tcovert's Winter 2009 Mentor Group - FULL (Page 5)

The pay yourself first concept - I agree.   Some may say it sounds selfish at first.  But I've heard it put this way;   

Imagine yourself on a plane losing altitude really fast.  The air masks pop down from above.  You must put your own on first in order to have what it takes to help others. Taking care of yourself is the first step to being able to be of maximum service to others. 

The workout went really well today...Swam 1800 yards after biking indoors an hour.  In reading your posts and finding out where you all are from, I envy you.  It is zero here at the moment.  Windchill in the neighborhood of 20 below.   Kathy says they are talking 50 by next Saturday.  Welcome to Illinois. 

All,

I couldn't agree more ... until you're happy with yourself, your relationship will only suffer.  I don't think it's at all selfish, in fact, I think it's the best thing you can do for the two of you.   

Okay, goals for this week .. . Pretty simple, really, with regard to workouts.

For the week:

3,000m swim
10 miles run
40 miles bike

Might be tough with the holiday, but I'll squeeze it all in.  I'm hoping to pick up some speed on the runs, maybe 9 minute miles.  That'll be tough if I do bricks, but who knows ...

Big goal this week - No carbs after 7:00pm!

I've really changed my lifestyle and eating habits over the past year.  I eat a ton of veggies and fruit, and stick to lean proteins.  Mostly lean turkey breast.  I've added tofu into the mix, but I don't love it.  Hard for me was giving up pasta and pizza, because they are the two most blessed foods ever created   

I'm not doing a "Zone" diet or anything, I just eliminated all unnecessary carbs.  No white rice (very little brown, if at all), little bread (no more bagels & cream cheese, just whole wheat sometimes), no pastas at all, pizza once a month after I've earned it.  No potatoes, no starchy crap.

It really wasn't that hard after the first month, and now I really find myself craving vegetables  ... broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, carrots, etc.  Throw in some tofu and a splash of Tabasco or Tapatio, and I'm good to go. 

My biggest problem, though, is that I'm not a morning or lunch eater.  I know, I don't need the lecture, but I don't like eating in the morning.  Maybe a banana, maybe an apple at lunch, but other than that, I wait for dinner.  However, you can probably guess what comes next ... come 11:00pm, I'm starving!  I try to snack sensibly on turkey and maybe some hummus, but they both go sooo good with some Triscuits, and the kids always have some goldfish crackers or other little snacks in the cupboard

You get the picture ... so my big goal for this week is to kick the carbs after 7:00pm.  With the kids, dinner is over by then, so I have no excuse.  I'll eat, but it's got to have some value.  This week.  We'll see what happens after that.

Oh yeah, I love beer.  Beer is good.  Really, I love beer.  Over the past year, I've had maybe two beers a night once or twice a month.  Now I feel guilty if I have one because it's on my list of unnecessary calories and carbs.  With the new year week coming and college football bowls galore (kicked off by an AZ win over BYU!!!), it's going to be tough.  Somebody please tell me that it's okay to drink beers next week.  

Goals for the week:

 Ride 100 miles

 Run a little

We need a motivational quote for the week. Anybody have a favorite?

Goals for the Week:

3 Days of Running Couch to 5K

2 Days Weights/Other Cardio

Not exploding at Xmas Dinner (It isn't fair...we are having prime rib)

"How to explain Triathlon. Mmmmmmm. Let me see. Well Triathlon isn't what you do or what you'd like to become. Triathlon is what you are."

"There is no try. There is only do or do not." _Yoda

This week's goals;

- 3 bikes, 2 swims, 3 runs.  The gym is closed early Christmas Eve and Christmas, it's colder than the North Pole here and I have two celebrations.  I'm going to do what I can do.  One bright note, it's supposed to warm up for the weekend.  I might get the bike outside on Sunday.  Hooray!

- 80 to 100 ounces of water each day.  This was an agreement with my nutrition coach through work.

- Watch the Packers beat the Bears tonight!

I hope that everyone had a great weekend!  I'll tell you one thing - I definitely partied a bit too much this weekend.  I was able to get a good workout in yesterday but I feel like I could have done a bit more. 

