Ok Let's Switch Gears...and eat all the food

So let's switch gears a bit shall we? Let's talk something kind of like I'm going to start training for an Ironman in like...um...now'ish...shall we?

So even though I'm still on workout restriction (Post op Nov 12! hopefully cleared after that!) - Ironman is not far from my mind. The weather has been gorgeous and I am DYING to hit the road on my bike or get in a gorgeous morning run!

However - before I do that I really needed to start to get my diet in.check. I have always struggled with major weight gain whenever I train for any endurance event with my greatest gain being topping out 22 lbs heavier than my norm at the Austin half ironman 70.3. This is not normal ya'll - I was doing 20+hrs/week of cardio easily and massively gaining weight despite eating pretty well and definitely less than I was burning (I did have the not so occasional taco though if we are being truthful here).

Now enter a sports dietician and my new friend the neuroendocrinologist (#spellingchampforthewin).I am working with a great dietician named Catherine Kruppa - her practice is Advice for Eating here in Houston and I have been nothing but impressed by her. I am also now seeing a neuroendocrinologist who is helping figure out why my body does not metabolize what I am eating well even when eating super healthy and why it response to exercise as a stress response and just hangs on to everything.

Not really but you get the picture. 

I already eat pretty darn clean and low cal so it's not a total change from where I was but there were still some pretty major changes to take on with their recommendations. So long story short I'm taking a lot of vitamins, taking 1-2 meds a day to help with some digestion stuff and basically going paleo'ish except I'm allowed to eat some not-aged cheese's and need to eat super low glycemic index and am supposed to be cutting sugar.

Which means I haven't had a dessert or candy or anything sugar in 5 DAYS PEOPLE! If you know me you know this is a MAJOR deal.

"They" say it get's easier...we shall see about that Thanksgiving table

This is sort of a maintenance diet thing and I'll be working more with Catherine as I train to make sure I have a good balance of nutrients to properly fuel this kind of training while keeping my weight down and hopefully leaning out. Doing an event like this is NOT to lose weight but I do need to be conscious of it - wanting to be in my very best shape I can be to be successful as this is likely the only time I will attempt something this incredibly insane  of this magnitude. So we shall see. Meeting with Dr. C at MDACC next Wed so I'm hopefully getting cleared to work out after that so I'll keep you updated!

It's time to start hitting the road people! Surgery is over and training season as officially opened! Let's go!