Monday, February 27, 2012

Nutrition Overhaul Week 1: Pictures of food

Week 1
Yep, 2-3 weeks later, I'm definitely writing this a little late. Did you miss the first post? I described why Ben and I jumped into this diet idea and finally found some explanation for my skewed perceptions of eating and food.

Here's what the first week was like.

Reading/Food for Thought




I read a great post from another blogger called "Run. Eat. Don't Repeat." about eating - and running - and eating - and running. It was really eye-opening! The blogger outlines a few simple rules, including:

  • Stop using exercise as punishment. In other words, exercise for your personal enjoyment, not because you need to earn your calories.
  • Eating is neither good nor bad. You're not a bad person for eating a piece of cake, but you're not a good person because you ate a salad. It's neither.
I read a quote on a nutritionist's blog recently: You're not a dog. Stop rewarding yourself with food. Find something else you enjoy to use as a reward. It relates to what I just described above, but it was an interesting - and blunt - way to explain it. Easier said than done, writer!

Ben
How did Ben eat before?
Previously, breakfast would consist of a few bowls of cereal (like Cinnamon Chex or Wheaties Fuel). Lunch would be a euro sandwich, a the hangover burger from the Bakehouse, leftover chili, or nothing at all. Dinner was usually something that I would make, like tomato spinach soup & tortellini, beef stew with brown rice, or chili and whole wheat pasta. Eating out on weekends, Ben would order two entrees to make sure he left the place feeling full, or we'd pre-game with an appetizer. Dessert might be a huge bowl of ice cream (about 1/3 to half of the half-gallon container in one sitting) or a row of oreos.

Ben's now been averaging a calorie deficit of at least 1,500 per day and eating salads. Lots of salads. The new mantra is quality over quantity, which obviously wasn't the case before. Here's the breakdown, totaling about 1,500 calories per day:
  • Breakfast is usually an 2 egg-white turkey omelette and piece of toast (200 cal), with a Slim-Rite meal replacement shake mix made with milk (200 cal).
  • As a snack - an apple (75 cal). For lunch, he makes a greek yogurt parfait with Bakehouse granola and some frozen berries (450 cal). 
  • The second snack would be a fruit juice mix + chia seeds (100 cal). 
  • Dinner is - you guessed it - a salad. Spinach, carrots, red bell pepper, cottage cheese, and some kind of protein (turkey, fish, etc.) at 350-400 calories. Hold the dressing.
  • If he felt that dessert was necessary, he's make another Slim-Rite chocolate shake with milk (200 cal).
On the new diet, after every meal, he tracks every calorie in a spreadsheet to make sure he's negative on the day. He spent the earlier part of the week studying every single label (which made for a long trip to Kroger) and used measuring cups to make sure that no calorie slipped by him without his knowledge. He made conscious decisions to swap out certain types of foods for other close, healthier substitutes (egg whites instead of eggs, lean meat vs. lunchmeat) Because he was now eating better quality food, he never felt hungry. We confirmed this with Rachel Noirot, our dietician friend, who says that the high amounts of protein in Ben's new diet are probably doing the trick.

As you saw, Ben's total daily calorie intake sat around 1,500 calories. Just by the pure act of living and breathing (metabolism), he burns ~2,500 per day... the equivalent of two pounds lost in one week. Combine this with running, which burns ~100 calories/mile, 35 miles per week = 3,500 calories = one more pound lost.

Ben did get sick a little over a week into the new diet, though I'm not certain if the two were related; surely it takes your immune system some extra energy to fight off a cold!

Runs still feel great. Ben broke 5 minutes in a mile time trial, and true to the spreadsheet predictor, he gained 2 seconds per pound per mile of weight lost. Having lost 4-5 pounds, he was 10 seconds faster than he expected, so good results from this experiment.

By the end of the week, Ben lost around 4 pounds, down from 149-151 to 145-147 pounds!
The routine is still new, but week 1 brought great success!

Steph
I cut down my portion sizes and took pictures of everything I ate, like you see below. Here's a sampling of what I ate during the week. (Um, yeah, blueberries were on sale.). 



  






History of dieting: I was on South Beach once before as moral support for someone else who was trying it, but I lasted 3 days. Cauliflower mashed potatoes (fake mashed potatoes made with cauliflower as a substitute for potatoes) were nasty. This was during a time when I was running between 8-17 miles/day on the treadmill, and when I went on this diet, I couldn't even make it a half mile without having severe fatigue issues. How I feel on my runs are a good test of staying power and sustainability of a new diet, for sure.

