So, my 30-day challenge wasn’t exactly what I dreamed it would be. It wasn’t a total bust, though. I learned I have more will power than I thought: I still haven’t eaten a french fry since July! Of course, I did go to the L.A. County Fair this weekend where I consumed the following:
1. Fried chicken with a bit of mashed potatoes, gravy and biscuit
2. Tempura veggies with creamy dressing
3. Sugary shave ice
4. Fried watermelon (just a bite!)
5. Bloomin’ onion
6. Half a giant pickle
7. Beef dip sandwich
8. Coke
9. Lemonade
So, as fast as I cut the grease and sugar out of my diet last month, even faster did I add all the crap back into my diet in one fat-ass sitting. And I’m already paying for it.
But I’ve not yet undone all my hard work, nor do I want to. After the sugar/grease withdrawals and subsequent crankiness subsided, I felt great. So, I’m back on the healthy train so I can preserve some of that new-found energy.
Here’s why 30 days wasn’t a reasonable timeline for this challenge: When you cut sugary/greasy goodness from your diet, your body (or, at least MY body) starts freaking out. I was irritable, headachey and lacking energy for the first two weeks, which made it nearly impossible to do any ass kicking in the studio. I tried, but I was so wobbly. I couldn’t focus. Perhaps I could have supplemented my diet a bit better by reaching for an apple or nuts when I was feeling crappy, but I’m sorry, when I want cupcakes, having an apple instead only pisses me off. No, I needed time to get over the cravings. Once I did, I felt balanced and I found my groove.
So there was almost two weeks wasted. Then, in the final stretch, I was sidelined by a job that kept me in the office for 12 hours a day for nearly a week. This caused me to miss a few classes, neglect my blog and blow off my personal practice time when I was too tired to do anything but come home and plop on the couch. Who was a bitter flamenca? That would be me.
But the long holiday weekend is over and I’m going to resume the challenge for another two weeks, starting yesterday. I’m excited. Over the last couple of weeks, I think I’ve made a couple of breakthroughs with the dance and I feel like I have to keep attacking it hard to get to the next level. Yes, this is the plan.
Married to the Dance 
Fried watermelon?! Who knew?
Junk food is ridiculously addictive. It was the biggest challenge for me to overcome during my “comeback” earlier this year– I found it a lot easier to go out and thrash myself in training on a daily basis than to avoid eating three bowls of goldfish crackers at 11pm.
I for one am rooting for your success, however that may help or not in a moment of weakness!
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Ha ha! I can do without the Goldfish crackers (and even the fried watermelon), but french fries and cookies are my weakness. I was seriously addicted, but I’m doing much better after the detox. You know I even WANT to eat healthy now?! How weird is that?!
Results are the best motivation and I’ve definitely seen results. But you know all about that, what with your comeback and all. Thanks for your support, G. It does help 🙂
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