What injury??????!?!?!
Get this book: Thrive Diet, by Brendan Brazier. Read it. You need to understand why you need to eat a certain way and how much better you will feel with cleaning up your diet. (still have the Immoduim AD issue?)

So at 4 pm, what is to stop you from brining something healthy with you to eat? Make a smoothie to take with. For a great snack, I love celery, with almond butter and raisins...yes, ants on a log! Even a PBJ would be a good snack.

Keep a food diary for 3-4 days and see what is missing. Could be healthy fats, or the right balance of carbs/protein.

Also healthy does not mean deprived...if you want chocolate, have it. But no donuts and twinkies....got it?

BTW- I am getting over my addiction to pop-tarts...so I feel ya!
Hope this helps!

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Jeanne Roth
Team Timex 2007/2008
http://jeannejeannie.blogspot.com/

Nutrition for Endurance Athletes by Monique Ryan is also a good resource.

My approach has been to try and break one bad habit (or introduce one good habit) at a time, instead of trying a huge overhaul. First stopped drinking soda, then worked on doubling water intake, then tackled ignoring the Paradise Bakery that starts calling my name at about 2:30 every day. Now I'm working on liking vegetables. That one may take awhile.

Good Luck to You!!

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________________

"Cyclocross is the opposite of sex--if you're doing it right it hurts, and it's only fun before and after." Bike Snob NYC

IT band insertion hell.. had it before IM AZ, ran on it anyway, and haven't even been able to walk right since. Let alone bike/run.

Thanks for the book tip, I haven't read that one yet.

I have Monique Ryan's book. I've read a lot of great ones, even total diet books like Sugar Busters.. I understand it, but I don't practice it. It's like all reason and rationale goes out the window when faced with sugar!

I'll pack a snack for swim team. The thing is, I don't need the calories, so I'd rather eat nothing around then. But I guess an apple wouldn't kill me the way a few servings of costco trailmix does..

I'm right there with you....I was doing great all weekend (we rented a condo so we could cook our own food vs having to eat out for 3 days) until I hurt my leg, and then I figured I couldn't train, so why eat healthy??? This is very typical of me. It started when i put my bike in the van for a ride back from Hawi and found some carrot cake at the 7-11, and continued all day Sunday.

Last night I ended up taking my dogs for a walk (a very painful walk) in the rain to keep me away from the junk food.

From now on I'm carrying oranges/apples with me so i will hopefully eat an orange instead of chocolate or chips. This helped me last time I needed to clean up my diet. As soon as I get 3-4 good, no sweets days, I'm fine and don't crave them so I won't eat them.

I had a roommate who had abs like yours (just read your blog and saw you FAB ABS in the Title 9 pic) and she used to eat broccoli for dinner with BBQ sauce on it. Not a good dinner. I would also find her making chocolate chip cookies at 6 am when she had insomnia. Don't get like that! I know you are smart so I won't worry.

I advocate fruits and veggies! I stopped sugar for 2 weeks as part of a "fertility" diet and ended up losing 5 pounds in that time which I wasn't trying to do. I think sugar keeps the weight on and if you can stay away from it you will be better off.

You will feel better if you maintain your blood sugar levels with whole foods. Apples, oranges, bananas, carrots, celery, cucumbers or tomatoes with balsamic vinegar, yummy! An apple in the evening with a piece of dark chocolate keeps me happy. Or banana bread made with less sugar and use flax or whole wheat flour. Keep yourself full with fiber. I couldn't eat more than a slice of that bread, I think I found the recipe on the Miami diet or whatever diet that is called web site. They do the low glycemic index thing.

Sorry you are injured, keep it together and let it heal!

Oh, I met you in Oceanside.......one of the many who thought you were Catherine, remember?

Anyways, I am with you on the fear of weight gain. I am also injured for the first time in my tri career and I have to admit that the biggest worry I have is that I will get fat if I can't work out.

Along with a huge aerobic base, my years of training have also built a HUGE appetite and I seem to have used up all my self discipline dragging myself to the pool. ;-)

I don't know what to do........

G

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It's a little like wrestling a gorilla.........you don't stop when you're tired.........you stop when the gorilla is tired.

Sorry you're injured. There's always swimming though ;-) which might not help the sugar cravings because sugar makes you hunnnngggrrrrrryyyy

Anyway - fruit. Good, fresh fruit usually tastes better than candy anyway! Yellow delicious apples have been my favorite lately, they're so nice and juicy. If that doesn't do it - fruit flavored yogurt? Still sugary but at least you get some protein and calcium.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

If you are open to it, acupuncture may help with a sugar addiction....my friend did it.

