Xmas is Over and Thank Goodness Too.

Christmas is over and will someone please finish the chocolates and the Christmas cake!

Every year it is the same scenario in our house. We love receiving and making all those sweet yummy goodies but we also want to finish them before January 1st so that we can start the new year with lots of good and healthy intentions. None of which involves being crouched over the chocolate box menu and then eventually giving up squinting and just trying one of each.

Christmas was great. It was just Bill, me and our 3 kids. They are all young adults but Father Christmas still came and he did well at choosing silly gifts like fancy dress stuff and risqué jokes and the more sensible things like a box of paracetamol and a new toothbrush.

Of course they are....

We played silly games, got excited and competitive about the modelling clay in our Christmas crackers, drank bubbly for breakfast....lunch and dinner too and ate so much chocolate that I even had to put some in the bin - well just the flavors that no-one would eat.

Now I am in serious mode. Serious, meaning I've really got to get my diet in order for the ultra in March. I have been trying on and off for about a year now, to eat a low carbohydrate, high fat diet (LCHF) and I get so far but then fail miserably. Excuses like a birthday, Christmas, a holiday, house guests.....have all contributed to me being weak willed.

Our body's stock enough carbohydrates to fuel us for a few hours and then the hunger pangs set in. However our body's also stock enough fats to fuel us for days. So the idea behind eating a LCHF diet is to train your body to rely on using fats for fuel rather than carbohydrates. This means you will not feel the need to eat so many carbs (biscuits, cakes, pasta, bread..) as you will have less hunger and at the same time you will be burning fat for fuel. Bye bye belly.

You might be horrified (and scared) about eating more fat, but after reading about in on Phil Maffetone's website, I am convinced that it is a healthy lifestyle choice. Many people don't realise it, but they are actually intolerant to carbohydrates and this causes all sorts of physical and hormonal issues. I certainly get a bloated belly when I eat pasta and rice and I sleep better and just feel better when I eliminate them from my diet. Tough when you love rice.

So I'll tell you all right now so that I am accountable - "As of today, I am going to master the Low Carb High Fat diet and healthy eating"...... I've just got to finish the 'After Eights' first.

Happy New Year to you all and wishing you lots of health and happiness in 2018.

PS More Running specific information is on my website www.midliferunning.com