Eating Enough

There is a funny thing that’s happened a bit in the corner of the CrossFit blogger world that I live in, and it’s that women have not only rejected the idea of a calorie deficit, but have moved to the other side of the spectrum. Instead of fitness bloggers who humblebrag about how little they ate today, CrossFit bloggers post about how MUCH they ate today, how they are still hungry, and how they are going to go make themselves a 1500-calorie bedtime snack because #gainz, y’all.

Don’t get me wrong, I am more than supportive of ditching the calorie deficit mindset. I will be the first person to tell you that eating less does not mean being more fit, and in fact not eating enough can be detrimental to your progress. I know this, because I can barely get myself to eat enough on a regular basis. I am not a big eater, and never really have been, and up until the past few months, I’ve been pretty ok with that.

But, to be honest, I am also not really ready to just start adding indiscriminate mass to my body. I’ve said this before, but I know that even though CrossFitters are only supposed to care about our increasing fitness, it is also pretty nice to look in the mirror and like what you see. When I gain weight, I can tell immediately–and not because my lifts go up. Also, I’ve been noticing that the high carb meals that are encouraged by ETP and Lift Big Eat Big-style athletes and coaches just make me feel sluggish and unenthusiastic. My body is apparently not as on board with the idea of eating 3 cups of rice for dinner as I want it to be.

But I also know that if I want to get stronger, I have to, at the very least, shift my weight around on my body a bit. And I think that the solution to this dilemma might less to do with “eating big,” and have a lot more to do with lifting heavy weight on a regular basis. Tomorrow I am starting this 12-week Strength Cycle Training Plan from Catalyst Athletics–I have tried doing a few Catalyst programs in the past, but both times have been stalled by illness (last spring) and injury (stitches from a dermatology thing this past November) and then never found myself back on track (And yes, I’m starting on a Thursday… it just fits better in my schedule that way). And I’m hoping that this will give me some focus and, if nothing else, maybe make me a little hungrier.

So in the meantime, I am still working on making ETP work for me. Two nights ago, I had two burger patties with 2 cups of brown rice for dinner, and I had to coach myself through the second half of the meal. Who knew eating so much could be so hard?