Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Realizations on Food and Treadmills

Last night, I made the realization that Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet could not really work when I'm running and working out like I am.  It was already kind of bothering me that I would be 1,000+ calories below what Daily Plate suggested I eat - especially when I have Daily Plate set up to lose 1.5 pounds each week.  But when I was leaving daycare and I went to (physically) pick Angelfish up and I got a wee bit light headed. I realized that that headache I had for the 2nd day in a row was probably due to lack of food.  So for dinner we had soup and meat.  The girls had chicken noodle soup (with Dora character shaped noodles) and I had a hearty chicken gumbo (the girls don't do spicy).  We also had some deli chicken meat (they didn't want a sandwich, just meat - 3 1/2 year olds are funny).  Amazingly, my headache went away.  And when I got hungry at 9, I ate again... healthily though.

I decided that perhaps I'd try out Phase 2 with a little extra volume of food.  Oatmeal for breakfast before the run this morning was a good idea.  I didn't feel woozy at the end of it like I felt at the end of yesterday's spin class. As Coach (who restrained from calling me because - as she said in her email this morning when I told her I changed my mind - she was waiting to see if I figured it out on my own) said, those sorts of diets aren't intended for endurance athletes.

Anyone know of a good plan for losing weight while training?  I know that sounds silly because for most people, the weight falls off.  For me, my PCOS makes it a battle and a half.  Thus, the Daily Plate being at 1.5 pounds per week because I figure if I follow it, I might just get a pound off.  I'm probably the only person you know who can honestly say that she ate very healthily while training for a 70.3 Ironman and only lost 2 pounds. Yup.  This is part of the accepting my body for what it is goal for the year.  I figure if I do all I can, then I know that I am what I am.  Of course, maybe that's too much pressure.  Still reading The Art of Happiness, so my mindset is not quite 100% there yet. 

This morning's run was a good one.  It was cold.  The coldest morning yet - 28 degrees with a windchill that made in feel like it was 21 degrees. So I hit the gym.  I think that it was good that I used the treadmill.  I just heard you who know my distain for the treadmill gasping!  Yep, I found a use for the treadmill that I liked! 

Speed work is great on the treadmill because it makes me keep going faster when I would probably get slower if I were on the road because it's getting harder. A 10 minute warm up (12:30 pace for the 1st 5 minutes and 12:00 pace for the 2nd 5 minutes), 5 minutes hard (I did a 10:00 pace, which is hard for me but as I realized today it may be more mental than physical). After a 2 minute recovery walk (during which I got a drink of water and then walked at a 15:00 pace for the 2nd minute), another 5 minutes hard (this time at a 9:50 pace).  I had to tell myself that I could do it over and over and count down the minutes, but I was able to do it.  All because of the treadmill because unless I wussed out and pushed the button, I had to keep up with the treadmill or make a complete fool of myself as I flew off of the back of the treadmill.  Counting the time down helped.  Then a 10 minute cool down - I walked 2 minutes at a 15 minute pace and then did a 12:00 pace for 3 minutes and then 12:30 pace for the last 5 minutes of cool down.  I was sweating hard and red in the face, and it was great!

Tommorrow is strength training, so it will be back to the gym again!  Now I'm off to have lunch with the happy knowledge that my 2 conference calls are done for the day! Whoo Hoo!

3 comments:

  1. On the 70.3 and only losing only 2 pounds. You have said yourself that all your clothes became looser and your body has changed. Maybe instead of focusing on weight, switch it to body fat. I am sure it can be measured at your gym, and each month have it remeasured. In my opinion, that is a better measurement to look at then weight. Just something to think about. And btw, in March, I am going to totally contradict what I just said. Yes your second guess was right, but shhhhhhh!

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  2. i think you should just incorporate healthy foods, extra veggies, fruits and fill up on those - i wouldn't say diet, i would say you want a healthy lifestyle and if you are working out and training you NEED to fuel your body with the right stuff and the right amount. i too did the treadmill today with some intervals. i use to only go from 6.0 to 6.5 for a few minutes but a trainer told me i should be bumping it all the way up to 8.0 for at least 30 seconds, it went much faster but i was always counting the minutes down.

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  3. Great achievement on treadmills. My friend lost 26 kilos in 4 months by doing weight watchers and eating less as well as running on treadmill everyday.

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