Playing The Food Game: Training Journal – Day 37

When I try do too many things at once, I have a bad habit of feeling like delegating something that I've failed. Of course with more things to do than hours in a day to do them, something is going to slide. For me that usually starts with less sleep and slipping up on my nutrition. These have both become growing problems through this training cycle and it's time for this hypocrite to get her food game on!

Letting The Good Habits Slide

It is so easy. Even with a good routine, all it takes is a few chaotic days  and everything you are so good at doing can just fly out the window in an instant.

I'm a pretty clean eater. I like my wine, a beer and some Tootsie Pops on the weekend, but we really don't keep junk foods in the house. Yet somehow this puts me at an even higher risk of falling out of the good practice of taking good care of my nutrition. Sometimes it's a food game I just don't have the energy to play.

It's Harder When You Don't Have Many Bad Habits

If you think this sounds weird, for me, it's not. It is a big challenge and I have to constantly keep myself in check. Somewhere in the back of my mind I just automatically excuse myself when I hear people talk about getting good nutrition.  I am a lazy cook. And not a very good one at that. I use the smoke alarm as a food timer.

There is a reason most of my food is raw. It's hard to burn it when you don't have to cook it.

While my diet is pretty good most of the time, when things get busy or I'm distracted, I take short-cuts. And that usually entails cutting down on food prep time and grabbing something easy like a piece of fruit and some yogurt. Healthy?  Oh, yes.  But does it meet the demands of my training lifestyle? Not if that is a meal.

And guess what was only part done this week …. yep. Food prep. I started it on Sunday and didn't get very far. Last week I don't think I even got to preparing anything so most of my meals were a home-made grab and go.

Failure to Plan Will Become Your Emergency

I cannot tell you how much it helps to invest an hour in some basic preparation for the days ahead. Even when you are pressed for time, if you have at least something, even just the base for a meal portioned out and ready to grab, it makes the idea of getting a meal ready feel like so much less

So last week I didn't do it and this week I put in a minimal effort and by today, there is nothing of substance unless I prepare it. I didn't have a spare hour on Sunday. It only takes a little while to chop everything up once or make a pot of soup and portion it for the fridge or freezer.

Make The Time. Do It Now.

Reflecting back over the last couple of weeks I knew that I had been training a lot, had a busy schedule aside from running and not getting all the nutrients I need. I'm sure that didn't help when I caught a cold last week.

A quick, unplanned stop at a local produce market and I had everything in a basket. Plus some bags.  And I bought the basket. It was the one we used at the store to carry all our fresh food to the register. I like baskets. They make produce look even better.

I love coming home with lots of fresh produce. All of a sudden I wanted to ignore everything and get it all portioned and sorted out.  And those little peppers are so delicious. I love peppers.

The Family Food Game

Mealtimes in this house can be loose and chaotic if we don't plan. My husband eats what he calls ‘real food.' He says his food eats my food. It's the meat and potatoes approach. He's made some changes that surprised and impressed me recently, but we really don't share a remotely similar diet.

Daughter eats white meat and very selectively, some lean red meat.  She eats some vegetables, but none of the few that my husband will eat. We can't even agree on potatoes.  So dinner time usually involves separate meals. I don't mind doing it, but if I don't have my act together, I'm so busy juggling everyone's food to make sure it's hot and not too burned that when it's served, I haven't even thought about mine.

This is where I rely heavily on planning.

We always (except when I don't prepare properly) have lots of containers in the fridge with lids on so I chop, slice, dice or just wash and portion everything separately, plus a few salad containers for lunch. That way when it comes to mealtime or time for a snack, everything is ready or almost ready and making dinner or choosing something with lots of nutrients doesn't feel like a chore. I like fresh food.

So With All The Food, Where is The Run?

Yes, I did run this morning.  This morning feels like it was days ago, but I had a really great run.

There was nothing eventful about it, but it felt good and my legs felt fresh. It seemed like a great day for putting in a bit more effort into my run. I capped it somewhere between 9 and 10 miles and felt fantastic afterwards.  Now I need to work on restoring my depleted nutrients.

I hope you like my photo. A silly bee stung me under my arm after I took this photo and oh boy, did it hurt!  I forgot how evil those little stingers can be.  I was not smiling quite as much afterwards!

Next week I am also going to review my fuel sources as I start experimenting with different energy and electrolytes on my runs before they get too long.  Stay tuned for updates on that. Sometimes my running fuel stories get quite interesting. I'm hoping they will be peaceful and boring. If not, I'll be looking for suggestions.