When things makes sense but don't.
Yup that is kind of where I am at right now.
Quick background. Next month will mark 2 years post-op for me. I basically stopped losing after about 9 months which was around 100-115 pounds depending when I checked. As many know I enjoy running (**** did I just openly say that?) Well anyways I worked through Distances of 5K, 10K, 15K and 2 Half Marathons last year, but dealt with injuries at the 10K plus range.
10k IT Band
15K 1st Half Marathon right knee muscle pain was in a brace
2nd Half 13.1 miles on a partially torn hamstring BOOYAH! or OUCH!
The torn hamstring took me out of commision for the most part I was able to focus on the swimming and eventually resume spin classes as these were deemed low impact. Before I was able to hit the spin classes those I was unable to change my eating habits. You see eating had become a habit more of something that was part of my schedule than anything else. I would eat the drink for an hour then eat and resume all day. My caloric goal going into my Half training was 2500 calories a day, which some days I did better at than others. Well along with injury and not being able to adjust quickly enough OVER THE FREAKING HOLIDAYS! I saw a bounce of 15 pounds this was also around the 18 month point as well so I was really hoping to work through this point and avoid the bounce.
Well here I am training for a 70.3 Ironman event and pretty much scared most of the time to eat the things I really should be eating. I keep my calories low and try to keep my workouts high. Logically I know this is not a good thing, but the words I heard som many times growing up echo in my head "Exercise more and eat less". Well I do just that now and well the 15 pounds stay the same not an overall bad thing as it doesn't go beyond that.
People Talk about this is a game of calories in versus calories out and I believe that is true to a point. When you body needs 2300 a day just to operate and then you exercise 1500-4000 more well hell I should drop weight like mad but it doesn't work that way.
I know that my training is decent physically but when doing endurance events you have the Physical, Nutrition, Hydration and mental aspects to deal with.
Physical- I have no doubt that I can cover the distances involved and have trained the distance in all but the bike but have been able to quickly increase distance I'm 13 miles shy of the 56 miles.
Mental - isn't anything going to stop me from finishing
Hydration - a total battle but I have made major improvements and find myself dehydrated less often.
Nutrition - Total battle and is where I fail (yes I do fail) . Nutrition involves Pre, During and Post. Eating correctly Prior to a race or long training session, taking in the proper calories during an event or training session this typically are the handy little GU Energy gels I have this dialed for the run but the bike still poses problems. Goal is about 300 calories an hour on my longest bike ride of 2:45 I took in 200 calories in the first hour and 0 the rest of the time. Post nutrition is important as it helps us recover and repair the damage to our bodies, but the reality is that typically I am not hungry after a long session. I will be hungry right after but for the rest of the day I have little to no appetite so figuring out what and when to eat is difficult along with focusing on getting my hydration back in line.
I typically come out of a long or intense workout session smelling of ammonia which is a sure sign that the body is tapping protein sources for fuel as opposed to carbs or fat. My sweat is acidic to the point it burns when it gets in my eyes pretty much everything that shouldn't happen but I still have the energy or determination to finish.
Recognizing that I had issues and also to avoid injury and try to get on track and do this stuff right I reached out to someone who put me in touch with an exercise physiologist and dietician with a respected Bariatric Center. I logged my food intake on rest days, training days, and even pre and post race days. And they have put together a diet plan which boths has me lost and nervous.
Warning don't follow these numbers without expert advice first!
Calroic Goal
Training days 2800-3000
Rest Days 2300-2500
Caloric Breakdown
Calories are supposed to be broken out
50% From carbs
30-35% Protein
20-15% Fat
This is completely opposite as to how I have been and currently eat which is about 80% protein. One of my goals along with finishing Augusta strong and moving on to my next big adventure is to hopefully drop this 15 and maybe 20-25 pounds. Yeah part of this is do as I say not as I do but I know physically not hauling 15-25 more pounds up a hill pedaling a bike would be easier. It won't make me run faster as I run faster now than I did last year and just a few months off of inury. I also admit the the 15lb bump got me back to obsessing over numbers right at a point where I had started to relax.
