Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Introduction
to Entry—Dude! What
happened to my ice cream???
In every athlete’s life, there are certain challenges and obstacles to overcome. As a runner, you have to put in the time and dedication to run a certain amount of miles each week. For a lifter, you have to lift smart and effectively in order to gain strength. Well, for a thrower—you have to throw a lot, lift a lot…. Am I missing anything? Oh, that is right—the “R” word… RUNNING—a foreign word to a thrower—well, at least to me!!
My distance runner friends always got a kick when I said that I considered long distance running to be about a lap. This past summer I worked out with my good friend Tyrone and I got a whole new respect towards jumpers! It got to the point were I could run a couple of miles a day. That was so far off where I was just a few years ago.
When I was at my heaviest weight—I thought just walking a block was enough. I weighed at my heaviest around 360 lbs—that is more than most NFL football players. I had a body fat composition of 38%. I wore a size 26 pair of pants. I was pretty big—and when I told people how much I weighed, they wouldn’t believe me.
I would have regular sodas all the time, and I lifted and threw a little—but I was very strong. As my dad said, I was built like a mac truck, but in order to throw far, I had to be rebuild myself more like a corvette with the strength of a mac truck. In other words, I needed to lose weight and a lot of it.
It was not fun not being able to really move around. I would get tired easily, I would sweat up a storm and I didn’t know what the stair master even was! When my dad got diabetes at the end of my sophomore year, I knew that I had to take some action for myself. I wanted to be healthy, and I knew that I would become a happier and a more successful athlete if I lost the weight. And at this point in my life, I want to be healthy and look good! :)
Not only did I increase my conditioning as time went by, I also changed my diet. I am one of those lucky people that in case there is ever a world famine—I would be fine. If I even look at a doughnut, I seem to gain weight and I have to change my diet drastically in order to lose weight.
First to go was my regular soda. That was hard—but if you start slowly and incorporate either diet soda or even drink water with the regular soda—you will soon find out that you will begin to not like to drink the regular soda.
Then next was the sandwiches that my dad would make me. I called them “cheesejuice” sandwiches because they had so much cheese that it would drip. :) I used to have eight slices of cheese—wow! Now, I am lucky to have one slice of cheese! :) The pizza was history, the burritos I would have for “snacks” were outta here—and the rest fell into place.
If you just change your diet, you would be surprise to see how much weight you can lose. I have cut down on some of my protein, but it is mostly my lovely green friends “the veggies” and to limit my fat as much as I can. For snacks, I either go for some sourdough bread or fat free jello. I have noticed that some of the foods that I craved when I was at my heaviest are not at all appealing to me anymore… well, I have to say that I will always have a craving for ice cream! That will always be my Achilles heel! :)
The goal for me this summer and fall is to lose ideally 50 lbs. I know that it is a lofty goal for me to do, but it needs to be done. In my diet diary, I will share my experiences with my diet change and conditioning, my thoughts on how to become a healthier person, and suggestions to change your body composition. All athletes have to do this at one point or another. I chose this time to improve my fitness—and I will see you around!
Best Wishes,
Karen
“Darth Ice Cream”
One
thing that I realized that I needed to start with is a journal to record what I
ate. When I first did this, I was amazed on how much I really ate. I
would eat all the right stuff for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
My problem seemed to be in terms of
quantity.
There would be times after practice that I would eat at least two to three plates of food. I would be practically running to training table and it would take me about an hour to eat. If you are out doing six hours of practice—you get pretty hungry!!! So, I made sure that all the meals that I would have would be the same but in smaller sizes.
I always have some protein for dinner, and that is usually steak. I had to convince myself that I couldn’t have the big porterhouse steaks that my dad would make me when I was home. I had to settle down to a 8 oz. Steak. My first thoughts were—hey!! What happened to my steak??? It shrunk!! I first thought that I would completely starve without my pound of steak. I had been so used to having a big portion of protein in my diet that it was hard to imagine that I had to change that aspect of my diet. But it needed to be done.
Well, I did get a pound of food for dinner (well, it seemed like a pound of food), but it was of vegetables consisting of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. When I ate my vegetables, I would imagine that they would be huge scoops of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream that would melt in my mouth. It only worked for the first taste.
I was in my reporting class today and I had to go through the ultimate test of someone that is on a diet—for me, it seemed to be the the Indiana Jones version of a test for a person that is on a diet. The person right next to me was indulging in the most perfect ice cream sundae that I ever saw. It looked so good and I felt that the chocolate was pulling me in with its tractor beam. I could smell the peanuts so clearly that I felt I had spidy senses. I asked myself… why am I on this diet and did I do something wrong to have this kind of punishment???
I thought — what would happen if I took the sundae and ran?? Hmmmmmm… But reality set in, and I realized as my parents would tell me, “Karen, it will always be there.” It was hard to accept, but I knew that it was true. I feel that this will always be a battle for me to fight and overcome, but I feel that ice cream will always have some weakness over me. But—I plan on making sure that I will stick to my diet!! :)
It will be tough to overcome the urges of the powerful evil ice cream and to work out harder than I have ever done, but it is a challenge that I am willing to accept because the rewards are so great. Until next time — I hope that all is going well for you this summer have a great day! :)
Best Wishes,
Karen