This morning I was in a hurry so I didn't take the time to weigh out my breakfast. I just threw some sprouts and tofu on top of some rice with tuna, ate a half apple and a banana with a little granola, and was out the door. I knew I was a little light on protein and nutrients, because when I actually weigh out 400 grams of vegetables it's a whole lot of f&%*ing vegetables, it's like, more vegetables than I would have ever considered eating in one sitting before this project.
With the 400 grams of vegetables at lunch and dinner I have a lot of energy throughout the day, it's much different than the strong peaks and troughs of energy I felt on my usual diet. The energy is kind of on a slow burn and it sustains me for longer periods of time.
So even though I hadn't eaten enough vegetables or protein at breakfast, I figured it wouldn't be a big deal, in fact, I'd lose a little more weight today! Great!
Boy was I wrong. All morning I was having trouble doing even easy yoga poses, much less active ones. I made it through my 1000 jumpropes but just barely. And on the way home for lunch I was finding it difficult to pedal my bicycle uphill. I made it back to my apartment and had a proper, weighed out meal, and felt much better.
So I learned something today. The diet I'm on isn't just a suggestion. It's the minimum amount of calories my body can sustain while working hard at yoga and the strength training exercises. So if I drop 100 grams here or there I'm dropping below the threshold where my body can do it's thing well. It's a good lesson and I'm glad I learned it so early!
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Could you explain what your average day is? I think it would help me with the bigger picture. For instance, how many hours of sleep a night? How many miles do you ride a day? Any other exercise that you have left out? I'm sure that you take for granted the exercise you get from things like riding your bike but most people i know don't use that as their main mode of transportation. Keep up the hard work and i look forward to reading more.
I don't have a car (not unusual in Japan) so I walk, ride my bike, or take a train everywhere. I probably walk a mile or two a day, bike 5 or 6 miles between places and back. I also teach 15 yoga classes a week on top of my own yoga practice.
I sleep 8 hours a night, sometimes less, sometimes more, depending on how busy I am.
Hi Patrick! Wow, guess with the calories at that level you CANNOT go lower without paying a price. Yikes!
As for you comment yesterday about the animals living longer on seriously restricted calories, actually I had read that research before, pretty interesting stuff! Of course for me, there's a point at which if I was that hungry all the time, I might not WANT to live longer, heh! :-) A bowl of rice a day may have worked for Buddha, me, not so much. LOL!
The other side of that, for me at least, is I have never had a really healthy relationship with food. If I were to restrict that much, I think I would worry about taking it to far. As would a lot of American women I think. ::Shrugs::
I really like how you are utilizing your Zen practice into this. I think it is one way I might be able to deal with food in a healthier way myself, so I look forward to hearing your thoughts on what you are going through, with you ZIS slant. :-)
Take care and continued good luck! Kerstin
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