Weight Management For Triathletes

Staying Ironman Lean and Healthier Too

2012-01-22T08:28:00.000-08:00

Fresh off Ironman #2, I faced the post-IM blues and the inevitable clash between an Ironman appetite and a sudden and dramatic reduction in activity. Having this occur during the holiday season intensified the struggle (be forewarned if you are doing Ironman Arizona). But having been lean (12-14%BF) for 7 years now, I wasn't worried that anything drastic would happen. I figured I would put on a few, then lose it again soon, but that wasn't good enough. I wanted to do it better this time by avoiding ANY weight gain.

I enjoyed being at my IM weight which was 4-5 pounds under my normal walking around weight. I wanted my IM weight to be my new normal weight. How would I do it without training 20 hours per week?

I am also getting older. At 51, I am really pleased with my fitness and how I look, but the older you get, the more you focus on ways to extend your life. I don't want to kick-off anytime soon from a preventable disease. I know that eating well has a tremendous impact on your health, so I was ready to make some changes.

The Game was on.

I took a lesson from our bunny rabbit,"One". He got his name because only one of his ears stands up. He lives outdoors in a large enclosure just outside my office window. He has me perfectly trained. All he has to do is scamper about in front of the window when I am in my office, and food soon appears.

I recently delegated the task of his feeding, to my daughter. Since she is 13 years old and she knows everything, she decided he could do with more food so she started giving him more pellets. I witnessed a dramatic transformation.

First, there was some extra around his hind section. It looked like a bunny version of a muffin top. I couldn't see his tail anymore. Could that be fat or was he just sitting funny? A few days later his feet had disappeared and he wasn't moving around much. My god! our bunny had become the Goodyear Blimp. He was nearly spherical. He looked delightful to snuggle with, but he was NOT healthy.Something had to be done So I changed his diet. I stopped giving him pellets. Bunny pellets are highly processed simple carbs with little nutritional value and lots of calories. If bunnies in the wild could live without them, so could One. He got fresh vegetables and hay but no more pellets. Soon he was his old self again. I could see his feet and his little puffy tail. Pellets were calorie bombs he could do without.

By coincidence, I had been listening to a CD version (instead of music on the ipod during my training) of Dr. Joel Furhman's 2 book series "Eat for Health". Fuhrman appeared briefly in an excellent movie "Fat, Sick and Barely Alive" which I discovered when I was researching juicers. Stay with me here-I wanted to find a way to get some green vegetables into my autistic daughter who refuses most anything with taste and texture and I decided making homemade juice with vegetables was the ticket. And by the way, buying the right juicer for the job is more complicated than you might think---almost as daunting as picking your next heart rate monitor/bike computer/GPS/watch/stroke counter, but I digress.

What attracted me to Furhman's book was the focus on training your brain to enjoy healthier foods. I don't think that knowing what to eat is a mystery to anyone, but figuring out how to enjoy it-really look forward to it is a real challenge.

I my book, "Weight Management for Triathletes", I encourage athletes to keep it simple and focus on calories more than anything else as they are losing weight. Why? because weight loss is very demanding mentally and emotionally. I believe it best to focus on one thing at a time (reducing calories) to avoid drowning in so many rules that you starve to death because you don't know what to eat so you reach for the most convenient sustenance-Twinkies. Failure like this is harmful to your psyche and it makes it more and more difficult to lose weight in the long term.

Once your new weight is stable and you feel motivated to do more, work on improving the nutritional value of your diet. Eating more fruits and vegetables makes sense because they are high volume, low calorie foods and you can eat plenty of them. This is important because the act of eating is important emotionally.

I am convinced that for ultimate health, your diet should shift away from processed foods and, in my opinion, away from animal products as the main attraction of a meal.

This takes some work, because you can't subsist on carrot and celery sticks. You have to learn to make real meals and tasty dishes from healthy ingredients day after day after day.

I started a little at a time, juicing twice a week. At first it was a big effort finding recipes, cleaning and cutting up piles of fruit and veges. But with experience I learned what tasted good. I tossed the recipes and now I use whatever I have in the fridge.

I have made juicing an enjoyable little ritual with the family. I have a special spot to store the machine and the whole process is very streamlined now. So now I am juicing 4 or more times a week.

Next,I shifted breakfast away from Balance Bars. "Protein Shakes" or Cereal to mostly fruit and nuts which are amazing when heated in the microwave.

Then I started eating a huge salad every day at 4PM when I am the hungriest (hubby gets one too).

I replaced the "date night feast" of bread, cheese and wine with fruit and vege-based dips (kept the wine of course).

On and on it goes. I made small changes over time and it worked.Sticking with the small changes allowed them to take hold without much inconvenience. Now I truly enjoy eating the good stuff and I actually prefer it. When I return from a long run I can't wait to make a vege-based juice drink. I look forward to my big salad every day. I have reorganized the fridge to make space for all of the produce.

Don't get me wrong, I still drink Coffee and I have chocolate most days. I eat meat here and there and I am not a fanatic in any way. I still enjoy a slice of good bread most days but one slice is a far cry from having white flour as the number one source of calories per day.

Although I felt good before, I am astonished with the results. I feel a difference that goes beyond losing a few pounds. Yes, my walking around weight is now my Ironman weight and I am training modestly but this change has been bigger than that. I feel a sense of awe that it was so easy to do.

The family is benefiting too...my kids now ask me to make vege juice for them. They like it. It has become a habit.

It is amazing what persistence will do to our notions of "normal". This applies both with eating and with training-remember when a 20 mile bike ride seemed far?

So if you feel like One did after the holidays, take a look at Furhman's books and give his approach a try. Soon you will be able to see your own feet again.

Foods that Make you Fat

2012-01-02T07:58:00.000-08:00

This article comes from Dr. Gabe Mirkin's excellent site which I highly recommend (www.drmirkin.com)...."Study Identifies Foods That Make You Fat" and it applies even to triathletes.

Researchers followed 120,877 U.S. women and men, free of chronic diseases and not obese at baseline, from 1986-2006. The relationships between changes in lifestyle factors and weight change were evaluated at four-year intervals (N Engl J Med, June 23, 2011;364:2392-2404). In each four-year period, participants gained an average of 3.35 lb. Weight gain was most strongly associated with the following foods:

FOODS THAT MAKE YOU FAT:
� French fries (3.35 lb)
� potato chips (1.69 lb)
� boiled, baked, or mashed potatoes (0.57 lb)
� all non-water drinks except milk (includes artificial sweetened drinks):
� sugar-sweetened beverages (1.00 lb)
� fruit juices (about 1 lb)
� unprocessed red meats (0.95 lb)
� processed meats (0.93 lb)
� sweets and desserts (0.41 lb per serving per day)
� flour (0.39 lb per serving per day)

HABITS THAT MAKE YOU FAT
� drinking alcohol (0.41 lb for each drink per day)
� quitting smoking (new quitters, 5.17 lb; former smokers, 0.14 lb)
� too much or too little sleep (<6 or >8 hours of sleep)
� television watching (0.31 lb per hour per day)

FOODS THAT KEEP YOU SLIM
� vegetables (-0.22 lb)
� whole grains (-0.37 lb)
� fruits (-0.49 lb)
� nuts (-0.57 lb)
� yogurt (-0.82 lb - May change bacteria in intestines that help absorb foods)

HABITS THAT KEEP YOU SLIM
� Exercise (-1.76 lb)

Nuts and one and a half pounds a day......

2011-02-03T06:58:00.000-08:00

No, it's not a new weight loss gimmick. One and one half pounds is the amount of fruits and vegetables you should eat each day - approximately 8 servings give or take.

I am a fan of Dr. Gabe Mirkin, having read his Sportsmedicine book over and over in my youth. Mirkin now has a website and weekly Ezine that is good as gold, full of useful health information reduced to simple language in a straightforward, no frills format. Not only is the information terrific, but Mirkin will respond quickly to questions if you email him.

Last week Mirkin reported on the dramatic cholesterol lowering effects of a fruit, vegetable and nuts only diet. In one study, such a diet for only 2 weeks lowered cholesterol by a whopping 33%, much more than a traditional healthy diet which included whole grains, lean meats and lowfat diary products.