Add a piece of fruit or a salad to every meal. Fruit or veggies dont add calories, they add nutrition. Since you mentioned trail mix....I like to make my own trail mix. Its not that hard. some raw nuts, dried fruit, you avoid all the salt and preservatives from Costco...

ugh! The dreaded IT band....roll it out. That is what worked for me. I swear by the TP kit now. You can also look into Egoscue. That is functional postural alignment. go to http://www.egoscue.com for more info. I ahve done it and it works great. I use it for my back and shoulders.

You should have seen Nina Kraft after IMFL....she was in such pain the next day.

Mine was so bad at one point I had to get picked up from a bike ride....embarrasing and painful!

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Jeanne Roth
Team Timex 2007/2008
http://jeannejeannie.blogspot.com/

When the sugar cravings start at 4:00, how long has it been since you last ate? If it's been 3 hours or more, then you should plan a good snack for 4:00 (or 3:30 to nip it in the bud). Find something that's good for you and filling and maybe a little bit sweet (as suggested already - fruit, yogurt, dried figs, nuts, protein bar, smoothie, etc). Drink a big glass of water too before you leave for these late afternoon events. Eating before the cravings start should nip it in the bud.

Also, find something you can carry in your bag that will help you when you get these cravings. I like to have tic-tacs with me or some other kind of small mint.

I wish there was a patch like I used to quit smoking. I am soooo with you. I can't say no to chocolate in my life, it is far too depressing, but it is like a gateway drug. The time I have my first treat of the day completely dictates what I eat for the rest. If I blow it at noon then I'm screwed right up until I'm in bed. I've been known to grab a piece of chocolate on the way up the stairs at night. Terrible.

As far as what helps, if I can hold off on the crap for the day then I'm totally cool with some very high quality dark chocolate at around 8pm. For me the key is to have food everywhere. I picked up the Zone bars at Costco the other day and they are pretty good and have a good balance of carbs/protein in them. They feel like a treat and keep the edge off. I have them everywhere, in the car, in my laptop bag, one in my purse, a couple in my gymbag. One of those and an apple mid afternoon and I'm OK until dinner.

The Costo trail mix comes in individual bags at around 140 calories and I totally dig that as a treat in the afternoon as well.

I've also found that fueling while I workout is key key key! Even if it is only an hour swim I have a bottle of Accelerade, 150 calories. It keeps me fueled during the swim and I'm not ravinous afterwards.

I try not to get starving at any point in the day, thus the portable snacks. As soon as I'm starving all self control goes out the window and anything in my radar is fair game. It is literally a day to day, meal to meal battle for me.

Gads. Again, I need a patch....

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

Hi!

I was curious about reducing sugar in my diet and GhiaGirl gave me some awesome advice in to what she did. I used to (3 weeks ago - so I'm not CURED yet) eat ice cream or something ridiculous every single night. I started by swapping my sugary yogurt for plain with a little bit of real fruit blended up and mixed in. It still has sugar but it is "natural". I found that this helped me curb my sugar cravings for the rest of the day. At night I don't want sugar anymore and if I do I can actually only eat 1 hershey kiss and not the whole bag. The thing is after about 5 days I don't even want it anymore! If I do feel like I need something I just make some tea with a bit of honey in it. Still sugar, but lower on the GI. I've felt better too!

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Have faith and keep going.

I have that book - it's good. If anyone who is a regular poster (not someone out of the woodwork pls) wants to borrow my copy, PM me.

I felt like I was reading about myself! I also eat well until the four o'clock witching hour. Then I will eat a whole sleeve of Fig Newtons, a pint of Ben and Jerry's, anything with sugar in it. I don't drink sodas, juice or alcohol. Sugar is the addiction. I'm 5'6" and weigh 125 lbs, even with these huge amounts of sugar. As I age though, I'm 45 now, I notice that it puts more fleshy fat on my midsection. As I train more, working on my first HIM now, I am more hungry all the time. It's not unusual for me to eat 3 desserts a day. Lately I have been trying to drink a protein shake at 4:00. I'm hoping it will fill me up and help me beat that massive sugar fix. I feel so sluggish after I eat this junk. I'm going to check out those book titles too. I really want to feed my body what it needs to improve my performance. Thanks for all the tips.

This thread inspired me to eat soup and a salad for lunch to recover from a tough training weekend instead of the chocolate chip cookies by the cashier. I'm still thinking about them but I'll have a latte later instead.

