Diet for Life = BORING!!!

[Artsay]

Thanks for all the kind words and Spragwa for watching my back! You all are awesome!

But yea, I'm not trying to lose weight or anything. Good suggestions all around, though! My "diet" is my daily diet and it's just not as fun as it used to be in my 20's when I could eat anything I wanted. But that's the sacrifice I'm prepared to pay to stay at a healthy weight and in shape for climbing. It just gets reeeaaallly boring on donut days.

[Christian]

Stop using the word "diet" or folowing any of the fad"diets".
Craving is something we all do. There has been a lot of wisdom stated above about healthy nutrition: portions, free day, no soft drinks(Red Bull is an exception)...
Another idea that has been working for me is eat 5 or 6 small meals a day. Apparently eating every 2 or 3 hours is more consistent with our body's needs and operating system. I could definitely use the loss of 25 pounds but at 49 years old it will come slowly if necessary.

One thing I have learned is if you eat a whole cheesecake with the lights out and no one else sees you there is no kaloric or karmic consequence.

[canadaclimbergirl]

You don't need to talk to me about cravings.

sheesh. I've been eating 2 cans of pineapple a day for over a month now. It is the weirdest thing.

I rarely eat 'meals'. I'm more of a constant snacker. I'll have a bagel and fruit and milk for breaky, and by 10 am i'm having more fruit and granola bars (or snickers if i'm out climbing) then at lunch i'll have a salad and a sandwich or some pasta or something 'lunch-ish'. Then i'll snack again at 2ish and probably again at 4ish and then eat 'supper' around 7ish or if I'm gym climbing that day then i'll eat supper when I get home around 9pm and have some meat/rice/veggies or some sort of thing but fairly small portions.

i've found this keeps my weight pretty consistant. I fluctuate by 5 or 6 lbs generally. I lose during ice climbing season and put a few pounds on in the summer. (i find ice climbing and the whole environment with the cold and hiking in the snow etc a lot more strenuous than rock climbing)

and right now, i'm finally getting my appetite back after 3 months of morning sickness...so it is Ben and Jerrys here I come!!! the baby LOVES ice cream. hehehe.

...and maybe someone would mail me a Krispy Kreme?

[spuzo]

Hey CCG - what has your doc said about climbing and the pregnancy? I have done a little research and picked up bits here and there, but wondered what the doc had said. I was told and read that you can safely climb WELL into the pregnancy - they recommend you use a full body harness and no leading. I saw a video of a woman recently who said she was just taking it easy...but at 8 months pregnant she was TRing 10c! If that's taking it easy for her at 8 mos...would love to see her under non pregnant circumstances....she was as big as a house!!!

Also, do you think climbing could improve your pregnancy? A lot of women just don't do anything when they are carrying...I would l think it would be good for you if you went about it safely.

Sorry for the derailment, I just had been wondering about CCG and her climbing with Jr on the way.

[canadaclimbergirl]

I am climbing tons. I have ordered a full body harness as my regular one is getting uncomfortable.

My doctor said to 'giver' so long as I was as safe as possible...but my doctor knows squat about climbing...However..I ran into a doctor on a multi Pitch at Bar Harbour Me. last weekend and he said that it is just fine. That healthy moms have healthy babies and that keeping in good shape will make the delivery easier, and plus, my body is used to climbing 2 days a week outside and 3 nights in the gym, so why change it now? keep doing what you are used to. Also, the doctor at the crag said that climbing helps keep your mind healthy too with all the focusing you have to do and keeping your head on in sticky situations etc...all good for the baby. And the adrenaline that rides through me now and then? well he said that it only raises the little ones heart rate like it raises mine and it is not at all bad.

I am not belaying leaders on climbs where they are likely to fall. though I still belay leaders on easy stuff. I am still even leading easy stuff. My limit was 5.8 trad and 5.10+ sport, so I am leading 5.5-5.6 trad and up to 5.9 sport. but all stuff that I have done before. I'm not onsighting anything. And once I switch into the full body harness i won't lead or lead belay at all.

Top Roping..I'm still working on hard stuff.. 5.11 and harder, so i'm fine. But I rest lots, eat lots and stay super hydrated. more than usual. I also bring a little 'cactus creek' chair to the craig with me to sit comfortably in. And...I don't carry the rack or rope, but mine and my climbing partners harness/shoes/helmet etc. so light stuff. I find my packs waist/hip belt uncomfortable..so i'm carrying all the weight on my shoulders.