The key, says Mirkin, is not only the nature of the food, but the calorie reduction that goes along with it. It is difficult, say's Mirkin, to meet daily calorie requirements eating only fruits, vegetables and nuts. What? Did I read that right?

Nuts are yummy, fatty and full of protein but they are definitely HCD foods (high calorie density) so I limit them. But I believe in Mirkin so I gave it a try in a modifed way. I restricted myself for FVN's (fruit, vegetable, nuts) during the day and had a few whole grains only in the evening. I cooked the veges and used low cal salad dressing as a topping and added nuts to the vege dishes. I ate fruits and hand-fulls of nuts throughout the day (I am a grazer).

I did not weigh, measure or count calories since I am at a point in my life where I can sustain my weight loss without doing so. This was in no way a precise experiment but in doing this for a few days, I lost about a pound in 3 days, suprisingly had a limited desire for nuts and felt full and satisfied.

The magic here is adding the nuts to the FV's. I find that F and V's don't sit so well in my stomach. They have never given me the feeling of satisfaction that I get with starches and meats. Adding nuts changes this, probably because of the fat in the nuts.

Bottom Line: Even done moderately, this approach offers a healthy and effective weight management strategy.

Even A Little Fat Is Unhealthy

2010-12-23T07:41:00.000-08:00

From Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
December 26, 2010
Happy Holidays!

BEING SLIGHTLY OVERWEIGHT SHORTENS LIFE
A review of 19 studies covering 1.5 million people shows
that being even a little bit overweight shortens your life and the
heavier you are, the more likely you are to die of cancer and heart
attacks (New England Journal of Medicine, December 2, 2010).
Two-thirds of North American adults are overweight or obese.
Doctors measure overweight with a Body-Mass Index (BMI)
number: your weight in kilograms divided by the square of your
height in meters. A normal BMI is 22.5 to 25. Having a BMI of 27.5
increases your chances of dying from a heart attack by 50 percent,
and a BMI over 40 increases risk by more than 400 percent. Similar
increases in BMI apply to death from cancers.

NO SUCH THING AS HEALTHY OVERWEIGHT MEN
"There appears to be no such thing as metabolically healthy
obesity," said Dr. Johan Arnlov, author of a 30-year follow up
report of 1800 Swedish men showing that overweight middle-aged
men are at increased risk for death and heart attacks, even if they
do not have metabolic syndrome or diabetes (Circulation, January
19, 2010). Arnlov and his colleagues checked all the men for
metabolic syndrome: high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high
blood triglycerides (fats), low HDL ("good") cholesterol and a
broad waist size (40 inches for men, 35 for women). Metabolic
syndrome is the presence of three or more of these risk factors.
Follow-up for 30 years showed that the risk of a heart attack was
52 percent higher in overweight men without metabolic syndrome,
74 percent higher in overweight men with metabolic syndrome,
95 percent higher in obese men without metabolic syndrome and
155 percent higher in obese men with metabolic syndrome.

REDUCING OVERWEIGHT A LITTLE PROLONGS LIFE
Being overweight shortens lives because full fat cells
produce immune cells that turn on your immunity to promote
inflammation that causes diabetes, heart attacks, cancers,
arthritis and other diseases. Losing as few as 10 pounds
can reduce an over-active immune system to that of a thin person
(The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology
& Metabolism, June 2010).

EXERCISE HELPS TO PREVENTS WEIGHT GAIN
The average person spends a lifetime gaining weight and
exercise helps to prevent weight gain with aging. Researchers
measured BMI and waist circumference in more than 3,400 men
and women and followed them for 20 years. The most-active men
gained 5.7 pounds less than those least active, and the
most-active women gained 13.5 pounds less than the least-active
women (JAMA, December 15, 2010). Many other studies show that
exercising regularly helps to protect even those who continue
to be overweight.

MESSAGE
Being even a little bit overweight shortens lives, and
exercise helps to prevent weight gain with aging.

Train Hungry for Weight Control

2010-12-22T14:50:00.001-08:00

New York Times Article about an interesting study....

December 15, 2010, 12:01 am
Phys Ed: The Benefits of Exercising Before Breakfast
By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
Ian Spanier/Getty Images

The holiday season brings many joys and, unfortunately, many countervailing dietary pitfalls. Even the fittest and most disciplined of us can succumb, indulging in more fat and calories than at any other time of the year. The health consequences, if the behavior is unchecked, can be swift and worrying. A recent study by scientists in Australia found that after only three days, an extremely high-fat, high-calorie diet can lead to increased blood sugar and insulin resistance, potentially increasing the risk for Type 2 diabetes. Waistlines also can expand at this time of year, prompting self-recrimination and unrealistic New Year’s resolutions.

But a new study published in The Journal of Physiology suggests a more reliable and far simpler response. Run or bicycle before breakfast. Exercising in the morning, before eating, the study results show, seems to significantly lessen the ill effects of holiday Bacchanalias.

For the study, researchers in Belgium recruited 28 healthy, active young men and began stuffing them with a truly lousy diet, composed of 50 percent fat and 30 percent more calories, overall, than the men had been consuming. Some of the men agreed not to exercise during the experiment. The rest were assigned to one of two exercise groups. The groups’ regimens were identical and exhausting. The men worked out four times a week in the mornings, running and cycling at a strenuous intensity. Two of the sessions lasted 90 minutes, the others, an hour. All of the workouts were supervised, so the energy expenditure of the two groups was identical.
Related

Their early-morning routines, however, were not. One of the groups ate a hefty, carbohydrate-rich breakfast before exercising and continued to ingest carbohydrates, in the form of something like a sports drink, throughout their workouts. The second group worked out without eating first and drank only water during the training. They made up for their abstinence with breakfast later that morning, comparable in calories to the other group’s trencherman portions.

The experiment lasted for six weeks. At the end, the nonexercising group was, to no one’s surprise, super-sized, having packed on an average of more than six pounds. They had also developed insulin resistance — their muscles were no longer responding well to insulin and weren’t pulling sugar (or, more technically, glucose) out of the bloodstream efficiently — and they had begun storing extra fat within and between their muscle cells. Both insulin resistance and fat-marbled muscles are metabolically unhealthy conditions that can be precursors of diabetes.

The men who ate breakfast before exercising gained weight, too, although only about half as much as the control group. Like those sedentary big eaters, however, they had become more insulin-resistant and were storing a greater amount of fat in their muscles.

Only the group that exercised before breakfast gained almost no weight and showed no signs of insulin resistance. They also burned the fat they were taking in more efficiently. “Our current data,” the study’s authors wrote, “indicate that exercise training in the fasted state is more effective than exercise in the carbohydrate-fed state to stimulate glucose tolerance despite a hypercaloric high-fat diet.”

Just how exercising before breakfast blunts the deleterious effects of overindulging is not completely understood, although this study points toward several intriguing explanations. For one, as has been known for some time, exercising in a fasted state (usually possible only before breakfast), coaxes the body to burn a greater percentage of fat for fuel during vigorous exercise, instead of relying primarily on carbohydrates. When you burn fat, you obviously don’t store it in your muscles. In “our study, only the fasted group demonstrated beneficial metabolic adaptations, which eventually may enhance oxidative fatty acid turnover,” said Peter Hespel, Ph.D., a professor in the Research Center for Exercise and Health at Catholic University Leuven in Belgium and senior author of the study.

At the same time, the fasting group showed increased levels of a muscle protein that “is responsible for insulin-stimulated glucose transport in muscle and thus plays a pivotal role in regulation of insulin sensitivity,” Dr Hespel said.

In other words, working out before breakfast directly combated the two most detrimental effects of eating a high-fat, high-calorie diet. It also helped the men avoid gaining weight.

There are caveats, of course. Exercising on an empty stomach is unlikely to improve your performance during that workout. Carbohydrates are easier for working muscles to access and burn for energy than fat, which is why athletes typically eat a high-carbohydrate diet. The researchers also don’t know whether the same benefits will accrue if you exercise at a more leisurely pace and for less time than in this study, although, according to Leonie Heilbronn, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Adelaide in Australia, who has extensively studied the effects of high-fat diets and wrote a commentary about the Belgian study, “I would predict low intensity is better than nothing.”

