kaqphin (Super Cat's) Mentor group - CLOSED (Page 7)

Let me stop in to post my own MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS to everyone! I made it to Houston yesterday (with tri-bike in tow...if anything just to show him off to the family).  Won't be doing tons of training, but with a marathon in less than two months, I do have some essential long runs to get in.

Enjoy the holidays, enjoy your family, enjoy knowing that as we enter 2008 we all do so with so much more than your "normal" resolutions.  Instead we have goals, and methods to reach those goals.  We have motivation, we have drive, and we have awesome support.  If I have learned anything, it is that we have so much more than we can possibly appreciate, so take some time reflect this holiday season, to hug your family, to hug your pets, to hug your bike (just kidding...sort of), and smile at all we have. 

BE BLESSED GROUP!

X2

Well said! 

Hiya! I hope everyone is slowly recovering from christmas goodies... there are still SOOOO many in my fridge Im almost sick of the site of sugar... but then I remember it tastes good.

Sorry I havent been around much the last few days, Im not 100% but Im getting better!

I know a lot of people are kicking off new training and nutrition in the new year (including me) so it might be a good time to talk about specifics of what you are doing, how you are putting training together etc.

Of course this is after the holiday recovery period!!!!

Lyssa sounds like you have anough to keep yourself busy right now!

Ive never ridden in snow and although Ive heard it can be done just make sure you are careful!

Mel - yeah Ive done WW went back to meetings late last year but they cancelled the meeting I went to and I havent felt inspired to go find a new one....

I should point out that Rocky Road was part of my breakfast today so although I intend to be good all the sweet stuff hanging around is not helping at all... in fact Im tempted to throw a lot of it out! (but I can just hear the complaints about wasting food... although maybe if I did it quietly today!)

Lyssa- I feel for ya.  After going out and dancing and being around a lot of people in San Francisco I came back with some horrible something.  Spent Christmas eve (yup my bday) in bed with a fever and most of Christmas in bed to.  Although, actually it helped mello the family out a lot and the stress factor to create the perfect meal, perfect holiday thing that usually puts the family at each other's throat was non-existent and all I had to do was zone out and sleep. And my throat hurt so bad there was zero holiday pigging out. So actually it was one of the better holidays at home I have to say! Hope the kids are feeling better.

My mom is a Weight Watcher's leader/receptionist so I have heard and seen it all, but while I need to start writing down what I eat and their calories again, I don't do the points thing or follow their plan.  Call it teenage rebelliousness that still lingers. I'll share my whole injury weight gain story and the joys and challenges of the meal plan at my grad school residency when I'm a little more awake.

hey, guess what, its friday!  Woowhoo! 

One of the best lines I've heard is:

"Your stomach is not your trash bin."

Something like that anyway. It was told to me in reference to those little scraps of food from a meal we eat cause we don't want to throw them away even though we are already full. It's just wrong to equate the job of our trash can with the job of our stomachs. I find it also works when you think of the "trash" in some of the foods we eat.

Hey all...hope you had a great holiday season, illness and injury notwithstanding.  After avoiding a possible family-wide case of food poisoning (my 84 year old grandfather neglected to freeze the roast and it was smelling mighty awful when we went to get it out on Christmas day) and the other annoyances of family, I'm gearing up for my new years training/nutrition. 

I definitely need to ease up on the running because of my knees, at least until I lose a few pounds, so I'm going to basically hold steady at last week's levels for the month of January.  So, I'll be running 12 minutes out of 30 until the end of the month when I'll start building again.  At least that way I won't lose any fitness and hopefully my legs will adapt better.  I'm also going to start doing some leg strengthening exercises to help out in addition to my upper body/core work I already do.  I think alot of my knee problems are muscle imbalance (especially since the ortho couldn't find anything on the MRI), so a little work on the muscles certainly can't hurt.

To make up for it, I'm going to try to start getting on the stationary bike at the gym if it doesn't bother my knees (I'm going to try it on Sunday and see how it goes).  I won't really work on much resistance I don't think...just time and getting my legs used to the spinning.  I won't be out on the roads biking until at least mid/late February as I need my tax return to pay for a bike.  So, it's all stationary until then.

And of course I'll keep up my swimming.  I'm going to cut back to 2 sessions a week (same days as biking) and do one for speed and one for distance.

Nice thing about this new plan is it will give me 2 rest days, although I'll be working harder on the 5 days I'm working out than I am now.

My nutrition starts Jan 3rd (the 2nd is my birthday so can't start until after that!).  I'm just going to really keep track of what I eat and try to keep it under 1800 calories and work on keeping my blood sugar as close to regular as possible (reduce the crappy carbs).  I'm going to give myself 2 freebie meals a week because I know that will help me keep to it.