The hardest part for me right now is the hike in to the climbing areas. most of the hikes up here are hilly and long. and I get so winded now. one reason why i carry a lighter pack. I was told that when your body gets really winded and tired...(which it does more easily when pregnant cause it is busy building a baby) and when you feel your legs 'burn' on a hike, that your body diverts oxygen to those muscles to keep them moving...thus taking some of the oxygen away from the baby. So instead of really pushing myself on hikes like I used to to try and get a good burn and lots of exercise..I take it easy and even stop to rest if I have to.

So far so good. In the gym I do low traversing and no highballs. I don't jump down from very high as my balance isn't what it used to be. Friends are putting up traversing routes for me with fun names like 'pickles and ice cream' that have crappy hands and good feet so I can work my hands and get a pump, but still feel solid on my feet. Overhangs are tough as my stomach muscles are basically split down the middle and moving out of the way daily. So body tensiony moves are tough, and sometimes hurt a bit so I stay away from them.

Bottom line, listen to your body!!

My goal? To still be able to do 1 chin up when 9 months preggo!! I was doing 4 sets of 5 or 6 before pregnancy and I can still do about 4 sets of 3....but it is getting harder every day....

I won't be ice climbing this winter as I'll be 7 months by the time the snow flies...but i will be snoe shoeing into the areas...and maybe..just maybe top roping. but we'll see how I feel by then. I'm bummed about missing an entire ice season as my last one was so great with leading and all...but it is all worth it to have this little bundle!!

sorry for the hijack...

k guys..back on track now!!!!!!

lets talk about FOOD!!!!!

[tomdarch]

First off:

...His twin brother is the complete opposite. ...

Joe has a twin! Yikes!

Several people I know have done/are doing Weight Watchers. I know it sounds goofy or 'old school' or just for obese people, but the way it's been described to me makes a lot of sense and I've seen it work well. I guess that they have some variations, but the base system involves tracking what you eat, calculating points based on the calories, fat grams and fiber grams, and meeting a daily and weekly budget. It sounds like a pain, but I think that the dicipline of keeping track of what you eat and budgeting makes the biggest difference. Plus the fact that fiber can counteract fat (to some degree) in calculating points seems to encourage a more healthy, fruit and veggie based diet. Plus they have 'activity points' that encourage/reward exercise.

Someone told me that for their weight-loss program, I would have a point budget of something like 26 points a day, with thirty-something weekly bonus points, and we estimated that I was eating around 50 points a day normally! Their wieght-maintenance point levels are higher - come to think of it, if I cut out some sugar and ate better portions, I could probably meet their goals without too much effort, ice cream, Chipotle and all!

Speaking of Chipotle, check out this 'nutrition' calculator:
http://www.chipotlefan.com/index.php?id ... calculator

[diggum]

I did Weight Watchers after I had my daughter. It was great & I lost the weight in 6 weeks. It was all about toning after that (and still).

But the idea is pretty straight forward...lots of veggies, cook a lot at home using light oil & broths. Make whole wheat pasta's instead of bleached and measure your portions.

I kept a journal of everything I ate & calculated points daily & you also get activity points...like if you run a mile you get a couple extra points.
I did low carb long before that & felt like crap...with weight watchers my diet was very balanced & I felt great.

[diggum]

Speaking of Chipotle, check out this 'nutrition' calculator:

holy smokes! the one i made had almost 2000 calories & 89 grams of fat!

[Huggybone]

My 2 cents:

The trick to a succesfull diet is to reject the american diet as evil. Y'all with think I'm kidding, but really, the typical american diet is evil.
1) Everywhere it spreads, Diabetes incidence rises.
2) Everywhere it spreads, Heat Disease pops up.
3) Everywhere it spreads, Cancer rates increase.

Yes, I know that political pundits like to argue about this, but, lets face it. The american, Super high suger, super high fat diet is not just bad for you, it is evil. It promotes premature death, and people look at you like you are crazy if you tell them you don't eat what they eat, like your some CRAZY for not choosing a diet that has been shown to be the detrimental to health. Its like someone looking down on you for NOT smoking.

When you attach a moral value to food (ie, does it promote death, or life?) it is much simpler to avoid certain foods. Little skull and crossbones appear on the donut, and I no longer wish to eat it.

Stop eating sugar for a month, and then have a debbie cake. It will probobly make you sick.

[spuzo]

mmmm - Chipolte...man I love that place.

Yeah Joe has a twin...they keep him locked in a basement though.

And Thanks CCG for all the info...just storing it away into the "Maybe Baby" file.