Last night on the phone with my mother I shared with her how in shape I feel. And although I have been in much better shape at previous points in my life, this is the first winter since I started taking running seriously that I feel like I'm not letting myself go as the days slip by. Just waiting for the first night after work where there is enough daylight for a super fast four mile run. At a time when many people are trying to erase the damage done over the holidays, I feel like I am at a constant and only growing stronger.
In part I owe it to my love of a good routine. I eat the same things every day around the same time. I plan my workouts for the same days every week. I have a practically ritualistic schedule before a long run in order for it to be successful. To some people I may be crazy, or OCD, but hey if what I do works what's the harm?
A typical diet in the day of me =
- 7:30am - Starbucks venti travel tumbler filled with either water, juice, or 1/2 water 1/2 juice on my way to work (BO-RING commute!)
- 8:30 am - some type of bread product (bagel, toast, waffles, English muffin, ect.) toasted with one of the following (peanut butter, cream cheese, egg and cheese, omelet, or margerine) One cup of coffee with one tablespoon sugar (yes I measure it) and water
- 10am - NEED some sort of mid morning snack. Usually a Banana and a fat free yogurt. Sometimes I go through an almond phase but right now I am in a 'definatly don't want almond' phase.
- 11:30 (gym day) /12:30 (non gym day) - LUNCH!! Yay! Best time of day b/c my whole lunch box comes up to my desk and I pretty much eat for the rest of the day. What is in my lunch box you ask? Well I will tell you. My main lunch can be anything from last night's dinner leftovers, to a tuna sandwich, o maybe all the ingredients for a tossed salad. But mostly it's leftovers from dinner because it is super easy to make extra dinner and it means I will have a well balanced and filling lunch. Then I usually have some kind of fruit, apples usually, something with carbs like crackers or a granola bar, and then maybe a dessert like two fun sized candy bars or a few cookies. Sometimes I throw in extra fruit like grapes, and an extra veggie like a bag or baby carrots.
- 3pm - (gym day) stop eating. I know it's strange, and try explaining it to everyone in the office when you get together for the 3pm birthday cake, or the 3pm baby shower etc. But I do it because back when I was doing crazy training workouts with Larry I would run super hard and all that super hard running works your core to such an intensity I would feel nauseous sometimes. The emptier my stomach, the easier it was to run the fast intervals, the hills, and the long distances. I guess it just stuck with me. no eating after 3pm on a gym day. Just water.
- 5pm - GYM! Sometimes I will wait until 5:30 or 6 usually because I have work to finish up, but it I wait anylonger I start to get hungry and loose my engery and motivation.
Just another way my routine keeps me in check. the minute I start to deviate from it, I loose motivation. It's almost as if my routine is my autopilot, no thinking required. No thinking, no problem. That is why I love intervals so much, repetitive motions, make things seem easier because after you do it a few times your body gets used to it. When I start to stray from routine my body snaps out of autopilot and into shock. What? what are you doing to me? going to the gym at 7pm - NOPE! no way jose! I want to go home and drink a glass of wine and sit on the couch!
Apparently I don't have the strength to run my body on manual.
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