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Jun 13, 2013    |      Comments Off on Changing My Eating Habits

Changing My Eating Habits

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Just recently, I decided to hire a nutrition coach. Primarily not to lose weight, but rather to help me form healthy eating habits. Sure, I could read a book, watch videos on YouTube, but it’s that accountability from a coach, and application of this new knowledge that will help me learn.

I’ve never succeeded in any kind of “diet” plan. Maybe the closest to one was lent, where I would have to “give up” a vice for 40 days. I usually chose a type of food or alcohol. Candy, failed. Alcohol, failed. Beer, failed. One success was soda, which was back in college, and never really got back into the habit of going out of my way for soda. Actually, I’ve never been on Atkins, Weight Watchers, whatever, because I’ve never really needed to. I considered doing those juice cleanses, but after much thought, it wouldn’t change any of my habits.

This isn’t one of those diet plans. I don’t have to cut out meat. I don’t have to cut carbs. My coach doesn’t even want me to refer to this as a “diet.” I don’t even have to really focus on my weight, body fat %, or calories. It will eventually take care of itself. It’s more of a change of lifestyle. I will be eating nothing but organic foods, cutting out any processed food and sugar.

Why? Well, a lot of people I know end up changing their food habits after an incident. Incidents like a medical issue, reality of age, reality of a disease, etc. For me, fortunately, it wasn’t the case. I guess you could say it’s for preventative measures. I mean, I put only the best gasoline and the best oil into my own car, why not put the best fuel for my body? I don’t see myself quitting endurance sports anytime soon, so taking these steps now prepares me for a better tomorrow. I do believe this will help me with my overall daily energy as well.

The person who is going to guide me is Keira, a runner like myself, but a very fast, ultrarunner. She’s also the Race Director of my first 50k (Ray Miller) and first 50M (Leona Divide). I chose her because our active lifestyles are similar. She loves to run. I do too. She has such a friendly, caring, and outgoing personality that I trust her. She’s an overall good person who genuinely loves to help other people like myself.

I started this plan this week, and it all started with her asking me some basic questions about what I currently eat, my likes, and dislikes. I think I eat relatively healthy, but yes, there are many times where eating out is just easier. After I told her, she turned around and gave me a week 1 meal plan, a grocery list, nutrition notes, and optional recipes. It was custom to my liking, and quite flexible. At first glance, it doesn’t look too difficult to follow. The difficult part would be to do this for six consecutive weeks, especially with holidays, parties, happy hours and all that in between to distract me.

I was to start the plan today (Thursday), so the past two days were spent grocery shopping. As you can see above and below, it was one hell of a Trader Joe’s trip! Here’s my kitchen counter:

kitchen

I also ordered some PlantFusion protein and ground Flax Seed on Amazon:

amazonfood

So the pieces are set, and I’m excited!

I just finished Day 1, and I’ll blog about that tomorrow, but so far so good! I look forward to cooking more, saving money, learning healthier options, and the beneficial effects of them.

(Also, if you’re interested in doing the same and getting a nutrition coach, I can pass along Keira’s info to you too!)

Jul 11, 2012    |      0 comments

Enter: Team FLUID!

Through a website called Hookit.com, I was able to get “hooked up” with a sponsorship from FLUID Recovery! So here it is, my first sponsorship with Team FLUID. It’s not a full sponsorship where they get to pay for my races or anything like that. Let’s be real, I’m not an elite athlete, or even win races under the age groupers, but I’m glad it’s from a brand I love, and I actually use their recovery products. This sponsorship will get me a pretty huge discount on their products to encourage me to use it more and also venture out to their other products as well. Hopefully with more blog posts, tweets, and status updates of my adventures with FLUID, I can get more support from there. For now, this is a great start! If you use them, and want some discounts, I can get them for you! Just email me, tweet me, or leave comments! I’ll hook you up!

Fluid Recovery
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Jun 14, 2011    |      0 comments

Feed The Machine

I’ve been going to this shop in Hermosa Beach called Feed The Machine for nutrition needs, originally introduced to me from my teammate Chris S a few months ago. I met the owner Cyril, and we had a pleasant conversation on electrolyte intake for long training sessions, and the different races that we do. I went in because I needed to replenish my Carbo-Pro (this will be my third case!), and ended up getting way more than I needed! I also bought some Honey Stinger Waffles that everyone’s been raving about, so I’ll experiment with those on the bike, some EFS gels for my run, and I also bought some Sport Multi, a multivitamin that Cyril developed that’s supposedly better than more natural than others. So, I’m just experimenting with nutrition – although I feel like a lab rat now, but it’s better I find out now that I can’t stomach certain things than on raceday!

Feb 28, 2011    |      0 comments

Calorie Counting

Many say the 4th discipline in Triathlons is nutrition. It’s all about what your body can handle, and taking good care of it. I admit, I’ve never been a healthy eater, but a good way to improve that is to be aware of actually what is being consumed. Before all this started, and I think I’ve mentioned this before, I was tracking all my food intake and fitness calorie burn via the Livestrong iPhone app and website. Everything I eat, good or bad, is tracked. I’ve set up my target calorie count (which I’m still not sure if I should aim higher since my level of activity has increased), and for a few months now I’ve recorded everything. I don’t think I’ve skipped a day yet in these past four months.

From the consistency of doing all this, I’ve got a pretty good idea of how much I’ve been eating vs how many calories I’ve been burning with all these workouts. Weekends are tough because if you look at the chart above, I’m burning thousands and thousands of calories, and I’m still not eating enough! I also have to be careful not to load up these calories with junk food calories though. What do I do?? I still don’t know. Is it better to be at a comfortable negative net calories than even net calories filled up with unhealthy calories? Time to do some research or talk to my coaches, and I’ll report back here.

Nov 26, 2008    |      0 comments

Mind What You Eat

Active.com Nutrition came out with an article titled, “Simple Strategies for Better Eating Habits“. It’s a great article answering some of the common questions I had on my initial search for eating healthier. Nancy Clark, the writer, talks about common perceptions of certain foods, like protein, if it’s something you really need. Is organic food better for you, or does it even make a difference?

She also writes, “If you want to improve the quality of your diet, think about one thing you could do each day to contribute to a healthier intake. Write down your goal for the day, then assess your level of confidence in achieving that goal. For example, your goal might be to eat fruit with lunch.”

A closer look into my nutrition and eating habits will be something new I will incorporate in my training. I have never.. yes, NEVER, paid attention to what I eat. We’re not getting any younger, and my metabolism clearly isn’t as what it used to be, so I’m making a point now to be mindful of what I eat. I will explore many different tools in the next few weeks and I’ll report then to you here. Probably the closest form of nutritional discipline I’ve had is refraining from drinking coffee and soda. I won’t go out of my way to get any of those. Even that said, if it’s there, I’ll try a different alternative. I really don’t need caffeine to keep me awake through the day. I’ve already noticed that being active alone does wonders for me day to day.

The next big nutritional challenge. Thanksgiving in a few days.