Metabolism

Oh thank you so much holidays, turkey and pie, bread, rolls, cookies and candies, ham, potatoes, more cookies.  Dear God in Heaven!  Uncle!  I cry Uncle!  Its funny, being in shape is a lifestyle, slide downhill headfirst on eating well, and all of a sudden I don't have enough energy for my workout and I feel like garbage.  I explored this a little bit months ago when I realized bread and pasta hated me, You can get a little reminder here.

So the on the downhill slide I found myself sliding into week 10 of my training and not anywhere close to where I should be, and skipping almost as many workouts as I finished.  Oh boy, we're in trouble now!  So, back to good habits I go.  A lifestyle is just that!  You can do and have anything but it all needs to be in balance.  Have that dinner/dessert, but know that the next morning getting out of bed won't be as easy- but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it!

A good friend was good enough to start a running group (something I am convinced we all need from time to time for motivation).  I was lucky enough to be able to make a run with the lovely ladies!  Goodness knows we chattered away, about one thing in particular that triggered all of our brains, and most women's: that crafty elusive pain in the ass thing- METABOLISM.

So I have spent my day doing a little bit of research.  Here's what I have:

Metabolism is the process of converting calories into energy.  Most people when they think of metabolism, they are actually talking about basal metabolic rate (BMR).  This is the number of calories that your body needs just to run (sitting still, doing nothing, just breathing, moving blood around, repairing cells that we have broken down).  This accounts for the greatest amount of calorie usage.  Lots of things play a part in the BMR.  The bigger you are or the more muscle you have, the faster this process is.  Sex also plays a part, going back to the first factor- men tend to have more muscle mass, and therefore BMR goes up.  Age!  This also goes back to the first factor- as age increases, muscle mass decreases and fat stores increase.

Other things that play a role, food digestion- this is the smallest piece, and it can be changed in small little ways, but not really enough to notice a big difference.  This is in contrast to physical activity- the more you do, the more you burn!  Cardio is great, a few hundred extra steps a day makes a huge difference.  Weight lifting builds muscle mass which increases your BMR.  Makes sense right?  Now, the curveball, want to starve yourself skinny?  Nope try again, your Metabolism actually protects you when you try to do this.  It slows down the processes of the body, and your BMR actually goes down, so when you fall off the wagon and eat like a normal person, it is actually now too many calories according to your BMR.

Now, how does this work in real life?  The best example I can think of is that first week on the Biggest Loser.  I know you have all seen the show.  These people who are morbidly obese, and are used to eating lets say 4500 calories per day (I imagine it is probably higher, but don't have data to back that up).  Their BMR's are very high already because of the fact that they are obese and it takes more energy to make their body run.  Now, you cut the calories down to an appropriate amount and bam!  Weight loss!  Even small changes in caloric intake can make a big difference when you are overweight- take advantage of that high BMR!  On top of this, Jillian and Bob lock them in the gym for hours a day- something that they never did before.  More calories!

Does this apply to everyone?  Absolutely.  Now there are some studies that have shown that for women who weigh the same amount, eat the same types of food, and have the same level of activity, they have varying metabolisms- but all right around the same range. 

So, summary, weight loss happens in the kitchen- calories in, calories out.  Feed your body what it needs, don't starve, but back off a bit on the indulgences and the huge portions.  Build your muscle mass, it will help you burn.  And tuck in as many extra steps as you can during the course of the day.

So ladies, I guess we can't blame it on the metabolism any more :)

Madison Turkey Trot

On my run today my brain wandered in about 8000 directions, but the intermittent vibration from my heartrate monitor dragged me back to the task at hand, not too fast, not too hard, get your heart ready to race for what may be 17 hours....  It reminded me of my Thanksgiving day run, and how much that it confirmed for me that the heartrate training is 100% the way to go.

Wednesday, full day of work, dinner, then off to a night shift in the ER, home in the morning to change and drink another cup of coffee, off to Madison to freeze my kootukas off and run 5.1 miles.  Hubby was good enough to freeze with me as I certainly was in no position to drive at that point.  I committed to myself that despite the race atmosphere, I was not going to get caught up with the crazy nuts trying to run 8 min miles (something that seems reasonable to many of you, but to me is nowhere near inside my realm of possibility- especially for five miles.)  Instead, I would pay attention to my heartrate and keep it as close to Zone 2 (75-85% of Max HR).  I knew that this would mean a slow pace as so many things were impacting even my resting heartrate that morning: cold, fatigue, dehydration and caffeination- it was a miracle my resting heartrate wasn't in Zone 2.

So I popped my earbuds in and went for a jog.  Trudging along and letting other people run past me, I just kept moving.  My heartrate would drift up, and I would back off.  Hubby asked me afterwards where the course went, and honestly I told him- I'm not sure.  All I could focus on was one foot in front of the other, and am I going too fast?  At 3.5 miles I knew I could pick it up a bit, and I did, a little bit with each half mile, and was actually able to sprint the last little bit.  By the time I reached the finish line, I was whooped!  But I finished, and I didn't have to walk at all.  It had nothing to do with conditioning or race strategy, but instead, to listening to my body and my heart!

This is working, and I am loving every minute!  Despite feeling crummy today, I got my run in and am one long run closer to my goal.   Its coming together, slowly but surely!

  

Inspiration

Some days are better than others.  Some you wake with a fire under your you know what, and some days you are lucky to have a passing thought of your goal throughout the course of the day.  Myself, I have found there have been far more of the latter than the former.  Not good.  Most early wake up calls have been nixed by the thought of another two hours in bed.  Most afternoons have been sucked up by the couch and a bad tv show.  Every part of my day in between those two moments is no more dedicated to my race and myself than the beginning or the end.  From a crummy lunch, to a lazy attitude, I'm not on the glorious road to Ironman that I imagined.  Instead I am on a rocky side road and am stuck in some sort of pothole I think.

This leads me to wonder, why do this?  It isn't just the goal, it is the journey, who it makes me, who I become during this.... wait.... I'm going to change?  There are two camps on this, one that says that you will never be the same after an Ironman, one that says that the race doesn't change you at all.  Which is it?  My take is that I have this need to do the race because of who I am deep down inside, and that this drive has always been there (just ask my family and my husband, I'm confident they will confirm.)  The journey to the race though- I think that is what truly changes you, or maybe just molds you into the person that you are meant to be.

This starts with getting out of bed for that early morning workout.  I suppose there are some people that just pop out of bed with the race in their head being enough.  Then there are the pros who are just getting up and going to work (JEALOUS!)  Meanwhile, I have the alarm go off and think, why?!  So many mornings I have no answer, or I ignore it.

In the beginning of all of this I said I would race for St. Jude's kids, and I am set up to do that!  Check out my website.  www.heroes.stjude.org/krisironmantexas  This certainly adds a bit of fuel to the fire, to know how hard kids are fighting, I certainly can do that little work out.

Then I have books, multitudes of them, that I keep reading, crying, and reading some more.  Written by pro's, written about average Joes, telling their stories, their journey.  Well, sheesh, if they can do it, so can I right?

Finally, today I stumbled upon perhaps my most important inspiration and motivation... Me!  Already on this journey I have learned so much about myself, about eating, working out, my job, my marriage, my temper, and the balance of it all.  So, as I balance myself, my chi, my something, tell me:  What is your inspiration?  What gets you rolling?


Also, seriously, check out my fundraising website, donate what you can, even a couple bucks can make a difference in medicine and in a child's life!  Thank you!