Feeding the Beast

About a month ago, I decided that I needed to keep track of what I eat. A few folks at work use a calorie count tool on the web. The way they described it, it was just what I was looking for. I created a profile, set some goals and started tracking my intake and output. I hope I've been honest about quantities and content. I'm not trying to lose weight, but if I do, I'm okay with it. I think getting to a 165# race weight would be great. Lower than that, I think I'd be sacrificing muscle mass to get there. Something I've discovered about this process is that it's very difficult to get the right calories without eating too much fat and/or sodium. It's forced me to make some different choices about what I eat and when, but not how much. Basically, I eat all the time and lots of it. Activity is the key. When you work out about 30 minutes every day, you have a lot of leeway in caloric intake. Getting the right stuff has become more important to me and I'm less likely to eat junk. If I do eat junk, it better be good. I'm not going to waste calories on a crappy donut. I'll wait until there are good donuts! This is a big change in attitude for me. What I hope this will lead to is a more healthy body. Lighter and with less fat too.

Switching to 1/2 Marathon training is going fine. I turned down my friend Don's invite to partner in an adventure race the day before my first 1/2. I was afraid that I would not perform well the next day if I tried to go back to back. I'm planning on doing that one with him next year though. I want to maintain that base into next season.