The dog sleeps just fine...

• Breakfast (5:30 am) - 2 slices of sprouted Ezekiel bread with crunchy almond butter + coffee
  ====== morning workout =======
• Mid-morning (10 am) - Greek yogurt + flax seed meal + mixed berries
• Lunch (1 pm) - Broccoli + lean ground beef + feta + Stubb's BBQ sauce (sounds strange but yummy)
• Mid-afternoon (4 pm) - Apples and peanut butter with the kids. A piece of dark chocolate.
  ====== afternoon workout =======
• Dinner (7 pm) - 2 egg scramble + mixed peppers + spinach + tomato + hummus
• Pre-bed (9:30 pm) - casein protein + quick oats + peanut butter (all mixed together with water)

He is working with me on the SBM Book coming out in December, and as such, the blog and all its glory is now out of the bag.

Coach M - Ironman NOLA 70.3

“I don’t like being called Coach Monster,” he told me this morning.

“Well, it’s kind of late now,” I said, “What do you want to be called?”

He shrugged. 

Then I worried that I hurt his feelings – that he thought monster meant monster in the traditional sense of the word. I sent him a text message after class and told him that his nickname is not as bad as it seems.  I call him Monster because he loves REM (the Monster album) and is sweet and googly like Cookie Monster. (But he’s also a badass triathlete… so, really, Coach Monster is all around fitting.)

I guess he can be The Coach Formerly Known as Monster. 

Oooh! 

Let’s have a contest for his new name!  We can present him with a list of options, and the person who came up with the one he picks, wins something! Yeah yeah! Contest contest!

Anyway. Last night, the heel on my right foot started hurting. This morning, it is killing me. I have some sort of bruise that I can see. When I asked Google what it was, Google responded: “bruises on the heel can be caused from being overweight and running.”  Bastard.

But I haven’t been running! I screamed at Google.

I’m kind of worried about it, because the bruise is on the broken foot. I am nervous that if I am at Iron Girl on Sunday, favoring the heel because of the bruise, that I might mess up the metatarsal area. Anyway, I am saying prayers. I need Iron Girl! I need it!

Friendly reminders:  
Iron Girl Details: I, along with the Expert and the two Swim Bike Kids, will be at Iron Girl bike check-in tomorrow around 11:30.  If you are out there, please come say hi! 

The Post-Race Swim Bike Mom Fun Fest is happening around 11:30 on SUNDAY at the Taco Mac in Buford, near Mall of GA. Please come join us!

Gear Details: The SBM TECH SHIRTS are on SUPER SALE right now – only $15 – in the Swim Bike Mom Shops store.  Finally, don’t forget to order your Swim Bike Mom Triathlon and Cycling Clothing- last few days. Ordering is only open until Tuesday. 

The Another Mother Runner ladies, Dimity and Sarah, are the very awesome (and very TALL) authors of Run Like a Mother and the new, Train Like a Mother books.

Seriously, I thought I was tall. Sarah and Dimity are awesomely tall (and fashionable, and glamorous). Dimity is so tall, in fact, that she calls herself “Taller than the Transamerica Pyramid” on their website.  I adored both of them and left the party feeling very inspired, grateful and (a tad) tipsy.

(L-R) Sarah, Swim Bike Mom, Ilana, and Dimity....Courtesy of Amerine Photography

I “met” Dimity the first time when she asked me to be a part of “Follow this Mother” on their blog. My post was featured here: https://anothermotherrunner.com/2011/11/16/follow-this-mother-71/, and I was honored to be a part of it.

When we walked into the party, I saw Dimity and Ilana introduced us.  “This is Meredith,” Ilana said.

“Nice to meet you, Meredith,” Dimity said.

“Oh, I’m Swim Bike Mom.”

Squeal. “OH! Swim Bike Mom! Yeah yeah yeah!”

I love Mother books and I especially love the tagline: “How to Get Across Any Finish Line – and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity.”   I am of the opinion that running (and triathlon) is directly the reason you WILL NOT, as a working mother, lose your sanity…

The book release party was incredible.  Met lots of ATL area bloggers and women. The Mothers gave away awesome goody bags (I won a Lucy gift certificate!). They had several giveaways from Nuun, Yurbuds, and Altra (Zero Drop) footwear.Plus, I had just received the go-ahead to remove Wilson, the boot, so I was feeling pretty good.

Courtesy of Amerine Photography

Great night full of amazing women and inspiration. Thanks, Mother Runners.

TEN BEST SPORTS NUTRITION TIPS
ILANA KATZ, MS, RD, CSSD

Many recreational athletes have a difficult time with weight management, especially those that took on the training as a reason for weight loss in the first place. It perplexes them when they then discover the weight gain, instead of expected and anticipated weight loss.

