EncHELLada

Enchiladas are evil! Actually, any vegetable is evil!

Let me explain.

After pretty major surgery in 2002 due to a case of Crohns Disease and my own mismanagement of my medication I'm left with the distinct inability to process fibrous (non-soluble fibre) vegetables.

So why bring it up? Well...over the past few months I've been working hard at the gym. 3 nights a week lifting weights and slowly working up to being able to bench almost twice my own weight, as well as being able to squat the same. Yesterday whilst out with the guys - after a few too many beers - we needed food and I saw that enchiladas were on the menu. I am a massive fan of spicy yet uncomplicated foods like enchiladas, chilli etc. So I decided on them. I didnt count on all the vegetables, fresh herbs and rich tomato sauce with their skins still on.

Its quite quickly undone all the good of my training with me having lost 3kg (about 6.5lbs) in one day. Now, I know that the weight loss is mainly dehydration and I will not have lost muscle mass that quickly. However, dehydration doesn't go away when your guts settle down, it takes days (up to a week) to overcome the full effects of dehydration and maybe even longer till you are back to normality.

The most important thing you can do is drink. Drink regularly. Your body will be trying to flush out something that it doesn't agree with, its best to let it.

Now, when you drink try to use electrolytic drinks (dyoralite works much better) and will help you more than just water. When you do eat, add a little extra salt to your food, the salt will help with water retention, normally a bad thing but when it feels like you are trying to expel your spine each time you go to the toilet, it can help you recover a little more quickly.

So whats the point in this post? Simple, when you are training, make sure you understand what eating certain foods can do to you, and if you are in any doubt, stick with the tried and tested foods.

Feel free to leave a comment!