Ok, I've always been one over the last four years, on and off, to dish out some advice to people when it comes to their diets. I've always thought some things are common sense. As pierini many times says, "How bad do you want it?"
Now I'm finding myself in the same shoes as I've seen others. So perhaps I'm looking for some confirmation on what I already know. But I think I need some different perspective here. So if you guys can help me shed some light on some things, I'd really appreciate it.
My current situation: I was on a five mile run Tuesday in relatively cool conditions (85 degrees) when I crashed in the middle of the run. Just ran out of energy. It is now approximately 46 hours later and I have not regained my energy. This sucks!
What I've done different this week: For the last few weeks, I've attempted to do body
weight exercises instead of going to the gym because I was having difficulty getting up at 1:30 in the morning. I have now worked out my work schedule so I can go to the gym during work and work out when it is still not busy there. This is so perfect. So now I'm lifting five days a week at the gym. I've been running, still, only 9-20 miles a week. Last week I ran only nine miles and told myself I needed to get off my butt this week and run. So Monday I lifted in the morning, ran five miles in the afternoon. Tuesday I lifted in the morning and attempted to run five miles in the afternoon when I crashed. So I went head on into lifting and running every day. This is in addition to being at work at 4:00am until around 2:30pm with the exception of taking about an hour to lift during that time. About four hours a day is spent outside working. It's been getting up to around 100 degrees here. Probably in the 80s in the mornings when I'm outside working, so I sweat quite a bit.
My diet: Ok, this is the part that's sucking at the moment. Bear with me on this one. I've posted this before so some of you may be familiar with this. It has, on occasion, gotten up to around 115 here already. The hotter it gets, the less I eat because I'm constantly
drinking water. The water and the heat completely zaps my appetite. Around 4:00am, I have some Smart Start cereal and fat free milk. I would eat oatmeal but the hotter it is here, the more I hate hot food. I'm around hot food half the day and I'm tired of it. Around 7:00, I usually have a breakfast burrito or maybe a couple of bean burritos. I usually lift between around 9:20 and 10:20. I usually have a protein shake about 20-30 minutes after I lift and a turkey sandwich with mustard and plenty of veggies right after that. Then it's back to work. By this point, I've already drank a half gallon of water for the day. Over the next three hours or so, I'm working and drinking another half gallon of water. So by 1:30pm, I've already drank a gallon of water. With the heat and drinking that much, I'm just not hungry. Around 4:00pm, I usually go for a five mile run. It's around 100 degrees by that time. So I get back from my run and take a shower and drink one to two liters of water. I also have some Special K and fat free milk. So most days, I'm drinking up to 1-1/2 gallons of water.
My goals: Here's the deal. I'm a runner who lifts weights. My goal is to run a marathon while I'm here. I also want to look very fit, trim, toned, and somewhat muscular (gee, who doesn't want to look like that??). I'm not after a whole lot of muscle. Just want a lot of definition. I know, I know...running and muscles don't mix. I still don't buy into that theory though.
The problem: The heat.
Ok, now you have it. There's the deal. Here are some things I better be hearing around here!!
1. Where's the food?
Yea, I know. That's what I've asked everyone here when they told us what they ate!
2. Not enough carbs.
That just dawned on me today. I'm not having enough carbs to fuel my body to give it the energy to do what I'm trying to do in the heat.
3. You're running too much in the heat.
Remember, I'm a runner who lifts. I run in the heat to avoid being a heat casualty
. I know, that doesn't make sense. I love the heat and I'm very experienced at running in the heat. By training in the heat, my body has become accustomed to it, therefore I'm never a heat casualty.
Ok...can you guys give me some perspective on this thing here? One thing to mention, there's something about being over here that zaps people's energy. I get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. I still easily wake up tired. Many people complain about just not having any energy. Some don't. Some do. Who knows. And also please remember, I have no control over my food choices or how it's prepared. I have to go with what I've got.
Because of the heat and not really wanting hot food, here are some of my choices:
1. Cold cereal (either Special K or Smart Start)
2. Fat free milk or low fat milk
3. Sandwiches
4. Sodium free raw trail mix
5. Beef jerky
6. Bagels
7. Cream cheese
(blueberry bagels with strawberry cream cheese to be specific)
8. Protein shakes
9. Sugar free rip-its
10. Gatorade
11. Sugar free sports drinks
12. Natural peanut butter (had my wife send me some from home)
Those are my basic cold food staples. That list is not an exclusive list but it does make up probably about 85% of what I eat.
I know, the first thing I would do even, is rip someone for that diet. Just keep in mind, it's hot over here and it's hard to eat hot food when you're working and having to drink as much as we do. The problem with that is the fact that it's still not really hot here. So if I'm drinking a gallon and a half when it's 100, I'll probably be drinking twice that when it gets up to 130. The water and the heat just zap my appetite.
I'm going to continue lifting five days a week and running anywhere from 15-40 miles a week (running 5-6 days a week). I will take off one day each week.
Given that activity level, in the heat, with no appetite, and still working about 10 hours a day: What's a guy to do?
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