So, unpleasant as the prospect may be, set your alarm after the next Christmas party to wake you early enough that you can run before sitting down to breakfast. “I would recommend this,” Dr. Heilbronn concluded, “as a way of combating Christmas” and those insidiously delectable cookies.

New Weight Watchers Plan- 2 steps forward, 2 steps back

2010-12-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

Since I recommend Weight Watchers to all of my clients, I rushed down to the local meeting and picked up the materials as soon as they came out. This morning I spread the material before me, eager to dive in and after going through all of it, I am a little disappointed.

Don't get me wrong, WW is hands down the best program around. The support and resources they offer are second to none and becoming a lifetime member will pay off in the long haul like nothing else. But that doesn't mean the plan is perfect and try as they may, they have not made tremendous headway with this new plan.

The good part is that they have managed to wrap calories, fat, protein, carb and fiber all into a new point value so forget the old values. The way they have it set up will encourage you to eat "healthier" foods rather than foods that may be low calorie but not very nutritious.

Alright, but is that really the reason people are overweight? No. Anyone that restricts calories will learn to gravitate to foods that are more satisfying/filling/healthy because if you don't, you are too darn hungry all the time. Of course you don't have to learn the new points system to figure this out...the points system is a form of brainwashing- meaning that by focusing on a system that WW has designed, you don't really ever have to learn an understand about calories, fat, protein, etc. in "normal" language. Therefore you are taught to be incompetent about food outside of the context of WW....sounds sinister doesn't it? Not really. It is just their method of creating and packaging a "product" which is really common knowledge. I don't fault them that. It delivers - meaning, you will lose weight, so there is really no harm in it.

Here is a brief summary of the things that I think are just plain wrong with the program. Luckily, a knowledgeable athlete (or someone with a food coach like me) will be able to work around them and still find success on the program, but here are my gripes:

1. You can't roll over unused "points" from one day to another. Translated....if you are less hungry one day ( finding it natural to eat less than your allotted points) you are basically encouraged to eat even if you aren't hungry!

This is so stupid! Hunger levels vary from day to day, especially for women who have hormonal fluctuations. The ultimate goal is to connect hunger with eating. So on days you are really hungry, it is alright, good and effective to eat more. Likewise, on days when you are less hungry it is right,good,natural and effective to eat less. This is how life really is and how it will be once you are maintaining your new leaner weight. Eating less over the course of a week or so will bring weight loss ( not necessarily showing immediately on the scale..another subject for another day). Thus, using a weekly total rather than a daily one thus allows you to match your eating to your hunger levels. The WW program nearly "threatens" you. If you don't eat your points for the day, you lose them so like a chipmunk, you better stuff those extra calories in today because if tomorrow is a hungry day you are out of luck.... This is a bad thing in my opinion.

Here is a quote from their "Getting Started" booklet, "Is it OK to eat less than my daily PointsPlus target? Not if you want to lose weight in a sustainable way."

Huh? In other words, you should eat even if you aren't hungry. Eating according to hunger level is THE MOST SUSTAINABLE way to lose weight and keep it off.

2. Minor point, but when will WW start using motivating models in their materials? I'm not saying you need Barbie doll models in tights all over the place, but when I look at the models I am not motivated... I think the way they dress is downright frumpy for the most part. I supposed WW doesn't want to intimidate anyone, perhaps the frump factor is there to make people of all shapes and sizes feel welcome but come on, you can do better than this!

3. Activity Points. I was happy to see that they included a Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) chart, thinking that was a step forward but it didn't last. Here is the quote that got my blood boiling (from the "Getting Started" guide .."Recommendations of the American College of Sports Medicine equate to earning no more than an average of 6 activity PointsPlus values per day unless you're under the supervision of a qualified exercise specialist, to reduce the risk of injury").

This statement does more to discourage exercise than to encourage it. "Recommendations" is vague..recommendations for what? weight loss, maintenance, minimal health benefits? If they are going to include these vague threats of overdoing the exercise, they need to explain things more clearly.

The other problem is that, purely based on my experience and that of my clients, adding any extra food to compensate for the first 6 hours of weekly training time effectively extinguishes weight loss. So WW makes 2 mistakes; first they make exercise sound scary, then they encourage you to overcompensate by eating more. Not good.

In conclusion, WW continues to be a safe, effective weight control program. But sometimes it seems like they are more interested in keeping you dialed into their program than they are with giving you the tools to really succeed on your own. Ah yes, it is a business after all......

Voluntary Attraction

2010-11-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

Being tempted by food is like being tempted by many other things and it begins with something that grabs your attention. After reading David Kesslers “ Ending Overeating" I agree that our brains are programmed to pay attention to salt, fat and sugar in foods and that the intensity of these qualities in food has been increased for profit motive. But lean people don’t allow themselves to be tempted by these foods and they don’t eat them much.

Lean people have a different kind of radar. It picks up the same signals as everyone else, but the fat, salt, sugar signals don’t hold their attention as long as they do for overweight people. Why is that?

I think anyone that has won the weight loss battle knows that the key to success is mental control. Successful weight losers have learned to move their attention away from tempting foods much sooner than people that struggle with their weight. They see the same advertisements, smell the same smells, feel the same hunger as everyone else, but they have taught themselves to make a quick exit off the highway that leads to the mental gymnastics of excuses, justifications and emotional need that ultimately leads a weight controller to indulgence, then beyond to yet another derailment from the track of success.

If you just change the subject from food to say, infidelity, the path becomes clearer (assuming you are a faithful spouse, that is).

Good looking people are around and available for sex. In a given day you probably see half a dozen people that get your attention because they are attractive. OK so a good looking person makes the bells and whistles go off in your brain just like a good looking buffet. If you are a married person, what is it that makes you continue to go about your daily business unfazed by a hottie? Why don’t you approach them and start a conversation? Why don’t you make yourself available to them sexually?
Think about it. I’ll bet you don’t do any of those things because:
1. You recognize the difference between eye candy and love.
2. You realize that being a spouse means you are no longer in the market for sexual encounters with others. You may see attractive people but you don’t linger on “what if’s” because such thoughts are not relevant, not productive and not conducive to the commitment you have to your family.
3. You are busy with the business at hand and other priorities in your life.
4. You realize that creating sexual relationships outside your marriage would be devastating to your sense of worth and self-respect.

So a married, mature person that sees an attractive other sees and notices but doesn’t move toward the temptation either physically or mentally.

A successful weight loser sees an attractive food but moves on to other things too. Successful weight losers don’t consider nightmare foods as options so they don’t pay much attention to them.

Being lean and successful with food, looking and feeling powerful are the things that successful weight losers think of when they see “tempting” food. Thinking about the food isn’t productive. Eating the food isn’t worth the calories or the reduction in their sense of control and accomplishment.

Think of temptation as something voluntary and don’t go there.

Haunted by Cravings

2010-10-25T18:02:00.000-07:00

A craving is that little voice inside, and whenever is speaks it starts with "I want".

My clients are haunted by cravings. They fear them. They doubt their ability stand up to that sinister voice when it hails. They believe that the voice will render them powerless and make them fail in their weight loss quest. They wish and wish that they could overcome cravings.

When I ask my clients what they crave, they give me a funny look. They feel a little naughty just talking about it. They usually giggle. Without fail, they answer with a food; BBQ chips, a burrito from their favorite grease pit or chocolate.

Cravings are powerful and instead of being afraid of them, use them to your advantage. What if you stopped attaching food to cravings? What else is it that will make you feel complete, satisfied or happy? Once you stop pairing craving with food, the whole world opens up and an entirely different list comes to mind. You want a Porsche, a house on the hill, a new tri bike. Take it a step beyond objects. What you really want is a feeling of satisfaction, right?

Next time a craving hits, follow the voice down a different path. Know that what you crave isn't cupcakes or a burger, and it probably isn't a tri-bike either. What you crave is success. What you crave is to look faster and to be faster. What you crave is mastery over your weight. Such mastery would be more satisfying than food or anything money could buy.

Once you understand that being lean is what you crave, you can stop running from the craving. You can start using it as a powerful tool. When you have a craving, fear not. Succumb. Give yourself over to your craving for success and make it so.

