kaburns1214 Mentor Group 2012 Part 2 - CLOSED (Page 173)

That's good info Scott, thanks.  The Jay Robb I have is whey based, and only has two ingredients.  It's unsweetened, and I really like it.  It's just very expensive.

After reading Kelly's comment on cake batter tasting good because of the sweeteners, I had to check the labels (clearly a blonde moment for me, kind of obvious but I didn't think about it).  A total of 2 ingredients in the Jay Robb stuff, too many long named ingredients in the Muscle Milk.  And I certainly do not want to bulk up, and clearly do not have a fast metabolism.  I'm going to pawn that off on my son!

Good Morning! I had a 1 hr ride on the trainer last night and have a 45 min run today. I was going to do this morning but it was rainy and cold out. I tell you this. I can't wait to get my new saddle this Christmas...

As for my food dinner last night ended up being chicken curry with white rice.

Today:

Greek yogurt with a little local honey and my bear naked granola

Clementine

Wheat Thins

Lunch - wrap w/chicken, hummus, feta cheese, olives, red onions with some spices and olive oil.

Apple and nature valley protein bar(can't let them go to waste)

Dinner is probably turkey and ham sandwiches which will be after my run then probably a shake with fruit and greek yogurt.

What do you guys think of Clif bars? They seem to be pretty 'natural'.

Scott where do you get your protein from? I found a site that has the protein you mention for $19.99 w/$6.99 shipping. I used to just use GNC's or Gold Standards whey.

Cliff bars are ok here and there.  Wouldn't make them a staple.  That really goes for any mass produced food.

I get my protein wherever I can find it cheapest.  I'm still on mailing lists from a bunch of supplement shops online from my lifting days so when I run low I just run through the sites I don't have shipping issues with.

w/r/t Clif Bars -- the big thing is to look at the ingrediant list and have it list as many "whole" foods as possible.

Compare:

Cherry Pie Lara Bar -- unsweetened cherries, dates and almonds

Clif Bar - Organic Brown Rice Syrup, ClifPro® (Soy Rice Crisps [Soy Protein Isolate, Rice Flour, Rice Starch, Barley Malt Extract], Organic Roasted Soybeans, Organic Soy Flour), Organic Rolled Oats, Organic Toasted Oats (Organic Oats, Organic Dried Cane Syrup, Ascorbic Acid, Natural Vitamin E [Antioxidant]), Dried Apricots (Apricots, Dried Cane Syrup, Rice Flour, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid), ClifCrunch® (Organic Oat Fiber, Inulin [Chicory Extract], Organic Milled Flaxseed, Organic Oat Bran, Psyllium), Organic Cane Syrup, Dried Apricots, Organic Date Paste, Organic Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavors, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Sea Salt, Colored with Annatto.

The ingrediants listed in bold are all types of sugar.  In addition in the Clif bar there are (relatively speaking) a lot more processed ingrediants (soy rice crisps, rice flour etc.). 

The tough thing about a lot of "health" foods is that they are really just a lot of processed ingrediants in a "healthy" looking package. 

As with everything you need to decide what your priorities are.  Is a Clif Bar a better choice than a pack a twizzlers for a snack, yes.  Is it better than a piece of fruit with no sugar added nut buttter, no.

Hi there All,

Kaburns sent me a link to here and I'd like to join in on the fun...

My name is Todd and have been poking around the pages here at BT for the past few years, mostly sticking to the Connecticut forum, logging in my training, and recently the Lake Placid IM pages for 2013, since that will be my first full distance event. 

I started tris about 3 years ago, placing 398th out of 450.  I've made it to 2nd in my age group at this year’s Amica 19.7 Sprint in Newport, but never came close to placing overall in any event.  Triathlon is a personal challenge for me, that has helped me lose 48 pounds, with another 15 to 20 to go.  I'm about 4 weeks into this year’s training/coaching program with QT2, and spent the last week working on my CORE diet and getting used to better nutrition.

The collective experiences here must number in hundreds of years’ worth of knowledge - and I'm willing to bet that a lot of that knowledge was from the school of hard knocks - so thank you all for sharing that, I hope to contribute what I can.

Todd is QT2er and a resident of the Nutmeg State.  I thought he'd be a nice addition to the group so I asked him to join.

Welcome!

So I had my MRI last week, and follow up appt. for results with ortho this afternoon.  Back is all jacked up (which I knew) but didn't expect to hear all that she spouted off!

L5-S1 herniation something something pinching on my S1 nerve root, which would explain the hamstring/butt/sciatica pain I'm having.

L3-4 bulging disc with bone spurs something something

L4-5 bulging disc and something something

WTH?  I have the MRI results report, but it's all mumbo jumbo to me.  She didn't seem all that concerned with any of it except for the L5-S1.  We talked about that, she did more tests moving my leg around and recommended an epidural cortisone injection.  I'm looking at doing that the week following my ultra race because she wants me to do NO RUNNING for 2 weeks after the injection.  She really feels like she can rid me of this pain.  May require a 2nd or 3rd injection, but the thought of it being gone sounds like heaven to me.  I looked back at my logs, and I had this similar injection by the other spine guy I saw, and I took the next day off, but was running 2 days later.  Maybe not the best idea.

For the other 2 things she said I may at some point have pain running down my left quad, but not necessarily.  And that as I age and arthritis set in, I might get up in the morning feeling fine, but after 10 minutes of walking have to sit down because of pain in my legs.  Great...

