Focus on Nutrition: The Sunday Prep

Y'all! This is not a new idea by any means, but oh, how it has enhanced my life.  What is it, you ask?  Why, it's the Sunday Prep!

Last weekend, I had a discussion with my husband that I had been putting off for a while.  I work until 5 and my husband usually works until around 6 and then heads home from various places ranging from 10 minutes from home to over an hour.  We had been trying to go to the gym together in the evenings.  I prefer to go straight after work because honestly, once I eat dinner and sit on the couch for even a minute-  I am toast!  Completely worthless for the rest of the night.  I'm lucky if I do so much as a load of laundry after dinner time.  It's my wind-down time, what can I say?  My husband on the other hand, is more of a night owl and would prefer to eat dinner and then hit up to the gym the last hour they are open.    Occasionally, this works for me- like if I don't have to work the next day, but honestly, it's not my preferred method.

Also, dinner had been taking a WHILE to cook lately.  I blame it in Pinterest.  I find all these great recipes on there and blindly buy all the ingredients to make them without paying attention to the prep and cook times.  Combine my finishing work later than usual, my husband getting home late, then me taking 1-2 hours just to make dinner, and no one was getting to the gym.  It was an awful feeling.

Fortunately, my husband is the male version of me in terms of brain waves, and he had been dreading having the same conversation.  The fact of the matter was, we needed to make the gym work for us individually rather than trying to go together every night, and just rejoice in the days where we could be there at the same time.  Whew! What a relief!  Also, I revealed to him that I wanted to clean up our eating all while still cooking at home.

Enter the Sunday Prep.  Last weekend I was fortunate enough to plan it all out on Saturday and head to the grocery store on Saturday versus Sunday, but going forward I will probably devote my entire Sunday to shopping AND prepping.  Anyway, first on the agenda was to prep some chicken breasts that I would need for a couple different things- a lower fat version of buffalo chicken wing dip for the Superbowl, plus some chicken salad for lunches.

I used my baby crock pot with only one setting.  It holds 2-3 chicken breasts.  I covered with water and added a smidgeon of sea salt, pepper and poultry seasoning and let it cook from mid-morning until late afternoon.  You can fork-shred it, or use your food processor.  I went the food processor route, which basically made the chicken breast finely ground.  Not to mention it was a lot less time-consuming than shredding by hand.  I'm sure there's probably an attachment on my food processor for shredding meats, but I have no clue where it would be.  Below is a shot of my lunch for the week (Mon-Thurs):

Chicken breast, shredded carrots, red onion, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, yellow mustard.

And here's how it looked as lunch, scooped into a ripe avocado, with leftover Superbowl veggies, greek yogurt dip and a homemade protein brownie, which I made 12 of, and froze half for the following week.

I also made egg muffins.  I've made these before and they are great because they are totally customizable (meat, veggies, cheese) and they keep for up to 10 days in the fridge.  Even my husband the non-breakfast eater loves eating them for breakfast. 

This time around I used spinach, mushrooms and part- skim mozzarella cheese.

 It was my first time using the silicone cupcake liners and WHOA- they certainly don't allow things to stick.  The things were practically popping out when I took them out of the oven!

 And I caught this guy snooping around when they were on the counter...

...so I built a fort to protect them.

 And this was the end result.  I had some plain, some with a little sour cream on top, and one day I made a breakfast burrito and added lowfat chipotle mayo and turkey bacon.  The possibilities are endless.

  I also made high protein turkey meatballs and semi-homemade sauce.  I stored the meatballs in the fridge inside a large Ziploc bag and the sauce separately.  It was our Wednesday night meal, so when we got home from the gym, I just threw everything into a pan and re-heated while the noodles were boiling.  It was delish, and there was enough for me to have one lunch from the leftovers and my husband made a meatball wrap for dinner the following night.

This past Sunday I was feeling a little less inspired, but I did manage to plan two crockpot meals plus leftovers, and I'll be making the chicken breasts in the crockpot this evening to use later in the week for curry chicken and veggies with brown basamati rice (which takes 30 mins, so I will probably make ahead of time and re-heat).  I cut up strawberries and prepped some grapes and baby carrots to have on hand, and secured some Babybel cheese to go with my fruit for a little protein/carb pre-gym snack.  For breakfasts this week I'll be polishing off  the leftover egg muffins and then moving on to overnight oats, which I will prep a night or two ahead of time of the days I plan to have them.  Lunch is going to be tuna salad on leftover wraps and salad ingredients. 

All in all, this is really proving to be a nice, easy way to have good dinners at home without feeling like I'm spending all kinds of time every night cooking.  This leaves more time for the gym, which will be important considering my training for the first triathlon on the list starts next week (yowza)!

