Nutrition, Nutrition, Nutrition

Before the holidays; exactly 3 days before Xmas, I took the next step towards my Ironman success and had a nutrition consultation with a local gal that I had met a few months ago. 

Coach had sent us some information regarding nutrition that pretty much hit home with me; and after thinking about if for a couple of days I came to the realization that I needed to pay more attention to my fueling schedule/nutrition needs.

So after talking with Diane (the nutritionist) about getting together; I made the appointment at her clinic and off I went. We met the Monday before Xmas. I arrived just on the nick of time to my 4:30 appointment and we talked for a long time. She asked me what my typical food choices for a day were and after I told her; she said to me something Coach had been telling me all along: You need to eat more.

Now, don't get me wrong. I trust Coach immensely. She KNOWS her stuff, she is awesome sharing  her knowledge. But food and I have had a rocky relationship all along; and being told that I need to eat more is no easy pill to swallow. 

I grew up on the chubby side. Not overweight, but festively plump :). The society I was raised on (Latin America) is very concerned about how people look. I will make a stupid example here; but it is one that will show you just how important being thin is in my home country. When you go out here; be it to bars or a club to go dancing; you will see overweight people, obese if you will being out there and having fun. Granted; it pretty much depends on how the person feels about his/herself; but they are out there. In my home country, you do not see them. Why? Because the people around them would just STARE them down and prevent them from having any fun. As if being overweight makes you less human. Horrible; I know, but that's I were I grew up. 

Being on the chubby side, I had a couple of family members who upon seeing me; the first comment they would make would be: "Wow, you have gained some lbs" or "You are looking nice, have you been dieting?". So I started getting concerned about they way I looked at a very young age. At the time my weight was a factor of my moods. Once I hit a very HARD depressing time where I did not want to eat and I lost almost 10 lbs in a month. Now, for someone my size, 10 lbs is a whole lot of weight; and I didn't necessarily have the need to lose it. Know what I mean?

Fast forward to after having my daughter. While I was pregnant with Megan, I made the terrible mistake of letting myself eat whatever I wanted; whenever I wanted. So, I gained 50 lbs; which left me really overweight for someone my height. I struggled with this for the better part of 3 years and then when I started training with coach; the weight just melted away. I am now even smaller than I was before I got pregnant.

Even thought I am at a healthy weight/size; there is always this little voice  in the back of my head that is constantly paranoid about eating too much and gaining all the weight back.  As I said before, Coach had told me about eating more a long time ago; I just never wanted to believe it. 

This year I turned the corner and realized that nutrition is key if I want to perform at the level I wish to perform at my races. I can't feed my body crap and expect it to perform at top shape. Along the same lines, I can't starve it and expect no bad consequences. So that is why I decided to consult a nutritionist. To learn more, to be informed and to have someone to turn to when I need reassurance that what I am doing is the right way to go. And being able to see that person face to face is key to me because I can express all my concerns much more easily than by email.

Armed with a new pool of knowledge I started my healthy eating journey; with the intention of making this lifestyle change for good. A couple of days ago, I started a food journal and could not believe what I saw the first 3 days. I am BARELY scratching the surface of the calories I need to ingest. Even after a week of conscious eating; where I thought I was definitely eating enough; I am not getting in enough calories.

To discover that I need to eat even more is not easy to come to terms with. After all, it goes against all that I have ever believed in. But I am determined to get this right. If I want to succeed, I need to re-learn how to eat. It will take time; the best thing I can do is to make small changes every week. Try new things, see what works and what doesn't. I guess it is a bit like practicing your race plan. You try and you try until you get it down pat. 

It is another one of those where you have to have a talk with yourself and decide to trust the plan. I talked and I listened. My head and my soul trust the plan. Now it's just time to put it into action. Food is my new friend. Nutrition is KEY.