The Perfectionist's Diet Dilemma

My dinner plate at a Mother's Day brunch.  Not so bad, you say?  This was AFTER a plate of breakfast food and before a slice of carrot cake!  

Getting plenty of exercise....No Problem!  Eating healthy....that is an ongoing battle for me!  When I began this triathlon adventure, I thought I'd lose weight.  Didn't happen!  Researching the subject, I've learned that your weight situation can be broken down like this:  10% of what you are is hereditary.  Another 10% of your weight is how much activity you average in a day.  Now get this:  80% of your weight situation is what you eat!  If you are like me and have no problem getting activity in and wonder why you are not losing weight, this can be extremely discouraging.  I've pondered, "Why do anything if all this activity only accounts for 10% of my weight?"  I instantly answer back with the gazillion reasons why activity is so healthy.  I've remained off of medications because exercise has reduced my blood pressure, increased my HDL (the good cholesterol you want high) that counteracts my borderline bad cholesterol, keeps my blood sugar low and although I haven't lost weight, I haven't put any more on either (and often I believe I deserve to put more on!).

In light of all this, I still need to acquire a right mindset about diet.  We Americans spend too much time thinking about food and that is probably half the problem.  May is a big food month, as bad as December, in my opinion.  Year end banquets, retirements, graduations, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Teacher Appreciation Week, etc.  Events = Food and plenty of it!  My mindset becomes, "Why bother...Eat all you want, when you want and start over in June.  But then June becomes a problem because there is a vacation coming up.  Why bother since half the month will be blown.  July....Independence Day, out of town visitors, Rib Fest...August... Back to school, birthday celebrations, and on and on.  The problem is not that there is an event coming up.  The problem is PERFECTIONISM.  I read an article years ago that said the clinical definition to perfectionism is not that the person creates a perfectly clean house, is super organized and everything just right (and who has ever really achieved that), but that this is what is desired and because it is impossible to achieve, nothing is done.  This is an all or nothing approach.  So many of us see the perfect diet as impossible because of these events and throw in the towel since the event will disrupt the perfect diet.

DO THE MATH:  Say in two weeks there will be two events coming up; a family barbecue and a year-end banquet from a committee you've served on.  Both will have enough food to feed an army.  If we "perfectionists" say to ourselves, "Why bother..." and indulge each day before that event (say 2000 calories VS 1500, for example)  and 3000 calories on each of the two days of events, we consumed 30,000 calories in a two week period.  That's an average of 2,143 calories a day for the two weeks.  BUT...if you followed your plan and averaged 1,500 calories a day on 12 days of non-events, and still over-indulged on just those two days with the events (3000 calories for each event in this case), you would have consumed 24,000 calories.  A difference of 6,000 calories!  Since it takes 3,500 calories to gain a pound, you would have gained at least a pound and a half from fretting over two events that caused you to "throw in the towel".  By following your healthy eating and staying within normal limits, even over indulging on two days would have had no affect on your weight assuming you returned to normal eating.  Dear me:  It's not rocket science.  It all comes down to this:  LIVE DAY BY DAY...Not month by month or week by week.  Even better...look at the event eating as a time to have a little extra something, not a free for all eating day.  But if that is not going to happen, tell yourself at the very least, I have today and today...I choose to eat right!  There will ALWAYS be an event around the corner that involves a lot of food. My Mother's Day meal caused me to have a bad week because I kept thinking about it and had the all or nothing mentality.  Today is a new day and another event is coming up.  My goal:  Don't think about the event and its' food until the day actually gets here.  Live today TODAY...Live tomorrow TOMORROW.  I'm off now to eat my Flax Oatmeal and fresh strawberries!

Happy Trails....and Happy Healthy Eating!

Swim Strong!

swim workout

I created the following workout and my teammates really liked it.  Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was not able to do the entire workout and had to cut out 500 yards.  But here is the workout in its' original form.  

