A blog about my life, fitness and fun! (...and maybe a few cat pictures...)

A blog about my life, fitness and fun! (...and maybe a few cat pictures...)

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Let's talk nutrition!

I don't talk about food much on my blog. I used to be obsessed with food, calories, how much I weighed... all that disordered stuff. Luckily, I do not stress over those things anymore. Okay, maybe I stress about it 3% of the time. Still, I am way better than I was and I am so happy.

I haven't counted calories or tracked macros in a couple years. The last time I learned my weight was when I went to the doctor two summers ago. (I instructed the nurse not to tell me the number, but the doctor let it slip during my exam. Freaking A!)

I try to eat healthy most of the time, but I don't follow many "rules".  If I crave something, I eat it. But the truth is, I rarely have an out of control craving because I know nothing is off limits. For me, when I know that I'm basically "allowed" to eat whatever I want whenever I want, I am less likely to go crazy on junk.

This mindset works for me, but it took  me a LONG time to get here! It was a lot of work. I am so thankful I finally got to this place and that it "stuck".

However, over the past two months, I have been slacking in a couple of my nutrition habits, and it all basically breaks down to one thing: TIMING.

I like to eat something after every workout so that my body can recover quickly and I can build muscle. That means I'm oftentimes eating chicken on my way to work after a lifting session. It also means sometimes I have to eat when I'm not hungry. (Just because I'm not hungry doesn't mean my body doesn't need calories!) Over Christmas break, I've also been pushing off my first meal of the day to hours after I get up. A couple days I didn't eat until 1pm! That is not good. Because I have been pushing off breakfast, I have been skipping lunch, having a snack, and then eating a late dinner. And when I mean late, I mean I go to bed less than an hour after I eat! That makes me feel full, bloated, and gassy. It's gross!

So this timing thing is an easy fix, right? Well, it definitely will be easier now that I am back at work and in a routine. Thursdays are always tricky because I'm not done teaching piano lessons until 7pm, and that's quite late to eat dinner. Maybe I have to reevaluate Thursdays and instead of eating a dinner, eat a large lunch, a snack on the way home from work at 3:40 and then another snack after my piano lessons and 7pm.

This is definitely something I want to fix. I'll let you know when I'm back on track!
Tell me a good nutrition habit you have and a bad one!
Do you weigh yourself?

28 comments:

  1. Yes, let us know what ends up working for you! I am really good about eating often throughout my day not so much because I think it's the right thing to do, but because I am always hungry! I drink a lot of coffee and although it is all decaf, I could probably cut down. So far, that has not been a priority for me, though :) I don't weigh myself. I don't think weight is a great measure of health and fitness. To me, it's much better to know your body comp and measurements and the most important to know your numbers on the inside! Regular, full blood panels are how I monitor my health.

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    1. I don't think weight is a great indicator for us either. It doesn't tell us how fast we can run a mile, how many push-ups we can do, or the coldest temp we run in! Those numbers are way more interesting to me! Plus if my clothes fit does it really matter how much I weigh? Although about three yrs after I started lifting I finally grew out of some of my tanks and sports bras!

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    2. Exactly! It also doesn't tell you how much water weight you are retaining and as you know, when you workout you will retain more water because the body needs it to store glycogen in the muscles. I don't think busting out of tanks and bras is a bad thing! I am constantly trying to build my upper body with swimming, rowing and lifting! Oh, and hey, I just added a new sport to my routine....snow trekking. Rick bought me poles and I put spikes on my shoes (I am not interested in big clunky snowshoes right now) and I went out and did a 5K in conditions that would have forced me inside to run. It wasn't running but it was FRESH AIR and such a great workout since I was using my upper body and in some spots was going thru some pretty deep snow! YAY.

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    3. Dang I wish I lived in CO and we could go snow trekking!

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    4. I wish you lived in Colorado, too! We would have a blast doing all the things we have in common!! And snow trekking was super fun, BTW.

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  2. I don't weigh myself, and that is going to be a good thing as I continue to try to put on weight for baby making! I am a veggie aholic, and I try to get a variety of macronutrients each time that I eat. And I definitely try to incorporate healthy fats throughout my day!

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    1. Those are some great habits! Admittedly I prob don't get enough fats. Throughout the workday. Maybe I should bring in a jar of peanut butter to work!

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  3. I was just thinking recently about the way my meals were scheduled when I worked in an office was definitely better than now when my day is crazy free form. You're right its the breakfast that doesn't happen or happens way too late. Or like yesterday when I planned on tuna for lunch then found I had NONE. The horror.

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    1. Having a set work schedule definitely helps me stay on a seed and plan for good choices. I always pack veggies and chicken for lunch because I am forced to eat whatever I bring.

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  4. Funny that I just wrote a post on food too but i'll wait a bit before posting it.

    For being a nutrition teacher, i've definitely let myself slip in that department and I am so embarrassed because I know better. I am definitely one that does not eat after a run or workout because I am not hungry. I need to be more cognizant of eating to fuel and just eating because it's something I like.

