My First Nutrition Counseling Session with a Dietitian

By Janelle @ Run With No Regrets | nutrition

Hey hey!  I’ve been busy moving into my new apartment (and cleaning out my old apartment), so I haven’t been able to sit down and write here at Run With No Regrets.

I have still been working out, of course.  Two weeks ago I ran close to 10 miles, which these days is a lot for me!  We’ve been suffering stifling heat and humidity, which naturally slows you down…but I made the most of it.  Unfortunately, I started to feel some foot pain, so I think it may have been a bit too much too soon, so I eased up last week as I lead up to last weekend’s physically demanding move.

So back to subject matter, Nutrition Counseling.  In my last post, I agonized about choosing a dietitian.  Well, I finally took the plunge and picked one named Danielle.  We had our first meeting on Wednesday for about an hour.  It was so much information for me to take in!

After filling out some forms, I gave Danielle an idea of my typical meals throughout the day.  I stepped on the scale to discover that I’m now 137 pounds (I will talk about that later).  Here are the highlights of what I’ve learned:

• Eat every 2-4 hours:  breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack
• Have last snack no more than 3 hours before bed
• Eat protein in every meal
• For lunch and dinner, use the plate method:  50% veggies, 33% protein, 17% starches
• Food servings should fit in the palm of your hand
• Eat 90-95% lean beef
• Pair up fruits with proteins for snacks, like apples and peanut butter

So now the challenge is to APPLY what I’ve learned.  I told my dietitian that the hardest thing for me is discipline!  This weekend I’m going to shop for healthy snacks like hummus, carrots, Greek yogurt, eggs (hard boiled).

What do you like to eat as a healthy snack?  Any suggestions? Here’s to healthy eating!

Searching for a Dietitian…

By Janelle @ Run With No Regrets | nutrition

I had a pretty decent workout today.  I’m fortunate that my job has a gym onsite, and for $20 a year I have access to cardio equipment, weight machines, and Judge Judy on TV.

So today after work, I did two sets of 15 burpees with push ups (so surprised I could do them!), some lunges while carrying a medicine ball, ran 2.85 miles on the treadmill, stretched, light ab work with the medicine ball again, and ended with some clams for hip strengthening.

I had never used the medicine ball before, but found a site that had tons of great exercises.  I will definitely add these to the mix when I’m at the gym!

Post-workout, I’m feeling pretty good, but my feet are sore.  I wore my new Asics, which I’ve already discussed at length…but I’m still pretty sensitive to heavy impact since the stress fracture.  A good massage and maybe a little ice should do the trick!
Another great thing about my workplace is that we have access to Nutrition Counseling for 6 free sessions with our insurance.  I have been chomping at the bit to get signed up, but I still haven’t had a session…

I want to get nutritional help from a dietitian for a variety of reasons:

1. Learn to eat a balanced diet.
2. Become less dependent on eating out…i.e. cook for myself!
3. Learn how to eat and get lean during race training.
4. Save money!!
5. Find a plan or philosophy that will keep me committed to eating healthy!

Anyone have insights on ways to achieve better nutrition? I’m already a member of myfitnesspal but I always fall off from logging my meals. I’d love to add more friends, just add a comment!  Am I over thinking who to choose for counseling? Let me know what you think!

Asics GT-2000…Thumbs Up!

By Janelle @ Run With No Regrets | running tips

On Saturday morning I had my debut run in the Asics GT-2000’s that I just purchased on Thursday.  Honestly, I have to say I was nervous about trying out this new pair on the road. The last time I was recommended and purchased Asics, I ended up with bloody toes!  Needless to say, I got rid of those “with a quickness”…but in all seriousness, what if they don’t work and I wasted another 100 bucks?
The first goof was that I woke up on Saturday 20 minutes AFTER I normally start running with my Running Club…oy!  I hate waking up late on the weekends, even though I also hate waking up early on the weekends.  But despite that, I put on the shoes and headed out the door for a solo run, which I actually haven’t done in a long time.  I did a decent warm up of lunges and light jogging.  The weather was still super humid but not as much of a scorcher as it has been lately…so I’d say it was a cool upper 70’s and the weather was overcast.

The second goof was the lack of music!  I always seem to be forgetting something, but the good thing was that I could enjoy the scenery around me, especially since I switched it up from my usual Saturday runs.

The run itself went pretty well!  I don’t know if it was the weather or the excitement, but I started out with a good pace.  My feet felt good in the Asics and I wasn’t over thinking the way my foot lands as much as usual.  I overpronate, so these shoes are supposed to help reverse that.  I’m not a pro so I can’t really explain the mechanics of the shoe, but they are lightweight and I wasn’t pounding the pavement as much as I notoriously do, so I think these are going to work just fine!

I didn’t want to kill myself so when I felt spent, I walked briskly.  Still burning calories and improving my cardiovascular health. 🙂

I ended up running and walking a total of 4 miles.  I spent plenty of time cooling down and I’m happy to say my body isn’t hurting a day later like it did last Saturday…here’s a picture of me to prove I did it!

Loving the new shoes!

How have you all enjoyed running out in this awful heat?  I do believe that the humidity makes you stronger, even if your pace “suffers”.  Do you use a running app or are you more into those fancy Garmin and Nike watches?  Or, do you just run what you feel?  Let me know and thanks for reading!The official tally was 4.01 miles in 49:11.  I use Runkeeper to track my runs and it’s great to see all my stats over the years.  I’m trying to add a widget for Runkeeper to show my running stats on the Blog, but the Coding Gods aren’t working with me…hopefully I’ll figure that out soon.

Hello!

By Janelle @ Run With No Regrets | blogging , running

This is my inaugural post here at “Run With No Regrets”.  Welcome!  I really look forward to sharing my experiences as I run, try new workouts and get healthier and stronger.  But most of all, I’m excited about learning from my readers, so I hope to gain some followers along the way!

So who am I, and what I am up to?  To learn about me and my running so far, check out My Journey and My Races.  Right now, I’m working on building up my mileage to 10 miles a week.  I’m also in the middle of a month long Burpee Challenge which has been pretty tough!

Yesterday I FINALLY bought a new pair of running shoes.  The running store, Rittenhouse Sports Specialities, was recommended by a friend, and I’m so glad I went.  The owner is awesome and very honest about the shoe industry.  After trying to become a forefoot runner, I absolutely agree with her that it does more harm than good messing with your running form.  I lost 5 good months of running because of it, but I digress…

I tried on maybe 6 pairs of shoes, ran around the store with them, and really took my time.  I was torn between a pair of Saucony and Asics, but went with the Asics GT-2000’s.  They’re so pretty!  I’m just nervous because I really want these shoes to work for me.  Wearing the right running shoes is SO important!

Asics GT-2000’s…my new shoes!

My next post will be about my first run with the new shoes!  I look forward to hearing your insights  Thanks for reading, and please comment and say hello! Cheers!