In an effort to be healthier and have some fun with my in-laws, we're doing the Neeley Biggest Loser Challenge.
These are the components of my eating plan goal.
Eating Plan
1. Do not eat after 8pm
2. Do not eat more than 3 dessert per week; do not eat more than 1 dessert in a day.
3. Eat at least 1 veggie and 1 fruit per day (fresh).
4. Eat at least 3 times per day.
Looking at my goals, they all seem really good and healthy goals. But one goal in particular is becoming a challenge to keep mostly because of the times when I exercise. I go to BYU's fitness classes (it's like a gym membership, but much more affordable and at BYU instead of a gym) almost every day that they are offered. The snag is the times they are offered-- one of my favorites is HIIT (high intensity interval training), and it's held at 7:30pm-8:20pm.
I've been doing some research on exercise and what you should eat before and after exercise and how to really build muscle and lose fat. And I learned that you should eat some quick absorbing carbs for energy 30 minutes- 2 hours before doing strength training. After exercising, you should eat lots of protein and some carbohydrates to help build and repair muscle (most importantly after strength training). Here's some articles that explain it:
(the quick, simple version)http://ezinearticles.com/?Use-the-Metabolic-Window-in-Your-Quest-For-Heart-Health&id=1472353
or (the research based explination)http://www.utexas.edu/features/archive/2004/nutrition.html
My problem: one of my goals is to not eat after 8pm. I made that goal with Brad before the Neeley Challenge and before I started a more intense exercise regimen. It is a good goal, because eating late at night usually results in greater weight gain because the metabolism slows down at night. But now that I'm working out later at night, specifically the HIIT class at 7:30-8:20pm, I'm in a tough spot. I want to do the healthy thing and eat some protein and carbs to help my muscles grow and repair after working them out, but it's after 8pm.
So, I'm left with 3 options that I can see-- do I...
(1) keep the "letter of the challenge" and not eat after my HIIT class and get my 10 points for the challenge but not give my body the nutrition it needs to build and repair muscle,
(2) keep the "letter of the challenge" and eat after my HIIT class and lose my 10 points but give my body the nutrition it needs to build and repair muscle, or
(3) keep the "spirit of the challenge," which is to be healthier, and eat after my HIIT class and also give myself the points even though i technically broke one of my goals because I was doing the "healthy" thing.
What do you think I should do?
3 comments:
Number three. You want to do what's best for your body and as I understand it, this challenge is to do what's best for your body, so yes, your "breaking" your specific goal, but you're still keeping the overall goal.
I would also discuss this with the Neeley clan and see what they think since they're the ones you're doing the challenge with.
i've left a question the blog for the neeley challenge, but haven't heard from anyone. i figured if i posted on fb, then i could get more opinions. brad has told me that the neeley's a a competitive bunch and likely would make me stick to my original goals. i'm leaning towards option 3 also, but i don't want the others to think i'm cheating. i'm just amending my goals to be healthier with changing circumstances. at lest that's how i see, but i don't know if they will.
I've been debating to comment or not. So take what you like and ignore what you don't.
I think you need to decide what your main goal is. Is it to win a challenge or to be healthy?
These kind of challenges are really triggering for people with a history of disordered eating or eating disorders and can often end of being more detrimental than fun and helpful. Be careful in your counting calories and counting exercise and pounds etc. I'd hate to see you get too caught up in that. I guess that's all I'll say for now.
Good luck!
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