I see a lot of couples who do diet challenges together. Superb.
Support each other.
BUT…
Also, seek to understand each other and honor those differences.
In reality, the female athletes who need more carbs eat far too few and the women who need less carbohydrates eat way too much.
If you are a female without a lot of muscle mass who doesn’t really lift all that intensely – you aren’t going to be able to take large boluses of carbohydrates AND that is OK! Maybe you don’t like to lift. Maybe it ain’t your thing. Maybe it’s not even that safe given your other activities. But understand your ability to take in the carbs you may want so badly (and culturally get shoved on you) has to do with two things the amount of lean body mass you have on board and your exercise load (as well as insulin resistance from your past life).
I see it all the time. Women who don’t have a background in knowing how to lift will pop into the 140s even 160s (blood glucose) from an apple eaten alone and that is not ok. And let me tell you – you aren’t going to earn a chocolate chip double fudge sundae with 20 minutes of body weight squats on your toes and some poorly performed push-ups. You need to learn the fundamentals. You need to find a coach and you need to get off the Nike bodyweight training apps and the fatigue pacifier. The idea that you can out exercise a shitty diet is dead – don’t hang on that cliff.
That sundae can capsize your entire week. Sorry. But it’s not my job to lie to you. I see chubby older ladies slowly forking through strawberry whip cream French toast at breakfast restaurants and it hurts my soul.
I don’t hate gluten free muffins, but I’ll slap one out of my mom’s hand in a heartbeat and she knows it. That’s love right there. She will never ever lift. She gardens and piles up seaweed on the beach, smiling ear to ear. I love her a thousand times more than fresh sheets, but if she gets diabetes which turns into Alzheimer’s that muffin could haunt us both for the rest of our lives. That’s real and she knows.
On the flip side the gents I see enter these challenges usually train harrrd and then they get their diet squeaky clean. BUT, in a week they get the reach around from inadvertently dropping their calories by more than 30-40% which in turn lowers thyroid function and testosterone. Thus, they pendulum swing themselves into a swift punch in the dick. They try to hang to support their main squeeze because that’s what we do, but they know in their hearts it ain’t working.
Couples.
Your plates should look very different especially if the male is deadlifting an adolescent rhino and the female is walking to the park with neon green weights to do yoga with her gfs.
Not bad or good. Just the truth.
If you are going to get after AIP or any other restrictive dietary protocol together make sure you don’t get attached to the schematic itself and instead viciously chase adaptation.
The male may need half a plate of mashed Yuca at every meal while the female may not be able to lick a date.
The toughest part, you still have to be able to look each other in the eye and not be resentful.
That comes from seeking to understand and support one another.
Do that because it’s way bigger than any 30 day challenge.
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