Surviving Thanksgiving as an athlete

For an athlete-in-training, there are many challenges around the holidays, especially when it comes to staying consistent with training and healthy eating. Your frustration is not well-understood by your non-athlete family members but your training buddies understand that a routine disruption disrupts your goals and makes it difficult to get back on track. 

So what's an athlete to do? 

Do you put your training on hold and say "oh well" to healthy eating, every time there is a disruption to your routine? 

Do you become stubborn with your ways and begin to remove the distractions from your life, even if it means pushing away your family and close friends....maybe even quitting your job, because it takes up a lot of your time and energy?

What's an athlete to do.

While it's not necessary to put your training on hold for an extended period of time or avoid your family in order to get in every minute of your prescribed workout, it's important that you see any disruption, like a holiday, as a great opportunity to enjoy a little downtown and change up your normal routine. 

Here are a few tips to make the most out of your Thanksgiving break. 

MINDFUL EATING TIPS

1. Create a better internal dialogue in your head when you are eating, especially as it relates to your body and food. 

2. Trust your body. Tune into your true signals of hunger and satisfaction as a way to guide you through your holiday feast. 

3. Treat yourself to family, don't make the holidays just about food. Enjoy your time around your loved ones or if you are alone, call up an old friend or volunteer and help out those in need. 

4. Slow down and taste your food. Appreciate the aroma, presentation, flavor and texture of your food - real food and store bought. Share a story if a dish reminds you of something happy. 

5. Love what you eat. The first few bites of anything should always taste amazing. If you don't love it, don't eat it. 

WORKOUT TIPS

1. Get it done early, but not too early. Enjoy waking up without an alarm but if you can squeeze in a workout before your day gets busy, you'll find yourself energized and you won't have to deal with the guilt that comes with removing yourself from family time, just to train. 

2. Loosen up. It's ok if you have to modify a set or reduce the volume. Heck, skip a workout if you want to! Prioritize the workouts that give you the most payback for your investment at this phase of training. A few modified workouts over the holidays will not affect your race performance in September. 

3. Keep training fun. Participate in a Turkey Trot, exercise with your kids, go for a hike or set up a local group workout. Do something each day that is good for your mind and body. 

4. Be efficient with your time. Indoor workouts provide a great bang for your buck as you can get in a quality workout, with minimal distractions. 

5. Communicate. Now more than ever is the time to communicate with your family. You may be surprised that if you tell your family/kids on Wednesday, that on Friday you will be gone from 8:30-10:30 for a workout, they won't care about your absence. But if you tell them last minute, they may be upset that you are suddenly leaving them, which then leaves you with guilt, if you get in your workout. 

NUTRITION TIPS

1. Don't skip meals throughout the day. Excessively restricting calories or an entire food group (ex. carbohydrates) will likely lead to overeating at your upcoming feast. Instead, focus on small meals throughout the day, eating every few hours. Prioritize higher fiber, natural food options like fruits and veggies at your meals. Don't forget to stay hydrated - with water, of course. 

2. Do not go into your big meal with a starving belly. Plan a healthy snack around 45-60 minutes before your meal. Options like apple slices and pistachios, deli meat and lettuce wraps, celery sticks with cheese or a few almonds with figs should take the edge off so you don't eat with your eyes when serving yourself. 

3. Fuel your workout. Seeing that there is a good chance that you will workout in the morning, restricting calories around/during your workout is not a permissible strategy to indulge (or to eat more calories) at your upcoming feast. It can actually backfire on you as you will likely be so famished by meal time, that you may eat beyond a feeling of fullness - stuffed and very uncomfortable. Treat your workout like any other day. Fuel smart and hydrate well. And be sure to eat a healthy breakfast after your workout (or Turkey Trot). 

4. Choose wisely. Create a healthy plate of a little of everything. 

5. Indulge wisely. You are not forced to eat everything at your feast but you are allowed to indulge. Choose your favorites and say "no thank you" to the unappealing or familiar options. Share, split and limit yourself to just one. 

It's very easy for athletes to remain rigid around the holidays for a change in the normal routine (training or eating) can bring anxiety or a feeling of loss of control. 

In the big picture, a few days away from your normal routine may be a good thing. Don't stress and enjoy yourself. The holidays are a wonderful time to give thanks to your body, to your friends and to your family.
Be sure to tell those around you how much you appreciate them for putting up with you.....I mean, supporting you, throughout the year.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Don't forget to yum!

Workout motivation - when the mind says go but the body says no

We all know that it's hard to regret working out after the workout is over.

The hard part is always getting started. 

Many times, we are told by others that we just need a little motivation to get started. But what if motivation isn't the issue? Is it possible to be highly motivated to workout but your body is not interested in the activity at the same time? 

 I can assure you that there were many times in the past when I would see a PM run on my schedule, and my mind was "all in" but my body was not interested.

Consequently, this would result in two situations; either me skipping the workout all together or me trying to execute with a body that was not energized (which often left me with frustration during my workout followed by uncomfortable niggles post workout). 

