Shifting my weight.
I think I’ve figured out what my body is doing here.
I’m building muscle mass, check. I’m gaining a little weight, check. I’m starting to look slimmer… not check.
I think what’s happening is that I’m building muscle, which is well and good, except that it’s pushing all my fat OUT. I’m sure with time I’ll work it all down and lean muscle mass will rule the day (my long runs are around 8 miles now; when we’re talking 12 or 14 miles, we’ll talk again.) I just need to hang in there.
Sadly, weight loss nutrition and sports nutrition are somewhat at odds with each other. Fueling an intense run requires eating in quantities and composition things that from a weight loss perspective I am not inclined to consume. I need to find a balance so that I can adequately fuel my run, develop longer and longer endurance, but also avoid overfueling and building fat stores rather than depleting them.
Damn, but I wish I were better at this nutrition thing. In any case, I’m trying to relax. I’m trying to look at these small gains not as setbacks but as the implementation of a new paradigm, new goals with new priorities. Maybe I will never actually hit my weight loss goal, but if one day I can maintain an 8 minute mile, will it feel worth it?
I don’t know yet. I’ll let you know when I get there.
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Perhaps you’ve enlightened me on what’s been driving me batty these last few weeks. I added a step aerobic class to my exercise routine (a low impact version is about all I can do with my defective skeletal structure). The class wipes me out and even though I’m always hungry I don’t want to eat. Perhaps it’s all this focus on core strengthening. Perhaps I just don’t know how to balance the nutrition right yet. Thanks for getting me thinking about it from a new different perspective!
I seem to write to you a lot, Diane… my old trainer told me that I should have a protein bar before a class, or a good workout, and then an apple afterwards. I always try to get in some good electrolytes (I use the BLUE Emergen-C) after the workout – not during.
Cheryl – I’m sure you have thoughts on this…
noelle´s last blog post..Okay, I slack.