FOCUS IS ON STRONG ARMS FOR A STRONG PULL:

Warm Up:  200 swim, 200 kick, 300 pull, 100 fist drill, 100 drill of your choice

Main set:  Repeat 2X:  100 fist drill, 200 pull, 300 swim (focusing on strong pull and follow through)

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6 X 50 strong/sprint (focus on a strong pull & follow through VS a fast rotation of arms)

200 Kick

300 swim moderately focusing on good form

Cool Down:

100 Easy

Total:  3000 Yards

A workout should have a purpose and this purpose was to strengthen the pull in the freestyle stroke.  Something I always need to work on! Along with other dynamics, a strong pull goes far in swim efficiency.  Enjoy!

Lynn

How "Young" Are You?

My 89 year old mother with 10 month old, great-granddaughter, Charlotte.

When I was training for my first triathlon in 2008, at age 52, I often asked myself what on earth I was doing!  Certainly, I was not aging gracefully.  Was this an age denial thing?  Whatever it was, I was still having fun and that's what kept me going.  But as the race was drawing nearer, I was getting very nervous.  Could I actually pull this off?  The triathlon class I was taking at the YMCA had a coach who always seemed to know how to put things in perspective.  She told us (many were in their middle aged years and also was about to do their first triathlon), "If you start to panic race day morning remember this:  Most people your age are still in bed (triathlons usually start at 7 AM on a week-end day)."  That did seem to put it all in perspective.  We we were all there to accomplish something great in our fitness world.  So what if we were age defiant.  We're going out kicking and screaming VS laying on a couch. There's solid evidence that exercise is the best fountain of youth fix out there.  Along with a healthy diet, of course.  

A great way to measure how you are doing in the healthy living department, is to take the RealAge test.  This is a fantastic tool!  It may take 20 minutes or so to answer all the questions, but it'll be the most interesting 20 minutes you've probably ever had in test taking.  Click on the link below and start this awesome adventure.  You'll be asked a variety of questions that starts with your family history, then your history, current health habits (or lack thereof), etc.  If you have your last blood cholesterol and blood pressure numbers, get them out for this test.  Otherwise, you can answer that you don't know.  You will see two numbers at the top of your screen throughout the test.  One number never changes and that is your biological age.  The other number will fluctuate up and down as you take the test.  This number is called your "RealAge".  Although you cannot change the day you were born, much as we'd like to sometimes, your RealAge is greatly affected by what you do or don't do.  After plugging in my family history and all my borderline cholesterol and blood pressure medicines, health history and yes, even not so great dietary habits, the exercise portion came up next...and was last on the test.  Before this exercise portion, my RealAge was about three years older than I actually was.  By the time I finished the exercise portion, my RealAge had dropped to several months younger than my biological age.  It was absolutely AMAZING how plugging in those hours of exercises and types of exercise, etc., shaved those years off.  AND....it showed me that if I fixed my dietary habits and ate healthier, I could have off even more years.  It was a real eye opener.  The test is FREE, by the way...so there is no excuse not to do it.  AND...you can lay on the couch with a laptop or iPad to do it! So what are you waiting for....  Curl up on the sofa with a cup of coffee and get started on your "Fountain of Youth".  Here is the link:

Take The RealAge Test

Another thing that keeps us young...Routine tests to stop diseases in their tracks.  Not every disease has a test and ovarian cancer is one of them.  If you haven't already, will you help me help researches who are very close to developing a routine blood test to detect this silent killer in its' early stages when treatment is 98% effective?  Here is the link to my fund raising page:

Lynn's Fundraising Page for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund

Your donation will be MUCH appreciated!  Thank you so much,

Lynn

Get Motivated ~ Stay Motivated

Someone recently asked me for tips on how to get motivated and stay motivated.  I promised her I'd answer in a blog post in case others were also interested.  I know I enjoy reading how others stay motivated.  Here are a few things that keep me going. . . (Photos by me, unless stated otherwise):

Believe it or not, I didn't really get active until my 40s when I started walking to and from work with a co-worker.  Summers, when we were off work, we met at mutually agreed places for morning walks.  Eventually, this co-worker transferred to another building and I was left to fend for myself in the motivation department.  I began to slack off and just couldn't seem to do it on my own!  So...Motivation tip #1: ENLIST FRIENDS (Family will do...Even dogs!)

