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Navigating Holiday Season Indulgences

November 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Egg Nog, not out of a carton.

Egg Nog, not out of a carton.

The holiday season is upon us! Okay, I’m a *little* early to the party, but you know your radio stations will soon be blasting those holiday songs 24/7, and every shopping store will be filled with holiday razzle-dazzle. What does the holiday season have to do with fitness, running, and nutrition? Um, EVERYTHING! Luckily, your coach will help you get through the holiday season without gaining a ton of lb.s, or feeling like a couch-potato.

First off, let’s all get a little real: whether you want to or not, we ALL will be tempted to gorge ourselves on Thanksgiving. Most likely, we will all do the same thing at office parties, holiday parties, family events – between Thanksgiving and New Years Eve. That’s a lot of days of pigging out. All the pigging out WILL make you gain weight. So, what can you do other than accept the added lb.s and dig out your fat pants? I have a few tips that will keep you sane, and allow you to enjoy some tasty treats too!

If it hasn’t become clear at this point, I LOVE FOOD. I love to eat, bake and cook. So the holiday season is one of my favorites. In fact, I am usually that person who arrives at parties with home-made baked goodies, chocolate covered pretzels, peppermint and heath bark, pies – I embrace the holiday goodies! Personally, I know I’ll gain a few lb.s, but I also know I am okay with that and am quick to drop them as soon as the holiday season is over. That being said, I pick and choose my indulgences.

For example: for me, Thanksgiving and Christmas are “no rules” days. I eat whatever I want and as much of it as I can stuff in my face. But besides those two days, I pick and choose at holiday events. I *try* to stick to snacks that are high in protein (like shrimp cocktail, cheese, a handful of nuts) or veggies and dip or fresh fruit. I avoid anything cooked, baked, or otherwise calorically dense. This way I can graze at a party, still eat, without leaving every party feeling more and more round.

I also stay active during the holiday season, and love running or hitting the gym when the cool, crisp air hits New York City. Being active means I can indulge without gaining as much weight as if I were just sitting on my butt all day. Get outside a run a Turkey Trot, or Jingle Bell Jog with your family! Or go for brisk walks, or run with friends and families. Trust me, that yummy food will taste even better after some exercise!

Booze cupcakes. YUM.

Booze cupcakes. YUM.

To balance out those parties (let’s face it – sometimes I DO eat tons of the bad stuff at a party!) I load my diet with seasonal, nutritious foods – like baked sweet potatoes, butternut squash soup, lentil soup, and other “comfort foods” that are full of good-for-you calories. These things will also help keep your immune system happy when lots of colds go around.

If you are trying to LOSE weight during the holiday season, best of luck! My advice is to stay as active as possible, and to minimize the amount of holiday parties you attend, to reduce temptation. I know, missing social events sucks, but unless you walk in there with self control made of steel, you are not doing yourself any service. Signing up for a race or fitness goal (maybe a bikini body for a January trip to the Caribbean?), can also keep your eye on the prize and your focus on what happens AFTER those yummy, tempting noshes are history.

And remember, a few lb.s aren’t the end of the world – especially if you are already fit. Pick and choose your battles, and you’ll get to 2014 without any extra weight, and some yummy holiday indulgences too.

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Taper Tantrum

November 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Philly Marathon 2011, and my current marathon PR of 3:15:46. Time to step it up and crush it.

Philly Marathon 2011, and my current marathon PR of 3:15:46. Time to step it up and crush it.

With less than a week to go before my goal race, I am deep into tapering. For those of you who don’t know what tapering is, it’s the few weeks leading up to a marathon where mileage and intensity is cut down in order to give the athlete time to rest, recover, heal, focus, and be ready to hit the pavement hard on race day. While tapering can sound delightful while in the middle of marathon training, actually doing it is rough. As an athlete, I despise it.

Realizing that perhaps many of you have dealt with tapering, I decided I would share my own experience this time round – in case it helps you. The truth is that tapering never gets easier.

If you are like me, you handle stress one of two ways: eating and exercising. Well, since my mileage has gone down, and I am no longer allowed to strength train until after the marathon, all of that pre-race stress goes into eating. My dreams have also been flooded with race-day visions. My mind is going wild.

During your taper, it s a good time to go back over previous races, how paces fluctuated, how training went up until that last big race, how you handled race day, etc. It’s also a good time to reaffirm your goals. I always advise my athletes to have three goals for a marathon: the goal that is the reach (everything may need to go perfectly to achieve it), the goal that seems tangible as long as they keep their focus and don’t do anything stupid, and the goal that is the totally achievable unless something goes terribly wrong. After all, it is easy to lose your head out there if things fall apart or don’t go according to plan. Having different goals gives you the opportunity to salvage the day and refocus quickly.

Here are my three goals:

The safety net goal: BQ. Unless I get injured out there, my training indicates that a sub-3:35 will be easy to achieve.

The possible with hard work goal: PR, ideally with a sub-3:10 (7:13 minute miles)

The reach: As close to 3:05 as possible. (7:03-7:05 minute miles)

My original hope for Philly was the 3:05 area and faster, but my training and mental game simply don’t show any sign that I’m there. That’s okay, and I’ve abandoned that goal. It can be saved for another time.

