This week I am embarking on another personal challenge. While this one is following up the whole "run a marathon" challenge, it is still sort of hand-in-hand with that. Basically, I just want to start eating better.

I think my current eating practices would best be described as "somewhat unhealthy". I never eat fast food, do not eat many fried foods or very much meat. But, I do have a soft spot for pizza, ice cream, and assorted overprocessed frozen foods. While I do not plan to totally cut myself off from the foods that I love, I need to mix in more healthy stuff and watch how much I am eating.

To help, I have visited the local library and picked up a number of books from nutritional books to cook books. I'm starting off by reading Runner's World "Performance Nutrition for Runners" (which is what ties this back to the running thing, as I'm hoping the new diet will also end up benefiting my running). In short, it summarizes healthy eating into four basic principles:

1. Eat natural foods
2. Eat a balance and a variety of foods
3. Balance your energy intake with your energy needs
4. Customize your diet to your individual needs

It all sounds common sense, but there are much more details behind each of these principles. I'm not really following any of them yet, though I started today with a nice big salad at lunch and a "healthy foods" shopping trip this evening. I still have a fridge full of perfectly good "not-so-healthy" foods that I still need to work my way through, but I'm starting down the right path.

Unfortunately, there is no real definitive end result for this challenge. I'm not really out to lose weight, just to get in better shape. So this is sort of an ongoing challenge. How long it goes, I suppose, will be what determines if it is ultimately a success, or not.

This entry was posted by Brad, on Monday, June 19, 2006. You can leave your response.