For me, running in the evening (as a second workout for the day) was always tough on my body. The stress on my body from sitting all day combined with the weight-bearing activity of running was not welcomed by my hips, glutes, lower back and legs. I have no trouble working out twice a day and love an evening bike ride or swim but for the longest time, I couldn't develop the same energy for running in the evening like I feel when I run in the morning. 

I'm a firm believer that we should love what we do when it comes to physical activity. If I didn't like running, I wouldn't be a triathlete. But just because I don't love running in the evening, this doesn't mean that I am setting myself up for failure as a triathlete - I can simply plan my training accordingly and put all my energy into running in the mornings. 

But over this past year, I have welcomed the opportunity to run in the evening....well, I kinda had to because almost every week this entire summer, from Tues-Thurs, and then once on the weekend, I had two workouts on my schedule (AM and PM).

Although I can certainly choose when I do my workouts, I would often have a planned evening run workout on my training plan. 

All of my evening runs are designed to be very low stress and intentionally very slow. Sometimes an evening run would come on the same day as a morning run or brick and some days I would swim or bike in the morning and run EZ in the afternoon. I typically do no more than 2 evening runs per week (and not every week) but I have learned to set myself up for a quality evening run. Even if a workout is designed to be slow, there is still a purpose and it is imperative that the body performs with good form throughout the workout. 

Maybe you struggle with evening workouts or you have trouble getting started in the morning. Maybe you are simply trying to make exercising part of your lifestyle. 

Whatever the case may be, I promise (from my own experience) that with a little effort, you can set yourself up for a great workout - no matter what time of the day. 

A proper warm-up

I will always spend up to 15 minutes warming up my body with dynamic exercises before a run. A proper warm-up includes mobility exercises as well as movements that increase the HR and blood flow. Many times, I will perform a 15-20 minute strength session of core, glute and hip exercises before any run workout just to help wake-up my body.

This is one area that time-crunched athletes often neglect  - warming up before the warm-up. Not only will a proper warm-up help reduce risk for injury, but it also helps to loosen up the body when you feel stiff and can make for an easier transition from your "real" cardio warm-up before your main set. 

I suggest to dedicate 5-10 min of mobility work and dynamic exercises before all workouts to help your body warm-up. It's amazing how much better you will feel after the warm-up is finished. And the more tired you feel before a workout, consider adding a little more time to warming up the body.  

Music

Whether you can tune-out thoughts with a podcast or pump yourself up with the beats of techno, hip hop or alternative, there is research to support that music can affect motivation and mood. Next time you are feeling tired, consider turning up the radio or spending a little time before your workout to pump yourself up with music.

The simulating effects of music also help with controlling anger, minimizing depressive thoughts and helping to fight fatigue. 

Although I never listen to music when I bike or swim, I prefer podcasts for my evening runs and techno music for my morning runs. And I always have my music jamming on the way to the pool.

A good state of mind

Many times we can bring too high of expectations to a workout which can cause us to loose joy for the simple act of working out. Although it's normal to have anticipations about a workout, especially if it's with a group, in an unfamiliar environment or if the main set looks challenging on paper, but don't allow yourself to get overwhelmed by the perceived paces, watts or speeds that you are told to focus on (or think you should be able to hit), especially when you are feeling a little tired, fatigued or just off. 

Remember that performance gains come through consistency and even the most fit and accomplished athletes have to modify a workout every now and then. I've modified many workouts this summer based on how I felt and it's only helped me train harder.

If we get too focused on the outcome, we can often lose the ability to adjust to allow for a smooth fitness progression. Without this ability, not only can you find yourself lacking self-esteem before a workout even starts but you may find yourself pushing too hard for one epic workout yet, unable to recover or repeat that effort.

I suggest to look at your workout and then ask yourself "what is the best way for me to execute this workout on this day" and consider things like your mood, sleep, stress, diet, fatigue, weather, terrain, training environment, hormones and anything else that may positively or negatively affect your workout. 

Diet

It seems quite obvious but you have the ability to set yourself up for a great workout simply by focusing on the food that will help fuel your upcoming workout. Whereas on one hand you want to be mindful of foods, like fiber and fat (and any other chemically-made products with artificial ingredients - that shouldn't be consumed regularly in the diet anyways) as well as large portions that may disrupt normal digestion in the 2-4 hours before your workout but it's not just about what you eat but also what you don't eat.

Not eating enough or timing your snacks and meals appropriately with a morning or evening workout can also put your body at a physical disadvantage with energy levels remaining low alongside dropping blood sugar and possible dehydration to combat as you try to push your body.

To help you out, don't start your day without thinking about your planned workouts and what you will eat in the hours before the workout, what sport nutrition you will consume during the workout and what you will recover with post workout. If you do this often, you will likely find yourself boosting fitness and who doesn't want this?

Of course, there are also things like working out with a buddy, changing up your workout environment and making sure that you understand the purpose of the workout (instead of just chasing miles/time) to help set you up for a better workout experience. 

So next time you struggle with motivation because your body is not excited to workout (but your mind is ready), start with a warm-up, pump-yourself up with music, keep a positive mindset and make sure your diet is helping you maximize your fitness. 

Soon enough, you will find yourself with a body that is ready for whatever workout you throw at it.

And like usual, when the endorphin's start rushing, you will feel amazing and you likely won't regret the workout when it's over.