Lentils for power? Husbands for safety!

I thought it was time I told the other half of the story on my road to fasterness (I know that's not really a word!). My change of diet. I've always had a pretty good diet, very high in fresh fruit and veges, pretty low in rubbish. I've struggled with my weight for about 3 years now and a year ago was diagnosed with PCOS which explained a lot. I've been to a nutritionist and seen a specialist about this and there are a number of solutions they've offered to help shift the weight. Low carb diet (carbs are really not your friend when you have PCOS), weight training and/or drugs. Now a low carb diet doesn't really work when you're riding your bike as much as I am. Carbs help your muscles recover from the beating they take when you push yourself up hills and ride as fast as you can for 30+ minutes. Weight training is something I can and am doing. I like the idea of being stronger, that's why I joined the gym (as bloody painful as it is the next day). Drugs. Hmmmmm. I've had a lot of bad experiences on prescribed medication, but as the specialist said "If they make you feel bad, just stop taking them", so I gave them a go. And did exactly as she said when I started feeling nauseous and couldn't ride my bike anymore because I felt so weak.
Then I saw my wonderful friend who lives in London and has lost heaps of weight and looks fantastic. She's such an inspiration! After talking to her I realised what she and her partner had done made sense for my goals too. It's a pretty simple concept, no carbs in the evening, big meal in the middle of the day. In practise its slightly more complicated, but I'm getting there. So my diet, in a small plastic container, rather than a nutshell, is breakfast, 1 cup of homemade low-fat, low-sugar muesli with boysenberries, raspberries and a tablespoon of yogurt. Lunch consists of a combination of two of either wholegrain pasta with vege rich tomato sauce, lentil and brown rice salad, potato salad, or roast vegetable and cous cous salad. Of course this is the hardest part. Preparing all the lunches on Sunday is hard work and last week I was busy and only did the lentil and rice salad. That was mistake. Having only the lentil and rice salad seems to fill me up, but it leaves me feeling flat, like I'm not getting any energy from it and by the evening I'm ravenous. This is not a good thing when dinners consist of meat (usually chicken) and a big salad, or stirfry (with no noodle or rice). So this week I've realised that I need to ensure I get enough good fats at lunch and variety is crucial. I've also realised I miss cooking big delicious meals, but its a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

Last night my lovely husband cooked us heavenly steaks (with salad of course) and then after dinner we got our lights out and went for a ride up Kennedy's Bush. This was brilliant, apart from the fact that my legs were destroyed and I felt like I was going to die from the bottom of the hill onwards. I haven't been riding with Pete for a while and it was great being with him in the dark with just the lowing of the cows (they don't like the lights it seems) and the glowing of the sheeps eyes. I was giggling like a small child riding down the single track. It was great. Not so great for Pete though, his battery died and he had to follow me as I slowly picked my way down the tracks. I feel like I've taken back the night with my husband at my side (or behind me). I can't wait to do more night rides with him. I also can't wait to do the night racing series at Bottlelake that starts in May. Wahoo.