This time around, I cut out all cheese except cottage cheese (still rarely), started putting Greek yogurt in almost everything, ate a ton of chicken, and attempted to replace desserts with fruit. Even though you see things like rice, cereal, and oatmeal in the photos above, I didn't actually have a ton of these types of carbs. For salads, I found this amazing lime dressing from Newman's (which I dilute with vinegar) that actually makes me want to eat more salad after I'm done! 

Many of these foods are things that are regularly on the grocery list and foods I would typically choose to eat anyway - maybe prepared differently, but they're certainly not foreign. I definitely eat similarly to this already when I'm not restricting. Just less and with more grains.

A couple changes from my normal eating routine:
- salads for dinner (previously a stir-fry, whole-wheat pasta w/ marinara, soup)
- no bread, no cheese
- much smaller portions: 1 serving according to the box/can/etc. (previously something like 2-3 servings)
- less refined sugar (previously dessert would consist of 2-3 cups of ice cream or 6 oreos + milk. Using honey  as a sweetener.)
- drank water instead of eating when I was hungry (previously ate when I was hungry)
- limited or no snacking (previously snacked multiple times daily, post-lunch and post-dinner)

Outcome?
This diet made me mad/frustrated/stressed out.
I felt noticeably worse while running. I felt tired and like I was out of energy.

I didn't lose any weight. Actually, I gained weight. When I weighed in at 113.4 on the first day of the diet (same time - every morning), that was my lowest recorded weight of the week; I fluctuated between 113.8 and 116-something pounds each day that week but never hit that first-day 113.4.

I felt like I wanted to eat most of the time. I felt like I was counting down the minutes until I could get my next food fix. Feeling hungry - yet, my calorie deficit was 1,000+ calories less than Ben was taking in. In other words, he was 1,500 calories negative and not-hungry, while I was eating more calories while being 300-500 calories negative and was hungry!!

For something that was causing so much anxiety and stress, I saw zero results in my running and on the scale, so yes (being the non-patient person that I can be) - I was frustrated! I wasn't looking to suddenly break a 4-minute mile or lose 25 pounds in a week, but any kind of positive sign (seriously - a tenth of a pound! or one strong run day!) would have helped me be more positive about continuing this change.

End of week 1: not so much success. 

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Heavy Stuff

It started a few weeks ago. Ben found a near-scientific calculator that shows you your best possible mile, 5k, half marathon, marathon, etc. race time based on outdoor temperature, body weight, and your current PR in any distance.

Are you familiar with the McMillan pace calculator? You give this calculator your best time, and it tells you with eerie accuracy how you could be performing at other distances given this level of fitness. Since I can't remember what best times I've run for any of these other distances, let's take my Bayshore Marathon as an example...

It also shows you the paces to be keeping for different types of workouts to get the maximum benefit. Me? I don't really get that interested in training geekery, times, or paces -  to a fault. Ben? He lives for these things. (yay numbers!)

ANYWAY...
Ben stumbled across a calculator that incorporates Jack Daniels Training Tables (similar to McMillan) and other elements that I mentioned - namely, body weight. Check this out. The numbers are more blah blah blah, but I definitely appreciate the Excel dorkery that went into this spreadsheet! It was created by not by a hotshot coach, but some guy who was just interested obsessed with running and numbers (sound familiar?), acknowledging that training's not the only variable in achieving running performance.


Anyway, the important part Ben took out of this spreasheety goodness was this:
For Ben...

For Steph...

...I could be running a 3:06:15 marathon if all of my training remained the same and I lost 7 pounds!
...Ben could be running a 16:28 5k if he lost 9 pounds!

What a huge revelation-- and we are all about working smarter, not harder!

Losing weight is so much easier on paper.
We're already a few weeks into this different way of eating, but I'm writing the next part of this blog post with our original perspectives from weeks ago.

By reading this, I hope you don't take this experiment as being for the primary sake of self-image, but instead for running! What if we could be better/more efficient/faster without changing anything else but food and still be healthy?

Ben's take
Ben...
  • is at his heaviest weight ever and doesn't want age or slowing metabolism to catch up with him.
  • has ignored nutrition, but eats mostly healthy foods. Mostly.
  • loves numbers and enjoys tracking food, just like tracking training, finances, and other things.
  • has to get a better understanding of portion control and how many calories are in [namethisfood]. It's just a matter of studying labels and learning what's good and what's not to get a handle on dieting and nutrition. Right now, when it comes to food, quantity rules. It's the only way to feel full.
  • wants to know if he'll be as fast as he used to be when he weighed less.
  • wants to lose lose the fat-face. (below. It only happens when he fake-smiles for a picture... we're our own worst critics!)


