What a transformation your feeling of inner balance, well-being, and happiness will undergo from just a week of full-on healthy eating and working out. Since Sunday last week, I’ve been to the gym five times (missing out on two days because of a tension migraine I always seem to get just after uni finishes; my body isn’t quite used to all the spare time), and eaten nothing but home-cooked, from scratch, delicious food. The meal and gym diaries are working their magic, as is the meal planner that I’ve followed strictly all week long. I thought this diet might be the biggest challenge, but it really isn’t that hard; I only put food on it that I know I’ll actually eat, and enjoy eating at that.
I feel stronger. At the gym, I can go for an hour with an average of 130 heart beats per minute and smile the whole time; there is something inexplicably beautiful in this raw, physical strength, like a favourite taste, but for your muscles. They thrive in their exercises and cheer whenever I push them a little harder than the day before. Then, while I’m stretching, they thank me for the time I’ve given them and their well-being, and carry me out to the car, though a little more staggering than when I entered the gym.
What’s really important to remember when working out this much, though, is letting your muscles rest; I only ever do two days in a row with the same muscle group, leaving them to chill out when they’ve had enough. My mum told me a story from her gym, about a man who pushes himself to the absolute limit, but then has to call it quits within fifteen minutes. In one session, their trainer had to show the man how to pace himself, while telling the rest of the group that the people who start too hard, usually quit too soon. The muscles need their sleep too. But when they get that sleep, the energy levels you get back from them to do other things is fantastic; you sleep great, because your body is physically exhausted, and wake up the next morning with a buzzing mind and a huge smile. I love it.
At the grocery store, my new favourite section has become the vegetable and fruit aisles, which is the first thing you walk in to once you’re through the doors at our local Coles. Thank you, clever store manager organising person. Veggies and fruits take up 50% of our trolley now, accompanied mostly by poultry and seafood (and the odd kangaroo - delicious, chock-full-of-protein meat). I frown at the ready-made, processed, lets face it, crap, that takes up too much space in the store, and smile when we hit the fresh food deli.
“Can we grab some salmon, fresh calamari, and a filet of that cool fish from Tanzania, please?”
We cause a hold-up with our order, and a lady looks surprised at all our seafood.
“What are you making?” she asks politely, though seemingly overwhelmed.
“Oh, just, you know, lunch and dinner. We heard seafood can be quite good for you.”
The woman smiles and explains that that’s why she’s at the deli too; for some of that healthy seafood stuff. I can vouch for that. Salmon salad is my new favourite, with sprouts, cucumber, rocket salad, and spinach. And some capsicums for a treat. Delicious, and filling, and makes my tummy, and insides, and mind, smile. A big smile, every day. Then, as my first-week-completed treat on Friday, I had strawberries with a bit of sugar. Nothing with one billion ingredients. Nothing I can’t identify what is. It feels good knowing what I’m putting into my body; it keeps thanking me for it after every meal.
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