tcovert's Winter 2009 Mentor Group - FULL (Page 9)

This is just for me now, but what I discovered was it wasn't the meat that was killing me...it was everything that went with it...white potatoes, white bread...and foods containing processed sugar.  So I cut out the white and went with fiber cereal, yogurt, fruit for breakfast, a big salad for lunch and a moderate meal for supper with meat, a sweet potato and veggies.  Snacks were limited at first to the usual carrots and veggies and things like that.  But I discovered sugar free pudding and even sugar free angel food cake.  The stuff has 6 servings at 60 cals a piece.  Have one or two alone or add strawberries that are OK on WW and even sugar free whipped creme if you have the left over points and its a great snack. 

Getting off the sugar roller coaster over the first couple of weeks really helped get the appetite under control. 

Also I have to remember the WATER.  The more water, the less uncontrolled eating, I found. 

Why do I run?  Class?  I run to EAT!  Why do I swim?  To EAT!  Why do I ride the bike?  To EAT!  At least, that's part of the reason.  Good luck to everyone this week.  From what I see, you are all terrific!

Hi everyone! I fell short of my goal last week, which was to do something aerobic 6 of the 7 days, but I only did 2. Bummer. The funny thing is that I'm almost more disciplined to train when I'm working because it is a scheduled part of my day, from 3 to 5 in the afternoon. On days off work, I tend to continually put it off throughout the day until it gets to be too late.

So, this week's goal: 3 days of aerobic activity (minimum) but 6 days ideally.

I actually was able to get away from weighing myself, which for me is a good thing. When I was really in the throes of the whole eating disorder thing, I would weigh myself as much as ten times a day. It got ridiculous. This time last year I was weighing once a day or so. When I started getting help for the eating disorder, one of the first things that both my therapist and dietician told me to do was get rid of the scale. This freaked me out. I've weighed myself just about every day since I was nine years old. It was really hard and for about two months I would just obsess about it. Now, things are better. I had gone about six months without weighing myself. I then went through a weak period where I did it a few times this fall, but am back off of it now. For me the problem is that my entire mood and state of mind hung on that number, which was bad. So, I've broken that habit...for now. But it's hard sometimes!

oshunluvah - 2009-01-05 6:16 PM well, i feel a bit overwhelmed reading of everyone's individual successes and goals but you're all very inspiring so thank you.  I feel like a complete lightweight next to all of you but I can only be where I am right now so, it's okay with me.  I finally got myself into the pool yesterday for the first time thanks to alot of mental prodding and two dear friends who swim like fish and love the water.  My goal was to work on just getting comfortable with the water, I do not swim well and I have real fear about this event so I'm taking baby steps.  I actually stayed in for 45 minutes and was in motion for just about all of it.  Not swimming always but at the very least treading water in the deep end.  This is huge for me and I will go back tomorrow.  Another success for me is that I am increasing my running (from 3 miles to 5) as of this morning and I will definitely increase this distance with each run.  Time is a huge factor and weather here is snow and ice so I'm not only forced to use the gym but driving to it can be treacherous.  Yes, that's whining that you hear.  Cycling is the ignored stepchild right now; I'm very good at long distance cycling and am not stressed about coming up to speed quickly but I need to put it into the schedule and even out my training.  Enjoy your week!

Aloha Cindy,

you are no light weight dear lady. The effort and success or otherwise is all relevant. If a millionaire gives you $5 it's not much of an effort but if a homeless person gives you $5 it is likely nearly all they have. You have put in a wonderful effort and your determination is an inspiration to us whether we be great or small. Thank you. (Especially your inspiring first dip in the pool. With a name like ocean lover you'll be open water swimming in no time! I'm a real baby in the open water?!??)

Nice to see the running up to and you feel happy letting the bike ride (forgive the pun for now) but it worth remembering that even though biking can't replace running it is an excellent conditioner for it. (Just a thought - indoor trainer worth its weight in gold! Almost)

Take care

Hello all!

Speaking of sugar free pudding... I am a HUGE fan of the banana eclair sugar free pudding... it is delicious and a great snack for when you are craving something 'sweet' 

I fell short of last week's goals in that I didn't get a single swim in.  I am dissapointed because swimming is my weakest event so I need as much practice as possible but I just couldn't motivate myself to get in the water.

