enginerd's group - CLOSED (Page 10)

I don't have much to say about weight loss or maintenance, since for whatever reason, I don't have a problem with it.  I've pretty much been this weight for 20 or so years no matter what I've been doing activity-wise.  Having said that, I thought I'd put in my two cents as to how I view food and activity. 

I care about what I eat because I want to make sure that I'm healthy when I get older.  I don't have any family history around heart disease or cancer, but these are the types of things that I worry about when it comes to what I eat.  I think a big problem today is that we have so many overly processed, pre-packaged foods.  Our parents and grand parents ate much more fresh food and I think that has to be at least part of the obesity problem we see today.  So, I do most of the grocery shopping for the family and I try as best as I can to stay away from these types of foods although it's pretty difficult with both my wife and I working and our daughter in softball which involves a lot of quick meals.

I haven't counted calories in the past or watched my ratios of carbs:fat:protein when training.  I know that I should, but I just simply listen to my body and eat when hungry.  If I know I'm going to be putting in some miles or performing a highly aerobic activity I'll try to eat an appropriate amount of food to supplement my glycogen levels, but that's about it.

I guess what I'm saying here is that I'm not at all good about actively watching what I eat, but I'm trying to create some better habits and go from there. 

All the info is totally spot on - slow changes, lifestyle etc...  but I still struggle, even though I know what I should do.

SO  - I try to stay conscious about what I'm eating regardless.  So if I make bad food choices I'm conscious about what I'm doing and the ramifications.  I also try to make "less bad" choices.  I love ice cream, so instead of ice cream I get Low Fat frozen yogurt which works for me.  I also allow myself more like Robin to "live".  I realize that means, at least for now, I'll probably carry that extra 8 lbs I would love to be rid of, but that's OK for me at this point.  When I feel like I have more self discipline I take advantage of it.  I'd like to get to a point where I'm more balanced.  I struggle with getting enough veggies, even though I know it would be relatively easy. 

 Since I started training, I know I need to eat more healthfully and I've been doing better than before I started working out.  I get cold, light headed, or sluggish on occasion - due to my inconsistent habits.  I visited a nutritionist and there is really nothing new she told me, although I have more concrete info to follow.  I find I get an upset stomach the more I work out so right now I'm trying to figure out where the balance is between enough food, frequency, the right food, not too much junk, and feeling good.  I'm not a great role model for this, but I guess staying aware of habits and being realistic has helped me take off 12 lbs over the last 6 mos.

This is key, in my opinion.  I think a lot of people want and expect too much too quickly, so they put themselves on a severely restricted diet and it ends up backfiring.  I've seen many people fail at this, and many of them try it again, which baffles me.  I like slow and steady weight loss because it doesn't put your body in starvation mode.  I'm losing weight at about the same pace you are, and I don't feel deprived in the least.

There are always challenges.  Today I went to a Mexican buffet with my coworkers.... talk about a place where it's easy to screw up.  I had a tasty soup and salad, a small piece of bbq chicken, and a bean/cheese mini-burrito.  Sure I bypassed a lot of tasty enchiladas and stuff like that, but I got my unhealthy fat fix (the burrito) and I won't feel like crap when I work out later.  As my fitness increases, and as my weight goes down, I find myself less and less drawn to the chili rellenos.

I signed up for another race!!  Camp Pendleton International (olympic) on 7/19.  Sounds nice and flat, especially after having done Wildflower as my first oly.  I'm excited! 

chili rellenos.

I signed up for another race!! Camp Pendleton International (olympic) on 7/19. Sounds nice and flat, especially after having done Wildflower as my first oly. I'm excited!

Robin, congrats on signing up for Camp Pendelton.  You're gonna rock that flat course

Amy, re: foot position and such. You're orthotics should be correcting your biomechanical alignment, which is their purpose.  You can see how your shoe wears.  You shoes should wear from towards the outside heel (not all the way to the outside) to the second toe if you are aligned correctly.  Other option is to have a PT check you out.  Because I had bruising under my kneecaps from a bike accident earlier this year, I would get immediate feedback when my alignment was off on the run or the bike because I would have knee pain.   On the bike, a good fitting should include foot, knee/leg alignment as one small part of the fitting.

Here's our group list in a table with links, but I can't seem to get the background image to stay.  I can easily get a background color, but it won't seem to keep the image.  I'm trying to use this image here http://www.sportsposterwarehouse.com/warehouse/triathlon01ro-1.jpg  Anyone have any ideas?  It shows up in the edit box for the post, but not after i save it.

In the post, it put an extra period in the URL (i'll fix it).  When I set up the table, it was okay and displays when I'm in edit mode, but not after i save.  weird.

Ok, I have a question for everyone.  What is your sleep pattern like, and how do you think it affects your training, and how does training affect your sleep?

My weekday sleep pattern is not the healthiest.  I wake up at 5 to catch a bus to work that leaves at 6.  On the bus I usually get about a 20-45 minute nap.  On the way home my nap is sometimes close to an hour.  I get home (or to the Y) around 6:45, and after training, dinner, shower, and some winding down time I usually have a hard time getting to bed before 10:30.  Sometimes I don't get to bed until after 11, so I end up getting about 5.5-6.5 hours of sleep.  The thing is, I don't really feel fatigued that often.  But, I do wonder how my training quality and recovery time would be affected if I got a nice, solid 7-8 hour block of sleep every night.  I'm starting to look for a new job, so hopefully soon I can find out.

I bike to work every day and am the most consistent commuter at my workplace, but ironically, I won't be biking to work tomorrow since I'll be headed out to Lanzarote!

Robin, great question.  I consistently get at least 7 and usually 8 hours of sleep a night.  Everyone differs, but that's what it takes for me to feel well rested and even then with some big workouts, I may not even be fully recovered.

I think as you all already know, it's during rest and recovery when the body actually rebuilds and not during your workouts which is what stresses it to set up the gains during rest and recovery.  So, if you don't get enough rest, your body may not have fully benefitted from the work you put in.

Donato! WOW!! have a great time in Lanzarote and good luck on your race! Are you taking a computer?  If so, would love mini reports and pics!!!

I generally have trouble getting more than 6+ hours of uninterrupted sleep. I've found I need rest days more often. If I go 5 - 6 days in a row of workouts I'm completely wiped out at the end of the week.

Donato, best of luck this weekend! And good luck to anyone else racing this weekend!

Commuted to work on the mountain bike this morning, first time ever.  I only live a few miles from the office, but it was a lot of fun.

Guess I've been a bit absent this week.  Spring on the farm is a busy time.  I'm a little freaked out about my race Sunday.  I haven't been able to stick to my training plan and missed my long bike and a short run.  I'm sure I'll be fine, but that evil Doubt Monster is lurking.  Tomorrow I'm going to the race site to do their swim clinic.  Basically it's an organized swim and a way for most of us to get in the first OWS of the year.  Last week the lake temp was a sweltering 58*.  Yay for being in MN.