Whatever it takes

Have you ever heard someone say, that they do whatever it takes to reach something? That they have the real passion for that thing, and they really are ready to do anything to reach their goal. I mean, anything and everything which are legal. ;)

I have made the decision, or more like a promise to myself, that I will do anything and everything it takes to get back to my sports. To try everything to get my lower back in that condition, that I can throw the hammer and do everything in Taekwon-Do without being afraid that one movement can make everything worse, and get me back to level 0. Doing everything I can, so that I will not need to start all over ever again, that I do not need to do all the rehabilitation again, that I just could get injury free training seasons.

Those are the things I want.

And it does not come only with doing training in a safe way, starting slowly and step by step increasing weights in weightlifting etc. It also includes other areas in life as well, everything has to be balanced, everything has to support my goals. Sleep, stress levels as minimal as possible, being able to detect the pain and listen to the pain, and one very important part is also eating habits.

Let's just say, that most people I have talked with about my bad eating habits, have not believed me. I do not know if it is because I am still an athlete, and it cannot be possible, that someone who is an athlete would have really bad eating habits.

But the truth is, that anyone can have bad eating habits. And please understand, that I am not saying that one chocolate bar a few times a week is a bad thing, or that eating candies 500g during a weekend is bad because if I would be in that situation, I would have not been worried. 

I was in the situation, where I was eating something sugary EVERY DAY.

No, I am not lying. It happened every day, eating something sugary (chocolate, candies etc).

And I am not proud of that. I do not even know when I got myself in that situation.

This is also the first time I am sharing it in public. Because obviously, before, everyone I have told about this issue, have answered something like "it cannot be that bad." or "it is okay to eat chocolate once in a while." What they have not understood, and what they have not even wanted to understand, is, that it was not once in a while. It happened every day.

And I know all the consequences of sugar for the body, overall wellbeing etc. So because I have made the decision to do whatever it takes to get back to my sports, I decided to ask someone else, some "outsider", to do me a meal plan.

And I am not saying, that you could not do it by yourself, maybe you can. But I have tried changing my habits for over a year, and I feel like whatever I do, I just make it worse.

I am tired of hearing from people "but you are doing so much sports on a daily basis, it is okay to eat some chocolate." 

Because no, it is not okay.

I still remember one nutrition lecture years ago, who said: "if you eat one whole chocolate bar after training, you will lose all the benefits you gained from the training."

Because that is how much even just one chocolate bar has calories and sugar. 

There has been news about how eating chocolate might actually be beneficial after training, but it does not mean the chocolate bar full of sugar, and more importantly, it does not mean the whole bar. Usually, it means dark chocolate and one bite. And who actually can buy a chocolate bar from a grocery store, and eat only one bite? Yeah.

So yes, I know a lot about healthy eating habits etc. But still, I have not been able to do anything about it. 

And finally, I feel like I can do it. I can start healthier eating habits, and get rid of the unhealthy snacks. Thanks to, my new meal plan, and all the recipes. Thanks to Mariah for making me a meal plan, and helping me to get healthier eating habits, and feeling better overall! :)

Meal prep for the upcoming week! :)

The truth is, that extra sugar is not good, and especially as an athlete, I should eat healthier than those who are not athletes.

So please, next time stop saying how it is okay to eat sugar, because of doing sports. 

That is an excuse. A way to avoid facing the truth.

But it is not only eating habits, I feel overall, that I am finally on the right track to get back on track. 

I have made some very good improvement in the gym, got my InBody scan results - and have lost over one-kilo fat, and gained over 1kg muscle mass - in 2 months.

I can do with bigger weights at the gym than I have ever done before.

And more importantly, I am enjoying what I am doing.

But most importantly, I am finally learning to listen to my body. Listen to the pain, do what I can and if I cannot, then not doing. I am still middle of the process to be able to fully listen to my body, and not doing what I want instead, but I am getting there.