Don’t feel alone, this actually a very common phenomenon. There are a number of reasons for this.

First, athletes tend to build denser muscle as they are losing fat, especially in the first months of their new training program. It does not necessarily mean you are “fatter” just because the number on the scale is higher. Density shows up on a scale. It is therefore better to monitor progress by body composition rather than a weight. Monitor the looseness of your clothes, get someone to measure you with a tape measure, and get a body fat test done every few months.

Notice in this visual how different fat and muscle are in size, density and texture. These both represent 5 lbs:

Okay, then after your body becomes adaptive to your exercise, and body composition changes slowly stabilizes, then yes, the scale should start shifting somewhat (but never drastically, because although the muscle begins to burn fat, it is still getting denser). If, at this point, you feel like you are “gaining, rather than “losing” it may be time to budget on the difference between calories in and calories out. I, as a dietitian, prefer not to use calorie counting as a means to fat loss, but every now and then, an audit, so to speak, may become necessary.  Why? Well….

…many endurance athletes tend to over compensate for workouts. Does this ring true “well I ran 17 miles today, so I deserve to eat anything that is not nailed down”?

Or, for some it may even be the other end of the continuum, where they refuse to eat, because the calories add up. For those that do not eat enough, their bodies will adaptively become efficient fat storing machines. Always keep in mind, human physiology is a mechanism of survival. This means that if you are not providing the required fuel essential for life, your body will store every minute grain that you DO give it. It also adapts and moves into survival mode by using the stored fat (our reserve tank of energy) very, very efficiently, and that translates to “slowly” !! So if you are perplexed as to why you cannot lose a milligram on a scale, yet you have increased on work out intensity and time, and you are not eating very much… then its time to reassess your metabolic efficiency.

Here are the 10 best tips to help avoid these pitfalls…

1. Rev up your metabolism by eating within 30 minutes of waking up, even if its pre workout. If you have a hard time eating before a work out, start off with half a banana to get used to it, its easily digestible, high in carbs and low in fiber, which contribute to a more efficient work out.
2. Recover with a 3:1 carb to protein ratio combination as soon after your work out as possible. Some good examples of this ratio is a protein shake with 1 scoop of protein and at least 2 servings of fruit and some milk or yogurt blended together, or low fat chocolate milk, or a Mix One^T and a fruit. Do not forget to use protein as part of the recovery meal. It begins the rebuild and recovery of muscles as well as makes you feel more satisfied, decreasing the temptation to eat anything not tied down to the table, after many hours of intense activity.
3. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables throughout the day. These superfoods are high in antioxidants which combat off the build up of free radicals from exercise, as well as high in vitamins and minerals that keep your metabolic pathways working efficiently and effectively.
4. Keep a food log daily. Patterns of issues will be evident thus providing you with valuable data. A problem cannot be fixed unless you have the data to get to the root of it. Furthermore, logs make you self accountable to your goals and your current focus.
5. Always have a sports nutrition strategy, for both training and racing. Plan in segments eg. How many grams of carbs either mile by mile or in 15-20 minute blocks. Plan textures and products, eg. Liquids (GatoradeT, acceleradeT), solids (sports beans, shot bloks) or semi solids (gels). Research has shown that those athletes that fuel correctly and don’t avoid sports nutrition because of their high caloric content, actually land up eating less the rest of their long work out days, than those that avoid sports nutrition, trying to save calories.  
6. Know your carbs. Fuel accordingly. Pre work out and post work out carbs can be higher in (GI) Glycemic Index compared to the rest of the meals in a day, where slower burning carbs would be more appropriate. If you are not sure of the different fuel burning rate of carbs, good examples of fast are sports drinks, gels, and shot bloks, also banana and potato. Slower burning would be whole grain products, whole grains themselves (like brown rice, barley, quinoa), legumes, oats (more fibrous carbs slow the fuel burn rate). See other articles in this regard the MY sports nutrition article library too (www.onforlife.com/blog/).
7. Stay constantly hydrated. Goal pre workout is to be hydrated, goal during workout is to keep replacing losses, goal after workout is to rehydrate and replenish electrolytes from sweat loss.
8. Experiment with nutrition during training. Never try new products during a race and do not regress from the sports nutrition strategy you had designed for a particular race.
9. Use safe and effective carbo loading strategies starting about a week before a race. Tapering exercise and switching carbs to a higher percentage at least 3 days before a race, leading up to the race is the most effective way of carbo loading. Do not over eat the night before or the early morning before a race. 
10. Eat nutrient dense food (rich in color and fiber) versus calorie dense food with limited nutrients (such as sodas and candy). Body stores carbs in limited amounts therefore eating smaller meals more often throughout the day will aid in maintaining well fueled muscles constantly, rather than 2 or 3 big meals a day which just slows down the metabolism.