If anyone out there is fan of this method and would like to share prep tips, good recipes to make ahead of time or any other tips, please feel free!  I'd love to make this routine a habit in order to simplify during triathlon season!

I'm Going to Be a Mentor!

I just got word via email today that I was accepted to be a mentor for Tri It For Life (TIFL)!  I'm pretty sure everyone who applied got accepted; however, I suppose if they really felt you were a douche, they could politely decline, so I feel honored anyway! The mentors who helped me along the way in preparing for my first triathlon were priceless.  I learned SO much more than I ever felt possible, and, as a result I completed my first triathlon with hardly any nerves. 

Here's the top 10 things I learned from training with a group that included seasoned mentors:

1. What gear to wear.  Plus, they are quick to share all the sales at local sports stores and great online finds.  For instance, did you know you can get Speedo bathing suits WITH cups (it's important, I'm working with a little more "boob" than that average triathlete) at COSTCO for like $20-25?  Amazing.

2.  How to use the gears on my bike.  Crucial, since I really had no idea, and hadn't seriously ridden a bike since like the 6th grade.

3.  How to SWIM.  I only swam recreationally, and only under water prior to my training, so I had kind of a long way to go.  By the triathlon, I swam the entire thing freestyle and didn't have a horrible time.  That was my proudest moment.

4. What to eat.  I'm the first to admit this is something I could have worked harder at last year, but you have to take these things one step at a time.  I did get a lot of word-of-mouth reviews on sports drinks, gels, "goo", good and bad snacks prior to training sessions, etc.  Plus, there is a gentle push to pay attention to your overall nutrition and how it plays into your training.   This is something I really want to hone in on this year.

5. How to avoid injury and when to take it easy versus push yourself.  Midway through training, I started having terrible knee pains.  I have had knee issues my entire life, starting when I was in 2nd grade with terrible "growing pains".  My knees pop and crack like crazy and I have to be pretty gentle with them.  It's nice to train with such a large group and to see how others handle times when they are sidelined.  Plus they know all the good doctors and chiropractors!

6.  How to be FIERCE.  I mean it!  Training with such a large, like-minded group of women just makes you feel great about yourself.  There were many times while running, on my bike, or in the pool, that I just felt like a badass.  And yes, I realize that the majority of those times I looked like a total noob, but it doesn't matter, because that is the magic that comes with a great training group.

7.  The realization that you CAN do it.  I mentioned before that I didn't get bitten by "the bug" right away, but becoming Facebook friends with my training partners and seeing their posts and blogs and other mentions of all the local races and fitness adventures really made me realize that I really like being a part of that scene.  Plus, now it's pretty much a given that I will know people at races, so it makes it less awkward.  :)

8.  Inspiration.  It's easy to look at the mentors and think they've been doing this forever, they've always been fit, or skinny, or into sports.  But as you get to know them and you hear bits and pieces of their stories you realize things like:  they have lost 50 pounds, they have 5 kids, they work 2 jobs and still manage to work out, they are juggling a full-time job and school, they want to run their first marathon.  It makes you realize that you CAN put aside your excuses and make time for yourself. 

9.  That women of all backgrounds, shapes, sizes and abilities can be athletes.  As a person with huge gym anxiety, and who makes scenarios up in her mind before working out that she will show up and be the least fit, least able person in the room- this means the world.  The world.

10.  What to pack to be absolutely prepared on race day.  We went over and over this and it was wonderful.  This is what helped me shake the nerves on race day.  I knew I had everything I needed.  I knew if I didn't, someone else likely would have me covered. 

I am also pretty pumped because all I have to do is show up for the training sessions to help out as a mentor and it's pretty much like free training for me.  And free motivation.  Because I seem to be lacking in that department lately.  I have started back at the gym after December took me down with travel, an upper respiratory infection, the effing FLU and then moving.  I'm still going only sporadically, and might have to make some changes to my work hours in order to get this to be a more regular thing.  I mean, I seriously need to start training for that May triathlon like in February.  Which is............soon. 

Here We GO!

Last year about this time, I was in the process of relocating to Charlotte, NC.  An old friend who lived there mentioned- in the middle of selling our house and packing, no less- that once I made it to Charlotte, I should do a triathlon.  Was she CRAZY?!  In a word, no.  She had a brilliant idea.  At the time, I was thinking she was suggesting that I subject myself to something along the lines of an Ironman Triathlon.  You know, the one they show on TV, where they highlight the people at the end, when they are running a full marathon, after having swam an biked some ridiculous amount?  They always show the old men who are fainting, and the people who are just about to miss the deadline for coming in dead last.  Sounds like a real hoot.