Mmmm.....coooookies.....

:-)

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

I read a story about a family in Africa who recently had to kill their family goat for food. They had been using the goat for milk but with the price of food so high, they were desperate.
I have been cutting back on what I eat since reading that story last week.
I know this is a buzz kill, but we forget that millions of families go hungry around the world every day.

I, too, start off well and then blow it in the afternoon!!!!! It's not sugar....I'm off it, it's chips, namely Frito's and Julio's(they have the BEST seasoning). I would just not buy them but my two kids(11 and 14) have to have some sort of junk around. Seriously, it is the only junk they eat since I don't have sweets around and meals are very balanced. I am excited bc Tx Iron(who I train with) has a coach who has his masters in nutrition and they are offering a personalized sports nutrition program. I contacted him last week and we are going to get started this week. I have already had to email my weight.....that was beyon painful!!!!!!! I want to lean/lose before BSLT and the next IM AZ!!!!!!!!!! My fat ass is slowing down my run.

So true. Today I was complaining because I had to spend $1000 on a new water heater. I quickly got over it and decided to be thankful that I have a home and hot water. I live near the Mexican border and try to never forget some of the poverty I have seen there and in other Central American countries. Heck, it's here in the US too. Maybe I could stop indulging in my pig fests if I really thought about what I eat and were more thankful for the opportunity to eat nutritious food. More than half the battle is mental.

I'm a chocolate addict, and I was a poptart addict. When we did the fitday thing last spring, the first Diana called me out on the poptarts, and it was enough to embarass myself to stop eating them. ok , I didn't cut them out entirely, but now I just eat one occasionally when I need a quick pickup that's easily digestible before a run, and I don't have anything healthier to grab. CHocolate kills me. I eat a chocolate devotion from coldstone creamery every week - one a week. Last year I did so well managing my sweet tooth. Not going quite as well this winter/spring. I need to get myself back on the wagon. I know it can be done. For me, it helped to know someone was keeping half an eye on what I was eating. Now I think I just have to make my eye be that watchful eye. I'm going to try to start again today.

Cheryl

Next time you "have already blown it", say to yourself - calories are cumulative with each mouthful of rubbish. There, now chocolate is ruined for you :)

>>It's not sugar....I'm off it, it's chips,<<

Oh yes. Salt and vinegar, plain, chips and salsa. Addict.

clm

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

I'm with you sister!!!!! I had salt and vinegar chips in my special needs bag.......they were beyond awesome!!!!!!!! I HAVE to cut down, though. I will, I promise..............can I, at least, keep up my beer/wine habit?

I have had a major problem eating candy at work and eating ice cream--sometimes as my primary dinner food. I know, bad! To help with the candy problem at work, I pack a big bag of meals and snacks for the day and eat constantly--2 packs of Simple Harvest oatmeal for after my swim, yogurt smoothie, banana, strawberries, carrots, dried fruit, cottege cheese with fruit on it, small main course lunch, animal crackers, 1-2 bottles of propel. Lots of things to keep my sweet tooth distracted all day. Of course I also drink lots of the low cal chai lattes from our little coffe/tea machine and load them up with splenda, so I'm not sure if that's very good for me. For the most part this has kept me away from the candy jar unless there is somethign particualry good over there or I am having a very stressful or long day. Then I give in and go for the reeses peanut butter cups--but not too often anymore. Still working on the ice cream problem--just have to stop buying it I guess but the hubby likes it.

feel for you....i have the same problem
i have no willpower..if i keep any "fun" food in the house i will eat it
all in one go, so..i ask my hubby to hide it..out of sight out of mind.
another thing that i am trying is PGX.....seems to be helping.
do a little research and see if this my help.

Lots of talk on ST lately about addictions and such. I feel so defeated sometimes, especially when I see that so many of us struggle with the same issues...caffeine, sugar binges, urges to smoke years after quitting. It makes me think that I will never be free of these demons. I will always feel bad about eating crap after 4 pm (I am SO with you on this one), wanting to smoke sometimes, feeling like a failure for not having the willpower to make the right decisions for myself. I wish it wasn't like this.
I have been on a bad-food eating binge for at least 2 weeks now, a downward spiral. Yesterday I almost got sick from eating too much junk at a birthday party. So last night I sat down at the computer and researched emotional eating, just to give myself something to think about while I try to gain control of my eating again. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but for me there is definitely an emotional undercurrent to my current eating funk. Probably the same with you...injury is hard to deal with.
It helps to know you are not alone, doesn't it?

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Jessica