Getting off the plateau

2010-07-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

You know the scenario: successful weight loss for a few weeks then just when you are in sight of your goal-nothing. The scale gets stuck in spite of your persistent efforts to eat less. You fret. You get frustrated. You get depressed. Those in the know will tell you that you have hit a plateau and if you keep working at it the rest of the weight will come off.This plateau is known in scientific circles as "adaptive thermogenesis" and if you look at Pubmed.com, you will find all sorts of studies about it. Bottom line, when you reduce calorie intake, your body may slow down it's energy usage by as much as 700 calories per day. That's right 700 CALORIES A DAY!

Since most weight loss programs advise creating a deficit of 500 calories per day, you can see how this slowdown can bring weight loss to a halt. And that's not all; this down regulation can last as long as 7 months. 7 MONTHS? No wonder people get discouraged.

But most people have trouble sticking to a weight loss plan when they don't experience progress and unfortunately, progress is defined by the numbers on the scale. If you get stuck on a plateau there are some things you can do to stimulate weight loss again and to feel better.

1. Based on personal experience, I find that it helps to put an extra hour between meal and snack times. If you are a grazer, this means when you are ready for a snack, you look at the clock and resolve to wait another hour before you eat.
Theoretically, this should signal your body that the "starvation" is getting worse and some say your metabolism will slow down even more, but I have not found this to be the case. The only thing that changes by doing this is that your feelings of hunger increase and last longer and maybe that is the key.Total calorie intake does not have to change.

2. Increase training intensity. Do some intervals and strength work. Keep training at least an hour a day, 6 days a week.

3. When you are tired, sleep instead of eat. It is natural to feel tired when your metabolism slows. Take the opportunity to sever the tie between eating and fatigue (which you probably already have). Learn to take naps. When you break past the plateau you will be less inclined to use food to fight fatigue.

4. Redefine success. Waiting out a plateau may not be pleasant, but it is part of the process. The scale is not a very good measure of fat loss or gain in the short term. Just this week a reader emailed me about his 9 pound weight loss in a single week. It isn't possible for a sedentary man to use 31,500 calories in 7 days, but the scale can certainly move that much due to a combination of water changes and fat changes. The problem is you can't tell how much is water and how much is fat.There is usually a delay of up to 2 weeks between your calorie intake and fat loss showing on the scale. Since the scale doesn't differentiate between weight loss and fat loss you could be steadily losing fat even though the scale doesn't move for a few weeks. Rely less on the scale and more on your records of calorie intake and outflow.

Along the same lines, the movement of the scale does nothing to change you. It is much more important to change your eating behavior than it is to make a scale move on any given day. If you define success as "Learning how to be happy consuming fewer calories for the rest of your life" it doesn't matter what the scale says. It is simply a matter of time and of degree before the weight on the scale catches up with what you are consuming.

So don't despair. Keep moving. Keep eating well and keep feeling successful. Changing your life is a long process.

When in doubt...go for the HOT shorts.

2010-06-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

It has been 6 years since I lost the weight. I have been happily within a 7 pound range the entire time and although I could still see room for improvement (wouldn't it be nice if THAT wasn't there or if THIS was smoother), I have gracefully accepted the reality of age and having been large in my past life (skin that would prefer to sag after weight loss than snap back into place).

As Clint would say, I have accepted my limitations.

I have told my clients to go for the big dream in terms of their body comp. The big dream drives the big wheel of motivation and in weight loss motivation is the ONLY engine you've got.

Something has been happening though. The experts (whoever they are) say it takes about 5 years for your body to show changes from training - I mean visible shape changes. Now that I have been training year-around for at least that long I can say they are right.

When you first lose weight, fat goes away and muscles appear from beneath the din. But your shape doesn't change.

Then something happened. It started last Fall. I noticed a better leg in my race pics. This winter my calves got thinner. I fit into my shiny black go-go boots better. My weight and body comp were stable but there was a definite change in structure. Something was afoot...

-I got so blasted busy (as evidenced by the lack of posts here) with writing, coaching, lawyering, mothering and wifeing that I could hardly think about food.
-I became concerned that my daughters had too much access to junk food ( i.e. mom's stash of chocolate) so I stopped buying it.
-If the family wanted ice cream I either bought a little single-serving size for each of us or we would drive to Baskin Robbins.

Then something incredible happened....the number on the scale started going down and has stayed down for MONTHS now.

Wow! More muscles. Wow! I can wear mid-thigh tri shorts and look decent!

I had tried to get down to this weight before but it wasn't in the cards then. I couldn't hold the number despite disciplines calorie counting an my small chest became pathetic and still the last few pounds of bodyfat stuck to my thighs. My body was telling me that my thighs were more important than my bosom.Sh--! I digress.

But NOW miraculously, the fat has come off the thighs and my bra still fits! Maybe there is a God after all.......

I am digging the shorts. This new look is good for me. I feel 10 years younger and I want to hold onto it BUT, if I put on even 3 pounds, it goes straight to the thighs and the short-shorts will be un-usable, rolling up hideously to expose even more of the thigh that screams for "coverage" (Spongebob fans-think Squidward thighs).

Soooooo, do I play it safe? Relish the shorter shorts like I would a brief vacation from "real life" or should I do what I tell my clients all the time; This is your new REAL LIFE! Invest in the clothes that motivate you and the ones you look best in. Translated this means, buy the shorts in every color.

I know what your going to say.I did it already....my credit card is still smoking.

What are the lessons here?

Even when you have "arrived" at your goal weight, in time you will continue to improve in ways you can't imagine.

Little changes matter when you do them consistently and don't compensate elsewhere and when you are down to the last few lbs.

BUY THE HOT SHORTS!

Triathletes love balloons!

2010-05-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

I did a presentation for the Tri La Vie Club at the Mission Viejo Mall here in Orange County, CA. It took weeks of preparation and I worried over a particular point in the presentation---the part about forgetting your past as a tool for motivation. I wanted to have the audience blow up balloons and eventually pop them. Sounds simple, but you have to be careful with audiences, especially men who smell "chick" stuff a mile away and take pains to avoid it (unless they are looking for a date in which case they flock there...another story for another day).

I finally decided to go for it. Putting an activity in the middle of a talk is a great way to keep attention. When the time came, I asked everyone to blow up their balloons, which I had carefully selected so that they would be easy enough to inflate, yet not so large that they would cause atmospheric changes when they popped. Much to my surprise, the men were all over the balloon stunt. They blew them up just as they were told and boldly popped them on cue, chuckling and enjoying the attention it brought.

It was only later that I discovered (when my 11 year old daughter turned purple trying to blow one of them up to no avail) that the balloons were nearly impossible to inflate and that the men were about the only ones with enough lung power to blow them up!

So the lesson is: 1. Always test your balloons before you pass them out ( err, test just one and throw it in the trash I mean) and 2. Everyone loves balloons, especially when they are a bit of a challenge.

The entire presentation (8 clips) is on youtube.com on the Ironplanner channel. Part 5 has the balloon stunt...check it out.

Race # 2 Redeemed!

2010-04-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

Race number two was much better than the one last week. In case you forgot, last week I had a hyperventilation incident that triggered throat spasms that ruined my race.Not this time! I was so very pleased to be limited by burning legs, a lousy power-to-weight ratio and the declining aerobic capacity of my age, that I feel like I am back in the saddle again. These are the limiters that I train to overcome and darn it, those are the ones I want to deal with.

Third Place. My first Age Group medal.

It's All How You Look At It....

2010-04-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

Sunday was my first race of the season, and the first as an age-grouper. Here is why it was the greatest race ever:

Even though I arrived an hour late because I brain farted the starting times, I got there in time(barely).

My chip feel mostly off in the first 30 seconds of the swim, but I got it back on before it fell off entirely.

Even though I never get passed on the bike, 2 women in my AG zipped past in the first mile, I still got 7th overall.

Even though I again brain farted and shifted my right shifter instead of my left on the steep hill (needed to get into the small ring for the standing part, instead, went down one gear) I managed to muscle up the hill without dropping the chain.

Even though I started breathing in time with a big lug of a guy next to me up the steep hill, yes, I hyperventilated and my throat spasmed and I thought I was going to die, I carried on.

Even though I couldn't ride or run as hard as I wanted to because my throat kept spasming shut, I finished anyway.

