Day 1.
Health plays an important role in my life. I always make sure I am drinking enough water, that I am eating the right amount of vegetables, proteins, and carbs. I make sure to exercise enough during the week, and reach my intensity minutes goal according to my Garmin watch. I am always adding something different to my routine, but the one thing that I haven’t changed in a long time is the way that I eat.
My eating plan is not terrible, but I am beginning to plateau, to hit a point of stagnation in my exercise, results and energy levels. What does this mean? It means that I want to change things up a little bit, not to change who I am, but to experiment, to get to know my body a little better. We have a tendency to ignore the most important part of a fitness and nutrition journey, which is getting to know yourself, in both a physical strength level, as well as what your body needs to work at its strongest. I am not at my strongest anymore when it comes to my physical strength, cardiovascular system and a series of other fitness levels. My energy levels are decreasing and I wake up more tired than I did when I went to bed. What we put in our bodies has more of an impact on our performance than just focussing on the training itself. As I become older, I notice that I don’t have the same abilities as I did, even just four years ago when I was twenty years old. Our bodies do change overtime, even over a short span. As a woman my body is starting to prepare for motherhood, even if I am personally not planning anything. Evolutionarily speaking, this age is the prime age for women, so the body begins to carry more weight, it begins to proportion the weight differently and it needs different fuel and exercise to coincide with the changes that it is currently going through. When we hit our mid-twenties we are on a new step, even if we may not be planning to carry children any time soon, or at all, our bodies are still reacting, and we need to understand our bodies more in order to give it what it needs.
I have decided to attempt an experiment, using myself as the subject. What will happen if I stay on a vegetarian eating plan for 7 days? I am not trying this experiment because its a trending topic, I am trying this experiment to understand my body better. As I am preparing to take adulthood by the balls, I want to make sure I am doing everything I can to give my body what it needs. While reading through articles on nutrition, what we need for nutrition changes in each decade of our life. When a biological female’s body, whose hormone levels identify with the biological sex, is in their prime we need calcium, to prevent early onset arthritis and foods high in folate, a B vitamin that helps turn carbohydrates into energy. Foods that are high in folate are dark greens, legumes and whole wheat products and grains. This means that the actual need for high protein meats, is not necessary within this age rage. However, it does not mean that we do not need protein, every human body needs to have a source of protein, but it should not be our main focus within our mid twenties to mid thirties. Where does that leave us? It leaves us with the possibility that we can obtain our proteins from other sources, since it is not a necessity for our bodies during the prime age range. With each decade comes a different source of nutrition, women in their forties need fibres and simple carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables; premenopausal and menopausal women’s metabolism begins to slow down and the need for a healthy diet and reduced alcohol becomes especially important, as well as the addition of more Vitamin D; and finally women who have reached the age of retirement begin to have muscle break down, this is where the need for a high protein diet becomes especially important.
My hypothesis is that I will begin to pay more attention to what I am putting in my body, which will have an impact on my energy levels and how my body reacts to daily activities and factors. I think I will feel stronger during my training and will notice an increase in my performance. Emotionally, I theorize that I will feel less fatigued, which means that my irritability levels will be lower. Other factors that would go with my hypothesis is the frequency in bathroom breaks, not only because I am including a 2.1 litre daily water intake in the experiment, but also because the folate foods are higher in fibre, which will digest quicker, also aiding my body in its own indigestion issues that it has from a past eating disorder during adolescence.
How will I measure this experiment? I have recorded my weight and measurements, first thing in the morning, prior to ingesting anything. A week after the experiment I will record them again to see if there was any slight difference in weight distribution and measurements. My food and activity will be recorded in a fitness journal. In extension, using the Garmin application, I am able to track my own personal body battery and how it is affected throughout the day, I can add how my moods seemed to be during the day, as well as my hydration levels. Finally, I will be using this blog as a platform to share each day’s experiences.
Where does that leave us now? It leaves us finishing Day 1, meal prepping like a boss, finding meals that target the nutritional needs for my age range and preparing grab and go food for those busy mornings. I have cut up fruits and vegetables, to put in the freezer for my morning smoothie and I am feeling overwhelmingly excited about what the next seven days is going to bring.
Resources
Moore, L. (2015). 11 ways every woman’s body changes in her 20s. Retrieved from https://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/news/a47313/ways-every-womans-body-changes-in-her-twenties/
Olivenstein, K. (2016). Women nutritional needs from your 20s to 60s. Retrieved from https://motivenutrition.com/women-nutrition-needs-20s-60s/
Raman, R. (2017). How your nutritional needs change as you age. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/nutritional-needs-and-aging
Ware, M. (2018). Why is folate good for you. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/287677.php
Watson, S. (2018). What is the best age to get pregnant. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/best-age-to-get-pregnant