Lean Proteins, Healthy Fats and Produce WHOOP WHOOP

So...I started a strict you-are-training-for-a-half-ironman-and-need-to-be-serious-about-food diet this past Monday. Now, here's the thing. Tell me to workout this much and in this way and at this certain heart rate and I'm there with bells on my toes and some toe touches in store for ya.

But tell me to stop eating ice cream? You have gone too far, sister.

So this is how the first 2 months went. I was a workout superstar but a nutrition failure. So Coachy gave me the option to get serious about this "Metabolic Efficiency Training" nutrition game (don't remind me that this is not a game...calling it a game makes it seem a little bit fun). My stomach said no but my heart and soul said yes. So I went with my heart and soul. And here I am, Wednesday night, feeling pretty darn good about the past 3 days. Yay.

Here are my thoughts thus far on this nutrition game.

*Spinach. I always thought I hated spinach, but have realized that was COOKED spinach that I couldn't stand. So, yay! But every now and then I DO smell the gross cooked spinach smell and freak out a little bit. But you gotta do what you gotta do.

*Cottage cheese. I'm so thankful that I'm not one of those "texture" people who are extra sensitive to things with weird textures. I'm one of the least picky eaters you'll ever meet, because, well, I just LOVE food. I think if I tried even a little bit I could start hating cottage cheese to the point where I might gag. But amazing things happen when you mix fresh fruit with it. Amazing.

*Nuts. I have suddenly started to eat a lot of nuts. Technically, I'm supposed to eat lean protein WITH a healthy fat with every meal I eat. If I don't have a healthy fat included in it, I just eat some walnuts and call it a day. Great just great.

*Flax seeds. I'm pretty sure I will never get the seeds again, just the oil. Yesterday morning I put flax seeds into my smoothie and then realized how awesome I was because I happened to have dental floss in my car. What a savior the floss was. I drink my smoothies on the way to work, and am pretty sure that by the time I drove into the school parking lot, I had at least 63 flax seeds stuck in my teeth. Who WOULDN'T want to learn about percent from teacher who had flax seeds for teeth? It would make for an interesting class. Hey, I'm here to serve:)

*Salmon. When I was younger, I associated "fish" with the casserole (I think it was called "Aunt Betty's Fish Casserole"...you can just TELL how revolting that dish was from the title) that we always had. This is definitely when I requested a "no thank-you portion", a smaller portion that I had to eat but it was a compromise because I didn't have to eat a ton. I'm totally stealing that for my own kids. But I will NOT be making them suffer through Fish Casserole of any kind. So anyway, imagine how blown away I was when I ate salmon for the first time in college. My life had officially changed. All fish didn't taste like the casserole that included some random kind of fish, onions, peppers, and cheese (isn't cheese supposed to make things taste better!?)! So salmon is awesome and I am so thankful that salmon decided to be omega and fatty. Thank you, salmon. I love you.

*Healthy fats. I am thankful for healthy fats, because any kind of fat is more delicious than cooked spinach and fish casserole from my childhood. But since you asked me if I prefer unhealthy fats over healthy fats, yes. Yes I do like the fats found in ice cream, cookies, chocolate, and Frank's buffalo chicken dip. But if I have to stop eating those, I guess I'll be fine with eating mature salmon. And I guess I can put up with flossing my teeth at work.