That’s not to say I am cutting my expectations short. My top two goals are ambitious, and I need to play it smart.

The positives: I am healthy. No plantar issues (that’s rare for me!), and no posterior tibial tendon issues, like I had last year. Last year I also battled the norovirus for a week, three weeks before Harrisburg Marathon. Plus, I know the Philly race course like the back of my hand. Knowledge is power. And it looks like I may have some crowd support from friends and family. These are all good things.

The one thing I may do this year is run with music. I generally prefer not to, but since Boston, I have had a hard time keeping my head in the game on long runs without it. Negative thoughts kick in, and I need to avoid that from happening on those quiet miles on Kelly Drive. It doesn’t look like I’ll have any pacers hop in, so I am going to be alone with my own thoughts – which I know is my weakness right now.

I am excited for Philly. I am ready to race again, healthy, and ready to leave it all out on the course. I am not going to Philly to have fun. I am going back to my home town to leave my blood, sweat and tears on the course, and to do my best.

Until then, I’ll keep eating my nerves. Mmm. Carbs.

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Feel Good, Get Inspired, Cheer!

November 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Start of the Harrisburg Marathon. Yes, those are my arms!

Start of the Harrisburg Marathon. Yes, those are my arms!

I remember the first time I watched a marathon in person. It was two weeks before my first marathon, and an extremely moving, exciting, inspirational, and somewhat scary experience. Standing near the “1/2 mile to go” mark, one witnesses humanity at its most raw, human state.

I had goosebumps as the wheelchair athletes and elites flew by, somehow making it look so easy to work so hard. I yelled words of encouragement as runners dug deep, some bowing their heads, as they pushed toward the finish. Some athletes stumbled, fell, or held onto the fence or NYPD officers as their legs cramped and buckled underneath them. Other athletes ran in costume, carrying their country’s flag, or wore pictures of family members on their backs, running in their memory.

There was also an indescribable energy coming from the crowd. It’s perhaps the one sporting event where everyone is cheering for everyone else to succeed. No one is cheering for a team to win or lose, we all want to see everyone do their best. [Read more…]

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Seasonal Noshes – Autumn Edition

October 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment

PumpkinsIf you live in the northeast, you have said goodbye to Summer and have taken out your comfy sweaters. As blueberry season has come and gone, there are some great seasonal foods that are yummy, filling, good for you, and comfort-food like.

Here are some of my favorites:

Sweet potatoes – incredibly nutrient-dense, easy to bake whole or slice and bake in olive oil and topped with some parmesan cheese.

Butternut Squash – great for soup, roasting, and more. Easy to store, nutrient dense, and savory.

Apples – I love to toss some peanut butter on fresh apples after a workout, or before a workout. Sweet, crisp, and the peanut butter adds some protein and good fat.

Pears – refreshing, sweet, and a great snack. Just be careful when packing a pear to go, as they bruise easily.

Pumpkins – so fun to bake with! I love making pumpkin pancakes, but you can find recipes for pumpkin muffins, ravioli, and more!

Apple cider – drink it chilled, warm it on top of the stove, toss in a cinnamon stick, or spike it for an “adult twist” – it’s delicious a million ways!

Lentil soup – easy to make, inexpensive ingredients, protein and fiber dense – this soup is perfect for dinner. Serve up with a hearty slice of bread and a glass of red wine – perfection!

These are only a few suggestions. There are tons of great Autumn options out there, many of which won’t tax your wallet or the scale. As cold/flu season raises it’s ugly head, stay healthy by consuming foods high in nutrients.

Bonus: eating well most of the time makes those indulgent holidays that much sweeter, and that much more fun!

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Read Smart, Exercise Happy

October 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

corky6-460x306Recently I have noticed that headlines and magazines are making some fairly scary claims regarding our health. “Sitting is the new smoking” (Runner’s World Magazine), “Pregnant weight lifter debate” (NY Times), and a bunch of other articles debating different diets, cleanses, and workouts. It’s enough to make your head spin.

Remember, publications are written to gain readers. Not to say that there aren’t decent, well-written articles floating around out there with lots of medical evidence to back them up – because there certainly are. However, the driving force behind what’s written is viewership. Money. So before you jump onto the next trend you read somewhere, or watch on a daytime tv show, be skeptical and look for real evidence.

One thing that almost every article, regardless of source, has in common – being active and getting outside is good. All medical evidence points towards exercise being GOOD. I say go out there and do what makes you happy. Just do something. Our bodies are designed for movement. What you choose to do, what you like, is uniquely you.

Love to run with your dog? Great. Surf? Rad. Join a local softball team? Awesome. Become a die-hard Yogi? Namaste. Do what floats your boat, what feels good to you, and what makes you happy. There is not quick fix or magic pill that will make you drop 50lbs., or lower your cholesterol, or increase cardio capacity – those results come from doing. So stop buying into what somebody publishes in a magazine, newspaper or blog (except this one, of course! Kidding.), and tap into your body and soul.

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