Sesh's Group - FULL! (Page 11)

Awesome! Great Job!  There are always "learning opportunities" during your first race!

No alligator encounters??? what a shame. 

Great job on your first race.  Are you hooked?

Well, I officially start my oly training plan in the morning...and the push-up challenge too.

It will be a very busy day.  I have a ton of stuff to get done before school starts Tuesday morning.

Have a good Monday Everyone!

Happy Monday. 

This morning I went for a run and did the first day of the pushups challenge.  Pushups were okay, but it was a really miserable run.  I just started the last month of the couch to 5k plan, and only had to do a 15 minute run today, so it should have been no big deal.  I just really didn't want to be out there.  I spent the entire time checking my watch and thinking how much I dislike running.  It is definitely my least favorite of the three, but I never hated it as much as I did this morning.  I definitely need to get over this!  It's way too early in the training plan to have mental issues, right?

Okay, got that off my chest.  I feel much better now. 

How is everyone else on this fine Monday?

This is going to sound lame, but hang in there!  I would say it's more likely you would have these mental issues earlier in the plan.  Before you know it you will be into a routine and I bet you will start to look forward to running.

I used to hate running too, but now I find that I really enjoy it.  I'm still slow as heck but I definitely don't dread it anymore!

BeginnerMan - congrats on a great first race.  Looking forward to the report.

It's time for me to start concentrating on losing some weight.

I want to average a pound a week over the next 6 months, which will bring me down below 200 lbs.

The "calories out" part will be OK, but I really need to concentrate on the "calories in" part.  When I was younger (damn - starting a sentence like that really makes you feel old), if I wanted to lose some weight all I had to do was pick the exercise up a little and not worry about what I was eating.

Now that I'm 30, I'm finding that doesn't work so well and I think I need to take more care with my food.

Does anyone have any diet tips they can share? So far, I'm going to concentrate on these things:

Don't eat after dinner - I'm pretty bad about eating at night.

Spread the calories out - at the moment my meals are kind of "top-heavy"... smallish breakfast, medium lunch, big dinner.  That's got to be wrong, right?

Log my nutrition - I tried a couple of days and it's kind of a pain but I guess I should HTFU and do it - it was pretty surprising to me how many calories are in some foods.

If anyone can add anything else important that they know of, that would be great.  I'm embarrassed to say that I'm basically clueless about good nutrition...  Thanks!

Thanks, I will try to hang in there.

I had the most success losing weight when I was logging everything I ate.  I definitely thought twice about grabbing a cookie when I knew I was going to have to log it in.  Snacks ended up not being worth the effort. 

Another thing that worked for me was eating larger lunches and smaller dinners, and planning out my meals and snacks ahead of time so I never stood in front of an open refrigerator trying to decide what looked good.  What looks good is always the wrong thing to eat.

You love to run, you love to run, you love to run

As Daniel says, hang in there Debbie.  I'm much like him in that I used to hate running.  I was just soooo much slower than everyone else that it took so stinking long to get the miles in.  Well, not that I'm that much faster, but I've just come to be comfortable with where I'm at and enjoy what's out there.  You'll get better as long as you hang in and put the miles under you.  This certainly won't work for everyone, but I've found that leaving the ipod at home and running a big loop (instead of lap after lap after lap in the neighborhood) almost had a zen like feel to it. 

(Although it is a bit disheartening when most people that pass me on the run offer me a gel because they think I'm about to fall out)

My biggest tip for you, Daniel, would be what you started to hit on about spreading the calories out.  In fact, you could just flip it around.  Bigger breakfast, decent lunch, smaller dinner.  When I had success the first few months of 2008 I would eat something like a bagel, two eggs, a banana, and some OJ for breakfast.  Instead of a lunch, I'd snack all day, but mainly on good stuff like fruit or granola bars.  I wasn't married at the time, so I'd pack a bunch of training in after work and end the night with a chicken breast or some turkey and some green veggies.  Once you get the when straightened out, the what comes next.

Just some things I focused on (and will be starting to do again... oh, about right now):

1.  Breakfast!  Eat it!  But make it Raisin Bran or Total instead of Lucky Charms.  Have some eggs, but don't fry them in butter (can I say that in the South?).  Bananas are the miracle food.  OJ is the miracle beverage.  Make your own ham, egg, and cheese bagel sandwich instead of letting McDonalds do it for you.

2.  Keep the fat content down.  Chicken, turkey, and fish.  Mmmm.  Red meat is guilty pleasure/comfort/reward meal.  Even try cheeses made from skim milk.  Get the reduced fat peanut butter.