This week however is MUCH better (so far!).  I swam yesterday and today and I felt SO good in the water!!!  I was a bit tired towards the end of both swims (my arms were mostly feeling tired) but I felt like I really had my breathing, kicking, and stroke down.  Right now I am working on the 0-1650 swim plan (week 1) and so far, so good 

Here are my goals for the week:

Offthegrid - 2009-01-06 1:57 AM My nutrition fell apart a little bit from what I planned on eating this evening. Whoops. I think I just let myself get too hungry because I got home late and then I was reaching for jelly beans. Also I need to get a food scale. I have no idea how much meat to log in my nutrition log right now and am just guessing. For breakfast tomorrow, I have ham and orange sweet peppers and onions. For lunch, it's going to be a tomato, red onion and chicken salad. Fruit and baby carrots are snacks. I'm going to be very popular with my co-workers with the onions.

Hey! You & me. Having a horror of a day fuel wise. It's freezing here and in the office to. Just a thought for all really. I heard on a podcast yesterday, an old Zen and the Art of Triathlon one that when we are tired or have had less sleep than normal we a suceptable to eating more. Does this ring bells for anyone else? Just curious.

Well I'm sitting on a radiator now trying to warm up that will help to stop me being hungry and stuffing myself.

Day started off bad anyway today. Heel sore and no warm water in gym so I couldn't go swimming as it was closed. Ah well I resolve to make the rest of the day a triathlon success.

Good luck to all today.

Just wondering about paleo nutrition. Any good links anyone. I'm vegitarian to, does that hinder it? I dont fancy being vegan, but if I thought it was a step forward for mankind I'd give it a go.

Aloha all,

now I got the dates for races sorted out for the year I wondered what you guys thought about my training plans.

I will carry on with the 'couch to sprint' plan which will finish about 13 days before my March 28 Sprint. Then I thought (LOL like I think a lot) a week off and the 21 week Intemediate Olympic would culminate in my fissrt attempt at an Oly Aug 15.

Now I know that seems like a bit of a step up but I have previously handled 12 hrs a week no prob and can bike the distances no prob. The doubts would be can I handle the swims especially open water and will my PF heel in time. (Oh and will my weight allow me to beat the cut off - wishing I didn't suck at swimming so that cut offs were not such a challange)

I'd love to hear your thoughts. I know it will be ambitious and really I need to stay injury free to succeed at all.

I'm going to respond to a few things here ...

"If a millionaire gives you $5 it's not much of an effort but if a homeless person gives you $5 it is likely nearly all they have. You have put in a wonderful effort and your determination is an inspiration to us whether we be great or small."

Paul, that is so, so very true and I hope we can all remember this.

"Right now I am working on the 0-1650 swim plan (week 1) and so far, so good.

Amber, I did the 0 to 1650 and it's a great little plan.  You might struggle a bit at first, but after a week or two, the plan will fall apart because you will most likely jump right up to 1650.  Really, it gets easy ... fast!  That's good, no?

"Soda right now is my biggest vice."

Susie, I'd like to offer this  ... I grew up with a mom that LIVED on Tab, and then Diet Coke.  Always in the house, and always acceptable for the kids to drink.  It was part of growing up, and I really regret that because I was hooked.  However, I wanted to stop drinking it out of habit, and the cold turkey switch to straight water wasn't realistic.   What I did was switch to sparkling water like Perrier and San Peligrino.  Turns out it wasn't so much the soda I craved, it was the bubbles.  Might be different for you or anybody else, but the carbonation is what did it for me, and now all I ever drink is water, sparkling water or club soda.  I do have Diet Coke every now and then, but now it's *maybe* once a month instead of a six pack a day.  Give it a thought.  I prefer San Peligrino now because it's not as carbonated as Perrier, but Perrier has lime and lemon flavors that might make a transition easier.  My two cents ...

And now my thought/question of the day:  With all due respect and admiration, what's the big hurry here to complete an Iron Man or Half IM?  Looks like a lot of us are simply trying very hard to make healthy lifestyle changes and to increase overall fitness, but I've also noticed some seriously lofty goals in what, to me, seems like a pretty short time period of a year or two.  Type-A personality issues aside, what's the rush?

