Food challenge (Take 421)

The fitmom girls have issued a challenge. Now, you might remember the last time I said I was done eating like a couch potato.. and the time before that, and so on. But this time there is much talk of how Farber is going to bring it and it just so happens that it's well timed to line up with the final 6+ weeks until Kona. I have would love to just once race an Ironman at my pre-Ironman girth. Back when I ran for fun, no racing, no triathlon, I was 6-8 pounds lighter than I am since developing this terrible case of quadzillia and swimmerbackitis. I feel like the girl who sprung the sneak attack on Beth this weekend.

And in case you're wondering, no, I don't actually care if it's all muscle and if I lose any of that all-muscle. Not one bit. The less I cart around on that run, the better. I am not above putting look good over bike split. I don't play composition favorites. I am 5' 11" and added weight = big girl. This is pre-tri me and here I am now, (scroll down, hottie at top is Beth) kicking Beth's ass at the end of that race I snuck into last weekend in Cali.

There are a few rules:

• Nothing processed goes in.
• I must eat breakfast.
• No social eating.
• No chocolate. Because I am not a just-one-bite kind of girl.
• No lying about how it's going.

And some exceptions:

• Processed is OK while training. Infinit & Powergels don't grow on trees.
• The protein powder in the Jamba all-fruit is exempt. I need my recovery favorite!

Dinners are the big problem. Wyatt only eats bread and cheese. Oh and butter. When he gets a papercut, that's probably cheese coming out. I know, bad parenting.. trust me, the kid goes to bed without food quite frequently. But still I feel guilty when I know I'm making nothing he will eat. I tend to just make dinner for the kids because I'm too busy or R isn't home. Stuff they'll eat, with a fruit and vegetable on the plate for them to look at.. and to ensure that no one gets dessert. And then I either skip dinner or eat peanut butter off a spoon. Oh crap, is peanut butter processed?

A few inspiring blogs - First dinner up is cornmeal-crusty turkey from James & Lindsay. Lindsay makes some incredible healthy food and James is a tri-star, check them out here.

Beth & James have a blog dedicated solely to their most-excellent eating habits: VO2maxxed But no matter how cute and fast Beth is, I will never ever eat seashell soup. Seashells belong on the seashore, not in broth.

Mark's Daily Apple is a little extreme for me (my canines are not that big.. they're kind of flat actually, so maybe I have evolved into an herbivore?) but has some great suggestions and ideas as well.

I admit it, it's not all about looks, I do notice the correlation between crappy eating and crappy workouts. Leading into this weekend I ate well a few days in a row, and the weekend workouts were great. No bonks, no cramps, no ducking into the bushes (ahem, Wil.) And I can't say the same for a long run the morning after the visit to Outback Steakhouse. My sister made me eat there. The petite little vegetarian even ordered the bacon cheese fries.