Bill's House of Pain-No Vacancy (Page 5)

Looks like I need to invest in a cycle computer that features Cadence. I have no clue about what my cadence is. I do however, try to find a gear that I can easily spin without getting dropped by the bunch I usually ride with - even if the speed gets pushed up.

I do know that my cadence has increased as I used to really grind out the big gears but I was getting some real soreness in the quads. No I spin more and suffer less.

The problem I encounter is the higher the cadence the higher the heart rate and, although my legs feel better I don't necissarily have the fitness to continue higher cadences for long periods.

TIP OF THE DAY

If I were going "in order", today's topic would be related to the run. But I'm feeling more like touching on Nutrition, so that's what I'm going to discuss today.

We have a number of team members who are trying to lose a few pounds. Certainly this sort of training will help. But getting the nutrition right is a big part of that equation. Most of you probably caught that I've lost 50+ pounds since I started doing this. I didn't have any magic bullet... no supplement or anything that I could take to get the weight off. Year over year consistency (not always month to month even, but year over year in my case) was what worked. And I picked up a few habits along the way that I am certain help me tremendously. Here are a few of the highpoints:

1) I try to never be hungry. When I'm hungry I tend to tear into whatever's in sight like a crazed animal. Loaves of bread, bags of chips, slow moving animals without too much hair to choke down... nothing is safe. So I avoid that situation as often as possible by eating throughout the day (the standard 5 or 6 smaller meals) and paying attention to my hunger level.

2) I “pre-eat” before going to restaurants. If I know I’m going to eat something that may be very high calorie, or a place with baskets of chips and whatnot on the table, I pre-eat. By that I mean about 30 minutes beforehand I have an ounce of raw almonds or a slice of whole grain high dietary fiber bread and chase it with a 12 ounce glass of water. That usually has me feeling half full, and it seems to wake up my “I don’t need any more food” mechanism a little faster than had I been stuffing my face with chips.

3) I have learned to sloooooooooow down when I eat. I knew I had a problem when my little girl got in the habit of asking me why I ate so fast. I find if I eat lunch with a co-worker or someone who will talk to me during lunch that helps me slow down. How much does it help? I often get a sandwich in our cafeteria. If I eat alone and I lose focus on eating slow I eat the whole sandwich.  If I’m eating with someone and I stay on task I am full after half a sandwich. That’s 50% less for those of you who are keeping score.

4) I watch the glycemic index of what I’m eating. I’ll save a detailed explanation for another nutrition topic. But basically I want to eat carbs that don’t raise my blood sugar too fast. The glycemic index (GI) is a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 according to the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after consumption. Foods with a high GI are those which are digested and absorbed quickly and result in significant fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Low-GI foods, by virtue of their slow digestion and absorption, produce gradual rises in blood sugar and insulin levels. NOW that’s not to say I never eat high GI foods. Quite the contrary, I eat them frequently. Right after exercise, that’s when I eat high GI carbs (usually 80 grams) and protein (20 grams) so I’m getting the recommended 4:1 carb to protein ratio for optimal recovery and glycogen synthesis. About 90 minutes later, I eat a good meal with my low GI carbs and protein. The cool thing about doing that is I can find a way to fit in foods I used to binge on, like white bread or flour tortillas (low fat). When I was at my peak weight it was nothing for me to eat a dozen flour tortillas as I drove home from the grocery store. No I eat a few after I train. And I still lose weight while enjoying foods that I like.

That’s it for now. There’s so much information I’ll try to keep it in manageable portions. If you want further reading, check out any of the articles here on BT by Marni Rakes. She taught me everything I’ve listed above. She does nutrition planning through BT if you need help with that, and she’s very knowledgeable and personable, and if you asked me about who to go to for help she would be the first person I’d suggest without hesitation.