Nutrition: An Ongoing Study :)

Nutrition and I have had a long...., checkered past. I think it is something that everyone in this world battles with whether they realize it or not because we all must eat. Although, we all eat for different purposes and goals.

I grew up in a large family. My mom was busy juggling 5 kids who were all active in football, gymnastics, ballet, etc. Needless to say, we didn't have a lot of quality dinner table evenings. A lot of what I remember was eaten in the car. She was of course just trying to meet all of our other needs, and a big push for healthy eating really didn't come about during her generation, at least not that the people I know in Georgia were apart of :)

During school, like most kids, weight wasn't much of an issue because I was active. Then I blew out my knee doing gymnastics in eleventh grade at the same time that we moved and my entire life changed. I put on a little bit of weight, but nothing too crazy. My first "diet" ever was when I was a senior in high school and I wanted to get into a size 4 pair of jeans that I had for our senior trip. I think I was hoping to lose about 10 pounds, which I did by doing jazzercise (really popular at the time :) and basically eating very little. I knew the basic concepts of like stay away from my usual Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meals and Large Fries, but beyond that, I wasn't really on a very healthy path.

Fortunately, it didn't last but maybe 6 weeks, and then off to college where things just got WAY off! My Freshman 15 was more like what ultimately turned out to be 45! Yes, my 5' 2'' frame got up to around 160 in college!! At that point, I was getting married in approximately 8 months from then and knew I had to really focus on getting things together.

I knew that fad, fast-quick stuff didn't work, at least not permanently. I joined a gym and started walking on a treadmill 3 times/week. I picked up a Fitness magazine and read it cover to cover. Once I got moving, it just got that much more fun! I couldn't read enough about proper eating and exercise, and found great passion in it!

The bad news is that there are thousands of conflicting nutrition information out there! And the "rules" that some possess I don't think really take into account people like myself that will follow them to the 110% extreme. I became COMPLETELY obsessed with my nutrition and thought everything was fine because I was eating, so that meant I wasn't anorexic, right? I did lose quite a bit of weight quickly, but it took Adam really bringing me to terms that 700 calories a day just wasn't going to cut it. It's crazy how foggy your mind can get when in a state like that.

I did pull out of it and ultimately got rid of all of my rigid eating habits all together. Adam and I tried for quite sometime to get pregnant with Cooper, and it boiled down to my body fat % being too low from all the running I was doing. I had to figure out that moderation really is the key. "Perfect" eating isn't really quite so perfect!

So through the baby years, I somehow managed to keep a relatively fit frame through moderate eating and running/walking. However, in coming into Endurance Sports I've been reintroduced to the nutrition category. When Carole first told me I should keep a food diary, it really kind of freaked me out because I literally kept one for over 2 years, and it was one of those things that I needed to let go of. I was "food journal free" at this point for about 3 years, and didn't want to find myself revisiting some of those obsessive habits. And we all know that triathletes can be that way! :) So, I again went into it thinking I'd use it as intended, but not allow myself to beat myself up over it.

Realizing that nutrition is one of the most important aspects of Sports and just your overall well-being, I've once again started searching for the "right information." I've been reading Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes" by Monique Ryan. I'd seen it listed on Bree Wee's page and had some others recommend it. She also posts on velonews.com, and I've heard she seems to have it together. Though I am not finished with the book yet, I have to say it is one of the best I've read so far. It really promotes the basic nutrition principles with the option of not getting so technical that it CAN be used in "the real world!"

There are a few principles that I truly do believe in when it comes to nutrition. Moderation is one! Again, there is no such thing as the "Perfect" diet. Number 2: Diets are crazy. We should want to eat good so that we can feel good, and that should be an everyday thing. And Number 3: Everyone is different. We all have different lifestyles, restrictions, and needs. What works for one is NOT what works for others necessarily. (I'll tell you my race day nutrition day story another day!)

I feel like I've come a REALLY long way from that immobile 160lb girl in college to the athlete I am now. However, there is always sooo much more for us to learn!

So, as Christmas approaches you can be sure that I'll be partaking in my favorites...Chocolate Fudge and Dressing with Gravy. Let's just hope that Monique Ryan is helping me control how much and When I should eat it!

Happy and Healthy eating to you all!

K :)