Even though I had time goals (which I rarely do) and didn't make ANY of them.......

I STILL had a blast.

Putting It On The Line-Athena No More

2010-04-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

Triathlon provides endless ways to go out on a limb. Each athlete finds their own particular challenge. Mine used to be my weight, but once I managed that (6 years now, over the hump, no turning back ever)I have continued to race happily as an "Athena" because I am so tall.

Athena and Clyde divisions are sometimes divided into over 40 and 39 and under but not often. They are usually open divisions. At age 49, I am competing with 20 year olds...often winning, but something just doesn't seem right about it.

As is evident by my greying hair(lots of coloring these days) and other things I won't discuss in mixed company, I have matured into the sport. This year, I am passing the torch. I am walking away from the likely podium spot to race in my age group for the first time.

It means, hopefully, that I have progressed athletically-that I consider other women on my age as peers, rather than other women that weight a lot. I have turned a corner. Before you think that I am really brave for doing this, I must confess that I often find that I would have placed in my age group anyway if I had entered an an AG'er instead of an Athena Division. So I have hedged my bets mightily, but it isn't really cheating. I have simply hung in there and kept training while other gals my age are doing other things. I have achieved a certain level ( at least in short races) that puts me in the running for a podium spot most of the time and THAT is otherworldly motivation.

Many fine athletes never experience the intense motivation that a possible podium spot brings and for that I am happy to open up a spot for other Athenas who are making their way up the fitness ladder.

The chance of reaching the podium did plenty for my weight loss efforts years ago and it continues to inspire me. I simply can't race my fastest with extra weight so I stay lean year after year. Sounds simple. Isn't. Feeling like you are maybe actually good at something brings out all sorts of Darwinian motivation.

So I wait eagerly to see who will win in the Athena division on race day. I will wait till the very end when the hand out the Athena and Clyde awards and cheer for the winners with gusto....this as I try to recover from the race which will take everything I've got because I simply have to, really really want to make it to that podium and that means I have to hurt A LOT.

How Long Does It Take?

2010-03-07T19:36:00.000-08:00

A nice lady came up to me at the gym the other day and asked me a simple question, "How long does it take to start looking better when you lose weight?"

You would think that I could answer that question, but I was stumped. I didn't want to sound like our past president and tell her, "it depends what the definition of "looking better" is, although that is what I was thinking. So I hesitated and in that moment retraveled the many failures and successes and life changing "ah ha's", the sweat, the dedication, the huge investment in triathlon and food management that I had made and I wanted to say,"It will take everything you have for as long as your willing to give it" but I didn't. I did not want to extinguish her optimism and the fact that she even asked the question means she is on the precipice of making a positive change.

So I told her, "It takes about 6 weeks of counting every calorie before you will notice, but you will start feeling better right away" Was that the wrong answer? Was it a lie? No. but it was a simplification. No one loses significant weight, gets fit and (male or female)looks hot at age 50 without really-really changing their lives. Expecting a sound bite answer to a skyscraper question like that is the reason so many fail at weight loss. It isn't easy. It isn't quick. And it isn't really a destination either. It is simply a way of being.

...........but alas, it all starts with 6 week of counting every calorie.

The Power of Being Cool

2010-02-28T17:12:00.000-08:00

I had a conversation this week with a man that coaches another sport and we were talking about the differences between his sport and triathlon.

At some point the conversation went like this........."But they want to become triathletes. They want to be cool. They want to be like the fit people who they have seen in magazines, TV and in the gym. So, if they REALLY want it, then they have to swim in the open water. If they want to be cool, then they have to find a way....."

And it struck me that there was a certain tone to these comments. Some disdain and dare I say, jealousy? Triathlon IS cool and when you do it, yeah, you feel like one of the fit people in the magazines and you know, that kind of motivation is magic for people. The lure of the sport inspires and motivates every-day athletes to go beyond their comfort zone and it drives us to lose weight, look better and perform better in every aspect of life because as we become leaner we will also be faster, we will LOOK FASTER and THAT IS COOL. A sport that is fun, healthy and motivates people in droves to lose weight is tremendous. Bring on the critics.

DIG THE COOL!

Weight Management For Triathletes (Ironman Series) is now available!

2010-02-16T06:46:00.000-08:00

Every triathlete wants to be and to look faster. The physiques of successful triathletes invites and inspires everyday age-groupers to look the part. This one- of-a-kind guide will help triathletes of all levels improve body composition for aesthetics and performance.

I know how depressing it is to train and perform as an endurance athlete without looking the part---let's face it, looking lean and fit is one of the reasons we do what we do.

Looks also matter because what you do with your body is a reflection of your character. If you don't control the aspects of life that are within your power, then you are selling yourself and your family short. You can't teach your children or anyone else about the importance of health and the joy of athleticism if you are overweight and sedentary.

Facts about calories are important, but knowing them does not make weight loss any easier.

This book bridges the gap between the nutritional information you already have, and the result you crave by providing day-to-day tools that allow you to eat less without feeling like you are going "cold turkey".

You will learn how to motivate yourself, how to overcome social and logistical issues and will equip you with the wherewithall to manage your weight for the rest of your life.

I show readers how to apply their athletic drive to the challenge of managing their weight. The book is science-based, filled with motivational tools and no nonsense strategies to get the weight off and to arrive at a weight that is right for you.

Learn how to use body composition data, the scale and your built-in desire for excellence to overcome long standing weight struggles.

The book features contributions from exercise physiologists, physical therapists and physicians, as well as inspiring interviews with professional triathletes Matt Lieto and Heather Wurtele, success stories and though-provoking topics like cosmetic surgery, exercise addiction, weight division racing and "The Ironman Trap".

This well-researched and thought-provoking book is available at amazon.com. and other fine bookstores.

Opposite Day....What Did You Resist?

2010-01-26T12:55:00.000-08:00

Your New Year's Resolution to lose weight may be wearing thin for lack of motivation because, let's face it, you have been down this road before and look, you are still here.

Worry not, there are other roads to take. Like "Opposite Day" on Spongebob Squarepants (for those of you that don't have little kids you are missing out on the Bugs Bunny of this era) turn the world on it's head for a day. The results may suprise you.

Instead of recording what you eat each day, along with the number of calories, why not record what you RESISTED today? Don't be silly, I don't mean that you should list every food that you did not eat because that is an impossible task....just the contents of your fridge would take all day to list. Write down what you intended to eat, then thought better of and put down (either mentally or literally). In legal circles, this is known as specific intent and it requires not only a particular state of mind ( I am going to eat that cookie), it also requires an act toward achieving the goal (going into the kitchen to get it).

Instead of recording the calories, write down why you decided not to eat that third cookie or that last bite of sandwhich. One of the best reasons for resisting a food is that you wanted to be able to add it to your list. But once you list a thing or two you will discover that it feels really great to add things. It is like showing off to yourself. Hey Look! I am so "good" and "strong" and "studly" and "disciplined" that I can say no to food whenever I want to. In fact, passing up the food and writing it down feels better than actually eating the food......hummmmm, quite a concept.

Don't get extreme and eat nothing...that is not the point. Just experience what a kick it is to take pride in the amount of control you have, instead of beating yourself up because of the control you lack.

The Myth of a Stable Weight

2010-01-20T18:34:00.001-08:00

The problem with a "diet" is that you are either "on it" or "off it". It is a temporary state.

The problem with a moderate approach to food, now called "lifestyle change", is that moderate changes can keep you from gaining, but they don't take weight off.

Ignoring the problem altogether is the biggest problem of all because it puts weight on, and on, and on.

My success with weight management has taught me that all 3 stages ("dieting", "lifestyle change" and "ignoring") are part of a cycle which I and others revisit many times a year. They never go away and they are nothing to be ashamed of.

Consider a professional triathlete. One would expect that he has an ideal racing weight that takes some focused work, like "dieting" to attain. He also has a training weight that he can maintain pretty easily, which is a few pounds higher than his race weight. And during the off season, he probably ignores weight concerns...for a short time anyway.

So if the pro goes through the same cycles as the average Age Grouper, why is the pro so much more successful at managing his weight? The secret is not the cycles, it is their magnitude.

