Newbz'z summer mentor group is FULL!!!! (Page 56)

haha I just love food in general.  I don't have favorite.  I love fruits and vegetables, but I also love candy and high fructose corn anything.  Hopefully when my metabolism catches up with me, I haven't lost my love for fruits and veggies.

Wow...thanks for all the info guys.

I understand that if I am currently operating at 3300 - 3400 calories per day (~10% less on rest days) I need to shoot for around 2700 calories.  And when my training increases over the year, I can only assume that I will need to up my calorie intake back to around 3000 and I will still see the benefit of the "calorie reduction".

I agree with all of you when you say that in some ways you end up taking a day off from your diet at least once a week.  And sometimes you don't even realize it.  I think what I will plan on doing is sticking to the calorie reduction during the week (Tues.-Fri), mostly because Friday is my rest day and I will effectively be eating 500 calories "above" my required intake as specified by this "diet".  Then on Saturday and Sunday I always end up eating less than my required intake of calories because those are my long workout days.  Monday will be back up again because I only have a swim workout, hence I will be eating more than I need (but hopefully tricking my body into burning fat).

What I'm still wondering is this:  Say I reduce my calorie intake for the next two months.  I end up losing say...5 lbs.  Now theoretically my body is used to the deficit.  If I have stopped losing weight and not gaining weight...I am obviously supposed to consume enough calories that stay at that current weight.  Correct?  I have effectively taught my body to lose the weight and operate using fewer calories, while still maintaining/increasing performance?

haha!  I think this is a perfect solution.  I suggest that someone go on this diet immediately (I however will not because I like supporting Guiness, I feel that it is essential to international relations).

And hey....if you need to up your intake 3600 calories, just drink more beer.  A calorie is always a calorie at the molecular level.

This morning I planned on riding 2hrs with some threshold intervals in the middle.  I was thinking 6x4' 100%ftp w/ 6' aerobic.  To make a long story short.  My legs are still fried from my ftp test on Mon.  I ended up only riding for a little over an hour with 30mins of tempo at the end.

Did you do a sufficient cool down after your test?  FWIW, my legs were crap for a good two or three days after my test also.

Edited by jgerbodegrant 2010-06-02 9:57 AM

you just did probably the hardest (outside of maybe a 20 min test) on the bike you could, and your legs are tired, it happens;-)

Theoretically...yes.  The problem occurs when most people think they have achieved their goal weight, they can simply go back to eating 3400 calories per day...and gain most of the weight back.  If you SLOWLY increase your calories back, you can probably train your body to operate back at a 3400 balance...but you might gain 1-2 pounds.  So your net loss may be 3-4 pounds...but you can go back to eating 3400 calories per day.

I have come to the realization that it is nearly impossible to lose weight and keep all of it off.  There will always be a slight recoil once you hit your target weight.  It's your body's way of hitting the reset button and finding it's new balance.

NICE!  I would use 516.  Better close up. 

On another note...how did you get such a long straw??  is that just tubing?

x2. I always knew you were cute and x2 on the straw. Crazy.

The straw is just tubing from home depot.  I was furstrated with the standard tubing the aerodrink came with because it would stab me in the chin/throat when I got aero.  And if I cut the straw too short, I couldn't drink while looking ahead.

This straw is soft, so it hangs down naturally...allowing me to have it much longer so I can actually drink while riding on the horns.  Good for when you need a drink while climbing.  No stabbing problems when i'm aero either.

just got my garmin 500 today.  Charged it up, synced it to my hrm, and adjusted all the settings...now just need to sync it to the power tap when I get home.

it's amazing how far technology has come today.  almost everything on this device is fully customizable.  from naming your bike, adjusting up to to show up to 24 of the possible 42 data fields in any order you want. 

Love the new avatar.   

For once in my life, I actually did a cool down after my ride.  As long as my legs can hold up for tomorrow morning's 11mile run, then I'll be perfectly happy.

Had a pretty good swim workout today.  My legs were hurting from yesterday's run, so I skipped my bike.....oops.

On the other hand, had my fastest 100 in a pool to date today.  1:22!!  I know...not crazy fast, but it's 3 seconds faster than my previous pool 100 from about 3 weeks ago!  Now if only I could hold that for 1.2 miles.

Awesome time! That qualifies as super fast to me.

I went to my 1st masters class yesterday and when I woke up this morning my arms felt like they were ready to fall off my body. I was really happy with the class and almost everyone else in the class is a triathlete, so it was cool to meet them. 
They gave me some tips for improving my stroke, and the drills we did gave me lots of ideas of what to do on my own at the pool. We're doing an OWS Sat. 

Nice!  I am seriously thinking about jumping into master's swim in the fall.

