School
Don’t you know that literally right after I posted my blog yesterday about being insanely busy and hoping to be able to squeeze a run in last night, my professor in my very next class gave out a take home exam due today! The good news is that it took me no time to finish it really. But it still took away time for a run. I finished up that, looked over my Optics for a bit but by that time, I was pretty much fried. I was also savoring the couch time with Rob. I will be staying over at school today for the first time so I figured I will have plenty of time to work on homework and stuff tonight when I’m by myself in an apartment without internet or cable (thank goodness for smart phones!) At least I have bar stools now to sit somewhere and work.
Nutrition
Eating was pretty good yesterday. I have been really bad at taking pictures lately so nothing to show you. I promise to work on that! I have my basics to try to get back to normal. Omelet and a bagel for breakfast. I had made some turkey broth soup on Thursday so I had some of that for lunch with a yogurt. I snacked on fruits. We did have subs for dinner but I made sure to only eat half (so I could have some more of the home-made cookies we baked!). I wasn’t munchy really which helped a lot! I tried to stick to an eating schedule, even if I wasn’t that hungry. I think it really helped. I didn’t know my calories until I tracked right before bed. The FitBit said I should eat about 1815 calories. I ate about 1860. Pretty good! If only it was that easy every day to stay in calories (and eat cookies too!)
Macro Nurtients
I never really talk about macro nutrients on here too much. Even since reading Jackie Warner’s “This is Why You’re Fat”, I switched to a higher protein diet. I had been following Spark People’s 50-30-20 Carb-Fat-Protein model but then changed over to more of a 40-30-30 ratio with the help of her book. It wasn’t easy and took a few months to get used to it but I was eventually successful with her tips.
Anyway, yesterday was a 50-30-20 (from now on, its 532) kind of day which I sort of did on purpose. With endurance training (distance running), I hear a lot of people say you need the carbs. I really don’t want to switch back because it will be so hard to switch again! It is almost natural to do the 532 for me but I feel so much lighter and leaner on the 433. All the research I have found so far has been very speculative and not very science based so that makes me wonder. Or it just says “well, research shows that runners should eat carbs”. Well, how did they get to that conclusion?! Ugh! Can you tell I’m a science person?
I’ll keep looking for more info on the topic between classes and homework and take home exams but do any of you have any info? (I’m looking at you Tiff! Endurance runner who does Paleo, you’ve gotta know something!!! LoL) So, I’m not going to be the fastest runner at the marathon anyway so who cares if I have to carry a little extra muscle? At least my arms will look good pumping in the air for the finish line photos!
Image Sources:
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1415
http://www.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_full_width/hash/eating-schedule-300×237.jpg
http://vibrantsexystrong.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/macronutrients.jpg
Woo Hoo! Here I am….yup…no carbs here except those I get through veggies (brussel sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower) fruit (apples mostly or the occasional Larabar) and sweet potatoes…the week before the half I made sure that I ate a sweet potato everyday…though, for me, I’ve found that I am actually more effected by lack of water rather than lack of carbs. Being well hydrated for the half last week made all the difference – though there is a problem with being over-hydrated…That’s another story…
I’m certainly not a world-class runner by any means (though I will toot my horn and say that I was in the top 40 for my age group at the philly half… 😉 ) Not sure where you’ll find it on his blog, but Dean Karnazes follows a Paleo lifestyle most of the time, he will eat non-paleo during an Ultra and after…but for the most part, he’s low carb… Most Paleo followers don’t do distance running, they are more into heavy lifting, sprints, short bursts of energy…though those I personally know, they manage perfectly fine w/o the carbs. In fact, we also tend to recover faster due to the lack of inflammation – I had no soreness post race and ran two 6 mile runs that following week (Tue and Thurs)… therefore, my dear, it can be done! You don’t need those stinkin’ carbs! 😉 And a bonus is very few blood sugar fluctuations = less daily sluggishness!
Good luck with your exams, homework and enjoy a quiet night in the new apt!
Since writing this blog this morning, I googled some things and the LiveStrong website recommends 60-25-15 carbs/fat/protein for endurance runners. Are they crazy?!
And this might TMI, but I find I have problems digesting a lot of foods. I might give Paleo a try if just to see if it helps with that! Hm…
~Ang
Many people get digestive relief from a Paleo lifestyle… in fact, I have 2 friends who had IBS and being Paleo rid them of that… As for the endurance macros, I haven’t looked in a while but check out the Paleo Diet for Athletes book – see what they list for macros. I don’t pay much attention to macros. In fact, sometimes I think I might just log food for a week to see where I fall…would be interesting I think!