My Take on Diets and Excercise

I started weightlifting about 3.5 months ago now. Jamie Eason became my inspiration, and mentor (via her program on the bodybuilding.com site). I've been at the gym almost every morning trying to achieve the body, as Jamie puts it: "I have always dreamed of". I have made a lot of progress, but  I'm not where I want to be. Time is the ultimate answer, along with diet and exercise. 80% of a person's health regimen is dependent on their diet. That old saying: "You can't out train a bad diet" is always running through my head. The diet part is the hardest aspect for me.

I followed the eating plan that Jamie uses in her LiveFit program, but I couldn't see how approximately 200 grams of protein was going to benefit me. I did it for about 6 weeks, but according to my doctor, my  kidneys would be overworked, and my body more than likely end up flushing more than half of it anyway, so I stopped... not to mention it made me bloated and gave me the worst gas EVER! (yeah, I know I am a female, and shouldn't disclose this sort of info- pfft, someone needs to be honest). Also I must disclose that I have a serious distaste for meat and eggs to begin with (Every now and then I like a burger or a chicken breast, but only like once or twice a month), so you can only imagine how happy I was to ditch the massive amounts of flesh.

I have researched and read so many things about different eating plans (or diets, as it were). I can't believe how many are out there right now! Paleo, dairy free, gluten free, fruitarian, 80/10/10, clean eating, vegan, high fat raw vegan, lacto-ovo, and finally, there's the normal everyday American diet of over-processed  sugar laden, fast food.

I have a dear friend that is doing the 80/10/10 and she is thriving on it. She is so happy that she is the lightest she's been in 10 years and says she feels great. I have seriously thought about doing it, but from the scientific side of it, it's not going to be a good thing for me in the long run. Keeping sugar levels that high all the time while not having any real fats... sounds like a recipe for disaster. Talk about insulin resistance and premature aging  I'm almost 35, I need to be careful of what I'm doing to my "starting to get smile lines" skin.

 I went vegan for awhile, but felt tired and out of touch with myself. The longer I did it, the more I realized that the mentality of vegan is good for the most part, but it seems that it's almost a cult following. Like people are so longing to be a part of something that they let this "lifestyle" take over. They become obsessed with animal rights and "being vegan" heck, some of them even go so far as to get "vegan" tattooed on them. (In my eyes that's just a little strange). More power to them though, but it wasn't the answer for me.

Those other diets are all great, but I can't see myself sticking to anything. I just eat what I want, but in moderation. I want a burger? I eat a burger. A salad? I eat one of those! I don't think that a person should cut anything out of their life completely... it's all about learning self control. I don't drink soda, and I rarely eat candy, but I don't tell myself that I can't have it. It's just something I save for special occasions (or that time of the month- which usually is a "special" occasion). Sure, my goals may take a little longer to reach than if I were to follow "the perfect" bodybuilding diet, but I am happy excited to go to the gym everyday... and that's all that matters.