Disturbed275's Group - FULL!! (Page 4)

I hope when you said Chris you meant me (Definitely NOT a guru!) but if not I'll throw in my .02 anyways.

It's difficult without some more info. What weight are you now? How tall? Any health problems?

If your calories aren't HIGH enough, you can basically set your body up to "stop/slow down" weight loss. Our bodies, although really smart, are still not caught up with modern society and can't determine between " I need to lose weight" and "I'm not able to kill any food today."

Although it could be just as easily that they are too high.

You mention supplementing with sports drink / energy bars. Some more info on that... around an hour of cardio you shouldn't need too much more than water.

Keep a log on your food intake for a few days and lets see what we can come up with. Drinks, condiments, and gum count too. Also how much water can help.

One of the big keys to weight management (for me anyways) was finding things I could eat EVERY DAY and sticking with that. You could wind your watch on my diet 5 days a week. (I'll admit, I often splurge a bit on the weekends)
8am - 2 whole large eggs, 1 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1 large banana
12pm - 1 serving Oikos Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, 1 cup mixed fruit (wal mart frozen) or blueberries
3pm - "Trail Mix" - 1 cup Protein plus special K, 1 serving of Raisins, 1/4 cup of Almonds (salted)
6pm - Either  a sandwich or Soup (progresso low sodium usually) (Whole wheat bread, 6-8oz no fat turkey/ham, 1 slice low fat swiss cheese) and a handful of nuts. Also any veggies (usually raw) I want.
9pm - 1 Large scoop of Peanut butter.

On my long bike ride I sip on a Recovery drink (about 24g protein / 55g carbs) starting around hour 1.  Also make some gatorade mixed with salt on my long run, I sip every time a song changes on my ipod.

Thanks for the comments, I will do my best to keep a log for a few days.

At the very least it gives me ideas on how to shedule meals with the least amount of work

I notice you have alot of nuts your in diet.  Is that primarly to get your protein?  I think one of my problems is I don't get enough protein.  I maybe get about 60-70/day.

Weight 192 (range from 192-194 the last few months)
Height 5'4" (maybe stretching by 1/2")
No health problems (except irritable bowel which I a stave off most of the time by regularly eating bananas)

As far as training supplements.  I basically use water, or if it is a hard workout or a brick, I generally have gatorade.  If nearing the 2 hr mark on the bricks, then I will try to eat a banana at least an hour before or 1-2 granola bars prior.

Does this help?

really quick (BT ruins my work life!)...just something that struck me when you said irate bowels. A lot of people have an allergy to oats, usually undiagnosed. Something that is pretty common but not serious enough for most to pick up on. Bloating and skin irritation are other symptoms.

Probably nothing but my mother has that allergy so it comes to mind.

The first thing I noticed was a possibly low protein intake.  Nuts will help some with that as well as provide healthy mono and poly unsaturated fats.

Now I'm nowhere near a nutritional expert.  I've tried a lot of the unsustainable gimicky diets in the past.  For awhile now I've settled on a high in fruit, vegetables, and protein and very little processed foods if I can avoid them.

As an example a typical day:

Breakfast: 1 or 2 eggs, 4oz chicken, banana or some other fruit
Snack: Fruit usually an apple.  If I am in peak training season I will add in more protein.
Lunch: Salad w/ spinach, chicken, tomatoes, hard boiled egg.  Fruit (grapes, strawberries, etc.)
Snack: Nuts, carrots
Dinner: 4oz of fish or chicken.  As many veggies as I want.  A little fruit.

I will try to adhere to a schedule like that as much as possible, but I splurge on the weekends as much as the next guy.

I do find it very interesting how the body adapts to repeated stimuli.  This is how people usually describe the plateau that can be reached with diet, exercise or both.  It becomes efficient at processing the same foods you give to it or the workout regimens you put it through.  What seems to be working for some time may suddenly stop working because your body has adapted to it.  That's usually a sign that you need to change something up.  

Fixed that for you

Hi everyone.

I just got back from the pool.  My first swim session and I found out that I'm a pretty terrible swimmer.  I need to learn some proper technique, especially with breathing.  I ended up burping alot, so I think I was swallowing more air/water than I realized.

I'll have to look into the Total Immersion and other plans later.   I've got to get going now, but I'll look into them more myself later.  But in the mean time how about some tips on breathing.  Sounds funny to have to ask other people if I'm breathing wrong.

It will come trust me

Hey - I just discovered another mentor that is actually in my region and that I know personally.  I'm going to have to drop out of your group for his instead.  Thanks for the nice welcome, though!

Congrats on getting in the pool for the first time!  Those first couple of trips can be pretty overwhelming.  I remember developing a pretty bad breathing technique when I first started.  I found it really hard to just turn my head to the side to breathe and instead was lifting my face out of the water.

Here's an article from one of the sites I frequent that has a lot of good swim information dealing specifically with breathing:

http://www.swimsmooth.com/breathing_beg.html

and another from the same site with general tips for beginners:

http://www.swimsmooth.com/beginner.php

Understandable.  Hope you like the new group!

