I try to eat healthy and I would say that I probably eat healthier than the average 20 year old but I've been noticing lately just how much my diet affects both my training and my daily life. I don't eat any meat and haven't since I was 16. I do eat seafood and dairy though. As a child I was pretty allergic to dairy and I think I still have minor dairy allergies today (after eating dairy I can't stop coughing and clearing my throat). Because of this I generally try to stay away from eating a lot of dairy. I also have a tendency to overeat, especially when I'm bored, so I try to keep only healthy foods at my apartment.
Now that I'm living at home for the summer it is a lot easier to eat some less than healthy foods. The first weeks being home I tried to eat mostly healthy but had the occasional junk food. I figured having a small portion wouldn't be that big of a deal. After a week or two of being home I started to feel like crap though. I felt like I had no energy and by late evening my stomach hurt really badly. One night after eating a bowl of ice cream I came to the conclusion that what I was eating explained why I felt so terrible.
Since I haven't been tested for food allergies since I was a child and as of now I don't think it is necessary, I am going to experiment with what I eat. A few years a friend of mine cut out common food allergens such as dairy, soy, nuts, corn, etc each one week at a time and kept a journal of how she felt each week. By the end of the experiment she had figured out which foods were causing her trouble. While I don't think this is at all necessary for me since her experiment (which was given to her by her doctor) was pretty extreme, I do think a variation of it could prove to be helpful.
For a few weeks I am going to try to eliminate as much dairy and processed foods as possible. While I don't think this will be very challenging at home it could get tricky if I go out somewhere or if I'm at my boyfriend's house. My hope is that if I don't eat dairy or processed foods for a few weeks I will feel better and know they are the cause of me feeling so crappy. If I don't see changes then I have no idea what I'm going to do but I certainly won't be happy.
*When I say processed foods I mean foods you find in your pantry such as crackers, white bread, chips, etc. I am not eliminating carbs from my diet but will be choosing whole wheat options and quinoa. I do not think that eating gluten is the problem so I am not eliminating it. Also, I have taken nutrition classes and will not be doing anything stupid. I will be consuming a healthy amount of calories and protein. The point of this is to cut out unnecessarily crappy foods and hopefully start feeling better.
Sounds like a great step toward a cleaner diet! You are right though - you definitely eat healthier than the average 20 year old! I ate junk when I was 20!
ReplyDeleteDid you know that almost everyone is allergic to dairy, yet they don't know it? You're smart to eliminate it and see if its the cause of your issues - it most likely is!! Plus, I HATE DAIRY and don't think it's meant for human consumption so even if it's not the cause of your problems (which it totally is, lol), I would still recommend you NIX IT!
ReplyDeleteI hope this solves the problem!!! Thank goodness for almond milk ice cream :)
ReplyDeleteI hope this works for you and you are able to stick to it! Sounds like a great plan to try and see if it makes you feel better.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in college I used to gain weight at home on breaks and lose weight back at school where most people were opposite (i.e. people and the freshmen 15). But the fact was, when I was at home I had more home cooked hearty meals that were more calories than I was having at school. Don't get me wrong I ate plenty at school but I was also more active.