Lessons Learned and Still Applied From my Cutting Diet

So as many know, I've completed a couple of cutting diets. I'm surprised to say that my eating now more resembles the cutting diet than it does the way I ate BEFORE the cutting diet, which was really not that bad.

Here are some valuable things I learned that I thought I'd share:

- I cook ahead. This is something I told my coach, Ruben, I didn't want to do in the start. I'd rather just cook what I was going to for that day. But it didn't take me long to figure out that it took just about the same amount of time to make a big pot of brown rice as a small one. Last night my daughter and I had sweet potatoes for dinner. I threw extra into the oven and then tossed it into the fridge when the meal was over. I don't set aside a time on the weekends to cook for the week like a lot of people do, but now when I do cook something I can use for meals later on, I'll make extra.

- I have started to eat more "real" food and less protein powder and protein bars, which are convenient but leave me hungrier than whole foods.

- I eat a great, big breakfast. Before breakfast was maybe a small bowl of whole-grain cereal with raisins and a cup of milk. Now it's slow-cook oatmeal with natural peanut butter stirred in, a whole egg with several (usually 5) egg whites, and often a piece of fruit. This helps me to not be as hungry the rest of the day and really fuels me well for my usually up-coming weight lifting session. Breakfast is usually now my biggest meal of the day. (For a very convincing reason to eat breakfast, I'd encourage you to read this blog by Ruben: http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=2898374)

- I occasionally eat fish now, voluntarily. It's not my favorite, but I don't despise it anymore. (Yes, Ruben.... you read that right!) Tilapia is my favorite. Maybe one day soon I'll work up the nerve to try salmon again......

- Before I go to bed I have a scoop of protein powder, in milk if my daily calories allow it, or water if they don't. Ruben had me doing this to give my body something to gnaw on other than muscle while I slept. I'd rather like my muscles and endeavor to keep them, so I've kept it up.

- I usually drink at least a gallon of water a day. I can't remember if Ruben had me start this or if it just kinda came along with the cutting territory, but I find my body does a lot better with plenty of plain old water coursing through it. I am not as likely to binge, have fewer cravings, and feel less lethargic when I drink this much. My complexion is the clearest it's been since I was about eleven, and I often wonder if the water is a lot of the reason why.

- I don't eat as many carbs in the evening as I used to. I won't go into the specifics because this blog is long enough, but I prefer to get my starchier carbs early in the day, when they can be burned off by fueling me through my activities.

I hope that you picked up a thing or two here that you can implement into your own diet to help you along on your journey to fitness. As always, I love getting your comments and feed back, so please don't hesitate to respond!