We all know someone who considers themselves "fat" if they put on 3 pounds. But that person is onto something. His cycles(dieting-moderating-ignoring) are much shorter than they are for overweight people. The alarms bells sound at 3 pounds instead of at 7 or 10 or 30 pounds. This person can go into a more restrictive " diet" mode for a week and be back down to the right weight. By being moderate about eating, that person can then maintain that weight for awhile, coasting along. If the scale starts sneaking up again, Boom! they are right back on it. This is the reality of a "weight stable" person....There is plenty of variation in their weight, but it is so small and is corrected so quickly that it is not apparent to others. That is the reality of lifetime SUCCESSFUL weight management.

These cycles are part of life. Don't try to escape them, accept them. Monitor your weight every day and act quickly to get back to where you want to be. Realize that a stable weight RANGE is what weight management is about.

Seek Temptation!

2010-01-09T16:00:00.000-08:00

I give my coaching clients all kinds of fun assignments to help them lose weight. One is called "Flex your power" and it basically involves setting up temptations of progressively longer duration and asking the client to walk away from the situation without having eaten any of the target (high calorie density or HCD) food. So the first step would be, say, walking into a donut shop (if donuts tempt you), staying long enough to peruse the choices, then walking out. The next step might be going to a buffet and eating a meal without succumbing to any HCD foods. A more advanced step would be buying a favorite HCD food and keeping it in your pantry without eating any for 24 hours, and so it goes.

Overcoming temptation is a mental exercise and like anything else, it takes practice. The calorie benefit of avoiding the food is not really the point of the exercise. The feeling of power and control that comes from resisting the HCD food is. It builds confidence and provides a sense of mastery over food.

Now there is science to back-up what I saw time after time in my clients. A December 2009 study in the Netherlands tested the effect of food temptations on behavior. They found that exposure to food temptations enhances both goal importance and goal-directed behavior in dieters. They concluded that confronting temptations may even be beneficial to long term weight control. Go to Pubmed and enter #1966065 in your search for more on this study...and keep flexing everyone!

Off Season Nightmares

2009-12-15T21:48:00.000-08:00

It can be difficult to stay off the bike, away from the daily joy of training and missing my various data gathering devices.....the horrors of the off season are a real challenge but in the daytime at least I can distract myself by doing something else. Not so at night.

No matter how entitled I am to some real time off, at night I am haunted by triathlon-withdrawal nightmares. You know the ones, the race starts and for some reason I am still setting up my gear in the transition area. I turn and run to the water in S-l-o-w m-o-t-i-o-n and realize halfway there that I don't have my wetsuit, cap and goggles so I have to go back, but then I can't find my bike and gear. All the while the seconds tick away on an enormous floating clock. I realize this race is a nightmare but I can't get out of it and I look down and ooooooops! forgot the clothing but strangely, no one has noticed.

The other dream is the one where I put on 20 pounds of lard overnight. You can feel it squishing around-where did my ribs and hip bones go? What is with all this flesh? How will I drag all of this through my next race arghhhhhhhhhh.

When I wake up, I am relieved. I know this rest period will end soon enough and I will be back to my old self and by then, I will be looking forward to the training and racing again-which is the whole point of the time off, right?

The Opposite Season- Staying away from Race Calendars and Embracing Exceptional Food

2009-12-03T13:08:00.000-08:00

The off season is like an extended version of "opposite day". Staying off the bike, out of the running shoes and away from the pool is a goal in itself. But more than that the off season is about giving the mind a rest and that is the real challenge.

Yes, the last few training weeks approached drudgery. I found myself getting through the workouts because I promised, because I signed up for a Thanksgiving weekend race and because my personal rules don't allow bailing out on a race. Yes, I couldn't wait till my race season was over. But I have to admit as soon as I crossed the finish line, I couldn't help but think about what was next for 2010 -a sprint series? An Aquabike? An Iron-distance?

Is it a case of forbidden fruit? I don't know. All I know is that the hardest part about this off season will be keeping my imagination at bay. I even told my husband that he has to "help me" stay away from race calendars for the entire month of December...

I know one thing, that my hunger for training and racing is one of the most valuable things I have and it needs to be nutured and respected to prevent burn out. Taking time off is important for stoking the flames.

So in line with the "opposite day" mentality, I am focusing instead on food. Instead of the usual, how to get the most nutrition for my calorie buck, I plan to eat exceptionally delicious (and calorie dense) food during this holiday season. But I am picking the food like I pick my races, carefully. I have set a few food goals and will prepare to enjoy each event to the fullest...

First on the list, I have a thing for See's and my next stop after writing this is to order a pound of the stuff for home delivery. I will gather the family around in front of the TV and we will devour the entire box in front the "The Grinch" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas".

Next will be the hot artichoke dip which is a mixture of mayonnaise, sour cream, parmesan cheese and artichoke hearts, heated till the cheese melts. Served with fresh toasted Sourdough-a heart attack in every bite. I figure about 200 calories per bite. That will be for the week of December 14.

On Christmas Day I will enjoy tall mimosa (or 3) made from fresh squeezed OJ.

Then on New Year's Eve, instead of waiting for the ball to drop in NY Time's Square, I will sit poised at my computer, ready to dive into the Race Calendar for 2010.

Thank you SCAR Physical Therapy

2009-11-18T19:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to the TV site (http://bestoflatv.com/view/1009) that allows you to vote for SCAR as the best Physical Therapy in Orange County, CA. Ten years ago my doctor told me I was too big and too old to run. I tried SCAR as a last resort and now 10 marathons and an Ironman later I have SCAR to thank for making me better, faster, and stronger than I ever thought I could be.

Thanks SCAR (and owner Jim Herkimer)....you changed my life.

What's with Orca?

2009-11-12T20:07:00.000-08:00

Before becoming a triathlete, an Orca was just a killer whale to me. When I bought my first triathlon wetsuit, the Orca is the first one I tried on and I liked it. It had some cool graphics on it that made me feel fast and sporty.

I came upon the April 2009 Issue of Inside Triathlon Magazine and in the inside front cover was an ad featuring Orca Wetsuits and it struck me that there was nothing fast or sporty about any of the images. Have my perceptions changed? are my eyes playing tricks on me? or are the "entry-level" wetsuits on figures with a weight problem? I went to the source and checked out the ORCA website. The difference in the manikins was less pronounced than in the magazine ad I had seen. Maybe someone had complained, or the company noticed a downturn in sales, but when I found the images of their skinsuits I did a double take......Someone was taking things too far.....
(Below is the image of the Female Skinsuit. It is the same as the image of the Male Skinsuit)

I don't know about you, but it is one thing to model a wetsuit on an unrealistic Barbie/Ken figure, but displaying a women's wetsuit on a male manikin (package and all) is going too far. Fantasy sells, but at least make it fantasy in the right direction!

All I can say to Orca is......I hope I don't EVER look like any of your wetsuit manikins.

Thankful for being fat?

2009-11-03T14:15:00.000-08:00

I have always felt that the tendency to be fat is my cross to bear and I am thankful for it. Thank goodness I was overweight because it motivated me to exercise. Without the weight issue, I would not have had the drive to move. Now that I am lean, the desire to stay this way remains a tremendous motivator. Somewhere in my soul there is a rule that being a couch potato is unacceptable way to live one's life.

Coming to terms with the weight issue intellectually and emotionally, has been an ongoing struggle. But sometimes what we struggle with most opens the door to the way we can contribute to others. Hardship points us to our destiny.

I answered this challenge like most people, going through periods of control followed by months of resignation. I worked out in the gym. I even ran marathons ( yes you can run a marathon and be overweight).I was fit, but I was still heavy. I understood on an intellectual level that it would be a great victory to be able to accept and love my body the way it was so I tried. I read all the books about self-acceptance and the feminist oppression theories of sexual stereotyping and the media. You name it, I read it. For about a year, I avoided the scale and "got in touch" with my appetite, worked to accept myself. I wanted to be able to take pride in my size like Queen Latifa. I wished I could be like that. I failed.

In the deepest core of by being, I wanted to look like a lean, strong athlete and that desire smoldered, no matter what I said or did. My guess is that there are plenty of people out there that want to look like athletes too, even if their lives and their talents don't allow them to devote much time to it.