I rejoined the YMCA but soon was bored with the treadmill and other equipment.  For something different, I decided to try the free classes.   I LOVED it.  If you show up for the same class at the same time, you start making friends!  If you miss a class or two, these new friends start to ask you where you've been.  Motivation Tip #2:  ACCOUNTABILITY!  (meeting friends or committing to a class...people will expect you to show up)

(Google Image)

A neighbor and I joined one class together and as we were walking into the Y, a gal she knew was walking out.  They chatted briefly about this and that and this person asked my neighbor if she was interested in doing the women's triathlon in our town that occurs every June.  She talked about a triathlon class that the Y has which she was in the previous year and had a blast....how everyone was encouraging one another, etc.   I thought this sounded really fun and challenging so when I saw the sign for signing up, I did.  Motivation Tip #3:  TRY SOMETHING NEW AND CHALLENGING TO KEEP IT FUN!

This leads right away to the next tip.  This one is probably my biggest motivator, at least for me.  Motivation Tip #4:  SIGN UP FOR A RACE OR EVENT!  Not all races are about speed.  There are plenty of walking events.  Research on the Internet for different types of events.  Most are charity related and a few, though not too many, will let you race for free if you get enough sponsors.  Many of the shorter races, 5Ks for example, are anywhere from $20-35.  Signing up for a race/event gives you a goal and a purpose to your workouts.  It's fun to spend several weeks or months increasing your endurance and/or speed.  And at the end of the race, you get the finish line party with food (usually more on the healthy side...not always though), music, friends.  At packet pick-up before the race, you get a free shirt and possibly other goodies in a bag (aka, "Swag").   Some races have medals for all finishers.  Race events keep me going!  This is a STRONG motivator.  I recently had a physical therapist who told me she does the sprint triathlons just to keep her swimming, biking and walking.  She doesn't care about her time.  She swims at a leisure pace, rides her bike like she's cruising through her neighborhood and walks the 5K.  All she wants is to have a goal to keep going and enjoys going through the course with hundreds of others (note...Triathlons are more expensive than walking/running events often reaching or excedding $100).

Sometimes, even through these measures, we can start to get bored.  Need to spice it up a bit (whatever activity you are doing)?  Motivation Tip #5:  NEW WORKOUT CLOTHES (hopefully, in a smaller size!) Kohl's has a nice workout clothing section for reasonable rates.  OR...some NEW MUSIC on your music player.

As much as I like to swim with friends, and cycle with friends, I usually prefer to run or walk alone these days.  With running especially.  My pace is usually slower than most people I know and I fear that I hold them back.  Plus, I like the solitude.  I don't always listen to music but meditate, pray, think... Before I know it, I'm home!  What motivates me if I'm having trouble getting out the door for a lone workout, is ..... Motivation Tip #6:  TRACKING!  Call it logging, journaling...same difference.  Keep track of your workouts as some do with food intake.  And better yet, as many of you know, post it to facebook!  I LOVE seeing what workouts others do and love to cheer them on.  Likewise, it's fun to receive the same motivation from friends.  You can do this either on paper or online.  I prefer the latter and use these websites to log in activity:  Daily Mile .  You can "friend" people on this activity journal site that has a social aspect to it as well.  For walking, go to Map My Walk .  Map my Run and Map my Ride are basically the same thing under different sport names.  Another fun website that tracks both activity AND food, with an awesome food data base, is My Fitness Pal or Sparkpeople  You can google "free fitness journal" or other similar phrases to see other free tracking sites.

Even with all these tips, there are just times when nothing seems motivating.  Do your best to get out the door no matter how hard it seems at the moment.  You will NEVER regret it in the end.  As the Reebok ad says, "Life is short.  Play hard!"

"Me too?"

No Swan Song For Me!

