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Showing posts from January 24, 2010

The new bed

Smudla seems to have her own special "hidden" places in order to get in a good morning and afternoon nap. As for Madison and Campy, they are inseparable. Not only are they inseparable from each other but Campy follows me around no matter what I am doing. When I am cooking, I have two furry little bodies staring up at me, just hoping that I drop something yummy. I saw the cutest bed at Walgreens the other day. Of course, Campy will always sleep with us in our bed but for traveling and napping, I think this $6 bed proved to be a good investment. Good-bye window, couch and pillow..... Hello new bed! Smudla still prefers her special spots to keep an eye out on everyone

Day #20: Eat more fiber

I've probably overwhelmed you with the concept of meal-planning. I agree, it is probably one of the hardest parts of achieving your weight loss/performance goals. While it doesn't take much effort to make pasta or a grilled-cheese sandwich, you may find that some of your meals aren't very filling. Well, at least 1 serving, that is. It is only after you eat 2,3, possibly 4 servings of pasta or 3-4 grilled cheese sandwiches that you finally feel full (or should we say "stuffed"). If you are an active person who can't quite seem to conquer those cravings and hunger pains throughout the day, my first tip is to focus on nutrient timing. How are fueling for a workout and recovering from the workout? If you are the person who lacks the energy to be consistent with training, my suggestion is to focus on balanced and complete meals which leave your blood sugar stable and tummy satisfied. Regardless if you do/don't have energy for workouts or do/don't experience...

Day #19: Be conscious of your food choices

You know if you run comfortably at 10 minutes per mile you aren't going to run a 20 minute 5K at your next race. It is quite clear that you can't be comfortable with your current routine if you want to see a change in your routine. That's not to say that you can't enjoy your training routine but your body appreciates variety, especially when it gets bored with the same thing, day after day. The body has strange ways of telling us that we are doing something right with our exercise/training routine. Your clothes begin to feel a bit looser, your muscles become more noticeable (that's a good thing ladies), you have more energy on a daily basis, workouts become easier and you learn to enjoy the soreness in your quads after a hard spin class or hill run. Personally, my body has a way of telling me that I swim way too much but I've learned to love my chlorine skin since I began competitive swimming in 1994. :) Our body also has ways of telling us that we are doing som...

Day #18: Learning from great resources

I don't know what it is with triathletes, runners and cyclists but they are among the smartest individual-sport athletes I know. A little obsessive at times but when you have to balance training around life (or is it life around training) how can you not be overly focused and passionate for what you do. Swimmers are in there as well but I think once you finish your collegiate career of swimming you either become a runner or triathlete if you wish to continue "training". I bet I could put a bunch of triathletes in a room with a group of exercise physiologist PhD's and Graduate students and more than likely, the triathletes could carry on conversations regarding lactate, anaerobic, watts and fartlek training with a breeze. The conversation may be short (from my experience, PhD's know way too much, but all good stuff of course), but I am quite impressed with dedication that multisport athletes put forth in understanding their training and the human body. I deci...

Day #17: Boosting your energy

We all have highs and lows during our day. Some people experience the afternoon crash worse than others but for the most part, there is nothing exciting about working on the computer for 8-12 hours a day, sitting on conference calls or in meetings for 4 consecutive hours or being a mommy/daddy 24/7. Put exercise/training in your routine and it would almost be abnormal to not crave/need a nap by 3pm. I'm sure you are well aware of all of the "natural" energy drinks out there. Red bull and 5-hour energy probably come to mind due to excellent marketing strategies and due to their availability to the consumer. I did a little googling and came across this product Quick Energy Power Shot™, one of the world's strongest 4 oz. energy drink, delivers twice the rush of a regular energy drink.* Quick Energy Power Shot™ provides long-lasting energy, stamina and mental awareness with NO CRASH! One bottle gets you running on all cylinders!!! Quick Energy Power Shot™ has n o sug...