Eau Du Chlorine

The last couple of weeks have been very bad from a fitness and eating standpoint.

It's funny how you can't make it to the gym the day that you receive word about your dog's and grandmother's deaths. Admittedly, I made a batch of cookies and ate a huge number of them instead of working out that day and was so busy making hurried preparations to leave town a couple of days early and then go directly to Korea that both my eating and fitness habits went down the drain until departure. I knew that once I left food and fitness situations were going to be sketchy, so I had sort of planned for that lapse. I hadn't planned for getting some sort of Korean Death Flu while I was over there that is only just not started to give up its grip on me.

So, with all that, I unfortunately have only gotten to use my new gym membership once, which prompted a "motivational" email to by sent to me by them. Yeah, thanks for assuming it was a motivational problem instead of a death in the family/traveling abroad/illness problem.

Enough is enough, I say! I've gotten out of shape and have gained a noticable amount of weight in the last couple of weeks, which is mildly depressing and demotivational. But in three and a half hours I will be heading out the door to go to swim practice. For some reason I haven't missed the pool but I have missed my friends. Maybe I'll even stop by the 24-hour location after work tonight too.

Sounds like a small step, but I know that just a workout or two is enough to change up my attitude, movtivation, and body image and hence my momentum. I'm also making a willful effort to snack on things like broccoli, strawberries, and Cheerios instead of Cadbury Mini-Eggs (ohh, beloved seasonal candy!). The working out will help with this too, as I always crave healthier foods when I'm active.

A turnaround is looming ahead of me. Time to get back on track!

Posted by Jitterbean Girl at 1:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last practice before taper! I wanted it to be hard, and Mimi delivered:

200 free warm-up
100 swim (50 fly/50 back) warm-up
4x50 free on 1:00

3x200 on 2:45
6x200 on 2:40
3x200 on 2:35

4x125 on 1:45
4x125 on 1:40

4x50 on :45
4x50 on :40

2x50 cool-down

Total yardage: 4400

The way I felt during this practice was reminiscent of, but nowhere near as bad, as the last Saturday practice I went to. Since I never feel like this during the week and I also happened to be shifting my sleep schedule the last time I felt like this kind of ass in the pool, I think that that is probably the culprit.

It was weird. I was swimming fairly fast on the first rep of each set, but I couldn't maintain it, which is very unusual for me. That is typically something I am very good at. I still swam very hard and definitely got a good workout, but I could tell that I was... off somehow.

Now that I'm starting taper, I'm going to have to watch it -- no more circuit training for a couple of weeks and nowhere near as much food. I'll need to do something every day though -- yes, seven days a week. I don't want to gain any weight before the meet, so the food intake will have to come down. This shouldn't be much of a problem since I won't be as active and hence not as hungry, but somehow I have to keep the ice cream cravings at bay, or at least moderate them a lot

I think one reason I've been craving so much junk food that I would not normally crave is because I might not be getting enough protein. I definitely try, but with such elevated activity levels and such decreased intake of beef and chicken I don't think I'm doing my body enough of a favor. I have noticed a huge difference when I get more lean protein in (such as a cup of plain yogurt with some granola), so perhaps I need to start eating one serving of animal a day (preferably fish). This is a lot more than I have been eating recently. Alternately, I could make a couple batches of black bean burgers and freeze them or make some of that 15-bean soup I've bought. Either way, I need to be getting far more protein. I'm doing so much with my body, I need to take good care of it and give it the means to repair itself.

Posted by Jitterbean Girl at 5:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

200 free warm-up
200 free with paddles warm-up
100 breast kick
100 dolphin kick
4x100 free on 1:45 warm-up, repeated on 1:20
(It should be noted that only a few weeks ago 1:20 was pretty fast for me)

2x400 IM

100 breast drill -- two kick, one pull
2x50 breast pull with paddles and pull buoy
4x100 breast kick

100 free easy

4x100 free on 1:45, repeated 1:08
(This is the fastest I've gone in years!)

Total yardage: 2900

I felt great when I got out of the pool, which was kind of surprising because I almost didn't go to practice -- I just really wasn't feeling it. I'm so glad I made myself go swim though!

I also hopped on a scale for the first time in several months -- they tipped at 147. Not too shabby at all, since I don't think I have weighed that since I was 16. My body composition probably isn't much different than it was back then either, since I wasn't lifting or doing dryland or strength training outside of the pool.

I attribute this to not only staying active but also the eating habits that I've picked up since moving to Alaska. Because I work long shifts, I make myself bring huge amounts of food that mostly consist of fruits, vegetables, a sandwich, or a bowl of homemade soup. I'm eating a lot of small, healthy meals and really focusing on getting more fruits and vegetables. I don't buy beef or chicken anymore either, as fish is so plentiful here and so much healthier for you. In addition, since I'm here alone and don't have many friends yet, I'm not eating out much at all. This means I know exactly what I am putting in my body, and I'm doing it in smaller portions (not to mention for less money!). Today I realized that I haven't felt that stupifying I'm-so-full-I-can't-move feeling in a really long time, which is good. I try to keep my hunger levels steady and eat something healthy every two to three hours so I'm never starving and never full.

And hey -- it seems to be working! I'm swimming faster than I have since probably my sophomore year of high school, and I'm looking pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.

Hooray for swimming!

Posted by Jitterbean Girl at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)