For me, I'm thrilled at the sprint level and while I'd love to *one day* be able to say I did a half IM, I realize that I just don't and most likely won't have the time to train for that any time soon.  An hour to an hour and a half a day during the week, give or take, is just about all I can spare away from family and work.  With that, my only real goal is to sustain the regimen and get better at sprints and oly distances.

I guess the point I'm trying to make and the question I'm trying to ask is, are the longer distances to lofty for now?  Can they be a set up for failure?  Are they too big of a step?  Again, I mean zero disrespect and realize that everybody is different.  Some can make that jump sooner than others, but for me at 37 years old and just getting back into exercise after at least 10 years of little more than mowing the lawn on the weekends, the longer distances aren't even on my radar.

There are some really great starts here (!!!) and I don't want to be a buzz-killer, but I also would dread hearing a year or so down the line something to the effect of, "Well, I don't have the time and I can't get to the distances I need, so I'm gonna hang it up." 

I don't know ... I just hope that you all succeed in reaching your goals and are happy with yourselves, and I would hate to see anyone tripped up along the way because of a perceived failure to reach "the ultimate triathlon goal".   To me, the ultimate goal is to stay fit and stay happy with myself and have some fun along the way.  If HIM or IM happens, so be it. 

LOL I agree with your comments 100%. I can only speak for myself. I first set the goal of doing and IM some 22 years ago sitting on a beach on the big island looking out to breaching whales about 250 yds off shore. I made a lot of goals and a few dreams that day.

To date I have reached all goals and still have two dreams to achieve. When I set it I did not realise how big an IM was how much time is needed to achieve it or that you have to qualify to get to Kona. (I know I am dumb)

The Dream has changed from Kona IM to IM but that's because I can't control how others perform and so guarantee I get to Kona but I can control if I do an IM or not. I am now at a time in my life where my family have ALL agreed I can take the time (I mean years) to go for this dream. I may very well regret itI know LOL) and so that is why the goals are in there. If all does not go to plan I have the luxuary of being able to put it off a year or two or three.

This is no longer a dream really but now a goal. Not everyones goals are the same but it does seem to be like a torch burning for many. I'm not sure why. But I agree that like most goals and dreams it is often the journey that is more significant than the destination.

I hope and wish that for all who have similar goals they remember that the journey is more important than the destination and the real winners just keep on tri-ing. They are the real winners not the ones that give up.

Goals and timing are great topics.

For one thing, younger folks can delay all they want.  They have the time.  I don't.  

I don't know about other people and why they do things, but I know about me.  I was 54 when I started losing weight again this time with a difference from all the times before - I wanted to change lifestyle to emphasize fitness.   Longevity runs in my family.  My mom is 90, and two of her four sisters are alive and in their upper 80s; dad was just shy of 83 when he died and his twin brother is 92.  I did not want to be immobile as I got older.   

Add in the mix the fact I just beat cancer at age 56.  If that doesn't motivate you to go for it in all aspects of your life, to go "all in" and play the life game with zeal, nothing will. I'm so alive now.  I want to celebrate it. 

I've ridden nearly 24,000 miles since 2005.  I was in pretty good shape when I started running and swimming in August and September to bust through the plateau I was on at a 40 inch waist.  Now at a 36 waist, I'm feeling strong, I can ride well over 100 miles, I can swim over a mile and I can already run non stop an hour, which probably is nearly 10K.  With those facts and the addition of a highly supportive wife on my life team, what should my goals be?  A sprint and an olympic should be highly doable.  To stretch myself in 2009, it would seem a half IM and maybe a marathon, too, by the end of the year don't seem too much.  But, if I don't do that until next year, what the heck?  

An Ironman down the road?  Maybe so.  I like the tattoo.  It would also be something definitive to underscore the changes anyone can make if they want them badly enough. It would send the message to large people, people with cancer, recovering alcoholics/addicts and just plain ordinary unathletic Joes and Janes, they can do it too.  That's worth any pain to me.

But, whether I do an IM or not, it isn't want matters.  Goals only are as good as our commitment to reach them.  If I get it done, great.  If not, if I stop at half IM distances and have fun doing just those and shorter ones, that would suit me fine.   I feel like a 15 year old on Saturday morning most days.   That's enough payoff for me.  The joy is in the journey.

"I like the tattoo."

And there you have it, folks!  

I love it... you could not have a statement that is more true.