Ok. So I've been trying to figure out this nutrition stuff and the more I read, the more I become confused. Perhaps I should just stop reading and just eat a bunch of stuff. The problem is, I am scared to death of getting heavier than I already am. I cringe at the thought that eating that Cliff Bar really is what I am supposed to do. 45 g of carbohydrate in one little bar. I can almost feel my thighs and hips expanding just thinking about it... yet, sources say I should be eating 2500 calories on average while training to maintain my current weight. My brain shouts "it's a cold day in hell when I'll eat 2500 calories on purpose (that doesn't consist of pizza, ice cream or sweets!" To lose about 1 pound per week, this would mean that I should eat 2,000 calories instead. On a good day I eat 1200 and tend to float more around the 1,000 - 1100 mark. Yes, I know. That is supposed to be too little for a person to eat. But I eat healthy foods like fruits, veggies, etc. which evidently do not have many calories in them... I have to admit it was a bit of a surprise to me too. Of course, the occasional pizza or burrito from Chipotle is mixed in as well... or ice cream from Cold Stone. These are not on an overly regular basis (except maybe the pizza... that's about weekly), but they do occur. What my coach tells me is that my body thinks it's starving so it's saving everything I eat, including the occasional pizza or ice cream. Which does make sense, but 2,000 calories? It's hard to eat that much food. And it doesn't help that I have my husband (who is probably also not wanting me to gain weight) telling me to just eat when I feel like it and not to try to eat so much. The problem? I'm hungry all the time... or at least I was until today. Today I'm still getting hungry regularly, but I think the fact that I've already consumed 1,260 calories so far today has kept me from being completely ravenous. But, I have to say that it's been almost 2 hours since I last ate and I'm starting to get hungry again. I know there are much bigger problems on this planet (no pun intended) at the moment, but I do not want my butt to get any larger than it already is! And when will my body know to stop hoarding everything anyway. How do I know it's not going to just hang on to the 2,000 calories I'm eating? I will be eating 7 times today. This troubles me. I've even forgotten the market is in the tank and my worries that continuing to invest my children's 529 accounts and our IRA's in the market may be lunacy!
Hopefully yesterday's run and today's biking will help with this food anxiety. Yesterday we ran 3 miles... 1 mile warm up, 1 mile as fast as we could, and 1 mile cool down. It actually was less terrifying than I thought it would be. The 1st mile wasn't so bad. THe 2nd mile was a bit harder especially since my pace was much faster than usual, and the fact that my bladder decided part way through (at the 1/2 way point to be exact) it was full from all the water I'm now drinking to keep myself hydrated and that it wanted to empty... right then. So, I did all in my power (including slowing my pace) not to pee in my pants. I was 96% successful. Right at the end that 4% got me and I ended up running past the finish line to the bathrooms. Even with slowing my pace, I ran a 9 minute mile. For most runners, this is abysmal. For me, I am stoked! The fastest I knew I could do prior to this was an 11 minute mile . I had an idea that I could do a 10 minute mile, and fully expected this to be what was yelled out. I just wonder how I could have done if I didn't have to pee! The last mile was fine although now I understand how my children feel when they forget to go to the bathroom. yuck.
This morning's bike ride was without incident. A lovely 15 mile bike through my neighborhood that took me more than an hour to complete, but that I enjoyed every minute of not being stuck in the gym staring ahead of me at the monitor or at some inane tv show that is on that early in the morning. My legs are a bit stiff from yesterday's run, though, so I had to lower my gear in mile 10... but my cadence was around 75 throughout (except for stopping at stop signs, etc.) So, I feel pretty good about it.
Tomorrow is a swim day, and I love the time I have in the pool... and luckily, there is a bathroom just outside the pool. : ) And, darn it, if I'm not hungry again... off to get an apple and some PB... and probably the grocery store too!
No comments:
Post a Comment