Don't ignore the voice! Look at your weight challenge as a gift-not a curse. Considering the other "issues" mankind has to deal with, controlling what you eat is at least, something YOU CONTROL.

When you see the physical hardships that others suffer ( check out the Challenged Athlete's Federation) aren't you ashamed that you can't control your food? You should be.

Start down the path of taking control, no matter how long it takes. In learning to master yourself, you will experience an unmatched sense of arrival. Once you have mastered your demons, you will be able to help others master theirs. Isn't that what contributing is all about?

It's All About Sex

2009-10-25T21:35:00.000-07:00

We may all live in the same world, but men and women occupy different universes when it comes to sex, food, and weight loss. Men are more likely to overindulge (on food) when there are many tempting treats (foods) around, while women do it (overeat) for emotional reasons. We all know that men respond to (calorie and other) deprivation more quickly than women. Men are fast (weight losers) and women need more time (to lose weight).

But when it comes to training, both men and women are driven by sex. For women, sexual attractiveness is the primary motivation for looking good and when women believe training makes them look good, they do it (Lipowksi 2009). Men, on the other hand train to get faster because they are wired to believe that performance will win them...well, sex. Indeed, women rate men that train more positively than men than don't (Lindwall 2008).

So there you have it. Men want to be fast. Women want to look fast. Men like fast women. Women like fast men. Train, get lean, and everyone wins. It's all about sex.

The Rushed Ironman-Can it be done coach?

2009-10-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

The Ironman has become a right of passage into serious adulthood and what better time to take on the challenge then when life has you throttled firmly by the throat?

In the last month, I have been inundated with inquiries from athletes negotiating their way through personal and professional obstacles that want to squeeze in an Ironman too. They send me detailed and interesting emails about their struggles with weight, with work, family, and with time. They all end with "and I want to do an Ironman in (fill in the blank) months, can it be done?".

It makes me wonder what it is about doing an Ironman that compels people to want to jump to into it rather than to test the water slowly. Is it a dare or an epiphany? Doing an Ironman is so HUGE that it is among the most hair-brained things a person can come up with, especially when suffering the delirium of an overcommitted life.

Maybe the answer is that Ironman is a sort of lifeboat. It clarifies your life and your priorities for awhile and in this day and age, that is magic. Just getting to the starting line requires a temporary and welcome simplification of your life. Maybe "squeezing in an Ironman" is a way to put everything else on hold. We have to squeeze everything else in too, so why not this? With a race looming dangerously soon, there is no room to be slack about training. Fear is a tremendous motivator and from a weight management standpoint, the thought of having to drag 20 extra pounds through race day makes it easier to stick with a food plan.

We are a society of immediate gratification. Checking for messages, website hits, tweets and text messages is a compulsion we give into multiple times a day. It is hard to remember the days when mail was only delivered once a day. Ironman? Sounds good. Let's do it. Now.

But some things can't and shouldn't be rushed if you want them to turn out well and Ironman is one of them. Trying to drop more than 5-10 pounds as you train for an Ironman is foolish. You can't ask your body to adapt to large training loads in a state of semi-starvation. You have to take one thing at a time. Lose the weight first. Likewise, you can't expect your body to perform for up to 17 continuous hours at a high level until your cells, muscles, ligaments, and cardiovascular system have had some practice with long endurance events. Your brain, as the boss, will simply not allow your body to do things that it perceives as dangerous. So if your brain has not survived similar assaults before (like marathons, century rides, etc.) it will bring on crushing fatigue and self-doubt to make you to stop. Your brain doesn't care about your goals-it wants to live!

Rule of thumb is a minimum of 3 years in triathlon, ideally with additional background in endurance events, before attempting an IM. Exercise Physiologist Alan Couzens mentioned in his blog that scientists studying IM athletes found that an average 15hr IM finisher has 4000 hours of training under their belt (5 yrs of single sport training 6 hours/week all year + 5 yrs of triathlon training 10 hours/week all year). Those are big numbers but the message is clear; It takes patience to become an Ironman.

It can seem like a long haul, but it isn't when each step is on it's own, a daunting challenge. Can you swim effortlessly enough to keep going for 1.5 hours? Great, now train for a century bike ride with minimal rest stops. Once you have achieved that, try your hand at a "to finish" marathon using a walk-run strategy. Notice that none of these goals involve speed. Training slowly for these events is a perfect time to get your weight down.

These threshold events are a wake-up call for your nervous system. Each time you survive a long effort, your brain says, "ok, that was doable". It will take more and more for your brain to go into a state of alarm.

Once you have trained for and recovered from those events, consider an Ironman. After each one you will shake your head and wonder, " how can a person ever to this and also swim/bike 112 mi/run 26.2 mi?". Eventually, you may come to believe that you can possibly do such a thing with the right training. In doing these events you have already begun traveling down the Ironman path.

That said, there are people that manage to survive an Ironman done on the fly. It must be like being struck by lightening; you don't see it coming but once it hits, you know something enormous has happened. No time for deliberating, time only for action. Just hope you live through it.

My job as a coach is not to discourage people, but to give them a realistic assessment of what to expect. So when someone asks me "can it be done?" I can only say "yes", with a long list of "ifs" "and's" and "buts". The better question is not if it can be done, but when. An Ironman race is a bite of the frosting of the Ironman cake. That small bite tastes much better with the cake (experience and training) that goes with it.

Humbled by weight

2009-10-11T15:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I did the Magic Mountain Man Triathlon, a half-Iron distance race in Santa Clarita, California. Before the race as the athletes chatted in the transition area, it was clear that there were plenty of newbies.

I am used to seeing athletes of all shapes and sizes at races, but there was a man at this race that made my jaw drop-with respect that is.

At the swim start, his white skin stood out among the sea of black wetsuits. No wetsuit would have fit his 300 pounds.

Fast forward, I am peddaling up the first massive hill and I pass this guy on the bike. That means he outswam me! Awesome.

Much later, on the bike course, I saw him again. He was going up the second largest hill and he was on his first of two loops. He would not make the bike cutoff time.

As I came up behind him I said he was going to make it and he said "no I won't" perhaps referring to the cut-off. I replied, "just finish this loop. You should be proud of yourself for getting this far!" and he said, " yeah, the swim was a piece of cake but my back is screaming at me". By then we were too far apart to continue the conversation and I realized that we weren't that much different. The swim was easy for me too, and yes, my back was also screaming. Pain is universal.

I didn't see the guy on the run course, but I thought about him a lot. What kind of courage does it take to go out there among the mighty lean triathlete crowd and attempt an epic race like that? I was so impressed and I hope this fellow keeps working on it. He certainly has the right attitude for triathlon success. I also hope that he considers his race a success, even if he did not make the time cut-off.

Never underestimate the human spirit.

Race Day Eve

2009-10-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

There is nothing as sweet and at the same time as uncomfortable as the night before a big race. The big timers are busy losing sleep tonight in Kona, and I am doing the same here in my hometown in preparation for my race tomorrow. I will think of the Ironman World Championships tomorrow as I slog through my race at a a comparatively snail's pace.

When I get off my bike after half a day of climbing, I will thank my lucky stars that I only have 13.1 miles of running ahead of me!

Triathlon shorts for athletes with big legs

2009-10-03T08:32:00.000-07:00

My legs are longer, more muscular, and/or fatter than the ones the tri industry designs for. Having sampled tri shorts from every manufacturer on earth I can tell you that they must think that using the same jockey-sized Barbie and Ken manequins is a good idea. As the sizes get larger, there is indeed extra room in the booty area but the band of elastic known as the "thigh gripper" remains size "stick legs".

So I was really happy to see a new trend toward wide bands at the thigh without the grippers. I eagerly purchased a snappy pair on the internet and when I slipped them on................ARGHHHHH, the leg band was made of a compression type fabric that was even worse than the elastic grippers. It actually produced a little roll on the back of my thigh-huh? I know, I'm asking the same question. How can that happen? Well, the genius that designed the shorts used the high compression fabric for the leg opening and used regular lycra for the rest of the shorts so all the skin under the leg opening is pushed up and expands into the rest of the shorts and viola, you have a back of the thigh roll..........so flattering!