James 89
Swimming will come with time, as well as learning to breathe.  Can't stress to take it slow.  Hell, I am just starting to breathe on my left side.

Couple of tips for breathing:
- instead of looking straight down while swimming, look forward and keep your head up.  Your forehead will be slightly out of the water.  You will have to turn your head less to breathe AND it will also allow you to spot people around you ----> that is huge in open water swim so you don't get kicked, slapped, run into someone, etc
-  as your arm (opposite the side you are trying to grab a breath on) is pulling through the water, your body should rotate toward your breathing side (so left arm is pulling through the water and head and body is rotated to the right)-- that along with looking forward should allow you to just rotate and breathe
-  start with only trying to breathing every two lengths, you shouldn't get out of breathe too much and can work on breathing
-  work on the your pull technique, the better your technique and pull through the water, the easier it will be to get the rotation and breathe

Good luck and let me know how it goes  --- keep in mind most people breathe better to one side, don't get frustrated with that

So I had a tempo run planned today, but I think I tweaked my knee last night somehow. The knee kind of bugging me at work so I opted to jump on the bike and try that. Got the bike setup, changed into my cycling clothes, got on and........ lasted less than a minute before my knee started killin me. Just begun training yesterday and already a taking a step back to deal with an injury. Im hoping this is just a minor thing as I have an swim planned on saturday morning and an 11 miler on sunday..


But anyways.. Here's a great short motivational video, one of my favs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx8ae4TfwrE

Happy training..

Bummer about the knee.  Hopefully with a couple of days rest you'll be ready to go for Sunday's run.

James - I'm still learning, and slow as mud, so I know what you're going through.  I took lessons at the Local YMCA.  It took a long time for swimming to click for me (I couldn't swim when I started this past spring); probably 12 weeks before I got the breathing down and stopped feeling like it was a constant battle to stay afloat.  I even debated giving up a couple of times. 

Things started to turn around when I was able to 3 times per week instead of 2.  Not really sure what happened, but one day I jumped in and was able to go three times as long as I ever had before.   Like I said, I'm still slow, but I can at least confidently jump in the water knowing I can cover the distance without draining myself. 

Take it slow.  Slower than you think you should be going.  Easier said than done, but try not to gulp down the air, remain calm, keep the breathing steady, and try not to panic if you miss a breath or take in some water.  Try to keep going and tell yourself its only a few seconds until you'll come back up for another breath. 

Since it's both cold AND raining/snowing, the long bike ride will be indoors today. I'm thinking watching "Return of the King" extended edition at a "long ride" pace, with intervals thrown in every time an Elf is on screen.

Any other good suggestions?

If you can stay on the trainer for 4 hours you are a better man than I am.  I think I watched all 3 of those movies during trainer rides last winter.  Good thoughts on the intervals though.

I have a game I play with trainer rides while watching football.  I do varying length intervals for things like touchdowns, field goals, sacks, turnovers, etc.  It makes the time fly.

I like that football idea!

The old Star Wars "sprint every time R2-D2 is on screen" routine is getting worn out.

Cool news.  I just got picked in the lottery for the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon to be held in May.  I just need to take a look at funds now to see if I can afford it.

Thats very cool.  I don't think I would even have considered a triathlon if I couldn't swim at all.  Good for you.  The last thing you said about slowing down and relaxing is very true.  I started to do that towards the end of swim yesterday and it made it a bit easier, I'll try to slow it down even more next time.

Thanks for the tips everyone.  I've read them and some others, watched a video from Total Immersion, so I think I've got some things to focus on next time I get in the water.

James, one thing I can add. Find your balance in the water! Make that your #1 priority to begin with. Finding mine made everything else 100% easier

What exactly do you mean by balance.  I'm just not sure what you are talking about.

How about watching the 2009 Ironman tomorrow.  It isn't on til late afternoon on NBC I think, but watching triathlons (even the same one over and over) always gives me inspiration.  Maybe tivo them and watch them.

I don't know if I am just being a girl, but does anyone else get a little lump in their throat when you watch some of the stories and then see them cross the finish?

If you feel yourself getting lazy, throw on Ozzy Osborne's crazy train song, that always gets me back on track . . .

2:30 ET on NBC tomorrow.  Don't miss it.  I watched most of it live, but am still looking forward to the condensed version.  Like Carrie said great trainer stuff.

And I must be a little bit of a girl too, those stories get me   I spent several hours at IMWI last year catching at the finish line and it was one of the most awe inspiring and emotional things I've ever done.

I've heard balance described several ways.  I liken it to feeling comfortable being horizontal in the water.  Most beginning swimmers have a tendency to keep their head and upper body up in the water, thus pushing their feet down and creating more drag.  I think TI describes it as swimming downhill, but you need to find a comfortable way to stay horizontal, which is not an easy task.  Not only do you need to find the horizontal balance, but you need to be able to find balance laterally.  This is so you can roll the hips with each stroke and breathe naturally to the side.

I know this sounds complicated to the beginner but as you get in the water more and more you will slowly understand what we are talking about.  The TI program does a great job of simplifying this and getting you on the right track to finding that balance.