The 2P diet

I've had a busy week just gone, so I haven't had much time to sit down and write. When I have it has been short, but helpful for the brain. So I thought I would settle in this Sunday afternoon and update you on something other than how my brain is working.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to try doing the Paleo diet, to help in losing some weight and assist my return to marathon training. For the most part this just meant giving up the brown rice I took as part of my lunch and not eating dairy or chocolate. It sounds rough right?! Well it has been pretty successful on the whole. I've not found it too difficult to avoid simple sugars, dairy and grains as I already eat meat and veg most of the time anyway. All my meals are wholesome and filling and I've been eating more fruit to supplement them, which has been a welcome addition to my menu. It's not all plain sailing mind, I did veer from the plan one evening last week with a rib and hot chips dinner and have been back on the flat white coffees lately. But after slipping off the Paleo train I thought it best if I just invented my own diet instead.

Let me introduce you to the revolutionary 2P diet. After years of research and self trialling diets I have formulated a new, modern way of eating. The 2P (or Partial Paleo) is sure to be an award winning, book selling, money making break through for me. The diet fundamentally consists of eating wholesome meals such as meat and veg, supplemented with a scattering of fruit and nuts throughout the day and sparingly spiced with a little bit of grains or simple sugars. It is nothing like any diet ever created.

That's right I have gone full circle to a way of eating that is just balanced. If you didn't detect the enormous amount of sarcasm above then this means I cut simple sugars out and replaced them with fruit and veg. I have massively reduced the grains in my weekly diet, but not lost them entirely. I have removed dairy except from the milk in one (maybe two) coffees each day. It's not bloody rocket science, it is just finding out what works best for your body by trialling it out on yourself. From the first couple of weeks I've worked out that although I have energy for the day I don't have enough to train and have been pretty lethargic/lazy come the evening. I did work a 50 hour week just gone and it was physical, but I don't think that is enough to tire me out come the evening. I've been doing an active job for quite a while, so I'm fit enough to do that and train. I think having reduced the carb packed rice and bread from my diet that I am probably lacking a little energy. Veg doesn't pack in the carbohydrates in the same way, so although it may fill you nicely with it's fibre it won't always give you the energy needed. So at least I know what I need to do over the next couple of weeks to help my run training and keep my brain working at it's maximum 62% peak ;)

I haven't weighed myself in a week, but after the first week I had managed a 2kg weight loss. Tomorrow I will weigh in again before training in the morning and see how I am progressing andin a few weeks I will have a body fat DEXA scan to show me what fat I've lost since my last one at the start of the year. My aim with all this is to improve my body composition to assist my run training. Essentially running at 86-88kg is easier than running at 92-94kg, I am sat at 90kg, so I'm part of the way there. Having talked about motivation last week this focus on weight will keep me on track for the first few weeks I hope. After that I will look at run times and see some progression in my fitness. I won't be running like a pro, but at least I won't feel like a sack of potatoes when I do my races this year.

I'll keep you posted on the weight loss.

Tom :)