3.  Whole Grains.  Better for you, and most people find they taste better as well.

4.  Cut down on the sweets (easier now that the holidays are gone).  It's just extra calories of bad sugars. 

5.  Fruits and veggies.  Fruits are good fuel, and veggies have the all the good minerals and stuff that keep you going.

Taking a little time to log what you eat can really open your eyes to some eating habits you just might not have noticed, and honestly, those five things won't seem so daunting.

I love to run....I love to run.....I love to run

I need to come race with you guys.  I could give you someone to pass!

About the running - for 34 years I HATED running.  And I was an active kid, teenager, college, etc...  I played field hockey on a really good high school and played in college.  Hate running ever minute except for game time.  I thought people who ran marathons were nuts.

Even training my first year for tris, I hated the running.  It was hard and uncomfortable.  Then about half way through my half marathon running plan last winter, it stopped hurting and became fun.  I looked forward to my long runs - the me time away from the kids and listening to my music or nothing at all.  Now I'm looking for my 2nd marathon and already planned my third marathon (Disney 2010)!

Just give it some time and wait for it to stop being work to get from point A to point B.

I'm so glad to see the eating/lose weight/etc..  questions.  This is a sore spot for me.  I have always been relavitely active except for a 5 year period in my last 20s.  But I have always had a few extra pounds even at my most active.  One positive thing: I have never 'dieted' in my life.  I've always known that it won'r work in the long run.  I've just spent years complaining about my weight.  LOL

So now I am at a lose about how to figure out how much to eat.  I'm currently tracking my food.  I have no idea what calorie intake I should be going with especially since my training is ramping back up and I start my HIM plan in 2 weeks.  I have 3 main problems:

1. I am always hungry.  I'm trying to drink more water to see if that helps but its a struggle.

2. I am terrified of carbs.  I had gestional diabetes w/ my first baby and found out there is a family history of diabetes so since that strict diet (max. 200 grams of carb per day) I fret over eating carbs.  I know they are not the enemy - I am just paranoid.  I eat lots of fruits, veggies and almost all whole grains. 

3. I'm a slave to scale.  I know that is not the only instrument of measurement but I want the pounds to come off.  I ended the year at the exact same weight that I started at.  But I am a size smaller so something good happened.  When I get to my peak marathon training I put on weight which was incredibly frustrating.  I don't think I was eating all that much more but I was also expending a lot more energy.

So I feel a bit lost at the moment.  I made it through the holidays a pound or two lighter - I was trying to cut out some calories.  So that is a small victory but I feel that I'm going to add back some weight when I start training.  Why does it have to be so hard?  I welcome any words of advice, encouragement, magic pills, commiserating , etc...

As far as support goes...I really struggle with drinking water as well. 

Try not to rely on the scale-what matters is how you feel.  If you want to judge your progress you can go by how your clothes fit.  I keep track by the holes in my belt. 

About those push up.....ouch!  Did you know that there are these muscle thingies on the side of your chest?  I am acutely aware of mine today!

Have a great Tuesday!

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator/NU00598

These are two very basic daily caloric need calculators.  Not really very specific, but it can at least give you a ball park on how much you need to be taking in.

As far as percentages, I try to keep my daily ranges around 50-60% of calories from Carbs, 25-35% from protein, and 15-25% from fat (the good stuff, not saturated fats).  Endurance athletes can focus too much on the carbs.  Sure we need them (desparately), but not in a much higher percentage than normal.  We still want to train our bodies to utilize those good fats for energy.

Count me in on that as well!

Me three!

thanks everyone for the help and words of encouragement.  I'll look forward to BeginnerMan's response - let me know if you need any other info.

Although it may seem as if I worry and stress about it (I do), I am the eternal optimist.  I always find the silver lining and don't give up hope.  So I keep telling myself that if I keep plugging away I will finally be happy w/ my weight.

Burr - it's cold here and raining but off to run during my lunch break.  Looking forward to our upcoming Disney trip and some warm sunshine.

My training schedule called for a 40 minute run this morning...I did a 30...I was running a little late (I did the dishes before I left this morning and because I was trying to be quiet it took a bit longer than usual).  I think that if I had time I wouldn't have done more.  I was starting to hurt in the back of my left achiles area.  I stuggled quite a bit more than usual as well.  After 3 weeks of being sick I am out of practice and my lungs are still a bit congested.  I was also feeling a bit of soreness from my swim yesterday.

I have had a HARD time waking up in the mornings lately.  Is it the season or something?

Does anyone have any suggestions, tricks, pills for that?

My thanks for all the nutrition help as well.  I need to work on nos 2 and 4 from Bill's list above in particular.

BeginnerMan - great race.  6min miles on the run... that is smoking!