Insanity - High Octane Fuel

See the title of the blog? I didn't have any of that today. And I suffered for it. Here's the story.

It all comes down to my mood. Wasn't in a good one. I felt pretty bleh for most of today. I slept in an awkward position the other night and have had a cramp in my neck ever since. It's bad to the point where I can't turn to the right (I'm no longer an ambi-turner). It's been irritating. On top of that I have a feeling I'm stressed about something in the back of my mind. Put it all together and it makes for a bleh sorta day. So what do I do? Stress-eating!

I've done fairly well with my diet since starting Insanity. Today was the most I deviated in a single day. I kept my normal breakfast and mid-morning meal so that was healthy. Then around 11am I was eying the recently refilled candy jar on the office snack table and grabbed two bite-sized Twix. You know the bite-sized ones right? You can pop the whole candy in your mouth like popcorn. It's really small so it's really easy to eat 5 at a time, making it just as bad or worse than eating a regular sized candy bar. Well, I had two Twix, then a few minutes later grabbed another one along with a mini Snickers. Yay, that's more candy in half an hour than I've had in the past 2 weeks!

Lunch time came and I ate my regular lunch: a small portion of pasta with chicken and veggies with an apple on the side. The cramp in my neck wasn't getting any better and at one point it felt like it was making me walk with a limp, which didn't make any sense to me at all. So the bleh-ness continued. Then came the birthday celebration.

At my office we do birthdays good! We sing and have dessert. Enough dessert so everybody can have 3 helpings. Today's menu: pound cake, strawberries, cool whip, and homemade banana cream pie. Since beginning Insanity there have been a few birthdays in the office and I've been able to resist. I just load up a small plate of whatever fruit is on the table (strawberries, blueberries, or whatever), run to my desk and keep my eyes away from what others are eating. Today, screw it! Give me that cake, some strawberries with cool whip, some banana cream, and heck give me one more piece of cake! I scarfed it and it was delicious. Then I felt mildly guilty about it and ultimately my mood didn't really improve.

For dinner I was out and ordered a salad. But this is one of those “salads gone bad” kind of salads. The entire thing is coated in a cream-based dressing, there was some bacon in there, and fried chicken. Only in America can you make a salad 5000 calories. On the surface it seemed like a healthier option but it probably wasn't all that great.

With a less than spectacular diet in me I got home and did my workout. Man did I feel a difference, and not in a good way. I was sluggish, unmotivated, and took a lot of breaks. The worst part was I didn't have it in me to push through to do better. I stayed at the same lackluster pace the entire workout. Frankly put, I sucked.

In past blogs I talk about how hungry I've been since following Insanity's nutrition plan. I may be hungry, but at least I'm eating higher quality food that gives me the high octane fuel needed to perform. Today that was not the case and I paid for it. Looking back, scarfing down on that dessert really wasn't worth it. I mean, it didn't even help my mood! What's that about? The candy wasn't necessary either.

The lesson, healthier food is just better. The comfort stuff didn't offer much comfort really. Bad food doesn't make a bad day any better so hopefully I remember today the next time my mood slumps. If you're wondering, my mood got better towards the end of the workday and even though my workout didn't go well I still felt pretty good when it was over. Hopefully the cramp in my neck is gone tomorrow, my mind gets in a better place, and I can get back on track.