My take
This is kind of hard to put down in writing. Here's me giving it a go.
  • I think it'd be awesome to run faster without changing my training.
  • I wouldn't miss the belly "chub" that I picked up from bad eating/drinking habits in college and never quite lost or changed. I used to weigh 105 in high school, as much as 120-125 in college (photo evidence - looking back at photos, I did not have room to hide these few pounds), and somehow creeped up as high as 115 in recent times.
  • My body mass index, BMI, is 20.7 - that puts me in the "healthy" range.
  • I have a skewed perception of food (I hate when people say "unhealthy relationship with food" - like, are we dating?!), going on probably 10 years now. I eat when I'm bored. I eat when I accomplish something (Just finished watching a tv show? Finished writing this report at work? Time to eat.). I sneak food often. When I watch tv, I have to will myself to keep my butt in the seat while I count down the minutes until I can run into the kitchen to eat something new. Just finished a run? Now I can eat more!
  • I feel like I lack willpower when it comes to food. Some days, it's really hard to stop once I get started (constant need to snack, even if I'm full). Plus, I'm like a dog: if I see food, I get hungry/I want to eat.
  • I am a mini-binger. That means eating tons and tons and tons, even when I'm not hungry. I doubt that it's a full-on eating disorder binge, but certainly a less-extreme version of it. Always followed by feeling really bad about it and/or promising myself I'll make up for it later (on the run). When we met, Ben was really impressed that I could keep up with him, eating as much as he ate. Knowing now that he can polish off a row of Oreos in a sitting, that should've been a sign.
  • I feel like manically counting calories is extremely stressful (type A personality failure - shouldn't I enjoy tracking every single calorie if I'm so type A?), so am hesitant to add that additional anxiety in my everyday life. Carefully regulating and controlling calories like this seems like a form of deprivation, causing more stress. I enjoy food. Does this mean I have to give up everything I love and enjoy?? Does this mean no more eating out with friends and family??
Taking all these things into account, I don't have one, but might already be predisposed to an eating disorder.  It seems best defined in this article that I shared on Facebook this week. It's called disordered eating; the article describes true details of my own thoughts and habits that I had never consciously realized before. More about it and me...

What is disordered eating? 

Well, an eating disorder is (technically a disease) in which a person is controlling their food intake in ways to deal with underlying emotional issues, like depression, anxiety, stress, etc.

Disordered eating, on the other hand, is described as "less-severe abnormal behaviors: eliminating food groups from your diet; regularly replacing meals with energy bars or coffee drinks; excessive weighing and calorie-counting; and tacking on extra miles as punishment for, say a cheeseburger the night before. Often, the regimen includes compulsive exercising like hitting the bike after an 18-miler."

I even fit into the demographic. Disordered eating is much more common in female runners vs. male runners. The article even references a study that estimates that as much as 75% of women between ages 25 and 45 could practice disordered eating. Even further, it's relatively common in female college athletes, saying that the more competitive a person is (either with themselves or with others), the more prone he/she is to disordered eating. Part of this relates to body image too: "...In surveys of collegiate athletes, some 55 percent of women tell researchers they experience pressure (both external and self-imposed) to achieve a certain weight, and 43 percent say they're "terrified" of becoming too heavy.... Men who compete in sports where body shape and size are important also are at higher risk for disordered eating." The later part of the article describes a Boston University runner (a sub-4-minute miler!) who practiced disordered eating with great weight-loss success, which later led him to anorexia. As you can see, disordered eating seems to be the gateway drug to a much more dangerous practice. I highly recommend you read the article, "Running on Empty," in its entirety.

Interesting, yes? I don't know how many times I told myself I'd run an extra few miles to work off something I ate. Or felt bad about what I just ate and kicked myself for not having the willpower to stop when I knew I should've stopped. I'm guessing that another sign of disordered eating is a fixation on diet, nutrition, and food in general (or is it just me?). I've gotten to know so many people over the years who seemed to be obsessed with talking about what they ate that day, or how little they ate that day. Yeah, definitely me (except for the eating little part). I scrutinize labels, hunt for recipes, and study every article I read about nutrition. At the end of the day, for me, it's not a matter of knowledge or understanding of my own diet and nutrition; I know what I need to do, but just don't. I can't.

What Next
Ultimately, reading the article on disordered eating made me really excited, because it was finally explaining what I didn't understand for - well, forever. So, I know I have some issues to work out, and just like the vicious running-until-I-get-injured cycle I seem to follow every season, I can't expect a different result if I keep doing the same thing over and over again.

In different ways, change is necessary and Ben, and it's going to take some trial and error to get there.

Next steps? I guess we're about to go head-first into this "diet thing" and see if it gets us back on track.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

Sometimes I find stuff that is so random but so exciting that I have to share it with you. Today is one of those days.

Last month, I went on a search crusade for a healthy-ish oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. It's hard to find a cookie that doesn't taste... healthy. After over 6 attempts (and 3 canisters of oatmeal later), we have a winner. We've already burned through 3 batches. You will not be disappointed!!