If everything keeps to schedule I should be good to go for my race in August (240 days away!).  I'll be up to a max 1800 yards swimming (after a warm up), 80 minutes on the bike, and 45 minutes running.  I think that'll basically cover the distances of the race.

Everyone have a great New Year!  And if you go out on New Years Eve, of course be careful on the roads.  Way too many drunk drivers that night out there.  I know I'll be at the firehouse not getting much sleep that night thanks to the 2 major highways in our first due area.

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday.  It seems many people are sick this time of year, especially with all of this crazy weather! 

My plan....I have been eating horrible and not doing any sort of exercise for 2 months, I have no where to go but up.  LOL

Actually, my husband and I are talkng about a true overhaul of our diet.  Not really going on a diet, but moving to a healthy lifestyle.  I know easier said then done.  My training plan kicks in on Jan 6th and I really, really want to be consistent with the workouts.  It may sound stupid, but my husband and I are going to particpate in The Biggest Loer Million Pound Challenge.  I know it is silly, but we love The Biggest Loser (tv show) and maybe if we have something we have to be accountable to, then we will do it.

I am ready to adopt a healthy lifestyle.  I am tired of feeling tired, if that makes any sense at all.

Have a safe New Year everyone!

Thats a lesson I really need to take to heart... especially with my health issues... needless to say my stomach is on the verge of a flare at the moment... it LOVES to tell me when Im not looking after myself properly! 

Hi Kelley,

Id love to know how you worked out the 1800 calorie limit for your food... do you take the amount of exercise you do into a day into consideration at all?  

x3

We are still getting the latest series of the American version here....

The Australian one starts here in the new years and its slightly different to the american one in that its on air 6 nights a week for half an hour so you get to see exactly how they eat and their nutrition lessons as well as the  training etc in what seems like a lot more detail than the American version....

We got Bob and Gillian the first couple of times but they have trained up a couple of local trainers so I guess no more down here...

I think the concept is wonderful... and if it changes just one life inside or outside of the show then thats a wonderful thing!  

Ok, here's my story:

So almost exactly a year ago when I got injured I was the skinniest I had basically ever been- yay me!  Then managed to pack on 55lbs (this number continues to stun me!!!) through the 6 months of waiting for surgery, and post surgery.  Basically by indulging in food and going out and drinking but not dancing the calories away and eating terribly while traveling (beer, chocolate, and coffee is a nutritious diet right??) . So in August I was the heaviest I had ever been.  Since getting the bike around then and adding swimming and running I am working my way back.  And have taken 24lbs out of that big nasty 55.  AND I'm pretty proud that the heavier me right now can run, bike, and swim thousands of circles around the skinny me of a year ago although I may have developed a bit of an endorphin addiction.

The 2008 plan and challenge.  I would like to continue literally working my but off and eating away at those 55 lbs.  I need to get back into the habit of tracking what I eat- I did really good until mid November. I also need to work on staying better hydrated.  Santa gave me a nice water bottle carry around so that should help. 

As a disclaimer I live a very spoiled graduate student life right now that is kind of hard to explain. And since I research with photography I'll give ya a picture. This is from one of our formal dinners- only four times a year do we dress up and bring out the white tablecloths but it gives you an idea

At the residency where I live, meals our social time and encouraged to be an academic intellectually stimulating social event 5 nights a week.  As such we have 2 amazing chefs and a wonderful baker on staff.  5 mornings a week we get a fresh baked item (muffin, scone, banana bread ect.) I've learned to walk past them and YAY! This was a battle in it's own right. And at dinner we get good quality food (nothing fried) but a huge portion and a fresh homemade desert appears.  When you do the math of dinner with everything they give us you could easily reach a 1500 calorie meal. Got this pretty well figured out too with a big plate at the salad bar minus the homemade dressing and asking for a smaller portion on everything else but I am still struggling to pass the dessert. So a goal for January is only one desert per week.

What also gets me in trouble is the social event of meals.  I have been known to sit at breakfast for an hour and chatting with people as they come in and eat.  So what gets me in trouble is going for another piece of toast ect. or another roll at dinner- well at dinner I used to go back for multiple deserts, so i guess bread rolls are an improvement.  I am contemplating bringing gum with me to meals so that I will be chewing on that as I chat with people instead of grabbing more food. We're on our own for lunch and weekends so I am figuring out healthy options to eat then.  Tuna is my friend!!

Phew, sorry for the novel, but at least I gave you a pretty picture too look at.