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    1. Yes but we humans do things all the time even though we know better! Life sometimes gets in the way of the right choices being easy to make.

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  5. I don't write about food either because it's not something I'm at all an expert about. I've been getting a lot of "advice" from folks telling me I need to follow an antiinflammatory diet. I already eat fairly healthy and I don't want to give up some of the things on the diet. Like meat, dairy, and eggs. Oh, and wine and coffee. Come on man!

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    1. A friend of mine eats an antiinflammatory diet. It is amazing all the things she chooses not to eat! She's very committed, which I admire her for. I would never enjoy a diet like that!

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  6. I do weigh myself, perhaps a little too much. I think a lot of female athletes worry about weight, and it's not necessarily an eating disorder... just a result of society's expectations and also the nature of the nature. It's a tough act to balance but it is true you can eat too little and it can be detrimental to performance.

    I don't blog a lot about foods, although I do love sharing pictures of my food at local restaurants and which places I like. Anyone who sees them can clearly see I'm not always eating healthy! Love some desserts and also going out for pizza :). I can't deal with those recipes that include weird food ingredients I can't find at Walmart or Publix, or those who eat only vegetables or restrict most food groups.

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    1. I'm not always eating healthy either. I used to worry about that but not anymore. Seriously, we work so hard, and we NEED calories. As long as it's not always a bunch of fried junk, I'm sure our bodies find use for those calories.

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  7. What's that saying... Eat breakfast like a prince, lunch like a peasant and supper like a pauper. Or something? I used to eat (drink, let's be real here) all my calories at night and skip breakfast. Now I frontload my calories, mostly because I concentrate on getting those veggies in each day so I like to get it over with. Ha.

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    1. I used to back load my calories on the reg too! Omg, I would eat like 500 calories and then eat 1500 at dinner. It was so gross! I eat my big chunk of veggies at lunch because I pretty much have to eat whatever I bring to work so I am stuck! Trickery...

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  8. Do you have something that you normally eat for Breakfast? what is different for you when you are off from work? What is different on random days off, than say, on weekends?

    I don't weight myself... I told myself that the number on the scale doesn't define me... that my comfort comes first.

    If I had to pick a bad habit of mine, it would be that I don't drink enough water. I have always preferred sugary drinks. But I'm working on this... constantly working on it.

    a good habit? mmm.... I can't skip a meal, because I would be completely miserable and grouchy.

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    1. I normally eat cereal for breakfast, and on weekends I stick more to my normal schedule. But when I'm off for lots of days in a row, I fall into bad habits like staying up late, sleeping in, working out at different times than normal. It's all off!

      Not skipping a meal is a very good habit! I am normally very hungry too. Paul calls me a hungy girl. :)

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  9. I do weigh myself at least once a week, but there's really no reason for it, other than my scale is right by my shower, and it's a high tech wireless one, so that's pretty fun (right? haha). I have been bad about eating breakfast late because after my morning run I'll have a big iced coffee, and then I'm not really interested in eating a bowl of cereal (my fav!). I think breakfast is super important so most days I grab a microwave breakfast muffin thing for my drive to work.

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    1. I have cereal for breakfast too! What's your microwave bfast muffin thing?

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  10. A friend of mine who has been overweight for years started counting macros last year and has seen major results. Now he swears by it; he no longer has to count because he's gotten used to what a balanced meal looks like and can improvise, but it made me wonder...I mean, it seems so TEDIOUS and I know how anxious I get when I count calories for long periods of time, I can't imagine the anxiety and stress I'd feel trying to count macros! But it works...so should I give it a try for a month or two just to see if it adjusts how I look at food?

    Nothing is "off limits" to me (other than gluten - and actually that takes up ALL my dieting willpower anyway) but I still have major junk food cravings and I often give in to them. I need to learn to appreciate simple proteins and eat more chicken etc. I just get so bored by it all. I know you eat basically the same meals every day; I don't know how you do that!

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    1. When I counted macros and calories, I used a website to do it for me. I am sure there are apps that do it and are way easier! When I was counting I normally ate the same foods most days, so I pretty soon figured out how to get what I needed. It is annoying though that if you log everything, you do have to spend like 10-15 minutes every night doing it!

      I only eat the same lunch every day! Dinner changes. :)

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  11. I've always eaten breakfast, and I also need to eat breakfast. I have chronic low blood sugar, so a good breakfast sets me up for a good day. The one thing I've cut out of my diet is high sugar snacks because it means a sugar crash later in the day. I did find talking to a nutritionist helped and I got some good tips to drop some things from my diet and add healthier options.

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    1. That's awesome you got some tips from a nutritionist. We could all benefit from that!

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  12. "I guess this will always be a challenge unless I just say f it and let myself be really round." <--- Karen LOL!!! How far off from your goal weight are you?

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  13. It definitely helps to stay on a schedule. If I dont run on a weekend sometimes i get lazy about making breakfast and drink coffee all morning instead. I know thats terrible because I need to eat sooner after I wake up!

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    1. That's me! And I am way less hungry if I don't run so it's not even that I smell purposefully restricting... just enjoying my morning.

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