All these tips in combination will lead to most optimal fuel.

The moral of this story is that if you appropriately adapt a sports nutrition strategy, you will not feel like you have deserved to eat yourself into a coma after every long work out, and you will also get enough calories so that your physiology moves away from becoming too efficient and thus moves away from storing everything you consume as fat. 

* * *

If you don’t count the ridiculous 227 and go with my starting weight of 218.8 then I am at 2.4 pounds of loss in around two weeks.

This morning, I was walking out of ths shower, and my daughter (age 3) said, “Ooooh Mommy I don’t want to see you naked!”  Then my son chimes in, “No Mommy! Put your clothes on.”  Thanks, guys!

So what have I been doing re: nutrition? Many of you have asked, so I’ll tell you.

1) I am tracking every thing I am putting in my mouth with the Livestrong.com app.  Everything. I am measuring everything. Everything. I cannot believe how little I “should” be eating. I have also noticed that it’s easy to remain in the calorie budget and remain relatively full with whole foods. Insert one cookie, and you’re screwed. Same with salad dressing.  I have found one I LOVE with Bolthouse Farms – it’s a yogurt dressing, in the refridgerated section…they have several kinds. I like the Olive Oil and Blue Cheese –  and it’s only 45 calories for 2 tablespoons, but it tastes delicious.

2) I have avoided processed food and dairy (with the exception of my yogurt dressing).

3) While I have been eating meat, despite my love for the vegan way, I feel better having fish and eggs. Not emotionally, but physically better.

4) I was told a few years ago that I had a wheat allergy, which perhaps is a gluten intolerance/allergy. I hestiate to use that word, because gluten- free is such a buzz word right now. But proof is in the pudding… er, the protein. I’m not eating pudding. I feel less bloated and sickly.

5) No wine, beer, diet drinks, fruit juice. Only coffee (lots of it) and water. 

6) Finally, I am trying not to focus on the SCALE. At the same time, I am a need-to-know type of person. So I am working on keeping the number at bay and using it more of a guide, not a doomsday issue.

So this is what I am doing. I think the most helpful is the tracking. I truly was eating probably 3500 calories a day before I even knew what was happening.  Measuring out my portions and counting has been truly eye opening.

Other News:
I am working off a WordPress website now… so all of you who were “friends” with me on Blogger… you need to migrate over to the email list here, or you might miss the posts. Feedburner should be set up shortly and I’ll let you know when.

Swim Bike Mom Store:
I am taking Tri Kit orders now for just a few more days (through May 22nd). Go to Swim Bike Mom Shops and read carefully so you pick the right size. Here is more information too. Additionally, there’s lots of other fun SBM gear and stuff in the store.

Other times, I really do some planning.  Advance work.  Research.

I thought I’d give you a glimpse into some of the things I’ve got in the “hopper” and will be publishing in the next couple of weeks. 

Product / Book Reviews

I am quite honored when a company approaches me and asks me to do a review of their product.  While my reviews may not be as in-depth or techy as DC Rainmaker’s, I think I do a pretty solid job of rendering my opinion on products when they come my way.  Ultimately, my perspective is if I like a product I will tell you what I liked about it and why.  On the other hand, I’ll also be honest about what I don’t like. 

Over the past year, I’ve built a relationship with Velo Press and have been able to review several really good books.  Right now, I’m in the midst of reviewing Sheila Taormina’s new book Swim Speed Secrets for Swimmers and Triathletes.  I’ve actually finished reading the book, and have gone back to re-read several sections prior to writing my review.  Look for that review in the next week or so.

Currently, I’m testing a variety of products, and will be offering reviews shortly.  Those products include:

• Thera-Band stretching products – including the Roller Massager +, Pro Foam Rollers with wraps, Thera-Band Stretch Strap, a Foot Roller and Flex Bar
• BioFreeze pain relieving gel, including their new single-serve product

If you’re interested in reviewing any of my prior reviews, please click here.  If you own or represent a multi-sport, swim, bike, run, or triathlon company and would like to have an independent review of your product done, please contact me by clicking here.

“Ten Questions With….” Interview Series

Yes, I’ve decided to bring this relic back to life.  I really loved the series in 2010 and the beginning part of 2011.  You can check out some of the cool interviews I did here.  I’ve already interviewed Pro Triathlete Sara McLarty this year, and have a few more interviews (and suggestions) in the works.  I likely won’t be posting these with the same frequency that I did last year, but I promise that we’ll see regular interviews over the next several weeks/months.

So….Lots of blog goodness coming up.  All this, plus random servings of general thoughts, musings, and perspective on what’s happening in our world of swimbikerun.