Thursday, March 10, 2011

Lite makes right

I have been scripting my meals this week.  I have not been hungry.  I have been seeing results.  While I have been in a calorie deficit I have not denied my self – I have not been hungry.  Matty-O commented that it is indeed hard to eat enough ‘healthy’ calories.  It really is!!!

It is really not as dramatic as it looks.  My weight can bounce around 4 or 5 pounds over night.  The weight will start to stabilize and then I will star adding a couple of hundred calories each day until it is a steady 155!

If you look at the amounts of food that I have been eating, the volume is very high, the nutrients are very high, however the calories are low.  Try eating a half pound of grilled chicken and a half pound of raw carrots plus a half pound of humus for dinner and still being hungry?  And that is just 772 calories.

On top of the scripted meals I have been able to get back into the exercise.  I have been riding the trainer each morning and running at lunch.  The mobility in the shoulder is coming back.  I was able to bust out 20 push ups!  That is a far cry from a couple of weeks ago but I did not experience any pain.  Last week I did 12 push ups and paid for them dearly for the rest of the day.  However, the overhead range of motion is still not better.  There will be no military press ups or chin ups for another week. 

I have a tendency to grab things over my head and do a pull up – I don’t know why I do this.  It is not an ego thing.  It is not showing off.  I even do it while I am by myself.  If I see a door jam with a decent hand hold I will grab it and do a pull up.  Well, subconsciously I did it this past weekend while looking at storage sheds.  Ouch – it hurt so bad.  Massive pain for the rest of the afternoon.

Regarding the back, it is also getting better.  I have discovered that 6 miles is about as long as I can run without suffering consequences.  So, 6 miles it is everyday at lunch.  Nothing fast.  Nothing hard.  Just 6 miles at lunch.

On the positive side, I am nailing the trainer.  My numbers are increasing.  I am feeling stronger.  I am putting in the time!

My body is healing, I am getting back to normal.  I am missing the strength training.

11 comments:

Danielle said...

Responding to your pull-up obsession, I think everyone who is active has one of those. When I am standing around waiting for something, I start to do ballet. Normally it's just looks weird to others around, but when I injured my ankle in January after a bad run, ballet habits are very painful!

Congrats on the improving numbers! Keep it up and in time, you'll be back at 100%.

Karen said...

How great that the injury only slowed you down for a short time! I have been trying to be more conscious of the types of food I am eating also. It is amazing how much bang you get for your calorie buck with healthier options. (Not to say that I don't miss my snacks here and there but the cravings for them are becoming less and less thankfully!)

Matty O said...

what are you goals this year? After Boston that is, are you doing a full ironman again?

Glad to hear the shoulder and back are on the mend. I think you put enough good food and nutrients in you that your body will probably heal faster than anyone else out there haha!

Glad I am not the only one with bouncy weight. I can "drift" (what we called losing weight overnight in wrestling) about 3-5lbs regularly. I weigh myself every morning when I wake up. Don't record it though. April is my magic month. Recording food and weight again.

Tri4Success said...

Looks like you're making great progress --- keep it up!

Tri-James said...

Drift is a good word for it. After a long bike session on a Sunday I can be 8 - 10 pounds heavy the next day.

It is crazy - it has to be the sodium.

Oh, yeah, I also added about 4 more servings of veggies to the mix.

Anonymous said...

What happened to your shoulder???

Tri-James said...

Hey Shelby - click the label on the left marked 'crash'.

Anonymous said...

OMG! Bummer! So sorry. Biking is amazing but then there are the consequences...glad you are "okay."

Caratunk Girl said...

Oh James, lay off the pull-ups for a while, OK? Glad things seem to be getting better. 6 miles at lunch is a good lunch!

Great job on the calories/eating. As always, that is my biggest challenge. If I could get the rest of the house on board, it would help.

Keep healing.

Jim ... 50after40 said...

I think you and I are of the same mindset - I had a similar post a while back. It seems like it takes twice as much healthy food to get the calories I need ... which sometimes seems like too much volume. Jason at Life of An Aspiring Triathlete swears by veggie living, but I just can't seem to get enough calories.

Katie said...

Being that I am smaller and a female (and not doing very long cardio sessions right now), I love that healthy food goes so far :) I don't need that many calories to maintain and even less to lose, so veggies save me.

Once I get my first pull-up I will be hopping on everything I can to!! For now I jump on my pull-up bar and do some jumping pull-ups or arm hangs whenever I pass by :D