Slimmed-Down Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
(from Reader's Digest -Cooking Smart for a Healthy Heart)

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 4 tablespoons margarine
  • 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
  • 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips


Directions

Prep time: 35 minutes (with my shortcuts: 15 minutes)

1 Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Stir in oats.
*I didn't use parchment paper and sprayed non-stick cooking spray on a cookie sheet instead.

2 Cream margarine, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at high speed until well blended. Add egg and vanilla and beat until light yellow and creamy, about 3 minutes. Blend in sour cream with wooden spoon, then flour mixture all at once, just until combined (don’t overmix or the cookies may become tough). Stir in chocolate chips.
*Shortcut: After combining the dry ingredients (minute chocolate chips, I added SmartBalance butter. Once the butter was mixed in well enough, I added egg, vanilla, and finally sour cream. Seriously: Do not overmix!

3 Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake cookies until golden, about 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks and cool completely. Store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months.

Enjoy!
Have you tried it yet? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

January Bidness

Where has the month gone?! So many new things and changes this month... all for the better. We've gotten better at running have some new toys. Oh- and we even had a cat for a while there!

Here are the highlights:

1. We're still hanging onto our New Years resolutions. 
First off, we've never made NY resolutions... we're just not those people. This year, when January hit, we hit the ground running. At this point, we've run every day in January. We have even lifted weights/gone to The Y to strength train at least once each week.
Our running logs show it!
Ben:


Steph:

This is impressive because we've gone from running 3-4 days per week to a full 7. It's hard not to get overly-excited about running and go nuts with the mileage. We've been really lucky for this super-mild winter, but on the days that it's cold, we just have to tell ourselves to get out the door for 2 miles. 2 miles! That's all it takes.

We run the the Y, then lift or play racquetball, and then run back. In all, it's 2.5 miles to get there and 1.7 miles home.

We've also run a couple of times at Paynetown, and Tuesday nights is rack workout night. All in all, it's a pretty packed week! More importantly, running's still fun. It's something we want to do every day.

2. Racing
On the racing front, we're planning on signing up for the Land Between the Lakes Ultra - 50 mile or 60k (~37 miles). For a cost difference of $4 between the two distances, we'll both sign up for the 50 miler and ditch out where/if we feel like we need to. I'm just going for the finish! Who knows - maybe we're running a 10k that day, maybe it'll be 50 miles. Crossing that bridge - literally - when we get to it!

If I learned anything in 2011, it's that running was much more fun when I wasn't in training mode. That's not to say that I didn't train altogether... I just ran when I felt like it - even if that was only 3 days/week. When I ran in races (Boston Marathon & NYC Marathon), I didn't go to run a PR or with intentions of running fast; I went to enjoy the scenery and finish! We chose these two big marathons because they were in cities we wanted to visit (again). Both times, the marathon was a good excuse to go, but not the primary reason for the trip. Over the course of the year, I enjoyed running more than I had in the past when I was stressed and felt pressured to run a time or do better than the last time. Combining that with the intense amount of traffic and weaving in/around people in big races, my best advice for racing is this: go to have a good time.

Besides that, we may sign up for a marathon in Europe when we're over there for Jaz & Jose Carlos's Spanish wedding. And, I might sign up for the Last Chance for Boston race in Dublin, OH next month. Who knows. I just like to run.

3. New toys!
Ben's Garmin 910


My Garmin 610
The Garmin 405 I sold

The new 610!

And the Nathan Vitaband


4. NYC Marathon results
The NYC Marathon is the best big marathon I've ever done. I loved our trip to New York, visiting with family, eating a ridiculous amount of GOOD food, and tooling around the city. At the end of our trip we ran the marathon. Our finish time was about 30 minutes faster than we'd planned, feeling good and comfortable the whole way. Even crazier, we walked 6 miles back to our hotel after the race. I'll get that race report up sometime....

This month, we got our NYC Marathon stuff!
A Finisher certificate:


And the results book. 

 It contains name and time for every single finisher in the marathon.
That's 46,795 people!

But, I didn't get included in the book! Sad face.

Fixing it on my own.... :)

For running together and both of us showing in the online results, it's weird that I didn't get into the book. I'm legit!

5. My phone is still missing.
Friends, I'm not ignoring you. Yes, my phone is still missing. I haven't seen it since October 14th (Jaz & Jose Carlos's wedding rehearsal dinner) and I'm 50%  certain it's somewhere inside this house.
Meanwhile, I'm using a different phone, so I'm not exactly in a hurry to replace my lost phone.
If you need to reach me, email me and I'll set you up with my temporary number....
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