I can not out-train a bad diet

Repeat after me:

“I can not out-train a bad diet.”

How many times have we heard this? I’ve read it or heard it at least a half dozen times. Maybe more.

But seriously, who believes that’s true? No one. Plus, who believes that their diet is “bad”? 

As of yesterday I had lost 9 pounds in ~6 weeks. My clothes fit. My face is lighter too. I am told daily how my new haircut looks great on me. My energy is increased and hell, even my skin is on board with the new plan. I feel and look as good as I've felt or looked in a long time. 

But, somehow, that’s not the best part.

The best parts are the moments like the one I had recently at a post ride gathering. I was chatting with an athlete who said, “Yeah, I would love to go to Tina, but I don’t know.... Don’t you feel deprived?”

I swallowed the bite of hamburger in my mouth and washed it back with a swig of amber beer.

“Um,” I drawled as I glanced down at my nearly empty glass. “No?”

We both laughed when she realized how silly that must have sounded in the moment.  I don’t feel deprived. I feel strong. I still do fun things, I just do them less frequently. I follow the plan to The T every day that I can with the knowledge that there are times when I will not have access to the foods I prefer. Thus, it allows me to make substitutions in the name of convenience or fun, without feeling deprived.

And as I said, beer is on the list of “things that are OK twice a week”, and that’s working for me.