I have ben assured that if I follow this diet and stay within the calorie limits that I can drop the weight and properly fuel my workouts and races. Logically I know this is true many of my friends and people I respect that have adopted Athletic lifestyles eat this wway and are doing just find and awesome in race performance. But as this lifelong fat kid it is difficult because it goes against the "Eat less exercise more" Philosophy.
The piece of the email that struck me the most is actually the hardest to mentally comprehend and accept.
Your metabolic doctors and their staff have trained you that carbs are bad and to eat a protein rich diet. The issue with this is that you are an athlete now and need carbs for energy.
I have never in my life been described as an athlete or athleti****il I began doing races so mentally accepting that the fat kid no body wanted on their team is now an athlete is very difficult to accept.
So I am trying to reset physically and mentally and work this new plan.
Quick background. Next month will mark 2 years post-op for me. I basically stopped losing after about 9 months which was around 100-115 pounds depending when I checked. As many know I enjoy running (**** did I just openly say that?) Well anyways I worked through Distances of 5K, 10K, 15K and 2 Half Marathons last year, but dealt with injuries at the 10K plus range.
10k IT Band
15K 1st Half Marathon right knee muscle pain was in a brace
2nd Half 13.1 miles on a partially torn hamstring BOOYAH! or OUCH!
The torn hamstring took me out of commision for the most part I was able to focus on the swimming and eventually resume spin classes as these were deemed low impact. Before I was able to hit the spin classes those I was unable to change my eating habits. You see eating had become a habit more of something that was part of my schedule than anything else. I would eat the drink for an hour then eat and resume all day. My caloric goal going into my Half training was 2500 calories a day, which some days I did better at than others. Well along with injury and not being able to adjust quickly enough OVER THE FREAKING HOLIDAYS! I saw a bounce of 15 pounds this was also around the 18 month point as well so I was really hoping to work through this point and avoid the bounce.
Well here I am training for a 70.3 Ironman event and pretty much scared most of the time to eat the things I really should be eating. I keep my calories low and try to keep my workouts high. Logically I know this is not a good thing, but the words I heard som many times growing up echo in my head "Exercise more and eat less". Well I do just that now and well the 15 pounds stay the same not an overall bad thing as it doesn't go beyond that.
People Talk about this is a game of calories in versus calories out and I believe that is true to a point. When you body needs 2300 a day just to operate and then you exercise 1500-4000 more well hell I should drop weight like mad but it doesn't work that way.
I know that my training is decent physically but when doing endurance events you have the Physical, Nutrition, Hydration and mental aspects to deal with.
Physical- I have no doubt that I can cover the distances involved and have trained the distance in all but the bike but have been able to quickly increase distance I'm 13 miles shy of the 56 miles.
Mental - isn't anything going to stop me from finishing
Hydration - a total battle but I have made major improvements and find myself dehydrated less often.
Nutrition - Total battle and is where I fail (yes I do fail) . Nutrition involves Pre, During and Post. Eating correctly Prior to a race or long training session, taking in the proper calories during an event or training session this typically are the handy little GU Energy gels I have this dialed for the run but the bike still poses problems. Goal is about 300 calories an hour on my longest bike ride of 2:45 I took in 200 calories in the first hour and 0 the rest of the time. Post nutrition is important as it helps us recover and repair the damage to our bodies, but the reality is that typically I am not hungry after a long session. I will be hungry right after but for the rest of the day I have little to no appetite so figuring out what and when to eat is difficult along with focusing on getting my hydration back in line.
I typically come out of a long or intense workout session smelling of ammonia which is a sure sign that the body is tapping protein sources for fuel as opposed to carbs or fat. My sweat is acidic to the point it burns when it gets in my eyes pretty much everything that shouldn't happen but I still have the energy or determination to finish.
Recognizing that I had issues and also to avoid injury and try to get on track and do this stuff right I reached out to someone who put me in touch with an exercise physiologist and dietician with a respected Bariatric Center. I logged my food intake on rest days, training days, and even pre and post race days. And they have put together a diet plan which boths has me lost and nervous.
Warning don't follow these numbers without expert advice first!