Last January, I went in to my orthopedic surgeon because my "healed" broken pelvic bone was bothering me now that I could run again (it had been six months since the accident and I was not allowed to run until Jan. 1st).  I asked for a prescript for physical therapy.  He gave me one, but said running might not be an option for me any more as sometimes, such bone breaks permanently weaken the bone making it too sensitive to put that much stress on it.  I wanted to cry!  I was a bit angry with him on that statement because it seemed so insensitive, real as it might be.  He had no idea how important this was to me.  To label me disabled to run at this point was heart crushing.  I tried to tell myself to be thankful I could at least walk, and I truly am, but running and tri training have become a big part of my life.  It keeps me off medications and I absolutely LOVE the community.  What it does for me physically is probably not as much as what it does for me psychologically.

With prescription in hand, and on a friend's recommendation, I went to a physiotherapist who specializes in pelvic disorders.  In a short time, I was on the road again running pain free!  NO SWAN SONG FOR ME!  My first race of the season was a success, though slow, in that I was able to finish standing up and with a smile on my face!

With my good friend, Dina...We ran together the entire 8K (5 miles) through downtown Chicago.  One of the most fun runs I've ever done!

With my granddaughter, dressed as a Shamrock herself, Charlotte (10 months).

The only obstacle left is my foot.  After buying a new pair of running shoes, a different brand, an irritated joint at the top of my foot has been interfering with my run training.  I had to return the shoes and go back to my old familiar pair in a new version.   My foot is still tender, but it has slowly been getting better.  I've had to cut back on my running but have been able to gradually increase it as my foot heals.  Foot stretching with a band has really helped.  I'm trying to avoid more visits to a P.T.!  

Next race up:  A 5K run May 19th put on by my computraining coach (Computraining:  Your bike is hooked up to a computer where you get feedback on mph, distance, power wattage, etc.  With a group of other cyclists, a cycling workout program is provided with a coach guiding you along the way.  MAJOR WORKOUT!  Lots of sweat!).  Again...I won't be running all out, but just having fun with friends as this foot heals.  

Hoping for total healing by June 9th when I do my first triathlon of the season.  This year, I am raising funds for the race's sponsored charity that is very special to me.  The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.  My mother passed away from ovarian cancer just three weeks after her diagnosis.  Now a co-worker of mine is about to go through the same thing.  Her mother has been battling ovarian cancer for two years and now there is nothing left the doctors can do.  I am racing this event in honor of her mother and her journey as well as in memory of my dear, sweet mother.  If you would be so kind to help me out with a donation to this important organization, I would be so grateful.  Click on this link to get to my fundraising webpage:  OCRF Page of Lynn Kirchhoff OR...you may make a donation offline by making the check payable to, OCRF and give to me.  Please E mail me if you need my address at:  teniswhiz@aol.com .  My goal is to raise a minimum of $500, but hoping to raise at least $1,000.  Thank you so much for considering a donation to this worthy cause. 

 Right now, there is no reliable routine test for ovarian cancer.  The C-125 test you may have heard of is NOT a diagnostic test.  It is a tumor marker once used for screening, but gave too many false positives that led to women getting total hysterectomies (some in their child bearing years who wanted to have children!) unnecessarily.  Ovarian Cancer is curable in the very early stages at 98%.  The problem is, there are no symptoms this early and a physician would have had to bump into while treating the patient for something else.  This rarely happens.  Subtle symptoms show up when the disease is very advanced and usually no longer treatable.  Ovarian Cancer is one of the silent killers.  A blood test has been in the works that would measure the very tiny change that occurs in the blood when ovarian cancer begins.  It has been a challenge to get this blood test to be reliable enough to market.  More research and development needs to be done, but researchers are optimistic that it will happen.  The fund also supports research and development for better treatment options for those needing chemotherapy.  I hope and pray that one day  soon, our medical community will have the tools it needs to wipe out this and all cancers.

