MAD MANATEE Mentor Group (TriAya & lmscozz)--CLOSED! (Page 15)

Stupid mistake last night: nutrition.  I beyond screwed up.  Started the day, starving for some reason.  I had my oatmeal, like usual, but all day at work I had a craving for these energy stick bagels and PB.  I finally broke down and had one at 10:30am.  I ate everything in site all day, soup, 2 bananas, clementines, apple, dark chocolate and then proceeded to have a big dinner of chicken, baked potato and broccoli, right before spin class.  BIG MISTAKE!!!   I ate at 45 minutes before class started.  I have never been so uncomfortable in my life.  I had side stitches and then at the end both arches of both feet cramped.  Did I mention, I had very little water all day?  STUPID!!!! 

So could we please talk about nutrition.  Why was I starving?   Please look at my logs.  I don't think I am at a point that I am working my body hard enough to warrant wanting to eat everything in site.  I tried to do the whole eat when I was hungry thing but seriously, I was famished.  I need help.  I am going to blow up before I even get started. 

I really know nothing about nutrition with training.  When do you eat?  What do you eat?  When should you take nutrition in training?   I am going to a trainerfest (2-3 hours on a trainer with the Michigan group) on Sunday.  I have no idea what to eat when sitting on a bike for 2 hours.  For the HIM, I'll be on the bike for 4 hours, I need a plan.

What about swimming?  I am swimming tonight.  When should I eat before and what?  Do I eat anything after?  

Does anyone have any thoughts?   Thank you in advance for your help. 

Plan on eating more frequently – 5 times a day with smaller meals that contain satisfying calories (fat and protein).  Healthy does not equal satisfying and vice versa, so look for good quality calories that satisfy.

You should not need to consume extra calories if workouts are below 2 -3 hours and at low intensity.  Go for 0 calorie electrolyte drinks instead of standard Gatorade, or stick to water. Drink LOTS of water.  When finished with that – drink more water.  There are recommendations for calorie consumption during exercise if working at high intensity or longer durations, but probably be best to read the books below to get the right info.  I’m not going to provide info without having the book to refer to.

Nutrition should be looked at like training – IT WILL BE HARD and you will be hungry as your body gets used to the new diet.  Fill your belly with water to help feel full.

Recommended reading:  #1 is Weight Management for Triathletes by Ironman press; #2 is Racing Weight; and #3 is Managing your Metabolism (or something like that – I don’t recall the exact title, but it deals with training your body to burn fat instead of glycogen (ie – get those base miles in before training too hard – see Yanti’s blog on base miles for some insight to this)).

That is it on recommendations, but I have a typical day outlines below – in case you want to skip it.  I trained for and completed my first oly triathlon last year.  Although I changed my shape, I did not loose weight.  I was doing the typical Gatorade, power bars, etc. and was hungry.  I then read the above books, made some changes, dropped 10 lbs with more to come, and I’ve not lost any performance – have in fact gotten faster and improved endurance.  

My calorie target is about 2000 – 2200 in with around 2500 – 3000 calories going out daily (Metabolic rate with exersize).  Rule of thumb – don’t consume less that 500 calories daily below your metabolic rate or you are likely to slow your metabolism (note:  I may consume over my burn rate on a Friday with pizza or other cheat foods to keep my body from going into starvation mode).  I’m just looking to average around 500 calories less a day over each week.

For me, I’ll have an egg with fat free cheese and 1 slice of whole wheat toast for breakfast (cholesterol is up, so now I’m looking at egg whites only).  I’ll have this around 5am.  Then around 9, I’ll have half ounce of almonds and 1 fat free cheese stick, or cottage cheese with fruit.  Worst case a protein bar if I’m planning a lunch workout or I’m starving.  Lunch (11:30) – something around 200 to 300 calories (fresh mixers, whole can of healthy choice soup (2 servings = 240 calories).   Snack in PM is usually 2-3 oz of protein (turkey pastrami or turkey ham are my favorite – I buy pre-packaged stuff at SAMS and have a meat slicer at home).  Maybe a Pure Protein bar if nothing else available.  Dinner (around 6pm) is whatever I end up with (sushi last night, left over pork loin night before, maybe chicken with rice / asparagus – whatever).  Try to keep calories to around 500.  Then maybe a sweet treat later in the night – suck on a few frozen strawberries, maybe some soy ice cream.