Calroic Goal
Training days 2800-3000
Rest Days 2300-2500
Caloric Breakdown
Calories are supposed to be broken out
50% From carbs
30-35% Protein
20-15% Fat
This is completely opposite as to how I have been and currently eat which is about 80% protein. One of my goals along with finishing Augusta strong and moving on to my next big adventure is to hopefully drop this 15 and maybe 20-25 pounds. Yeah part of this is do as I say not as I do but I know physically not hauling 15-25 more pounds up a hill pedaling a bike would be easier. It won't make me run faster as I run faster now than I did last year and just a few months off of inury. I also admit the the 15lb bump got me back to obsessing over numbers right at a point where I had started to relax.
I have ben assured that if I follow this diet and stay within the calorie limits that I can drop the weight and properly fuel my workouts and races. Logically I know this is true many of my friends and people I respect that have adopted Athletic lifestyles eat this wway and are doing just find and awesome in race performance. But as this lifelong fat kid it is difficult because it goes against the "Eat less exercise more" Philosophy.
The piece of the email that struck me the most is actually the hardest to mentally comprehend and accept.
Your metabolic doctors and their staff have trained you that carbs are bad and to eat a protein rich diet. The issue with this is that you are an athlete now and need carbs for energy.
I have never in my life been described as an athlete or athleti****il I began doing races so mentally accepting that the fat kid no body wanted on their team is now an athlete is very difficult to accept.
So I am trying to reset physically and mentally and work this new plan.
Paul C.
First 5K 9/27/20 46:32 - 11 weeks post op (PR 28:55 8/15/11)
First 10K 7/04/2011 1:03 First 15K 9/18/2011 1:37
First Half Marathon 10/02/2011 2:27:44 (PR 2:24:35)
First Half Ironman 9/30/12 7:32:04
First 5K 9/27/20 46:32 - 11 weeks post op (PR 28:55 8/15/11)
First 10K 7/04/2011 1:03 First 15K 9/18/2011 1:37
First Half Marathon 10/02/2011 2:27:44 (PR 2:24:35)
First Half Ironman 9/30/12 7:32:04
Nutrition during bike training and racing is a constant struggle. I know for me, I never have it 100%. What works in training sometimes won't work in racing, or sometimes I feel nauseous after a rough swim and don't want anything on the bike for awhile, I feel its going to be a lifelong trial and error.
Jillian
Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran, Army Wife, 3x Ironman Finisher
This is what I call the WLS gray zone.
Sometimes traditional nutrition advice jives with post-op advice and sometimes it downright conflicts.
But think about what you know. (Simple) Carbs are quick burning fuels for energy. Endurance activities require you to store up energy and then reload at periods of time to quickly restore depleted stocks.
So logically carbs + athletes = GOOD.
Now you not seeing yourself as an athlete? That's more of an issue to work out with a therapist or a support group or whatever way you men work out your feelings. Go beat somebody up or something. I dunno how men process these things!
But you know that what you've been told makes good sense. You are not living the life of "Every day Joe post-op" therefore your eating is not going to resemble "Every day Joe post-op"'s
I wish I could teleport my view to you because it all makes perfect sense to me. And there are ways of getting that many calories healthfully without mega-volume.
You just need to embrace it and try it. If it doesn't work, you can go back to what you did before but what does it hurt to do a trial period?
Sometimes traditional nutrition advice jives with post-op advice and sometimes it downright conflicts.
But think about what you know. (Simple) Carbs are quick burning fuels for energy. Endurance activities require you to store up energy and then reload at periods of time to quickly restore depleted stocks.
So logically carbs + athletes = GOOD.
Now you not seeing yourself as an athlete? That's more of an issue to work out with a therapist or a support group or whatever way you men work out your feelings. Go beat somebody up or something. I dunno how men process these things!
But you know that what you've been told makes good sense. You are not living the life of "Every day Joe post-op" therefore your eating is not going to resemble "Every day Joe post-op"'s
I wish I could teleport my view to you because it all makes perfect sense to me. And there are ways of getting that many calories healthfully without mega-volume.
You just need to embrace it and try it. If it doesn't work, you can go back to what you did before but what does it hurt to do a trial period?
RNY Gastric Bypass 1-8-08 350/327/200 (HW/SW/CW). I spend most of my time playing with my food over at Bariatric Foodie - check me out!
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