I have been running for the past 11 years now and have been competing participating in races for the past 3 years. I have been obsessed with fitness for a while now. It is a big part of my identity and my lifestyle. I love every thing about it. It is a journey. I eat EVERYTHING. Crash diets are not for me and I realized that a long time ago. The fact that I have a sweet tooth does not help either.

I am at a stage in life where I need to lose a few kilos to improve my half marathon performance. I made some conscious decisions last year and the outcome has been great so far. I think I have hit the wall now. Some might argue that a runner does not have to do anything to lose weight because you know running does it for them. It is a myth. Running might help newbies in losing weight but for a seasoned runner (I am taking that liberty here) it gets difficult. Your body starts storing extra water, muscle weighs more than fat and all that jazz. The biggest challenge is that you are always hungry or what I like to call #rungry.

Last week I decided to take matters in to my hands. I have decided to go for a self imposed clean eating challenge. I know it is going to be super difficult but I gotta do what I have to do to reach my target and what better way than to blog about it?

So I will try and post recipes of my dinner. My days are smooth without any issues. I am very disciplined through the day. Sometimes I just go ballistic after my dinner and eat whatever I can. Stress eating is another one of my problems.

Some ground rules that I have set for myself are:

1. No Alcohol
2. No Refined Sugar
3. No substituting honey for sugar
4. No chocolates on rest days or easy workout days
5. Only 2 squares of chocolate allowed on heavy intensity days
6. No Junk food
7. No Biscuits (Another bad habit that I have recently picked up). Only 3 biscuits allowed on heavy intensity days
8. Ice cream only allowed if I am running more than 13Kms
9. Protein with every meal
10. Less portions and 7 meals in a day
11. Eat cheat meals every once in a while

So lets start from yesterday:

Mexican Bean Salad:

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Boiled red kidney beans
1 yellow pepper
1 shredded carrot
1 onion chopped
1 cup broccoli
1/2 cup baby corn
1/2 cup sweet corn
Garlic pods chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms finely chopped
Dried rosemary sprigs

Dressing
1 sweet lime freshly squeezed
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Soy Sauce
Pepper
Chilli Flakes
1 tsp Vinegar

Guacamole:
I used the standard Food Network recipe

Method:

In a pan heat a little oil and add chopped garlic pods and when garlic starts turning golden brown add mushrooms, rosemary sprigs and saute well.
Add yellow peppers and all the other vegetables one by one with broccoli at last.
Add beans and mix everything

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl, mix well and pour it in to the pan. Mix everything well.

Serve it with Guacamole..



Ciao..