So I've always been "motivated" [insert sarcasm] to lose all this weight that I've gained over the past 4 years which is creeping up on 25 pounds. I've been wanting to lose it and saying that I am going to lose it, but in all honesty, I haven't even tried and still eat fairly terribly at times.
I came across some advice in the latest edition of USA Triathlon's e-newsletter and I'm thinking about making it my new mantra. "Think of the foods in your diet as performance enhancing or performance limiting."
About 6 years ago I was in the best shape of my life. Yes, I worked out like a maniac; if I had 1 hour to spare between school and work I was in the gym. The endorphins were so great and always present that if I missed one day of working out I would mope around and be slightly depressed and extremely tired, therefore I was even more motivation to continue hitting the weights hard. But I didn't start making monstrous gains until I cleaned up my diet. I never knew that after eating clean for so long that I would no longer crave junk food or anything unhealthy, in fact, I would feel miserable (not mentally but physically) after eating just one french fry.
So I've been teetering around with planning out my meals and sticking to good, clean, nutritious foods over the past few months but now I'm finally going to keep myself honest. I've begun to take all of my supplements regularly (thanks to a handy dandy iPhone APP!! of course): glucosamine (primarily due to my knee injury), a multivitamin (which I'm terrible at taking consistently), and Udo's Oil (3-6-9 EFAs).
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Putting Together a Half-Ironman Training Plan
Alright, so I'm too cheap to purchase a customized training plan so I'm reading through my copy of 'The Triathlete's Training Bible' and utilizing it's suggestions for half-ironman training. So far I've got the skeleton down but haven't decided on how to break down each day's workouts. I'm going to be ambitious and attempt to hit the high side of the recommended training hours, partly because I usually complete about 1/3 of the recommended training (like running once a week in preparation for a marathon ;P) and also because I really need to lose about 25 pounds and what better way than to do lots of endurance exercising?
The Ironman 70.3 Texas (Galveston) is on April 1st, 2012 therefore this schedule will start the week of October 22, 2011. Since I'm not exactly certain when the doctor will clear me to take up running again (worst case some time in February) so I'd imagine instead of running I'll substitute those workouts with the elliptical. This will also give me the advantage of focusing heavily on swimming for the first few months. Swimming is by far my weakest segment since I let the open water get to me mentally.
If I can accomplish the below hourly recommendation and can survive the swim portion of the race I'll venture on to training for a full ironman.
| PERIOD | WEEK | HOURS | SAT | SUN | MON | TUES | WED | THURS | FRI |
| Prep | All | 12:00 | 3:00 | 2:00 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:30 | 1:00 | 1:00 |
| Base 1 | 1 | 14:00 | 4:00 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:00 | 1:00 |
| 2 | 16:30 | 4:00 | 3:00 | 2:30 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:00 | |
| 3 | 18:30 | 4:30 | 3:00 | 3:00 | 2:30 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 1:00 | |
| 4 | 10:00 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:15 | 1:00 | 1:00 | 0:45 | |
| Base 2 | 1 | 14:30 | 4:00 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:30 | 1:00 |
| 2 | 17:30 | 4:30 | 3:00 | 2:30 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 2:00 | 1:00 | |
| 3 | 19:30 | 4:30 | 3:30 | 3:00 | 3:00 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 1:00 | |
| 4 | 10:00 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:15 | 1:00 | 1:00 | 0:45 | |
| Base 3 | 1 | 15:30 | 4:00 | 2:30 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:00 |
| 2 | 18:30 | 4:30 | 3:00 | 3:00 | 2:30 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 1:00 | |
| 3 | 20:30 | 5:00 | 3:30 | 3:00 | 3:00 | 2:30 | 2:30 | 1:00 | |
| 4 | 10:00 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:15 | 1:00 | 1:00 | 0:45 | |
| Build 1 | 1 | 17:30 | 4:30 | 3:00 | 2:30 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 2:00 | 1:00 |
| 2 | 17:30 | 4:30 | 3:00 | 2:30 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 2:00 | 1:00 | |
| 3 | 17:30 | 4:30 | 3:00 | 2:30 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 2:00 | 1:00 | |
| 4 | 10:00 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:15 | 1:00 | 1:00 | 0:45 | |
| Build 2 | 1 | 16:30 | 4:00 | 3:00 | 2:30 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:00 |
| 2 | 16:30 | 4:00 | 3:00 | 2:30 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:00 | |
| 3 | 16:30 | 4:00 | 3:00 | 2:30 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:00 | |
| 4 | 10:00 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:15 | 1:00 | 1:00 | 0:45 | |
| Peak | 1 | 14:30 | 4:00 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:30 | 1:00 |
| 2 | 11:30 | 3:00 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:30 | 1:30 | 1:00 | 1:00 | |
| Race | All | 10:00 | 2:30 | 2:00 | 1:30 | 1:15 | 1:00 | 1:00 | 0:45 |
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Barbecue Pulled Chicken
Here's a healthy and easy slow cooker recipe that I'm currently in love with. My boyfriend has made this before but this was the first time for me to make this dish. It was extremely simple and exactly my kind of cooking. The most time consuming part to this recipe is dicing the onion, which I did with one of those nifty onion dicer thingy-ma-bobs.
Usually I get tired of having chicken more than a few meals in a row, but I've been eating this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for days now. Love it! I make a simple sandwich with this. Any other ideas to jazz it up but still keep it healthy?
