Countdown to Lean - 7!

Seven days to go! Tamsen and I went on a 9 mile run (the beginning of our taper) during which we hit 3 of the 4 monster hills the Nike Women's Marathon has to offer. It went pretty well and I feel just fine today.

I started doing some reading up on the P90x nutrition plan. Now I know I've mentioned this somewhere before, but I really don't get diets. I like to focus on healthful, balanced nutrition that's tasty without being excessive (which is why I'm working on a cookbook for athletes). But that's not really the point here: I'm supposed to give this thing an honest evaluation, and I guess I can't just evaluate the workout plan without checking out its diet plan.

Right off the bat, I can tell you what will not work for me: the first week's carb plan. JUST ONE CARB UNIT A DAY?!? Are they kidding me? OK, I know that the low carb is still (sadly) all the rage and that it's a proven (albeit perhaps unhealthy) weight loss technique. Athletes however need their carbs, or at least, that's what I firmly believe. My stomach does as well. When I'm working out regularly and don't get any carbs at all, I feel ill most of the time. My stomach has trouble digesting my meals and I'm usually low energy. Of course, that doesn't mean that just any carbs will do... I make sure to have the best possible carbs in my diet, low on the glycemic index, as whole grain as possible.

Now I know some of you out there are die-hard believers in low-carb diets, but I just don't see this working for me. I'll have to check out this plan and look into possible substitutions, because I think it's highly unlikely I'd make it through phase one otherwise.