Going home makes you fat....Diet time.

Ugh, I know ALL about family making you fat. My parents do not share my "fitness-minded" mentality...actually, it's really just my mom. Everytime I visit her, she's always pushing food at me: cookies, chips, banana bread, ice cream, etc....Even though I tell her I'm following a training plan and am trying really hard to stick to it, she just keeps throwing food at me! Frustrating! Especially since I don't want to hurt her feelings...So, I don't visit very often. =) And snacking is fine- especially since you want to have small meals- just make sure the food isn't processed and is good protein/carbs like trail mix, fruit, yogurt, energy bars, etc... Good luck!

Philly really is the problem. They don't believe in healthy food there. It doesn't help that a few of my friends own restaurants and pizza places. You stop into say hi and end of eating a cheesesteak, half a pizza and an order of cheese fries.

I also need to figure out how to loose some muscle mass. I looked at the pictures and realized I have huge arm and a huge chest (45'). My goal is lean and mean, no bulky. When I finished wrestling in college I got into really heavy lifting and I haven't been able to get rid of the bulk since. I've given up all heavy lifting and try to do high reps, we'll see how it works out.

Get rid of muscle??? BLASPHEMY!!!

Clydesdale!

Hehe...I feel for you - I always gain poundage when I visit family. I think there's just this reflex to pig out when I'm surrounded by family members with nothing better to do.

Now you have motivation to plan your 2005 race season and get your trainind started!!

If it makes you feel any better I'd bet that 4 lbs of that weight gain is likely water. 8lbs in a week is nearly impossible even if you're trying to get fat. You probably eat a rather low sodium diet normally...and all the tasty food you ate that week was probably loaded with salts so you're holding a good amount of water. Otherwise you would have had to eat 4-5lbs of food every day to average 1lb weight gain...assuming the body is only ~20% efficient (just a guess) at converting energy to body mass.

What do you consider "bulky"? I guess I'm bulky compared to the pros I see on TV with those little arms and no chest. I guess if I wanted to really max out my running potential I'd need to drop 10-15lbs of muscle...I don't think the extra weight hurts as much on the bike.