Great race report!  I love to read baseline reports and see improvement, especially when they are entertaining.  My 1st tri was my best tri.  I am still looking for that improvement. 

I am starting with some base building until my plan starts on Feb. 13.  I am trying to make all my stupid mistakes now and I've been successful so far. 

Stupid mistake last night: nutrition.  I beyond screwed up.  Started the day, starving for some reason.  I had my oatmeal, like usual, but all day at work I had a craving for these energy stick bagels and PB.  I finally broke down and had one at 10:30am.  I ate everything in site all day, soup, 2 bananas, clementines, apple, dark chocolate and then proceeded to have a big dinner of chicken, baked potato and broccoli, right before spin class.  BIG MISTAKE!!!   I ate at 45 minutes before class started.  I have never been so uncomfortable in my life.  I had side stitches and then at the end both arches of both feet cramped.  Did I mention, I had very little water all day?  STUPID!!!! 

So could we please talk about nutrition.  Why was I starving?   Please look at my logs.  I don't think I am at a point that I am working my body hard enough to warrant wanting to eat everything in site.  I tried to do the whole eat when I was hungry thing but seriously, I was famished.  I need help.  I am going to blow up before I even get started. 

I really know nothing about nutrition with training.  When do you eat?  What do you eat?  When should you take nutrition in training?   I am going to a trainerfest (2-3 hours on a trainer with the Michigan group) on Sunday.  I have no idea what to eat when sitting on a bike for 2 hours.  For the HIM, I'll be on the bike for 4 hours, I need a plan.

What about swimming?  I am swimming tonight.  When should I eat before and what?  Do I eat anything after?  

Does anyone have any thoughts?   Thank you in advance for your help. 

Nothing special to post, but I'll relay a conversation I had with myself last night.  During my commute home I was thinking about the racquetball friend I saw during my swim - we were both sponsored racquetball players playing at a national level (armature) few years back and although I have not played in 6 years, he has continued.  I started thinking about playing again and the differences between my swimming and his, as well as my condition now and when I was playing.

He - nothing against him - swam 4 laps while I completed my 10 prior to doing the flip turn lessons.  I noticed he was stopping to breath and recover while I just pounded out the laps.  That got me thinking about the running I used to do - yea - sometimes I was dorky enough to run with a racquet while bouncing a ball (it did help with ball control)... anyway, it hit me - I've changed.  I AM TRIATHLETE.  I used to leave my house and run the hills in the neighborhood and be exhausted – could not run the entire time (never did – not once).  Now I leave my new house, run 2 miles to the old neighborhood, run the same hills, and then run home feeling great without stopping (no racquet though).

We all should be very proud to call ourselves Triathletes REGARDLESS of the level at which we compete.  Even a mid or back of the packer could probably outdo the majority of individuals out there – we are doing it and they are not.  They think it is impossible and we often make it possible while training.  For those who have all the performance concerns and worries – just smile and know you are using a very high benchmark to measure yourself.

Be proud.

Nothing special to post, but I'll relay a conversation I had with myself last night.  During my commute home I was thinking about the racquetball friend I saw during my swim - we were both sponsored racquetball players playing at a national level (armature) few years back and although I have not played in 6 years, he has continued.  I started thinking about playing again and the differences between my swimming and his, as well as my condition now and when I was playing.

He - nothing against him - swam 4 laps while I completed my 10 prior to doing the flip turn lessons.  I noticed he was stopping to breath and recover while I just pounded out the laps.  That got me thinking about the running I used to do - yea - sometimes I was dorky enough to run with a racquet while bouncing a ball (it did help with ball control)... anyway, it hit me - I've changed.  I AM TRIATHLETE.  I used to leave my house and run the hills in the neighborhood and be exhausted – could not run the entire time (never did – not once).  Now I leave my new house, run 2 miles to the old neighborhood, run the same hills, and then run home feeling great without stopping (no racquet though).

We all should be very proud to call ourselves Triathletes REGARDLESS of the level at which we compete.  Even a mid or back of the packer could probably outdo the majority of individuals out there – we are doing it and they are not.  They think it is impossible and we often make it possible while training.  For those who have all the performance concerns and worries – just smile and know you are using a very high benchmark to measure yourself.

Be proud.