She didn't have that in mind at all.  What she was thinking I would enjoy was a called sprint triathlon.  They range a bit in the distances that you run, bike and swim, but the one that I would end up training for was a 250 meter swim, an 8 mile bike ride and a 2 mile "out and back" run.  Totally doable.  Kind of like one of those days where you head to the gym after a venti latte and end up accidentally staying for 3 hours.  Yeah, okay, I don't do that more than once every 2 years, but it's been known to happen.

I was a little distracted (moving, packing, dealing with the completely ridiculous demands of the people who bought our house), so I kind of missed the part where she told me I could do ALL my training with a group that specifically trains people who have never done a triathlon.  The group is called Tri it For Life, and I had literally never heard of anything like this before.  Here I was thinking, "Man, I am really not sure about this.  I'm going to have to find someone to teach me how to swim better, get a bike, AND do all this crazy training on my own?!?"  It didn't sound like fun, honestly, even though I was pretty excited about potentially completing a triathlon.  Eventually, I got bored and looked up this training group she mentioned, and the rest is history.

I will do more blogs about my specific training experience as well as my first triathlon later, but the bottom line is that this experience changed my life.  I met an ENORMOUS group of fantastic women- ranging from couch potatoes (at the time) to marathon runners looking for a new adventure.  I got the training I needed, the confidence I lacked, and an overall amazing experience. 

The mentors were INCREDIBLE.  Everyone had their own inspiring story of how they got started and what the journey has meant to them.  Everyone was SO nice.  And the best part?  It wasn't like I imagined, where I walked into a training group where everyone was good at all three sports, a size 2, and perfectly groomed and beautiful.  Not at all.  There was such an amazing range of shapes, sizes, abilities.  One thing was the same- everyone's attitude.  Everyone who stuck to it was so awesome to be around, so inspiring.  I never regretted going to training session, although there were several I wanted to skip.  When triathlon day came, I was far more cool, calm, and collected than I had anticipated.  My mentors and training friends had made me TOTALLY prepared.

None of the ladies from my tri group know this, but when I finished my very first tri, I went to the bathroom to pee and I was overcome with emotion.  I remember looking at my medal and absolutely shaking with happiness.  Tears were shed (in private- ask any of my training partners- I come across as kind of a hard ass, but I'm really a mushball at heart). 

To be honest- and I think this is totally okay:  I didn't get bitten by "the triathlon bug" at first.  After all was said and done, I just wanted to take a break.  Get a massage.  Take a week off from working out.  And as time flew by, I found that I wasn't getting to the gym much without a goal to work towards.  I had the best intentions, but I kept making excuses.  Plus, I missed my Tri it For Life girls. 

So, I signed up for the Ramblin' Rose Charlotte 5-Mile Race on Saturday, September 29th.  It was a mini-reunion for a lot of my training pals, and I did get a little bit of "the bug" then.

I realized that I really like being part of something that is so positive and so visible within my community.  I like having an instant group of friends who are fitness-minded.  This is something that I've never had before.  I knew on that day that despite the inner part of me who hates to be on display, doesn't like celebrating herself, feels constant gym anxiety and has many, many cases of the "I Can'ts", this group makes me realize that despite all the ways that feel like I am not an athlete, I AM.  

And even when you sign up thinking, "I'll just do this one race, just to see what all the hoopla is about", it's really not enough.  Not when you align yourself with several hundred positive role models, who are constantly posting training updates and race results to their Facebook pages.  It makes you want to be a part of the action so that you can continue to work towards breaking free from a past life of negative body image and feelings of self-doubt.  I want to strive to shake with happiness at the end of the race.  Again and again.

With that said, I'm challenging myself BIG TIME this year.  With what, you ask?  Not only will I agree to give back and become a mentor for the 2013 class of Tri it For Life ladies, but I am also going to strive to complete the entire Ramblin' Rose Series of Triathlons!

May 5th, 2013:  South Charlotte

May 19th, 2013:  Raleigh,NC

July 14th, 2013: Rock Hill, SC

August 18th, 2013: Winston-Salem, NC

September 22, 2013:  Huntersville, NC

October 6th, 2013:  Chapel Hill, NC

Yeah, I can't believe it either.  A little bit of me is worried I'm going to miss a sign-up deadline, or schedule something on top of one of these, but this is my goal and I'm going to work really hard to make this accomplishment happen. 

Next up is getting a road bike.  I did the last tri with "Heavy D", my mom's hybrid bike and if you couldn't guess, it was pretty heavy and very challenging to ride at times.  I had to hold onto a road bike for a friend and realized that I have purses that weigh more than that bike did.  Imagine the possibilities with such a lighter bike!