Wednesday, June 24, 2009

After being told that I have metabolic syndrome, I went to Borders and bought every book that I could find to help me. I read through all of them and realized after 2 weeks of trying that I was not going to get a grip on this on my own. So at swim last week, I asked coach Steve for advice. He gave me the name of a nutrition coach who deals with athletes. I called and had an appointment with Coach Lisa yesterday.

First thing that we did was a resting metabolism test to find a base line. Calculating it out my number of calories needed for a day with no activity was 1380. The test actually showed my number to be much lower at 836. You take that number and add on 500 calories needed for daily activity. That gives the number of calories per day to stay the same weight(1336 for me). Coach Lisa put me on 7 small meals per day which add up to around 1200 cal. per day. We will evaluate how I feel and adjust as we go. Goal is to lose 1.3 lbs. per week and be down 20 by the IronDistance. She has a daily menu for me and for the first week I am sure it will be a shock to my system.

Day 1 on the menu went OK. I kept a copy of it in my pocket so I knew what to eat and when. I am sure in a few days I will get the hang of it. (although giving up my Diet Mountain Dew is the biggest challenge)

Waddling and watching what I eat..............

14 comments:

Unknown said...

glad you got help with this. changing eating habits is DIFFICULT. I wish you all the best. :-)

Irene said...

I hope you will do OK with that low of a daily caloric intake, but you are seeing someone who specializes in this type of thing, and I'm sure she has you on a balanced nutritional plan.

You can do without the Dew! :)

Duane said...

Tell me about the test, I think I have the same thing!

Mary Sunshine said...

That's really a low amount of calories... have you thought about a second or third opinion?

Calyx Meredith said...

Giving up the soda and caffeine was so hard for me! But I know how much better I feel without it, so I hope you feel a positive change soon! I wish you the very best.

ShesAlwaysWrite said...

Wow - that's not very many calories! I need to stop whining that I've been able to lose weight (albeit slowly) on about 1900 a day. After the breast-feeding '3000 calories a day and still lose weight' free for all, what I get now feels skimpy even though I know lots of girls are making do with a lot less.

TRIHARDCHIK said...

Good luck! Be sure to let Lisa know how you're feeling and the amount of training you're doing--it will make a HUGE difference. I've worked with Lisa, and she's really good at what she does. Just remember to keep her up-to-date on everything. It may take a while to get it worked out just right. I know it did for me, but then again, I am a real strange animal! (Ask her, I'm sure she'll agree!)

ShirleyPerly said...

Wow, 1300 does not sound like much at all but if you have the discipline to train for an iron tri, I'm sure you have the discipline to manage your diet too. Best of luck with it!

Vickie said...

Hope you get this figured out. You will feel so much better once you do.

Formulaic said...

That is a low amount of calories.

But it is great that you have a support system.


I am voting for you

21stCenturyMom said...

Less than 1,000 cals/day BMR - ouch. I would need a padlock for my mouth to deal with that. I hope you find a workable plan soon.

Make sure that your nutritionist understands Ironman training. We're going iron together!

Herself, the GeekGirl said...

I second 21CM's comment. At 5'6" mine is "supposed" to be 1170, but who knows. Used to be a lot higher when I was a teacher on my feet all day.

Herself, the GeekGirl said...

PS: I'm coming to Chicago in August for a day or two.

Lindy said...

Very interesting. I will be interested in hearing how it goes. Do you have any contact information for her that you can pass on?

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