Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition

I can't believe it is almost March!! I signed up for the Gate river run 15K for March 12th but I am not sure if I am feeling 'it' at this moment. I have my eyes set on New Orleans 70.3 (and Kona) and my internship is keeping me entertained with little room for "free-time". I guess I have a week or so to think about it but I believe that you have to mentally prepare for a race, just as much as you need to train for a race. Right now, there is not much room for visualizing and getting excited to push my body to the max. I'm 100% exhausted and my training is a great way to start my day and relieve stress. Over the years, I have learned to center my energy around a race and be 'ok' with not doing every race that is on the "to do" list...in the case that I am not feeling energized to do the race. More often than not, if the mind isn't excited for the race, the body won't be either. I don't believe in compromising my training (or exerci...

It's hard to sum up all the fantastic info in my latest issue of Nutrition Action (March 2011) that came in the mail today. I loved the front page that featured the words CARO LOADING in large print. Sadly, the article isn't geared towards athletes but rather to the average American. Pg. 3 - 6: In 1970, the average American consumed about 430 calories a day from grains (wheat, rice, corn, oats, etc.), according to the USDA. By 2008, we were up to 625 calories a day, a huge bump. And roughly 90% of the grain we eat is refined, not whole. Only one other category - fats and oils, which includes butter, oils, margarine and shortening - supplies that many calories. (So much for the popular notion that we've been on a low-fat diet). Added sugars also climbed, though less so. They're up by about 60 calories a day sine 1970. How does so much refined grain creep into our diets? Restaurants pile on the pasta, rice, pancakes, breads and other cheap carbs. Many restaurants combine ...

No..I would never do that. But I could sure use an interning break! I wanted to write something great today or feature a yummy creation, but I got nothing except for a tired brain. I wish I could say that my body was tired from training but it is recovery week and I am taking full advantage of just exercising this week. This morning was 30 min on the elliptical and weights. That's it! Tomorrow I plan to swim and hoping to find my inner-nemo that loves to come out twice a week from 6am - 7:30am. With 9 1/2 hours of interning at the hospital, you'd think that I would be able to see a dozen patients but I spent the entire day seeing 3 patients. Yesterday I saw 4, which is an improvement from my 2/d average but these three patients had me scratching my head and looking up a lot of info. Because I am still in the "interning" phase of my internship, it's important that I take my time and learn as much as I can so I don't overlook medications, physician orders or sta...

What an amazing weekend...weather wise. As for me, 15 hours of last minute studying on Sat and Sun and a B on my mid-term (I had another quiz on medical nutrition therapy on burns, wound, stress and surgery on Fri). The difficulty of the questions exceeded my expectations and I was nearly in tears mid-way through my exam. Giving myself a grade for my test-taking skills, I'm probably a high A for not being the best test taker. I tend to overthink and right now in my pursuit to be a RD, there is still a lot of thinking and second guessing. The body is amazingly complex and I am still struggling putting all the pieces together. But nevertheless, 150 questions and 1 hour and 54 minutes later, I was finished with my exam and I did much better than I expected. Whewww. My training has really taken a back-seat lately...as has much of the other things I like doing for fun (ex. blogging). But, I had no trouble getting out the door on Sat at 7am for a 3hr and 30 min, 67 mile bike ride. Karel...

I'm sure we all share the same story of life "not enough time". I'm quickly realizing that my idea of balance is gradually shifting to a 'just get it done' philosophy. I'm still getting quality sleep but my bed time moved from 9 until 10. I still wake up at 4:30 but there have been several shortened workouts due to being tired and needing more sleep. Exercise/training is still a priority but I am just aiming for quality workouts with no big expectations. New Orleans 70.3 should be a fun and great race for me but the Ironman World Championships is my main focus. As for my life at the moment, I'm mentally stimulated during my 9 hours of interning and come home with a completely exhausted brain, only to squeeze in a few more hours of work. The motivation is certainly lacking in the evening but there just isn't enough time on the weekend for me to do work. My weekends are 100% devoted to reading, studying taking quizzes. Speaking of which, I have my mi...

What a week this has been. I'm too exhausted to write about it in detail at the moment but I can say that I had 2 exciting and busy days at St. Vincent's Hospital on the Cancer unit and 2 amazing days at Nemours Pediatric Outpatient Hospital. I've been interning for about 8 months and in the home stretch, I am feeling very confident that I will pursue a clinical dietetic job as soon as I become a Registered and Licensed Dietitian. There is so much to learn about the human body and I'm quickly learning that there is no shortage of brain stimulating info when you are an acute care clinical dietitian. During my lunch break today at the pediatric hospital I skimmed through the latest American Dietetic Association newsletter (ADA TIMES Winter 2011). I always look forward to the research briefs and industry news section because I think it's fun to be a bit ahead of tv media when it comes to scientific research or consumer nutrition. I didn't want to keep this info to ...

I had just enough time the other night to browse through my latest Consumer Reports on Health, March 2011 issue. There is a great article on top selling vitamins and I hope to read the entire issue...when I get a minute of free time. The researchers worked with the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database which evaluate the safety and effectiveness of nutritional supplements, to identify the dangerous ingredients. All supplements listed have been linked by clinical research or case reports to serious side effects such as heart problems, kidney damage and even death. And there's insufficient evidence to determine whether they're effective for most of their purported uses. Here's the list: Aconite - used for inflammation, joint pain, wounds and gout. Dangers include toxicity, nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, respiratory-system paralysis, heart-rhythm disorders, death. Bitter orange - used for weight loss, nasal congestion, allergies. Dangers include fainting, heart-rhy...