Welcome Donna Marlor, Sports Nutritionist
For those of you that have followed this for a while, you know that sometime last year I started changing what I ate and trying to shed those extra pounds I don't need to carry around with me during a marathon (every pound = a minute!). See blog post here.
That led to my first trip to Just Food Co-op where I was completely overwhelmed by vegetables I didn't even recognize, a few meals that looked like this, and a whole lot of learning. There's still only a few snacks and main dishes I know how to make and I still struggle to know what to eat, when, how much, etc. But, for how hard it's been, it's been a lot of fun! I've been introduced to new vegetables and healthy foods I love (Brussel sprouts! Greek yogurt for protein! Baked sweet potatoes!). And who knew how GOOD these healthy foods could taste? I never enjoyed food before! I'm telling you, I still gasp at the price of organic/local foods sometimes... but I honestly think it's worth it. They taste so different and I honestly feel like the food is either more satisfying or stays with you longer.
I know I over-think the whole nutrition/racing weight thing - the reason I know is because when I try to "care" about it, I only drop about 3-4 pounds to get to race weight vs. if I don't care at all. So - I'm definitely not doing something right. I think what I'll find with nutrition is the same thing I found when I started with a coach - for all I knew about running/training/etc, I really sucked at putting together a plan. I'd be motivated some days, very unmotivated others. Mileage was all over the board, which led to multiple injuries. I over-thought "the plan", constantly changing things, worrying about what was "right". Once Jerry came along and laid everything out and I just trusted his plan, it came so EASY. Within 6 months, I had my Olympic Trials Qualifier. I just had to DO it, which is the easy part. I really think it'll be the same with nutrition. I know the basics (broccoli = good, fried mozzarella balls = bad), but am obviously over-thinking the whole thing & cycling through being motivated/not caring (YUMM, those brownies look good today... let's have one... ah, what the heck, two...)
So, I wanted to reach out to someone professional. Enter into my training team Donna, a registered dietitian and competitive athlete who specializes in athletic nutrition. I can not tell you how excited I am to see what she has to say! And, if nothing else (maybe I won't ever, and shouldn't try to, look more like the elites I race against), this will be one of those many "little things" that I have learned a lot about throughout this journey (and can pass along to others - coaching?).
I thought about posting the picture I sent Donna and posting my weight every so often... might keep me more honest/accountable to post here... but I was too scared to :).
That led to my first trip to Just Food Co-op where I was completely overwhelmed by vegetables I didn't even recognize, a few meals that looked like this, and a whole lot of learning. There's still only a few snacks and main dishes I know how to make and I still struggle to know what to eat, when, how much, etc. But, for how hard it's been, it's been a lot of fun! I've been introduced to new vegetables and healthy foods I love (Brussel sprouts! Greek yogurt for protein! Baked sweet potatoes!). And who knew how GOOD these healthy foods could taste? I never enjoyed food before! I'm telling you, I still gasp at the price of organic/local foods sometimes... but I honestly think it's worth it. They taste so different and I honestly feel like the food is either more satisfying or stays with you longer.
I know I over-think the whole nutrition/racing weight thing - the reason I know is because when I try to "care" about it, I only drop about 3-4 pounds to get to race weight vs. if I don't care at all. So - I'm definitely not doing something right. I think what I'll find with nutrition is the same thing I found when I started with a coach - for all I knew about running/training/etc, I really sucked at putting together a plan. I'd be motivated some days, very unmotivated others. Mileage was all over the board, which led to multiple injuries. I over-thought "the plan", constantly changing things, worrying about what was "right". Once Jerry came along and laid everything out and I just trusted his plan, it came so EASY. Within 6 months, I had my Olympic Trials Qualifier. I just had to DO it, which is the easy part. I really think it'll be the same with nutrition. I know the basics (broccoli = good, fried mozzarella balls = bad), but am obviously over-thinking the whole thing & cycling through being motivated/not caring (YUMM, those brownies look good today... let's have one... ah, what the heck, two...)
So, I wanted to reach out to someone professional. Enter into my training team Donna, a registered dietitian and competitive athlete who specializes in athletic nutrition. I can not tell you how excited I am to see what she has to say! And, if nothing else (maybe I won't ever, and shouldn't try to, look more like the elites I race against), this will be one of those many "little things" that I have learned a lot about throughout this journey (and can pass along to others - coaching?).
I thought about posting the picture I sent Donna and posting my weight every so often... might keep me more honest/accountable to post here... but I was too scared to :).
I will be very interested to hear how this works out for you. I am wanting to drop a few pounds as well and just haven't been able to.
ReplyDeleteThis week I took an unplanned day off because I could tell my quads weren't recovering like they should be (Typical for me when I'm coming back to training after a marathon, I've become familiar with the feeling). Typically I take a complete day off after14-21 days of training - but I've worked myself up to that over the last two years (when I first started I took a day off per week, and did all through college). I really feel like the key to fast marathons is high mileage consistently, so one needs to find the balance between high weekly mileage and days off... to few = not enough recovery and slow/sluggish hard days or fatigue and too frequent rest days = not enough consistent mileage/pounding on the legs. It's a slow process though... I wouldn't recommend stretching recovery/off days for 3 weeks for a relative newbie! But... it's really hard to put in a 100+ mile week with an off day (do the math) - and I feel like 100+/weeks is what it takes to be a really competitive marathoner (if not 120+). Although I still measure myself in mileage per week, I try to instead look at the average mileage/day over a 7 or 10 day period. Am I averaging 10-11? Or 14-15?
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