Tales of a Carb Junkie and Overtrainer

Hey!  This is going to be a little shorter posting, but I think it is very important information I recently came upon.  These past couple of weeks I was feeling lathargic and unmotivated.  I was having trouble even eating the necessary calories each day.  Then last week I got a nasty cold that had taken residence in both my head, nose, throat, and lungs.  I decided this weekend to figure out what was going on, so I asked my trainer to help me out.  When we met last night, after she looked at my nutrition, workouts, and cardio she said I most likely had "overtraining syndrome." 

Overtraining syndrome is a side effect of, well training too much and not resting enough.  Some basic symptoms are: lose in motivation, lose in appetite, and irritability (sound familiar??).  I was overdoing and sending my body into over drive and my body was finally fed up with it.  My body was like a toddler that no longer wants to play along, sitting in the corner, crossing their arms, and saying, "NO."  So after much discussion we changed my training schedule: Mon: Swim, Tues: Spin AM Strength PM, Wed: Run, Thurs: Swim AM Strength PM, Fri: REST, Sat: Spin & Strength, Sun: REST

Okay, that seemed easy enough. It actually took a lot of pressure off me because I no longer felt the need to be lifting and doing cardio everyday, except Sunday.  Then, we moved onto nutrition (a word that sometimes makes me cringe and makes me nervous).  I had started reverting back to eating the same things all the time (meat, veggies, protein shakes), so my trainer said I need to add more "color" back into my nutrition (which I was doing good for a while).  I need to have more veggie diversity in my diet and less protein drinks.  So my goal is to eventually take out all the unprocessed foods, like protein drinks and protein bars (Clif are okay if I'm in a pinch for time) and replace them with more "meals," like chicken, tuna steaks, vegetables, fruit, peanut butter, etc.  Another thing I needed to add back: CARBS!  Not bad carbs, like processed buns or fried food, but good ones, like Ezekiel bread or oatmeal. 

Carbs have always been a "dirty" word in my vocabulary (I'm sure a lot more people think this way too).  They've been given a bad name by the media and fitness industries.  They have become known as the brown item that gives you that spare tire around your waist.  When I started training for marathons, about four years ago, I fell in love with carbs.  They are what fueled me to start my runs and helped me heal after my marathons.  It was a main staple in my marathon life- I had become a carb and cardio junkie.  Then when I decided to take time off of marathons after Chicago this year I didn't need all those carbs.  I started trying to slowly cut down on them (outside of vegetables).  I always found it very difficult and mentally almost harder than completing a marathon!  Then, a few weeks ago I tried to cut out any carb, besides ones that came from veggies and fruit and a few I'd allow myself to have every week (BAD IDEA).  This did NOT help combined with my overtraining.  I started becoming worndown, irritable, and didn't even want to get out of bed because I was so tired.  After, talking with my trainer I realized that I am not one of those girls that is going to be able to have some ripped six-pack AND I'm TOTALLY okay with that.  I cannot physically or emotionally survive on a low carb diet (anything under 100grams per day and I'm shot).  It doesn't mean that I'm not just as healthy or healthier than those people (I wonder if they completed 4 marathons and 2 half marathons while still in college with 2 part-time jobs?), I just don't have the all elusive six-pack (I have more of a four pack- which I love just as much). 

The last thing I learned last night from my trainer that sums up all this is: KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.  The more we know the better off and stronger we become.  Previously, I had thought I only needed extra carbs from bread and oatmeal if I was training for a marathon and I only thought an overtraining injury could be physical, like a twisted ankle..but now I know better.

So what I am getting at is learn from my mistakes (because trust me before all this my trainer told me NOT to do these things, but I had to find them out on my own).

1. Take time OFF- watch the slippery slope
2. ADD color into your diet
3. Take out all the processed foods and protein drinks
4. Eat CARBS (good carbs)
5. Most importantly LOVE yourself- no matter what your body type, your body has done some awesome things

For more info about "overtraining syndrome": http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/overtraining.html
For more info about my trainer: http://kendallpersonalfitness.blogspot.com/