I've only seen her 3 times, and I always leave there wishing I had asked more questions.  I know whatever I have it probably very common and routine for her/them compared to other patients that can hardly walk their backs are so bad.  But I still wish I understood what all this means...

Anyway, that's the deal on my dumb back.

Hi Todd & welcome to the group!

On nutrition - I always thought I was very knowledgeable about healthy eating.  Not to say I ate healthy all the time, but I thought I knew what I should be eating.

That is, until the last few days.  All these posts and reading up on Whole9 have been a real eye opener.  I'm embarrassed to say all I really looked at in the past was calories, fat grams & fiber grams.  Occasionally I'd look at sugars and carbs, and sodium if I felt puffy that day, but mostly it was calories and fat grams per serving.  I'm obsessed with calories, fat grams, and my daily weight.

The ingredients list was not something I concerned myself with.  Except for the dog food we buy, our puppies have to eat healthy and a dog trainer lady schooled us on dog nutrition.  What to look for and what to avoid.  Anyway, why shouldn't the ingredients I put into my body be just as healthy and as whole and natural as possible?

I can't believe I have been this naive...

I'm off to do more reading!

everlong - 2012-11-27 4:18 PM Welcome to the group Todd. I know you'll read all 216+  pages by Monday.

Ha!  We're up to 216 pages.  And yes, there will be a quiz!  Study up!

Welcome to the group Todd!! Congrats on the weight loss!

Karen - that is a lot to take in. I would make a list of questions you didn't ask and call the dr in a couple of days. You are correct that what is routine to them, is not routine for us. I hope that that only ONE injection will help to get rid of your pain. My MIL had to undergo lower back surgery last year and it was an awful recovery (but she is a wuss with no pain tolerance, so who knows.)

I second Michele's advice.

You also need to make it really clear to the Dr. that you are not "normal" and let her know what your "normal" training looks like.

Karen definitely take a few days, carry a pad of paper around with your (or a iPad or whatnot), and jot down questions.  Like the others said unless your doc is an endurance sports junkie "normal" is not the same to y'all.

Welcome Todd.

Did PPT intervals on the trainer today.  Forgot how much I love intervals, Tabata, etc.  Earlier this year I'd spike my HR doing these and find it hard to get it back down.  Not as hard today.  Progress.

I know, I should feel comfortable asking questions.  I just wish I did it while I was in the office, not when I'm in the parking lot and realize, "hey, what about.....

I do think she understands that my lifestyle is not "normal".  She works with a lot of endurance athletes, and knows I do Ironman races, and what that means training wise.  That's kind of why I am going to her, because I know she will do everything she can to allow me to continue training.  She's highly recommended in this area for athletes.

Anyway, I will start jotting down my questions so I don't forget.

So today's food was not great, work meetings an poor planning on my part.  Really just bad timing of meals, nothing really bad.

7 - Coffee w/ unsweetened soy milk

11 - 2 hard boiled eggs

12:30 - hummus w/ baby carrots & cottage cheese

4 - raw almonds & Lara bar

5:30 - run

7:30 - ground turkey mixed with sauteed mushrooms, onions and stewed tomatoes, steamed broccoli

Nice! 

Karen - I'm glad to hear you now know what is wrong with your back, but I'm sorry to hear you are struggling so much with the pain.  Back pain is unbearable!  I hope you only need the 1 injection and that it provides you with some relief.  Never feel silly for asking your doctor to answer you questions.  You can always call the office and ask to speak to the doctor.  

Scott - Great job on the intervals.  Yay for progress!

Todd - Congratulations on the weight loss!

I was feeling gross last night with some stomach pain and nausea, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to complete today's workout, but I felt fine once I was up and out of bed.  Nausea came back after breakfast.  Who knows!

Food log for today:

4:30 a.m. workout - 1:00 bike/1:15 run (3 shot bloks)

7:00 a.m. - 1/2 c oats, 2 T slivered almonds, 1/2 scoop whey, banana, and almond milk.  I was hungry!!!!

10:15 a.m. - leftover red cabbage and egg whites 

12:00 p.m. - romaine, spinach, carrots, grape tomatoes, red pepper, snap peas, leftover turkey burger, hummus, and olive oil dressing + wasa cracker + pear

3:00 p.m. - plain Greek yogurt, walnuts, flax, and shredded coconut

6:00 p.m. - orange roughy, small sweet potato, cauliflower rice mixed with shredded carrot salad (this recipe is so good!)

8:30 p.m. - celery sticks and Justin's nut butter

Normally I don't have an evening snack, but I am going to be on my feet a lot today, and I will need the extra food. 

For some bars with nothing but food in them, try CORE foods. I won a few from cxmagazine (and a subscription I never received...grrrr) and they are pretty good. 

The downside to them being 100% real food is they have limited shelf lives, so be careful or vigilant. 

Welcome to the group Todd

Karen, sorry to hear about the back.  I have the same bulging disc in the L5-S1.  I would sit at work, and id' have a pain of 8 out of 10 after sitting for 30 minutes.  Apparently sitting puts more pressure on your back than standing.  Anyway, 6-8 weeks of seeing the chiropractor has just about solved the problem.  I still feel an issue there, but nothing like it was.  Have you tried a Chiro yet?