My eating habits

I'm currently 9 weeks out from my next competition which means that strict dreadful diet season has officially began.  I often have frustrated people ask me about my workout regimen because they claim they're busting their butts and not getting the results they desire.  That's usually my cue to ask about their eating habits.  What people don't realize is diet is a large portion of the overall picture.  We're all beginners at one time or another and I remember and still occasionally feel overwhelmed by the slew of health and wellness information floating around.  It's challenging to find your way and weed through the plethora of information accessible to us; what with fad diets, new exercise trends and the latest mystery supplements.  


Back in the day I used to be the "skinny-fat girl"; I was slender with very little muscle mass and over 20% body fat.  I had the idea that I would exercise and not eat!  What I'm realizing more and more is that a lot of young girls tend to share this logic.  I used to go the entire day without eating and then eat one large meal before bed.  I don't know where in my brain this made sense and why I never thought about how unhealthy this plan was.


Up until one year ago my eating habits were still very poor; it's not that I ate junk food, I just never had an appetite or was always to busy to eat.  For me the hardest part of competing is never the training and always the diet.  I have no problem with eating clean healthy foods; it's the amount of food and how often that I have to eat that's the issue.  I've had an entire year to work out the kinks and come up with a fail proof plan that works for me and should simplify anyones life.  


Each day I eat six meals, I space them out approximately every two hours.  I eat the same six meals seven days a week in the exact same order.  I train six days a week and Sunday is always my off day which works out perfectly for my meal planning.  I buy all of my groceries and cook, portion and freeze them for the upcoming week on Sunday.  I've got a good system going and now know (through trial and error) which order to cook and portion my food in the shortest amount of time possible.  It takes me two hours to cook and portion 42 meals :)


My diet consists of six different types of meat, very little fruit, brown rice, baked potatoes and lots of salad.  I also drink at least a gallon of water each day; which is a major achievement for me because I used to go an entire day and drink only two cups of water!  Again with my young inexperienced not so smart logic!   


Your body is your temple and you only get one...  It's our responsibility to preserve our health and treat our body great by feeding it the cleanest foods, drinking lots of water, getting proper rest and exercising regularly.  We're not garbage disposals so why eat junk?!?!  I've learned if you're good to your body in return it'll be good to you =)