That's it for now.  If you would like to be notified of future blog entries, please click on the "join this site" link on the right side of this blog.  I hope to keep it updated throughout the racing season and not only post on my progress, but provide useful information such as articles related to health, recipes, tips, etc.  

Take care and God Bless You All!  

Lynn

On The Road Again

Eleven weeks into recovery and I'm finally back on the bike!  Never thought I'd miss it as much as I did.  It was very difficult obeying doctor's orders, but I did it not wanting ANY setbacks!  So far, I've taken two rides.  Five miles the first ride and ten miles on ride number two.  The Bianchi hybrid bike is my bike of choice.  A great bike for leisure riding and riding on trails of a variety of surfaces.  She's not a fast bike, but I did ride her for the first two years of triathlons.  I'll ride this Italian beauty for a few rides before trying out my road bike.  After adjusting to the road bike, Fabio (the tri bike) will be right behind it.  He's easier to cruise on than the road bike, actually.  It's just being more in the aero position that may cause discomfort on some sensitive parts.  So far....very little soreness.  Only a slight reminder that there was an accident a few weeks ago.

Barring any little nuances, the rides have been spectacular.  Such beautiful weather we've been having! I don't remember any other September being so nice.  Perfect temperatures, balmy breezes, no humidity, very sunny...makes me wonder what state I live in!

Great scenery from my rides:

 Looking ahead...I'm anxious to begin running but am happy to be riding for now.  October 15 is my next ortho appointment.  The doc will have an X ray done and see if the fracture has sealed over.  It had not sealed one month ago and I was told to drink a lot of milk and take a little extra Vitamin D.  Being VERY obedient on this!!!  No running until he gives me the green light.

What a summer!  Although the accident was unfortunate, I still had a GREAT one!  Perhaps one of the best in my life.  While on crutches and illicit drugs for the pain, I received a lot of cards, meals, phone calls and visits from friends.  People helped me out in many ways and some of them were not even close friends and yet still wanted to help.  A big thanks to all of you!!!  Even if I only know you via facebook, your words of encouragement always lifted my spirits.

  Most of all, the summer introduced a HUGE blessing, our granddaughter, Charlotte Fe (a.k.a. "Charlie").  She is so sweet and adorable!  I love her tons!  Her Mama and Pappa are pretty awesome too!

  In addition to her entering the world and our lives, both of my sons finally are employed!  The job situation of our time has hit hard on young people more than any other age group (unlike previous high unemployment events).  Charlie's dad, Ben, got a job with a local NBC/FOX TV local affiliate in Quincy, IL just two weeks before the baby was born.  Whew!  And Adam is now working with a private ambulance company as an EMT.  He's applying for paramedic school and can have flexible hours at work to accommodate his school schedule.  We are SO blessed!  God has been good beyond what we deserve and I am so thankful!  Perhaps the positive in the accident was that it made me see what awesome friends and family I have and to slow down and take it all in!

Happy Trails once again...

Accidents Happen!

Much has happened since my last post!  In the height of my training for my next race, I had a serious bike crash with the road.  A very strange and unique kind of accident.  Not with a car....Not with another cyclist or tree....  Just me and the road!  I was with 7 other cyclists, mostly men.  We were in the Tour de Farms area in Oswego/Plainfield/Yorkville area where traffic is next to none.  We were all enjoying a beautiful morning in farmsville, but had noticed the night before that this area suffered worse than the burbs from some nasty storms.  Trees fallen, corn smashed and some minor flooded areas.  A week before, some of the roads received some oil and gravel resurfacing.  We had noticed this on a ride the prior weekend and knew to be careful on such roads with the extra gravel.  On June 30's ride, we were coming down a hill clocking speed into the low 20s.  Our turn was ahead, so slowing down to maybe mid teens mph, I made my turn left.  I was the 3rd rider in the group.  Two men in front of me with a gap between us shouted out, "GRAVEL".  Too late!  I was already on it and wiped out immediately with full force!  Apparently, the heavy rains from the night before washed up a lot of the gravel from the newly paved road.  Race bikes with skinny, non-tread tires do not do well on gravel let alone a deep gravel patch.  The gal behind me, probably trying to avoid riding over me, also wiped out.  She had some surface injuries that included a deep cut in her hand.  She ended up with stitches.    I couldn't get up no matter how hard I tried.  A car and a local power company truck pulled over.  The latter called 911 after seeing I could not get up.  I had pain but it wasn't terrible until I tried to get up.  The ambulance took me to the hospital where X rays showed two slight fractures on my pelvis (left side)....the lower part that has the two bones forming an oval circle.  Thankfully, the fractures are minor and no surgery was needed.  The ER doc said recovery would be six weeks.  But once I went to the Ortho, turns out it will be longer than that, "minor" as it is.  In six weeks, I probably will be off crutches.  The full recovery will be about three months.  No running for three months.  So....2012 tri season is done and perhaps any running races as well.