Link to the original recipe source
Usually I get tired of having chicken more than a few meals in a row, but I've been eating this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for days now. Love it! I make a simple sandwich with this. Any other ideas to jazz it up but still keep it healthy?
Link to the original recipe source
INGREDIENTS
- 1 8-ounce can reduced-sodium tomato sauce
- 1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles, drained
- 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon sweet or smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
PREPARATION
- Stir tomato sauce, chiles, vinegar, honey, paprika, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, ground chipotle and salt in a 6-quart slow cooker until smooth. Add chicken, onion and garlic; stir to combine.
- Put the lid on and cook on low until the chicken can be pulled apart, about 5 hours.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred with a fork. Return the chicken to the sauce, stir well and serve.
NUTRITION
Per serving: 184 calories; 8 g fat ( 2 g sat , 3 g mono ); 68 mg cholesterol; 8 g carbohydrates; 3 g added sugars; 20 g protein; 1 g fiber; 257 mg sodium; 303 mg potassium.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
ACL Reconstruction & Rehab
Surgery on August 12th 2011. ACL Reconstruction using allograft.
Day of surgery: After waking up from anesthesia all I wanted to do was bend and move my leg...go figure. I spent the rest of the afternoon lying on the couch watching TV desperately wanting to use the CPM machine. I used crutches to get around since every step it felt like my patellar tendon wanted to rip apart.
Day 2 & 3: Like clockwork on day 2 I started using the CPM machine, felt amazing, and continued to use crutches. Was prescribed Vicodin at 1 to 2 pills every 6 hours, yeah right, I was taking 1 every 3 hours.
Day 4: Almost like magic, very little pain. I pretty much stopped using the crutches and was taking the pain meds simply for comfort.
Day 6: First post-op. Doctor took a simple look and performed the Lachman Test to confirm a good repair, all is good with "remarkable range-of-motion". Got to take a look at the pictures from the procedure. A complete ACL tear was confirmed, meniscus looked perfect, and most of the cartilage looked good except for one area of articular cartilage toward the backside of the medial femoral condyle [femur]. The damage noticed is highly abnormal for a 27 year-old knee, Thanks doc for calling my knee old. The Prognosis: Not so good. Expect more cartilage wear. Once gone the bone will hit bone and since bone has more nerve endings than cartilage....voila PAIN! i.e. arthritis. Solution (sort-of): Minimize high impact sports (yeah right) and jumping and, though not proven, take Glucosamine religiously.
Day 7: First day of Physical Therapy. So far going twice a week.
Day 11: Was able to make a full rotation on a stationary bike at the gym. SUCCESS!
Day 12: Have reached the full range of the CPM machine, 120 degrees. Though not given the official go-ahead, I have stopped using the post-op brace outside of the house, so far no issues [knocking on wood].
Day of surgery: After waking up from anesthesia all I wanted to do was bend and move my leg...go figure. I spent the rest of the afternoon lying on the couch watching TV desperately wanting to use the CPM machine. I used crutches to get around since every step it felt like my patellar tendon wanted to rip apart.
Day 2 & 3: Like clockwork on day 2 I started using the CPM machine, felt amazing, and continued to use crutches. Was prescribed Vicodin at 1 to 2 pills every 6 hours, yeah right, I was taking 1 every 3 hours.
Day 4: Almost like magic, very little pain. I pretty much stopped using the crutches and was taking the pain meds simply for comfort.
Day 6: First post-op. Doctor took a simple look and performed the Lachman Test to confirm a good repair, all is good with "remarkable range-of-motion". Got to take a look at the pictures from the procedure. A complete ACL tear was confirmed, meniscus looked perfect, and most of the cartilage looked good except for one area of articular cartilage toward the backside of the medial femoral condyle [femur]. The damage noticed is highly abnormal for a 27 year-old knee, Thanks doc for calling my knee old. The Prognosis: Not so good. Expect more cartilage wear. Once gone the bone will hit bone and since bone has more nerve endings than cartilage....voila PAIN! i.e. arthritis. Solution (sort-of): Minimize high impact sports (yeah right) and jumping and, though not proven, take Glucosamine religiously.
Day 7: First day of Physical Therapy. So far going twice a week.
Day 11: Was able to make a full rotation on a stationary bike at the gym. SUCCESS!
Day 12: Have reached the full range of the CPM machine, 120 degrees. Though not given the official go-ahead, I have stopped using the post-op brace outside of the house, so far no issues [knocking on wood].
Gardening Woes
After buying a house last August, the first thing I immediately started planning was a garden. I thought I had learned how to garden after all those years helping my mawmaw weed, water, and harvest; it looks easier than it truly is.
I researched and planned all Winter and was gung-ho about getting started immediately. [Yeah right, you own a house now] So, I got a fairly late start but was able to build a raised bed garden and plant veggies by late May/early June. Things were going well, no to minimum weeding, all I had to do was add water. Then hits the hottest summer ever and extreme drought conditions. Let's just say that the only thing to grow [and survive the squirrels] was the jalapeno peppers, and I swear we've eaten less jalapenos this year than any other year, go figure.
So after unsuccessfully growing anything in the summer garden, I've ripped everything out and planted a fall crop. I say it's a fall crop though I still have some summer veggies in the mix since we're currently at 24 straight days of 100degF weather with no immediate end in sight. Hopefully this crop will actually be productive and provide me with some hope that I'm not completely incompetent.
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