Spring is a time for rebirth and all things new... to celebrate the onset of spring, I'm embarking on my new NUTRITION plan from my helpful nutritionist, Tara.
I can honestly say that the lengthy questionnaire I had filled out with symptoms, moods, etc... along with my food journal sheets... provided more detailed feedback than I had anticipated! In response to that plus our initial interview I was presented with a great Nutrition Plan just for me (including vitamins and supplements) plus a Daily Food Plan ! Nearly 14 pages in all... which would have been even more fun to read had my hard drive not crashed in the early A.M. and forced me to read all of this detailed documentation on the 2" screen of my Blackberry... LOL!
Some things never change... true to form, I looked at the caloric intake suggestions for various days (based on my activity levels) and was (!!)immediately taken aback by the HIGH number of calories I apparently need in order to fuel properly for my training! Wow!! My first question... 'I won't GAIN weight, will I?' was met with good humour... after having recently (in the past 6 months) lost 26 lbs. to get back to my former 'fighting weight' I'm now struggling with fluctuating numbers on the scale... welcome to OCD, people! It doesn't help that I'm only 4'11" tall... or that in my own distorted mind, I'm still 'pudgy'... if anyone has a cure for short legs... this would solve a lot of my body image problems .... ;)
I've already started adding E-Load to my pre-workout regime and GU Chomps for my long runs and to my delight (and amazement, to be honest) I'm noticing a HUGE difference in the quality of my training. Don't laugh, please... I mentioned at the beginning of this blog that I was really hoping to stick with whole foods and not 'engineered' sport aids... which was unrealistic and now that I know my body needs more SUGAR and SALT (and I keep reminding myself that SUGAR and SALT are not dirty words) I'm noticing improvements by leaps and bounds... who da thunkit?
Anyhow... moving forward, I vow to adopt the attitude that strength and power are more important than the numbers on my scale... if that also translates (as I suspect it will) to a greater amount of lean muscle mass then I will indeed be a happy camper... um... I mean... Triathlete ;)
The new list of vitamins and supplements ran up a bill equivalent to a week's worth of groceries -- I can hardly wait to see what these nutritional aids will do for me! Seriously... I'm not being sarcastic here... I really am excited to reap the predicted benefits of taking things to support my personal nutritional profile. It will be great to have more energy, boost my immune system (which is sorely lacking in stamina right now) and recover better following workout sessions.
And speaking of workout sessions... this week my coach, JJ, programmed in an 1800m swim session! This will be my BIGGEST swim ever! I can hardly wait to see how that plays out... I figure... even Aquaman had to start somewhere, right?
...Glub...
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