The Fourth Discipline

After years of "battling the bulge" and numerous weight loss attempts and fad diets,  I've finally decided to go the science route to becoming a healthier me. I was successful with Weight Watchers and lost almost 50 lbs but a lot of it was muscle. I had good results on the 21 Day Fix but I fell off that wagon last year.  I've tried many different products to help with  weightloss as well, but nothing has really worked long term. I do drink my Shakeology every morning for breakfast because it's easy and I get a lot of nutrition in, but I still have cravings for junk. I am currently researching protein options since I know I need to increase my protein intake. With so many products out there it's very difficult not to get sucked into multi-level marketing groups with promises of a healthier you. I'm not putting any group down and I think some of the direct sales companies have fabulous products. You can't just rely on a magic pill, cream, or drink to reach your fitness goals. It will take hard work, discipline, sweat, tears, time, and perhaps some swearing BUT YOU WILL GET THERE! It starts with the determination to change. I have lots of determination, just ask my Momma, husband, or my coach, but I have to work on my positivity and outlook. Nobody ever said this was going to be easy. 

Over the last year I've learned how to train smarter and trying to stay injury free. I've recently had several PR's (personal records) in my running, but I've also discovered another weakness...NUTRITION! I've had a lot of stomach issues and just feeling so fatigued and dragging along. When I'm having a difficult time during my training I joke about the struggle bus coming to pick me up. It's a state of mind where you're just ready to ditch your workout and be done. That struggle bus has been coming around a lot lately, but I just wave it by and keep going even if i'm at a snails pace...just keep moving forward!!!  I'm so sick of feeling blah, weak, and having a very negative body image. I look at my race photos and almost want to cry. I don't see a strong woman that just ran 10 miles and literally gutted out the last 3 miles for a PR... I see something else. I've also noticed now that my right knee and hip is starting to bother me since I've gained some weight. Finally, I REALLY want a Betty Designs tri kit to wear for my races but I can't fit into them yet (Hey! Whatever motivates you to make a positive change). I know things must change if I am going to continue to be an athlete and train for endurance distances. I'm making lots of progress, but my weight and nutrition is holding me back from my full potential.

 Nutrition is the fourth discipline of triathlon, but honestly it should be the first priority whether your an athlete (of any kind) or not.  Your body needs the proper fuel to burn and the grade of fuel you use makes a huge impact on your daily performance. After a referral from a friend I met with a local sports nutritionist back in February (Anna Grout, MS, RD, CSSD, LD) and got some great advice. The best advice was to drink lowfat chocolate milk and eat more! Anna is helping me fine tune my nutritional needs for weightloss and performance. Anna was very helpful with giving me a starting point for better nutrition and what I need to consume when running or biking. However, without scientific testing you can only guess what your caloric needs are based on the averages of thousands of people. This is where the metabolic testing comes into play. It is a scientific test that measures YOUR EXACT caloric needs along with lots of other cool data. These tests will give me my exact needs so I will know how much fuel I need and at what ratios. I am a tech/data geek and my type A personality wants to know everything so I', really looking forward to this test. 

If you would like more information about Anna you can click here for her website. I will post a 2 part blog about the metabolic testing and my results soon so check back!