Today I had my two week follow-up.  New X rays didn't seem much different than what was almost done three weeks ago, but he didn't seem the least concerned.  He said it takes 6-8 weeks for the bone to heal over.  The good news is, he told me to start swimming!  I might not be able to kick much, but can use a buoy and swim with my arms and get some aerobic activity in.  So happy about that!!!  In two weeks, he wants me to get on a stationary bike, one with a big fat seat so as not to cause pain in the groin area, and slowly work on a nice spin to get the hamstrings back in motion.  After my next visit, in a month, I will hopefully be able to start walking, independently, for some short distances and work my way up.

So....it's a time of rebuilding and seeing just how tough I am!  I have lots of support.  And when things seem gloomy, I remember how thankful I am that I didn't need surgery or damage my spine.  I am very blessed to have escaped permanent damage and to have the support in my life that I do.  I give God thanks for such gifts!

Also...I must say.  Helmets really do save lives!  Here are some pictures of what my helmet looked like after the accident.  I had slammed my head pretty hard and it was a little sore, but not bad.  Also, probably had a little whip lash as the right side of my neck was sore for a couple of days:  Note the imbedded gravel, dents and cracks:

So if you are a bike rider and do not wear a helmet, I hope these pictures change your mind.  I took the helmet to my local bike shop where I purchased it only two months ago, on sale.  I just wanted to show them how good it held up (had to make a couple of other purchases as well, including a new helmet for when I return to cycling).  They were so nice!  Not only did they say they'd still give me the sale price (It was $80 on sale but wasn't currently on sale), they gave me an extra 15% off just for bringing it in and showing it to them!  The bike shop was, "Performance Bike" on Hwy 59 in Naperville.  I like to promote good business!  I bought my Fuji Road Bike there a couple of years ago.  My race bike was purchased at "Endure It!" in Naperville last October.  The race bike survived the crash quite well.  But I was still on the bike when I hit the ground.  One of my co-cyclist's removed it from me and set it aside.  "Fabio", as "he's" called, only suffered a little bit of scratching on the side of the left hand gear.  The frame is totally unscathed!  Amazing!  And I'm so thankful for that as well!  Bodywork on a bike is not cheap, I'm sure!

"Fabs" will be resting a bit longer than me, I'm afraid.  Once I'm off a stationary bike, I plan to ride for pleasure on my hybrid bike (yes...I own three bikes!  How American am I???) and hope to graduate back to the race bike in the fall....and not fast either!  Just to regain my confidence.  By October, I'm hoping to work walking into running again.  If all goes well, maybe I can even do the Reindeer 5K run in early Dec.  I don't want to even think about time!  Just do the race to do the distance and event and celebrate recovery.  I plan to follow doctor's orders and he seems to be all for me to get back to what I love!

Lord willing, I will be back, better than ever, rebuilding what God has already given me.  Great health, good bones!  As for why such a thing happened, who knows.  I'm not one to say, "It's God's plan."  I don't believe God pushes us into roads and breaks bones.  But I believe he works all things that happen to complete His purpose.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.  Romans 8:28 Also.... As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.  “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”  “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him."  John 9:1-3

Happy Trails forthcoming...  Lynn