Visit with the Nutritionist !
Monday evening I went to the Wellness Center to ask about seeing a nutritionist. It is free as a member and she happened to have an open appointment that evening. I have been SOOOO frustrated about yo-yo-ing around 190 pounds that I was ready to go on an eating tear! I actually showed a weight gain Monday morning despite all the running and biking over the weekend. It was not like I had splurged or anything so it wasn't making sense to me. I felt a bit silly going but it WAS free and I was pretty frustrated.
We started out discussing my frustrations and I gave her a run down of a typical day's food intake for the ol' deep south runner. Yes, I told her of my occasional tendency....well.......frequent tendency to throw down on cold cereal at night. Especially when the kids happen to have a box of those Chocolate Lucky Charms! MMMMMMMM.
Anyways.....Lost my train of thought. She actually said that I am not eating enough throughout the day. My body thinks I may starve and its metabolism slows down. I am so busy at work I don't realize it, but at night I get REALLY hungry! Therefore, I overeat at night without realizing it. Even though the food I overeat on is not terribly unhealthy, I am eating more than I realize.
She then went into portion sizes and gave me an example of a 2000 calories diet. She said this is the amount of calories I need to take in for my activity level to lose weight gradually. Although it has only been two days, I did actually feel better and I am not as hungry at night.
I poured a bowl of Grape Nut Trail Mix cereal (one of my healthy favorites) last night but used a measuring cup. Boy was I surprised to see how 3/4 of a cup only takes up such a small space in my bowl! I have been eating 2 1/2 cups some nights!
I am going to give this a try for a while -- eating more at breakfast, a snack in between meals, and more at lunch and see how it goes.
As far as the running goes: I wasn't able to run Tuesday due to my work schedule so I took an easy day and did my intervals this morning. This will mean two harder days in a row so we will have to see how that goes. My interval running went pretty well but my STUPID watch didn't work and I don't have an exact readout of the intervals. GRRRRRR!!!!
I am feeling pretty good tonight though and I am looking forward to the long run this weekend! (At least right now anyway). :-)
posted by Shane (mississip) at 7:51 PM
2 Comments:
You're a smart guy. It took me years before I finally listened to the people trying to tell me that breakfast is very important. Once I started eating a good breakfast (within 30 minutes of getting back from my morning run) I started eating better all day. I also finally got in the habit of bringing a couple of pieces of fruit to work with me each day for between meal snacks.
A bit more on your intervals and your pace in general. The heat and humidity is kicking the crap out of you. Don't fret too much about your pace in the middle of the summer. There is a reason you don't see too many people out doing what you're doing in the Mississippi this time of the year. IT'S HARD. The fun will start as the morning temperatures start to drop. As the temperature goes down, I suspect that your average pace will increase ... this will be be a great boost for you leading up to your race.
For now, try to use your interval training to work on your running form in addition to learning how to hold a nice steady fast pace. You won't be breaking any land-speed records until it cools off a bit. So do worry about getting to much faster, just focus on running better ... smooth and easy.
Of course, I've never seen you run, but if you are like most of us, you try to extend your stride to go faster. The next time you run your intervals try to shorten your stride a little and increase your turn over rate. And focus on keeping your arms near your body. Pay attention to how it feels to run a nice fast steady pace. If it feels terrible, go back to your old ways. I found that I can kick things into high gear by shortening my stride a bit and increasing the leg speed. Things just start to flow better. I don't do this on my long or easy runs because my pace is way too slow, but I do incorporate it into my intervals.
Good luck
Phil
10:01 PM
Hey Shane,
I appreciate what you said about your metabolism problems and all that. L and I have been "walking" up and down hills here in Tn. at Ijams. He loses wt. I gain, if anything. But my one big sin is eating/bingeing at PM. If I can find a way to kick this habit, who knows, I might be Ms. Skinny Minny. (Well, at least lose a couple pounds.) I do eat breakfast, usually with protein. All day I can be good as gold, then 6:00 comes; I feel nervous and just want to eat.
Wish I could say I've lost 50 lbs. At least you're learning what to do while you're young.
Proud of you.
S in Knox
7:14 AM
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