The 3 Don'ts

I really wanted to have an inspirational or funny intro line to this blog entry, but I don’t….This week has been challenging in a number of ways, but instead of bitching and moaning, I thought I would write about how I work through “my” challenges. I like to call it the 3 Don’ts: Don’t dwell, Don’t compare, and Don’t give up.

#1 Don’t dwell: When life gives you a swift kick in the arss, or you experience a setback, don’t dwell on it!! Dwelling on the negative will only start a viscous cycle of counterproductive thoughts when things don’t go your way! There comes a point where you should analyze a situation, what happened, how it could have been changed for the better, but you can’t go back in time. So, learn for the next challenge and don’t get your panties in a bunch over something you cannot change.

#2 Don’t compare: How many times do you look around you and think “I wish I had his/her body, athletic talent, nice bike, career, success, and whatever they have on their dinner plate??” Honestly, I am a really bad at this but I am slowly learning that Instead of focusing on what you “don’t have” it is better to focus on what you “have” and how to improve upon that. I must say, this is a hard rule to follow, especially when you live in Boulder and everyone around you is fit, happy, healthy and you might be having a really crappy day…but you don’t walk in anybody’s else’s shoes than your own, so don’t compare your Nike’s to someone’s Asics…they are a totally different brand, with not the same history nor makeup.

#3 Don’t give up: Enough said…giving up is failing to recognize your own talents. This does not pertain to training through injury, or some physical limitation you cannot help. This applies to those days when you think you “can’t” do it, whether it is a workout, a project, a relationship etc… There are going to be moments in your life when some of the simplest things may seem impossible, but if you fight your way through those obstacles, it makes you a much stronger person in the long run. Adversity builds character!

So, this week I have been working on my 3 Don’ts!

Part of this week for me was dealing with some GI issues….I know, not what you wanted to hear about, so I won’t go into detail. However, I did want to give a general overview of my diet, as I am asked frequently “what can you eat”. Basically, I cannot have fructose..unless it is naturally occurring or processed in such a manner that the amount of glucose in the food equals or is more than the amount of fructose in it (in other words, no fruit, fruit juices, processed cookies, candies, and lots of stuff that tastes good:) I also have to restrict any foods that will feed “yeast” as my GI tract is damaged from years of imbalance and is most likely in a condition termed “leaky gut”. So this pretty much shaves down the foods I can have to the “basics”….I am pretty much on the “paleo diet” minus the fruit. Our fridge is always stocked with veggies to be steamed and fish/meat

I know it sounds bad, but most likely things will clear up depending on how fast my GI “heals” allowing me to reincorporate a lot of foods into my diet. One of the biggest problems that my nutritionist and I work on is getting enough “calories” while training while not upsetting my GI. I can have “sugar” while riding/running as long as it is right before or after where the calories will be burned before they reach the digestive tract where they wreak havoc; a rice krispy treat Is one of my favorite bike ride snacks!

Another staple in my diet is spreading any Nut Butter (Justin’s Almond Nut Butter is my Favorite) on a brown rice tortilla which I can eat right before or after a workout. Finally, a high energy food that I cannot get enough of is “Nutty Powerbars”

1 ¼ cup sunflower butter
1/3 cup rice syrup
½ tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 box Perky’s “Nutty Flax” Cereal (@4.5 cups)
1.5 cups puffed rice cereal

You just heat the syrup and nut butter in a pan, stir the cereal(s) in and press into a casserole dish or pan and let cool. Very yummy!

An easy dinner dish that I make and Gregory really likes is a casserole…I call it “Erin’s casserole”

…since I always make it on a whim, and the ingredients/measurements depend on the day and what is in the fridge, so on any particular day I:

1. Cook and macaroni like brown rice pasta and let cool, set aside.
2. Cook ground beef or chicken (I strain and rinse the beef with hot water after cooking to get rid of the fat) and set aside.
3. Sautee an onion, mushrooms, green/red/yellow peppers with a bit of oil, garlic and basil.
4. Add the cooked beef/chicken and 2 cans of diced tomatoes with more basil, oregano and salt and pepper.
5. Add a can of corn and ½ a bag of frozen peas. Let simmer
6. Layer mixture into a casserole dish and add a light layer of mozzarella cheese when the dish is ½ full, keep filling and then top with more cheese.
7. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hr, remove foil and let brown for 15 minutes.
8. Serve and enjoy!

Train Hard!