Lately I’ve been trying to decide which weight class I am going to compete in for the Minnesota Open. I can change my weight pretty easily, but the overall goal would be to stay in the same weight class over a long period of time. Recently I was discussing this with my friend and training partner. She is very strong and I know for a fact that she eats pretty clean. We can relate because we have similar goals (the American Open) and a similar situation. We both live with people who have no consideration to what we eat. They say eww and gross to everything, but they find it completely normal to shove potato chips and McDonalds down their throat. We were talking about how hard it is sometimes to resist the temptation to eat the terrible foods that our families eat (I have to admit that brownies taste good). I told Tina that it didn’t matter which weight class I was in for this meet, because I can always qualify for Junior Nationals in the 63 kilo class at a high school meet. I have the fear that if I become okay with being a 69 kilo lifter that I will soon be okay with being a 75 kilo lifter and so on. I don’t want to think that gaining weight is ok, as long as I am strong. It’s not. The way I gain weight is that I try to lose weight by starving myself, then binge the next day because my body is so nutrient-depleted and dehydrated. That is not okay and I know that. I need to change my habits.
I tell myself (and others) that I eat pretty well, especially for my age. Then I say that I don’t understand why I’m not leaner because I workout 4 hours a day. Tina asked me how clean my diet really was, which made me actually reflect on what my diet is like. When I take a look at it there is a lot of things that I don’t really need that aren’t benefiting me, like a granola bar once in a while or some chocolate as a reward for eating clean all day. She said one cheat meal a week is all that you need to stay satisfied. Then she said that I have to decide whether I want to be a 63 kilo lifter who eats 90% clean, or a 69 kilo lifter with a crappy diet. I asked how she ate so clean with all the junk food and stuff in the house. She told me you just have to ask yourself if it is worth it. This reminded me of what my coach said earlier. You have to just do it. If you think there is something that you could change or make better then there probably is, so just do it. Change it.
Of course I want to be a 63 kilo lifter. I am 5 foot 2, so I really don’t need to be a 69 kilo lifter unless I grow like 6 inches. So I decided to listen to them and put their advice into effect. Now I ask myself “Is it worth it?” before eating my meals. I ask myself “Will this help me reach my goals?” “Would a world champion eat this?”
So far it is going good. I am not going to check my weight every 5 minutes because I know that to compete in the 63 kilo class I need to lose 6 pounds in 6 days. That is unattainable with a healthy sustainable diet. I probably won’t get down to 62.9 kilos before the MN Open, but it doesn’t matter. I need to change my diet right now. I’ve decided that I will be a lean 63 kilo lifter throughout most of my weightlifting career. After the Minnesota Open there is going to be high school meets that I can go to if I need to qualify for Junior Nationals in a different weight class (which I most likely will).
My goal for right now is to eat 90% clean so I can be the best athlete possible. Thanks to my coaches and training partners for all the advice and pep talks!