This week will be a bit rough as I am traveling up north tomorrow directly after work and then I will be spending plenty of time with my family and friends for the rest of the week before driving back home on Sunday. The good news is that I get to pick my bike up this week!  I was supposed to be able to pick it up last time I was up north (in the beginning of the month) but there was a mix up and I had to wait.

So, my goals (that I will try my hardest to stick to) are:

Swim at least once (most like Tuesday morning)

Bike once or twice

Run three times

Core everyday

Aloha all

Seems like it will be hard for most to get the training in with the holiday period on us and... no bad thing to go easy for a SHORT while. Hope you all have a wonderful time.

My goals for the week:

I saw this and thought I'd share it with you all. It starts with this quote: Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. --T.S. Eliot

http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=3542

Youmight have to cut and paste unless someone wants to get it in as a link. I'd take remedial html lessons, too.

My week:

run 3x (already one down) My week starts on Sunday.

core 2x, stretch every day

swim 3x (That might be a problem with our expected rain, plus holidays)

at least 1 bike on the stationary

Happy, happy --- Monday!

Hi everyone! My main goal this week is consistency...something I haven't had in a long time. That being said, here is what I'm shooting for:

• 2 swims
• 2 rides
• 3 runs
• 2 weight training
• 3 core

We'll see if it happens! Thursday is my obvious rest day. We have kids, so the morning is busy, and we're hosting dinner, so the rest of the day is as well.

As far as food issues, as I mentioned, mine are more related to healthy eating from a standpoint of no doing destructive, eating-disorder related behaviors. The one I'm really focusing on now is dealing with hunger. Mainly, if I am hungry, I need to eat. However, if I'm not truly hungry, I need to wait until I'm hungry to eat. The other thing is just checking in with myself a lot during the day to see how hungry I really am. With so many years of bad habits, I had lost the ability, to a degree, to judge the shades of gray of hunger. I knew starving and stuffed, but that was about it. I'm really working on being able to differentiate when I'm a little hungry, or have just had enough food...that sort of thing. This week will really put me to the test with all the Christmas goodies around!

Jocelyn,

A trick I learned that helped a lot is to slam a big glass of water when find yourself in that gray area when you *think* you're hungry, but *know* you're not.   Drink it fast, it'll fill you up.  If that habit tells you that you need something to chew, have a carrot.

Works more often than not. 

Perhaps a subtle change from 'I really want to do an IM someday' to 'I will do an IM by (insert when)' might help. I know it did me when I made that change. I am still a long way off but I am, like you on the road.

If you want encouragement to get losing pounds let me know I'd be happy to travel that road with you.

Paul

Don't sweat every morsel or every beer.  When I was pushing 400 pounds with a 50 inch waist in April 2005, I had an attitude shift.  I didn't say, I wish I could lose weight, or I want to lose weight...I said I want to live longer, be happier, have the freedom that fitness brings.  And then I made the changes to become more fit...the weight took care of itself...I started to exercise...5 times a week at least an hour, then soon two hours when I could handle it...all on the bike at first. 

Food choices became easier when it was about lifestyle change and not just dumping the girth.  Losing weight was a byproduct of the main goal...getting fit.  I would keep track in writing what I ate in a day.  Seeing it helped.  Having to write it down was a deterent to eating bad stuff.     

 I never weighed myself.  I just pulled in the belt every notch when I could.  I still wear the same one...it wraps 1.5 times around me.  Down to a 36 inch waist. Weight Watchers has people weigh once a week to avoid the daily obsession with it.   I wanted to avoid the doom and gloom that goes with having a bad week...retaining water and having a two pound weight loss one week wiped out the next, leading to depression, a "what the heck" attitude and eating to be eating behavior.  Everybody has to find their own goals. But set many of them so there are many chances for success and good vibes.   

You are all helping me more than you know. 

IceMan

I had a good Masters workout this morning.  We worked on the drill that was highlighted in the video posted here.  It's about the "catch" with the elbow bent and the power as we push back with palm flat.  It really moves you ahead and helps with the body turning side to side you want to be more aero.  Always something to learn.  Keeps it all fresh.