After being out of my "routine" for a week, I'm glad to be back to what I call normal.  It's been nice sitting down with my wife over the last few evenings eating our staple meal, spinach salad with a variety of veggies, seeds, etc.  I might actually cook a meal tonight... or not.

Looking back at the camp, I ate as clean as I could except in the final days.  Truth be told, I really only fell off the proverbial wagon while out on the road on the final day.  I ate half a muffin and some cookies but other than that, I managed to eat relatively clean throughout the camp.  It's not like eating a muffin and cookies on a long training ride is really all that bad but I don't like to use training as an excuse to eat something I wouldn't normally eat.



Looking at my fellow campers, I could tell who the purists were by how and what they ate for dinner.  I would approach the buffet with the intent of getting the best possible calories and getting calories period.  What I mean by that last part is that it can be difficult at times to get enough calories by exclusively eating the (limited) good food available.

I would start my dinner by grabbing some of the entrée with a healthy dose of salad.  They served iceberg lettuce which lacks nutrients but it was topped with slices of cucumber and tomatoes for a garnish and I would steal those as well.  After clearing my first plate, I would go back and fill another plate with fresh fruit which consisted of cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple and strawberries.  Fresh fruit wasn't always available but I never used it as an excuse to gorge myself on unhealthy calories.

My trip to Whole Foods earlier in the week gave me access to fresh fruit and almonds which I stored in the room.  If dinner wasn't enough, I would go back to the room and continue my meal on what I had purchased or what I had stolen from the breakfast buffet (usually bananas).

The path to healthier eating is a never-ending metamorphosis and I continue to make changes to my routine as I learn.  A new idea suggested to me at the camp -- use coconut oil instead of olive oil for cooking.  While olive oil is healthy, it loses its nutrients when heated and its fumes become toxic.  A quick Google search confirmed what I was told and coconut oil was the suggested substitute.

I purchased a couple of 15oz jars of Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil from Amazon which should arrive in the next day or two.  I'll start experimenting with it over the next few weeks to see if my meals all start to taste tropical.

After listening to Jonas Colting discuss his approach to training and life, I decided to purchase a copy of Mark Sisson's book, "The Primal Blueprint".  I'll save any comments for when I've read the book.  A couple of red flags went up while reading the summary and comments but I'll hold off for now.

In general, it seems like each person has their own approach to healthier eating and they incorporate what they think works best for them.  I've been heading down that path as well and while I understand the arguments for each approach, I will continue to discover my own approach while incorporating what I glean from the people I meet, the books I read, and from life.

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