Triathlon training and nutrition
I am one year out from my RNY this week and have met and maintained better than my goal for the last three months. I am training for a sprint tri in September (when I turn 40!) and am trying to figure out the balance between training and the nutrition that I need. I had my one year visit and my protein level was great and so was everything else. My concern is that my doctor doesn't really understand my nutritional training needs and didn't have any firm information to give me about this. He is a firm believer that you eat only three meals a day and no snacks. I can't maintain that because I start to feel sick when I haven't eaten enough calories and I can't get enough just in three sittings a day. My question is this...what are enough calories and what type of calories are eaten (e.g. proteins, carbs, fruits/vegetables)? What is the typical diet like for the post-RNY person who is training for such an event? I don't want to gain weight but at the same time I want to make sure that I am getting enough to maximize my training. The info that I read about "normal" people training doesn't always apply (e.g. carb loading on pasta the night before--ugh!) Thanks for any feedback!
For the race itself you won't need anything special for a sprint distance race.
Anything taking less than 1 - 1.5 hours, you will be good with some water or gatorade for the bike and run.
As for your nutritional needs, and training I went through the same discussion with my DR. and his dietician. They were a 3 meals no deviation, no protein drinks all protein must come from real solid food not suppliments. They didn't seem to understand that I was burning more calories in a single workout than what I was taking in during the day. I felt tired, and lethargic, couldn't complet my workouts.
I found another dietician with the same medical group who was able to help me.
She added two "snacks" that bracket my workout. Preferably one of them 1-2 hours before the workout and another one 1/2 hour after the workout.
I have felt much better since adding those increased calories. I'm at a point where I can come close to eating just about anything (still dump on too much sugar so I have to watch the sports gels I mix them with water to thin them out.) So basically I'm at 1200 calories a day base, then I replace whatever I burn for my workouts.
Calories for you are going to be different than for me. There are people who eat much much much more than that here, but they are workout animals and are burning huge numbers of calories. Their daily workouts are much harder than the sprint triathlon, so judging your nutrion needs based on them or anyone else is not a great thing.
As for carb loading, I prefer to do a 3 day carb load. 3 days out from your race is when you have your most carbs, and you reduce them every meal until the night before the race when you are back to a normal "WLS patient" diet.
There is a new company that is doing exercise nutrition for bariatric patients.
They are called Bariathletes http://www.bariathletes.com/ If you can't find someone local to help you with your nutrition, you might want to check them out. I don't have any experience with them, they had a booth at the O.H. conference in L.A. last weekend.
Scott
Anything taking less than 1 - 1.5 hours, you will be good with some water or gatorade for the bike and run.
As for your nutritional needs, and training I went through the same discussion with my DR. and his dietician. They were a 3 meals no deviation, no protein drinks all protein must come from real solid food not suppliments. They didn't seem to understand that I was burning more calories in a single workout than what I was taking in during the day. I felt tired, and lethargic, couldn't complet my workouts.
I found another dietician with the same medical group who was able to help me.
She added two "snacks" that bracket my workout. Preferably one of them 1-2 hours before the workout and another one 1/2 hour after the workout.
I have felt much better since adding those increased calories. I'm at a point where I can come close to eating just about anything (still dump on too much sugar so I have to watch the sports gels I mix them with water to thin them out.) So basically I'm at 1200 calories a day base, then I replace whatever I burn for my workouts.
Calories for you are going to be different than for me. There are people who eat much much much more than that here, but they are workout animals and are burning huge numbers of calories. Their daily workouts are much harder than the sprint triathlon, so judging your nutrion needs based on them or anyone else is not a great thing.
As for carb loading, I prefer to do a 3 day carb load. 3 days out from your race is when you have your most carbs, and you reduce them every meal until the night before the race when you are back to a normal "WLS patient" diet.
There is a new company that is doing exercise nutrition for bariatric patients.
They are called Bariathletes http://www.bariathletes.com/ If you can't find someone local to help you with your nutrition, you might want to check them out. I don't have any experience with them, they had a booth at the O.H. conference in L.A. last weekend.
Scott
The first time you do something - It's going to be a personal record!
This was SOOOOO helpful! Thanks for the tips. I work hard at listening to my body and what it needs but sometimes wonder whether the "thoughts" I have are what my body is telling me or what that old voice in my head is telling me what I need. I'm glad that I'm not alone in the need for the snack. Sometimes doctors don't completely understand what is being said and get caught up in telling everyone the same thing when our needs are different. This was very helpful to hear this from someone who does the training as well. Thanks again.
Love the picture and it is about time. I really dislike Dr. Freeman's 3 meals a day no snack rule. I don't follow it.
Of course I am not in training like you are but am planning on doing my first 5k in August. I work out with my trainer and usually when I'm finished working out I drink a protein drink so my muscles have fuel to rebuild. I don't usually need anything before a work out, but if I did, I would eat something carby such as fruit for the energy and it is still healthy.
Good luck to you and I'm glad you posted a pic and are doing so well.
Of course I am not in training like you are but am planning on doing my first 5k in August. I work out with my trainer and usually when I'm finished working out I drink a protein drink so my muscles have fuel to rebuild. I don't usually need anything before a work out, but if I did, I would eat something carby such as fruit for the energy and it is still healthy.
Good luck to you and I'm glad you posted a pic and are doing so well.
Thanks about the pic. I was unsure if it "took" or not since I am technologically impaired. I usually don't need the energy before the workout, it is usually about 2-3 hours after that I feel like I need something. I'm glad to see that someone else needs the snack throughout the day. I think the 3 meals a day is pretty unrealistic to meet my needs. Thanks. What 5K are you doing in August? I'm going to do Woodstock and hope that might be the one your talking about. Amy is planning on doing it too. She has done two so far and so have I. My best time is 32:04 and am running another the first weekend in June in Gadsden. I love them!
Yes it is the Woodstock. I think I will be doing more walking than running if I don't get my butt into serious training mode. My knees were super bad (confirmed by orthopedic surgeon) before WLS, so I don't know how they are going to really do running. It might be totally unrealistic of me to even think I can run. You know I do have several years on you and Amy.
The 3 meals, no snacks thing absolutely doesn't work if you eat more than about 1200 calories a day IMO.
Anyway, I wrote a whole article about this for my blog:
http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2010/04/endurance-training-sleeve.html
Now, I have a sleeve, but a lot of the principles are the same.
Anyway, I wrote a whole article about this for my blog:
http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2010/04/endurance-training-sleeve.html
Now, I have a sleeve, but a lot of the principles are the same.
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The link was GREAT! Pretty much I have been doing the same thing. I really have listened to my body throughout this whole process and I was glad to see that my body was actually telling me the right thing (amazingly enough). Pretty much my eating habits mirror yours and I have found that I have maintained the weight in the last three months. I put a couple of pounds on in the last couple of weeks and when I looked at my intake and what I was eating, I knew why. Changing back to my "normal" routine helped me to drop the pounds again and keep me on track. Thanks for the info as it was helpful to hear that someone else is "breaking" some of those rules that we've heard about and still being able to maintain. I love my training and enjoy the endurance activities but was worried about how to balance things. Thanks for the help! I'll probably check out your blog more often to see what you're working on.