Title is pretty self explanatory.
Food.
Probably one of my favorite things. And favorite subjects. And since eating is one of my favorite past times...I obvi have a lot to say.
Let's take a look back at the year 2013 "food synopsis" for Lacy.
***If you are bored, or think this is ridiculous. That's neat. Don't read anymore. Because I'm going to talk about what I eat. If you don't care...don't read any further. Kthanksabunch.
Jan.-March-ish: Pretty much a free for all. For all my clients...yes. I said free for all. I am human. I was coming off of 2 marathons, about to do 2 more. And I wasn't reeeeeaaaallly training myself. Just trainin' the ladies. And I wasn't reaeeeeaaaaalllly running (10-15 maintenance miles between monthly marathons). Just racing. So I had no excuse. And it showed in my pictures, and in my performance...
And in my health. By March I was in a not so good place. All auto-immune-messy-lalablahblahblah, popping Prednisone on Dr.s orders, eating too much gluten (no bueno for me), and overall. I was not much of a happy camper with myself.
Mid March-ish-Mayish: Prep diet. I was going to do a bikini show. I was eating 6 small meals a day, same thing every day. Living breathing chicken, fish (that I didn't know how to cook very well...), brown rice, sweet potato, a small amount of peanut butter...and protein shakes. And spinach. I think I ate like 50lbs of spinach. Frozen, fresh, whatev. I was basically green. I got 1 cheat meal a week. And although I was grouchy-McGroucherpants. I looked much better. No Prednisone. Less auto-immuneeeyyy. More energy. More grumpy.
Did I mention I was grumpy? I did 7 weeks cold turkey-ish. And I was fairly grumpy. I'm surprised I still had friends.
May-ish-VACATIONJUNE!: About 80% on prep during the week. I was a strong strong little person. I stuck to my weights, stuck to my cardio, stuck to my food (with an occasional adult beverage and pizza dinner)...and I usually took the weekends off (responsibly). Met my goal. Was the leanest I have ever been...
**lean...not skinny weight wise....
before I left on vacay. Felt better than I had in forever.
VACATION: Eating free for all. Not elaborating.
Back from Vacation in early July-Last week-Floundering??? Ironman training. Hungry. Still stuck on eating like I was on prep. Kind of. Just messing up more. More crap than I needed to be eating. Watching my calorie intake but not really watching what my calories were made up of.
I told George and Renea I was feeling soft. And flat. Like all the cardio was eating my muscle no matter how heavy I lifted, how light I lifted, etc. Like I was losing all my gains I had made in the Spring/Early Summer...and morphing into blah. Me no likey.
Soooo....
THIS WEEK: George Perez. My macro guru. Extraordinary man of many many talents including:
Karaoke Singer, Fab dancer, My favorite Glee-like singalong partner, Amazing Dad and Husband to my Sancha Renea, Bodybuilder, Physique competitor, bad ass trainer, food/macro genius.
He told me to change it up. Toooooo...
60% carbs, 30% protein, 10% fat.
Holy crap. 60% of my diet from carbs. Don't get all jelly just yet. I am not face first into a plate of pasta and eating my way through a Domino's deep dish. Quite the contrary. I mean I guess I could...but it wouldn't be good. Because...
I have a bit of a gluten allergy. Not totally averse, but if I have more than 1-2 servings (and they really need to be "clean" servings), I tend to swell up a bit. And feel not so bueno. So I'm mostly turning into a sweet potato, brown rice, corn, black bean, etc.
Which isn't so bad.
But isn't so easy either. Keeping carbs high, and keeping fats low has been a bit of a challenge.
Sayonara 4 tablespoons of Peanut Butter :((((((. Adios cheese (ok...not completely...)
I've been glued to MyFitnessPal this week trying to get it right. After failing Saturday and Sunday for the most part. By Monday, I had pretty much figured it out. And by Wednesday. I could SEE a difference. And FEEL a difference.
I started to fill out more. In a good way. Muscles didn't look so flat. I didn't feel so tired (ok...I'm always tired...but that's for another day...). I had more energy in my workouts and felt like I could push.
So whatever George the Genius told me to do, is working. And I'm super grateful.
Some may think. But you're training for an Ironman. You do cardio etc for sometimes 4-5 hours a day. You gotta eat woman. Yes. I do have to eat. And I did eat quite a large cheat today at a friend's birthday lunch. My table watched in amazement. Don't know why...But my friend Christi said it was better than watching Shark week. I inhaled my grub.
Because I am hungry, all the time. And with the amount of stuff I'm doing, that is to be expected, BUT I made a decision before I started training that I would NOT fall off my eating habits completely. Because it is my eating habits (AKA my voracious appetite...) that got me into trouble in the first place **see Jan-Mar. So I have to be careful. I can't put crap in my body and expect not to get crap in return.
I've learned my lesson. I need fuel to train and keep my energy level up. I need a lot of fuel. A lot more than you would think for a person my size (I'm 4'10ish...). But I can't fuel up with everything. I'm like a luxury vehicle. I need Super Premium Unleaded.
Now didn't that sound self-righteous. Don't care :) ITS TRUE!
I can't expect to have a productive training season without thinking about my nutrition. So I'm doing my best, trying to use my best judgement. Not go overboard. And listen to my body and what it needs before, during, and after my training. Because that is what is going to teach me what I will need before, during, and after my Ironman. Now is the time to learn and experiment. Because to me...nutrition itself is over half the battle.
So thanks for reading my blog about my eating. I know you found it to be super profound and enlightening. And I bet everyone always wondered "what does Lacy eat??" So there you go. I don't recommend this diet for anyone, or everyone, as everyone is very different. Even people doing the same thing I'm doing. Always talk to someone who has credentials in nutrition, or knows what they are talking about. There are resources everywhere! So what I'm saying is...don't necessarily "try this at home." And then blame me when it's not working :)
This weekend I have a LOOOOONNNNGGGG bike ride, and tonight I'm doing a LOOOOONNNGGG swim. I may do a long run. Can't decide. I'll see how I feel come Sunday.
I appreciate all the kind words of encouragement I'm getting from everyone as I go along. I'm about 15 weeks away...TOO CLOSE AHHHHHH!!! But support means the world to me.
Now someone book the trip so that Kristofor doesn't watch me alone. Kthanks.
Thanks for cheering me on!
Lacy
