Meeting with a dietitian
I’ve always thought I was someone who ate well, but could always eat better. You know, eating salads often, fruits & veggies as much as I can, and lots of water. So what’s my problem? It’s typically that 3-7 shift of seeing patients in the afternoon, and going home really hungry then eating whatever I see in the house. Sure that’s somewhat of an exaggeration, but not much.
So earlier this month, I met with a Registered Dietitian to help guide me during my training for a Half Ironman I have planned in April. After a 1.2 mile swim, you bike 56 miles and then run 13.1 miles. While I have done this distance race four times, I have always struggled in the run, so I met with her to improve on my sports nutrition so I had the energy to get me through the run, and don’t hit the “wall”. What I got out of our meeting was not what I expected.
We never really touched on sports nutrition, at least not much. We talked more about what to eat before and after the bike rides & runs that I do. It really came down to eating better and more often throughout the day, and so I’m not as hungry going into my next workout, and so I’m not as hungry at night. She planned out specific meals and snacks for me to consume, generally every 2-3 hours throughout the day (and a lot more protein than I’ve been eating). I have found when I follow the program I am not starving when I get home, so I’m not spending the evening snacking on all sorts of food.
It’s really all about planning. Going to the store, having the food accessible and never really wondering when your next meal is or what it will be. If I can follow that plan, I do well. My goal is to also lose some weight and I’m noticing that as I get older, it is much harder to keep the extra weight off and to lose those unwanted pounds. I know many of you are laughing since I always appear thin, but currently I’m about 10-15 pounds away from my ideal weight (okay I’ll settle for 10). I fully plan and expect to lose those pounds before my race in April. I look forward to my next meeting with her when we can chat about the progress and get into more sports nutrition.
The person I met with is Ilana Katz (click her name for more info), and it was very much worth my money and my time. I have known her for ten years or so and it is nice to see how much she has developed over the years. She writes articles for magazines, has a radio show, is teaching at a University, has appeared on CNN and much more. If you are looking for someone to help you with your nutrition, whether it is sports related or not, I certainly recommend her. She’ll give you some recipe ideas, meal planning, suggestions and more.
So what are your nutrition challenges? We all have them in some form or another, we just have to face them and learn the right things. As for me, I’ll be sneaking back into my office sometime around 5pm for a quick snack in between adjusting patients (if possible, sometimes Kim keeps me really busy). I am determined to eat even better and race well next year. I look forward to a new & improved me in 2015. Will you join me?
