nutrition overhaul

most people who know me know me as somewhat of a "health nut". i used to think this was a lame title, and some people currently do, but either way you look at it...it's potentially a healthy way of life. i say potentially because being a health nut can really go two ways (in my opinion):

health nut #1: obsessive compulsive about what foods are or aren't consumed and it's on their mind every minute of the day.

health nut #2: aware of what foods are or aren't being consumed and base this solely on the fact that either the food is healthy or is not healthy.

i'd love to sit here and type out reasons why/how i am health nut #2...unfortunately, i'm not. i mean...i am now, but i wasn't before very recently.

emily and i have a friend who is a registered dietitian and she knows a lot about nutrition. she knows a lot about sports nutrition and more importantly...she is actually interested in it. there's nothing worse than talking to someone that knows a lot about something, but doesn't have any passion for it, so when they share the information it comes out robotic. does that make sense?

recently i've been realizing that i really need to recommit to my nutritional needs so i start getting the full benefit out of my workouts. for the past couple years i've been caught in a "restricted eating" mindset that all started when i lost all of the weight. this way of thinking has kept me pretty stagnant in my training for races and other goals i've set. most recently, my first full marathon experience when i was so concerned about not taking in too many calories that i wasn't properly fueled to run the marathon i wanted. result = totally bummed out.

so last week i was able to meet with our friend who is now my "sports nutritionist" and she's helping me understand my nutritional needs. my first need? eat more food. i found out last week that i should be eating about 1,000 calories MORE per day than i do now. whaahuh!?! the night before meeting with her, emily asked, "so...what will you do if she tells you to do something you don't agree with?" i proudly responded, "i'll do it. i've been trying it my way for a couple years now and it's obviously not working. she's smarter than me, so whatever she says i'll try." for some reason it was harder to commit to that way of thinking when my friend told me i needed to eat 1,000 calories more in a day. i think i almost said, "you're out of your mind!" but i resisted. fortunately, she's having me baby step up to my new goal and starting with just adding a couple hundred calories per day this first week.

to most people understanding how important nutrition is in endurance sports isn't that complex, but applying it to my daily life is for some reason. somehow in the transition of being an obese, lazy, non-endurance athlete into becoming an endurance athlete i'm just now realizing how important sports nutrition is in reaching new levels. i'm really excited to see what my sports nutritionist will offer. of course i'll be tracking all of the numbers cause i'm a nerd like that and it's no shocker that i will of course update my blog on all of my new achievements. no matter what happens...at least it sounds cool when i tell people i have a sports nutritionist. next up...sponsorship!! is that free, too!?