This post is more of a reflection than it is a current thought.  It is a look back on a choice I subconsciously made a couple years ago and that I am reminiscing and still feeling the positive effects of today.

When I originally transferred back to Texas in my 3^rd year of school, nutrition was still one part of my training and racing that I had not yet explored.  Once I did, however, I realized just how important this element was.

I realized that a lot of the “fake” ingredients I had been putting in my body were what I refer to as “empty calories”.  These are calories that I have to account for when considering weight, but that do not actually provide my body with any benefit when I take them in.  I started looking at ways to cut out these empty calories and realized, that by cooking a lot of my own meals, I could cut out many of those “empty calories” that come from unnecessary additives.  I could now prepare the same dish, while substituting the “empty” ingredient for a healthier one, or maybe by leaving it out all together.  The final result still tasted the same, if not better, because I now knew that what I was eating was going to be beneficial to my body and help me achieve the things I wanted to achieve. 

 Now, this does not mean that you won't find me out and about at some of Austin's best local restaurants, enjoying the amazing food they have to offer.  As a matter of fact, you will frequently find me at Magnolia Cafe, enjoying “The Big Breakfast Taco”, or down at Austin Java, having a cup of “Texas Pecan Coffee” with “The Best French Toast” in town, or even at the Tavern chowing down on “Austin's #1 Burger” while I throw back a cold pint.  No, it does not mean these things at all.  What it does mean though, is that I do them in low moderation when compared to the amount of physical output and activity I put my body through day in and day out.  These meals are special to me because I keep them that way.  I eat them at the appropriate times.  If I had them every day, yea, they would still taste amazing every day, but they wouldn't be a treat that I indulge in when my training calls for a reward (or simply an immense number of calories!).   I have found a balance that allows me to eat healthily, while still indulging in my favorite local meals.

When I am eating out, either out of necessity or because my life-balance calls for me to get out and be social, many restaurants now have healthy options to go along with their everyday meals.  The afore-stated Austin Java and Magnolia Cafe are great examples of this.  I commend these restaurants for their attempt to give us the option of choosing health when we aren’t afforded the option of home-cooking.  When the option to cook is available and the urge does hit to do so ,however, all grocery stores are not the same.  I encourage everyone to go to a market like Whole Foods and attempt to gather their normal shopping list.  The items that people won’t find will be the ones that, when examined more closely, are the unhealthy ones we don’t need anyways, and more likely than not, there will be a healthier substitute to replace it with.  This is what makes these markets so beneficial.  Not only do they provide us with a healthier option, but they informally make us aware of the unhealthy choices we were making to begin with.

Now, my diet is not as its modern day connotation presumes ... it’s NOT a “fad” diet, it’s a diet.  I don't believe in “fad” diets or quick fixes.  Everybody has a diet, even the guy who eats McDonald's Big Macs for every meal has a diet; it's a diet of Big Macs!  What my diet consists of, in relation to what I do and what I want it to do for me, is what’s important.  My diet would not be a good diet for somebody who had a life far different from mine, but for me is a very good diet.  I treat my nourishment as a way of paying close attention to what my body needs in order to do what I want it to do, whether that is lose weight, maintain weight, or even gain weight from time to time.  I don’t expect my body to give me what I want from it when I haven’t given it what it needs from me.  I think if everybody treated their day-to-day food intake this way, “fad” diets would quickly become a thing of the past, and the overall health of our population would take a step in a positive direction.