I'm late to the table, but I thought I'd share my experience.  Last year at this time I was about 147-148.  This year I'm a solid 160, was holding at high 150s for awhile but my recent dinners of a sleeve or Oreos and burritos finally pushed me over the edge.  For reference, I'm 6'1".  I would say I was at racing weight last year, my girlfriend will say I was manorexic/unhealthy (it all started cause of a random calorie counting app I downloaded combing with my obsessive personality).  I now think I was starving my body.  However, I almost never felt lacking energy during a workout save for a couple times, same as now.  Since I stopped tracking calories, I put some pounds on, but I have a body fat scale, and its only gone up from theh high 4-low 5% range to the mid/upper 5% range (no idea how accurate that is, but I think its good for a comparison).  My training has sepped up a notch during that time as well.  what this tells me is that I've gained more muscle without adding much dead weight (fat).  So looking back, I was probably operating under my ideal racing weight.  So I'm now faster in all three disciplines, despite the extra weight, due to my body having enough calories to feel comortable burning (before it might have been in economy mode so I wasn't lacking energy per se, but I couldn't do it at the same intensity I can now) and the muscle that extra work and burning of calories has helped build.  At least thats my logical deduction from the situation, though I am certainly no expert on metabolism.  I used to aim for <35g fat per day, for not other reason than thats what I could minimize it to w/o significant hardship.  I'm now more comfortable eating fat becuase I want to train my body to better metabolize fats during long races.  I have no idea if 30g vs 60g vs 100g makes a difference, and the training to metabolize fats was based on some stuff i read, and again, I'm no expert and may be wrong.

I guess my only point is that depending on what you're going for, lower weight may not help your performance.  I think I've found a good balance, at least better than before.

I think my biggest gains are on the bike in the flats/rollers.  I was a great climber doing much better comparitively in hilly bikes vs flat bikes in races last year.  This year, I've only done hilly bike courses, but still have done better overall in the bike segment than run segments (whereas last year I did better in the run vs bike for the flatter courses) but I've still dropped my 10k Oly split by almost 2 min.  I also did better compared to the field in a race with a run up and down a mountain vs a flat Oly run split, which I think backs up that the extra 10 lbs aren't hurting me.

Not sure if I really am helping anyone with all this, but its just my experiences.  If anyone has thoughts about my current/new approach, I'd appreciate it.

Edited by jsiegs 2010-06-03 10:04 AM

So, I will be out of the loop for about the next 3 weeks.  I leave on Saturday for Finland.  Husband has a conference and I get to tag along!  We will be up by the Artic circle (23 hours of sunlight). Have been planning this for about 6months. super excited!

However, when I get back I have exactly 2 weeks before my first "real" triathlon. How should I approach this? I have decided not to make this my A race for the year b/c of the trip - but I would like to do as well as possible. I will only be running while I am away.  Too cold to swim and no bike. So when I get back should I hit it hard for a week and then taper?  Or should I have a different strategy? I have been working since March on my base and the distances won't be a problem, but would still like to finish MOP. Suggestions???

J - nice avatar!

JS - Thanks for your input.  I woud agree that there is a sort of ideal weight for everyone.  Maybe you are more suited to the 160 range.  It's just something that I am interested in doing.  My freshman year in college I was down in the 165 range for crew and actually made the lightweight 4 at one point.  Two summers ago I was up to 210-212 from lifting.  Since then I've got back into cardio as a priority and have obviously lost some muscle weight. 

To put it in perspective we are only 2 inches in height difference and I outweigh you by 35 lbs.  I know body types are different and all that, but I know I can safely lose a few lbs.  Like you I'm trying to find that balance that give me the best results while still being as healthy as possible.

You better believe that if I see a decrease in performance I will scratch the idea.

Robin - I can tell you what I would do if I was in your position.  I'd jump back into my training plan and taper for a couple days, three at max.  I would necessarily hit it harder than you normally would.  Just my 2c.  Have a blast on your trip!!

yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to suggest that you shouldn't lose weight if you want to, or that it would hurt your racing.  It was just sort of myy experience on the other side of the spectrum.  And yeah, in terms of body types, we're all different.  I have friends shorter than me who weigh as much or more and are the right weight for their frame.  If I weighed 20 lbs more, there'd be nowhere to put it except for a beer belly, but thats probably the right weight for a lot of people who are my height.  Unfortunately, the adjective most people have used to describe me is "lankey".  I much prefer "lean but awkward looking".

Jeff, you got this dude.  Being scared is useless.  You're gonna crush it, so harden up!

And have a beer after....no matter what happens, that always solves my race problems.  Good luck! 

Not a problem...didn't take offense at all.  I always get that "lankey" thing also.  I prefer "fit, but somehow un-toned".