As a result, I'm conducting two experiments on myself.
The first one is tracking my body's reaction to foods as I try them again. This is how the doctor figured out I'm allergic to Splenda (nasty chemical stuff anyway) but since I've eaten pretty darn clean for the last few months I'm noticing a lot of reactions upon reintroducing those old foods. Wheat seems to be the worst for me - a combination of stomach pain and bloating. And what woman likes that?
So far on my bad list:
- Wheat bran and flour - I baked muffins this week. It was not good.
- Pizza - same as the muffins
- Mike & Ike's - I broke out in a rash
- Bread (I'm sad that the delicious pumpkin bread did not like me as much as I liked it)
Maybe I reacted this way before I started dieting for the competition - I just ate it so regularly that I thought it was normal to feel that way. Actually now that I think about it, I know I had the same reactions before. They're just markedly stronger now.
On the plus side peanut M&Ms seem to be ok. As do rice cakes and peanut butter and my morning oatmeal. Phew.
The second experiment is carb cycling. This article kind of gives you an overview: Bodybuilding.com Carb Cycling. Basically you have high, low, and no carb days each week. As the article says, we are always "battling homeostasis" and cycling carbs keeps your body guessing. I'm kind of at a sticking point so I know I need to do something different.
My diet is going to look something like this:
- Monday/Thursday = No carb (green veggies only)
- Tuesday/Friday/Sunday = Low carb
- Wednesday/Saturday = High carb
- Every day must have 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight
Of course this week I'm going to make Thanksgiving a high carb day. What I like about this cycling idea is it doesn't cut out any main food groups for a long period of time. I think variety is important in your diet. In addition, while I know my body responds better to low carb diets but that can get mentally exhausting after a long period, so knowing that I'll have a high carb day soon (instead of 3 months from now) should make it easier to stick with the plan!
So those are my experiments in a nutshell (good thing nuts are ok in small amounts!). Applied science is fun!
good stuff. This carb cycling thing sounds very interesting.
ReplyDelete