Ande's Swimming Blog

Did you have your massage yesterday?

I get these neck cricks + left trap pain things from time to time. Massage helps, but I find that going to see my chiro and doing ART works much better. ART is like a deep tissue on steroids.

Ande, I don't mean to sound harsh or repetitive, but when are you going to get serious about losing weight? It seems like a major goal for you, but it's not enough to weigh yourself and think about eating less. Follow a plan, track your calories. Do something.

Send me a PM if you're interested and I can talk about what generally works, some of the scientific studies, fads versus long term, and my personal experience.

I'm rather guilty of the same thing. I have read that keeping a food log/journal is just as important as keeping a training journal. Keeps you more honest.

Me too. I don't even weigh myself. Last time I stepped on a scale I was about 15 pounds over my college weight. So I could drop some weight and improve my times. I've run out of low-hanging fruit:

• Back-to-breast flip turn, check.
• 6-beat kick in freestyle, check. (Though I haven't yet used it in the longer freestyle events, because I haven't entered any lately.)
• Technique improvements in breaststroke, showing progress.
• Um... um... um... WEIGHT LOSS (crap!!!)

assigned: 400 fr breathe every 7

Yuck.

I got a massage yesterday, took some motrin, & went to bed at 9:00

It doesn't hurt to lift or swim, but is still a bit tender

feels a bit better today, might look into ART or chiro if it worsens

Originally Posted by The Fortress

Did you have your massage yesterday?

I get these neck cricks + left trap pain things from time to time. Massage helps, but I find that going to see my chiro and doing ART works much better. ART is like a deep tissue on steroids.

Originally Posted by The Fortress

I'm rather guilty of the same thing. I have read that keeping a food log/journal is just as important as keeping a training journal. Keeps you more honest.

I started keeping a food journal when my husband started Weight Watchers. I made my own worksheet and use it to track not only the number of points I eat, but also how much protein, fruits/veggies, carbs, dairy, etc. I eat too. That's what I've found to be most helpful. In addition, it's helping me cut back a bit during this taper time so I don't put on weight going into Y Nationals. Now, if only it wasn't nearing Easter and the jellybeans stopped jumping into my grocery cart.

Hey Jazz,

You're not being harsh or repetitive.
Have you written something to me before?
If you have a goal, you've got to do what it takes to reach it.
kind of trying and 2 steps forward 3 steps back won't get you there.

Originally Posted by Jazz Hands

Ande, I don't mean to sound harsh or repetitive, but when are you going to get serious about losing weight? It seems like a major goal for you, but it's not enough to weigh yourself and think about eating less. Follow a plan, track your calories. Do something.

Send me a PM if you're interested and I can talk about what generally works, some of the scientific studies, fads versus long term, and my personal experience.

Originally Posted by ande

Hey Jazz,

You're not being harsh or repetitive.
Have you written something to me before?
If you have a goal, you've got to do what it takes to reach it.
kind of trying and 2 steps forward 3 steps back won't get you there.

No, I don't think I have written anything up for you before. Generally I abstain from giving people weight loss advice because I'm not super ripped or anything, but I have had success and I'm very familiar with the psychological aspects. There are essentially three things you need to achieve:

1. Energy deficit. You need to be eating significantly less food than you use.

2. Health and strength preservation. Don't cut out important nutrients, or lose weight too fast.

3. Commitment. Everyone underrates this, but it's the most important factor. I've read weight loss studies where they compare diets for weight loss, and the single strongest indicator of success for an individual is not what diet they are assigned to, but how well they adhere to it. And this isn't about willpower, it's about habit and enjoyability. What can you do to your diet that you will actually like, while losing weight? It's a personal psychological question, and no book is going to have it exactly right, although they will give you ideas about what works for some or most people.

Again, PM me if you want more detail on how you can do this.

If you're training really hard, #1 is not that simple unless you enjoy feeling hungry.

If Ande gave up wine and dessert, he would likely make some progress.

Originally Posted by The Fortress

If you're training really hard, #1 is not that simple unless you enjoy feeling hungry.

There are ways to do it. Choosing certain foods can change the calorie count over a long period of time, either upward or downward. You don't have to directly try to control it.

In the most extreme case, imagine somebody who drinks tons of sugared soda every day. Switch them to water or diet soda, and they will lose weight without starving. There are ways to do this to pretty much anyone's diet, even if the diet has the appearance of healthfulness according to our current cultural standards.

Originally Posted by Jazz Hands

In the most extreme case, imagine somebody who drinks tons of sugared soda every day. Switch them to water or diet soda, and they will lose weight without starving. There are ways to do this to pretty much anyone's diet, even if the diet has the appearance of healthfulness according to our current cultural standards.

This is one thing I did this year...but not only for the weight loss effect, though that was a good side effect. From Sept. till now, I've gone from 205 to 190. I did it mainly to cut down on the work at the dentist annually. It was starting to get ridiculous!! I'm probably about 50-70% diet soda now, which is better than 100% sugar loaded! Diet Mountain Dew still is the best "keep you awake drink" for the 3+ hour drive home after the meets. But I'll take whatever I can get too.

(Sorry to derail your blog, Ande )

Originally Posted by jaadams1

This is one thing I did this year...but not only for the weight loss effect, though that was a good side effect. From Sept. till now, I've gone from 205 to 190. I did it mainly to cut down on the work at the dentist annually. It was starting to get ridiculous!! I'm probably about 50-70% diet soda now, which is better than 100% sugar loaded! Diet Mountain Dew still is the best "keep you awake drink" for the 3+ hour drive home after the meets. But I'll take whatever I can get too.

Excellent! Do you still crave the sugared sodas? They definitely taste better, but I think if you gradually decrease them until there's none at all, you'll eventually be fine without them. I think of sugary drinks as an occasional food, like dessert.

Also, try Coke Zero, if you haven't. It's delicious. I'm not being paid by Coca-Cola, I swear. I just really like Coke Zero.

Pre-emptive defense: This might be a cue for haters to go "oh blech it's so artificial it must be killing you." Read this for my attitude on that: http://www.slate.com/id/2253324/ Obesity kills. That's a fact. Diet soda was improperly linked to cancer. I know which one I would choose.