I'm Giving Up!

I'm feeling like a bit of a failure. :(  I've been trying to follow this Clean Eating Diet for almost 2 weeks now and have come to the conclusion that it's not for me.  Two weeks isn't long and maybe I'm a failure for giving up already, but it just doesn't feel right.  I still very much agree with the principles of this plan (eating frequently, eating fresh, unprocessed foods, eating protein with meals, but I think I have to scrap it.

I'm feeling way too constricted with what I'm supposed to eat and what I'm not supposed to eat.  I was getting to the point where I was getting ZERO enjoyment out of eating and there was a day when I wanted to throw out all my food because the thought of eating it was making me gag.  Plus, I found myself constantly thinking of foods not on my plan, unhealthy foods - which is strange because normally I eat pretty well.  I ended up reaching often for things that normally I'd rarely have.  And when I did eat outside of my plan I had this feeling of guilt.  Personally I don't think you should feel guilty for eating something, even if it is horribly unhealthy. 

As I mentioned before, in the first few days I had horrible bloat, which mostly went away - but not completely.  I had a couple days of high energy, but I noticed that I also had periods of extreme tiredness.  Sometimes this would come on suddenly and hit me like a freight train - other times I could barely pull myself out of bed.  Though generally my energy would pick up later in the day.

I think the real kicker is that 2 weeks in my weight is still up a little and I'm still feeling bloated.  I think the time has come to kick this one out the door.

So I'm going back to what has worked in the past - counting calories with a focus on eating healthy, clean foods.  I had gotten bored with recording every bite, but it does work.

Wouldn't this be wicked? 

Also, I have my next race (10K) coming up this weekend.  As soon as that is over I'm going to dedicate more time to weight training.  I'm going to have lots of races throughout the year and while I want to do well at them, if I really want to change the look of my body I know that weights is where it's at.  I'm just often worried that I'll be sore from a weights workout before a long run (you'd be amazed how hard it is to run with sore biceps).  But what I really need is to work those muscles more often so I don't get as sore.  Make it part of my routine again.

Last night I did 40 minutes of weights (full body workout) and then 2 fairly fast miles on the treadmill.  Tonight I'm going to dedicate to some speed intervals on the track.  The workouts are always the easy part for me.

I leave you with a very important lesson ....