OK , so I gave it one last try. I had tried DeSoto a few years back but I recall that the shorts rolled up on my thighs and didn't work but the new line was supposedly better so I reluctantly ordered a pricey pair of DeSoto 200 ( or was it 400?) mile shorts and, well, I'm speechless. They are perfect. The leg opening is made of the same fabric as the rest of the short. My legs don't look like sausage links and the shorts feel and look fabulous.

Give DeSoto a try.....they could change your life!

Air Travel

2009-09-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

Why is it that 5 hours on the bike goes so fast and 5 hours on an airplane goes sooooo slow?

Returning from Hawaii yesterday was as always, a struggle to just get HOME. Maybe it is the destination that is the big difference between being on the bike and being on a plane.

Riding a bike is engaging, you have to pay attention to traffic, pedestrians and other cyclists, you have to monitor pace, fuel, reposition your rear-end and your hands so neither goes numb. But it's more than just being occupied that makes it better. It is the riding itself that is the destination and for someone that loves the bike, the end of a ride is a little sad. Like a cowboy patting his horse's neck for a job well-done, I always look at my bike in wonder as I hang it onto it's rack after a ride. How is it that the configuration of carbon and metal can transport me to such far away lands that have nothing to do with the actual miles? It is a wondrous thing.

Of course, sitting in a plane motionless for hours on end is near torture for a triathlete. Yeah, you can stand up and go to the back of the plane and stretch a bit but the stewardie will suspect you are engaging in terrorist activities if you if you start doing lunges or push-ups or anything that could work up a sweat. So you remain sedate-aching to move.

Imagine a plane that had spin bikes on board-pop in a DVD of your next IM course and get rolling. Coffee? Tea? Gatorade? How cool would that be? Why not an exercise area with mats, swiss balls and the beloved TRX? I can see you would not want medicine balls or dumbells loose in the cabin but heck, the TRX could double as a seatbelt in a pinch.

The sensations of training are a powerful drug to the triathlon addicted. Even strapped to my seat in the center seat, I am planing my next escape (workout) while those around me are planning their next meal. I am lucky. I can't wait to get back on my bike.

Stop playing the "Weight" card

2009-09-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

All that has been written about weight divisions (WDs) in triathlon boils down to this. " I am slow and this is why".

The criticism of weight divisions can be seen as prejudice against people of size, but I think it is simply that age groupers are tired of all the whining about why WDs exist and what it "means" to race WD rather than Age Group. Nothing seems to matter to a WD athlete as much as the fact that they are larger than ideal for the sport and therefore relatively slow. This preocupation is pretty boring to the age groupers who talk about all of the aspects of the sport.

WD athletes need to move beyond the limitations of their size and talk about something else, like how they get faster, how they train, what the sport brings them and what they contribute.

Triathletes are not defined by their speed. Speed only matters in relative terms on race day. Who else showed up? Were you faster or slower than the other athletes in your division? No one gives a rats you-know-what about how fast you are, except for you.

Your contribution to the world and to your family is through the example you set, how you live your life, your passion and your humility. Speed and size is nowhere on the list.

If WD athletes want to be an influential force in the sport, to get slots for Kona, to be featured in the media, and to be counted we should encourage and demonstrate camraderie, sportsmanship and athleticism in our ranks and forget about the scale.

Go to Team Clydesdale. org and become a member. Send an encouraging email to the founder, Guy East, Sr. Guy is working to breathe new life into the WD movement. Help him make it happen.

Photo Gallery: London Triathlon - Universal Sports

2009-09-09T09:29:00.001-07:00

Photo Gallery: London Triathlon - Universal Sports

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Weight Watchers: Why Don't Athletes Like It?

2009-09-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

Weight Watchers has the food issue down pat and although they stress the importance of exercise, they fall short of inspiring members to get out there and move. I stand out at meetings like a sore thumb. There are a few dedicated walkers, but I am always the only triathlete there. The discussion about exercise invariably have the same theme, "something unpleasant you gotta' do'.

For a dedicated triathlete, the thought of going into this kind of an environment is frankly, depressing. But it doesn't have to be. The last time I went, I stumbled upon a meeting that had a lively, hilarious leader and it was a kick to go for the "show" every week. Yeah, I was the token athlete and I am often called upon to comment on the discussion whenever athletics are discussed, but I don't mind that role.

I think athletes with a weight problem can benefit from Weight Watchers as long as they do a few simple things:

1. Shop the meetings for a leader you like. Don't settle for a class that is boring to you.
2. Be prepared to be the only athlete. Don't expect to see your tri buddies there.
3. Realize that when you contribute to the discussion, you are helping others. You can downplay your passion for the sport or you can become a walking advertisement for it depending on what you wear and what you say. Your passion for training (normal people call it "exercise") is foreign to most of the members and they will be shocked and inspired by you. When you contribute you become part of the group and it doesn't fee so strange anymore. You embrace the group, they embrace you and everyone wins.

In recent months WW has made great strides toward incorporating more activity into their promotional material and their weight loss program. Just today I picked up a booklet about exercise that suggested swimming, training for a 5k run and strength training for members.

This summer WeightWatchers teamed with Active.com and put together the "Momentum Walk-It Challenge". They gave WW's some "rewards" for participating in a weekly training program and completing an area 5k. WW/Active contracted with coaches to lead the training.
Interest in the program was overwhelming, with the various "teams" filling to capacity in a few days after the program was announced.

Would a triathlete participate in this kind of thing? Probably not. But the fact that WW/Active created the program shows they are on the right track. Face it, an overweight triathlete is not going to WW to get into shape, but to learn how to eat. With the right attitude, WW can be an enormous help for athletes.

I'm curious to hear from other triathletes that have succeeded with weight watchers.

Weight Watchers: Why don't men like it?

2009-09-04T10:58:00.000-07:00

WeightWatchers is the most nutritionally sound, maintainable weight loss programs around. But it has it's limitations. The cornerstone of the program are the weekly meetings but men hate them. Athletes often feel like fish-out-of-water there too, but that is a subject for another post. I am not sure why men dislike WW but here is my guess:

1. Men don't like sitting around with a bunch of women. Of course, if the women were college co-eds in cheerleader outfits, the men would find a way to suffer through it.

2. Men don't like it when they are outnumbered. Again, #1 applies.

3. Men are typically what I call, "Hungry Meat Eaters"(HMEs) and the way they overeat is different than what many women do. HMEs actually get hungrier than carbohydrate cravers ( most women) and they tend to eat when something they consider tempting (high fat, salty) is around. They are genetically distinct.

So an HME can't much relate to the frustrations and temptations faced by most women. They can't relate.

4. For men, admitting they are fat is emasculating. Men are warriors. They can get away with being large much more easily than women can for many reasons. But one of them is that large is associated with strength. Compare that to the typical female who berates her body daily. Discussing weight is a "chick" topic.

5. Male triathletes are too busy training to schedule a WW meeting into their day.

WeightWatchers has designed a program especially for men and it is computer based. I would be interested to hear from men that have experience with the program.

Welcome to my blog

2009-09-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

Getting lean has been a lifelong desire. Now that I have reached that holy grail and have held onto it for several years, I am officially a weight loss success story. But who cares about me? This blog is for triathletes that can't seem to shake the extra pounds (no matter how numerous), even with hours and hours of weekly training. It is frustrating, but possible to get rid of the weight without drowing in calculations everyday. You are busy enough downloading training data, who needs another graph to analyze?

Weight loss mostly requires a different mindset than "train more, train harder." I wrote about it in my book Weight Management For Triathletes which will be in bookstores next spring.
Go to my Ironplanner site for more information on the book.

This blog is to help triathletes learn about traditional weight loss methods, oh yea, "dieting" but in the triathlon sense. I don't think that word is PC but you get the idea..

I am also putting together a sister site (another blog) to help couch potatoes get moving, one step at a time. For them, it is not about the food but about the moves. I would put both blogs together but I think that couch potatoes and triathletes don't play nicely together......unless they are married to eachother with is usually the case. I don't think these couples argue much about food, it is mostly about who is the family screwball that spends most of their free time training, planning to train or recovering from it......... but I digress.

I beg you to indulge me as I make stupid mistakes, typos and misdirect links into oblivion. I am new to this stuff so be patient with me....anyone know how to use a cell phone?