but I know there is more delicious paleo food out there.  I'm thinking about trying to make a clean kung pao chicken.  I'm hoping to blog my kitchen adventures, but only the good ones, not every bite that goes in to my mouth.  This is about making this lifestyle fun and sustainable, not falling face-first in to a box of Samoas.

I've toyed with leaving the scale in the closet this month too.  Jury is still out on that one, and the scale is still chillin' with the Samoas.  In the closet.

Pre-program investment.  Doing the things that allow you to change your life can be freaking scary.  Do them anyway.