Megan Nechanicky

When running a few weeks ago, my friend and follow training partner shared his 2012 resolution. He wanted to start taking lunch to work to not only save money but to eat healthier. An average a lunch out costs about $10, so by the end of the work week that’s $50 and by the end of the year that’s $2,600. What a GREAT resolution… not only saves money but most likely calories (considering most people eat more when eating out). Here are some ideas to get you started:

 
Plan Ahead: You have to think ahead and plan so you don’t get to noon and end up calling out for Chinese. Think through the following questions: What would you like to bring to eat for lunch? When will you buy these items? When will you pack these items?

 
Grocery Shop: Go to the grocery store at least once per week. Think about what you’d like to have for lunch for an entire week. The only way to prevent eating out is to have food on hand to pack.

 
Stock the Work Frig: Having food already at work will prevent you from using that excuse “I have no food to eat” (especially by the end of the week). Keep foods in the work frig or freezer. You can also keep non-perishable foods in your desk drawer (nuts, granola, dried fruit)

 
Healthy Brown Bags Ideas:
1. Greek Goddess- Hummus, whole wheat pita bread, carrots and peppers

2. Athlete- Peanut butter on whole wheat bagel, yogurt and banana

3. San Diego Surfer- Bean burrito (buy frozen), tortilla chips and guacamole

4. Trailblazer- Granola, yogurt, and fresh fruit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you imagine a day when you go to a restaurant and they automatically give you a side of fruit or salad instead of french fries? Last week I joined First Lady Michelle Obama at the Partnership for a Healthier America’s Building a Healthier Future Summit. The theme throughout the two days was creating solutions to make living healthy lives easier for Americans. The default choice should ALWAYS be the healthier choice. I think about the default choice as the one that automatically fills in the box when you’re completing something online or it’s automatically given to you without requesting a substitution. What if a bottle of water was automatically given to you with a meal instead of a soda? What if your kids were automatically given fat free or low-fat milk instead of juice or soda? What if every employer gave their employees 30 minutes per day for exercise?

What healthy choice would you like to see become the default choice?

While the idea of off-season sounds wonderful—free weekends, waking up after sunrise, later bedtimes, and added energy—it is a struggle for me to actually relax and take time off!  I know that I am not the only athlete that wrestles with the ideas of off-season weight gain, the challenge of starting fresh next season, and maintaining fitness level while giving our bodies a break.  Questions of what to do differently, how much more to train, or when to begin training again fill our thoughts.

Please let me help in answering these questions as someone who has faced the same challenges for years. For starters, what you can do differently this up coming season is grant yourself time off. Not only does your body need a break physically, but mentally as well. Designate a time-frame to be off (3 months, the winter, 16 weeks) and stick to it! During this time, remain active. Athletes often believe time-off equals weight gain, however this does not need to be true. The body naturally adjusts to a reduced caloric expenditure and does not require as much fuel (calories). You will have to listen to your body and not eat when you are not hungry. You may not need the additional snack you ate before or after a four-hour bike. However, stay active and find new sports/activities to participate in.

Learning a new sport can be exhilarating and remind you of how far you have come in your current sport. This off-season, I decided to learn tennis and golf.  Both are activities I chose because I live in a warm climate year-round. They are lifelong, social sports, and family and friends all play! The new challenges have taught me patience, respect for sport, and admiration for other athletes. It has given me the opportunity to think back to my early days of triathlon when I became acquainted with my bike clips. I feared stopping, and oftentimes would fall over scraping my entire side. How quickly we forget the struggles we overcame to get to where we are today! Sometimes we only focus on what’s ahead (very important in athleticism), however equally important is an appreciation of how far we have progressed.

Even though these two new sports are extremely challenging and cannot be perfected overnight, I bring the same drive and motivation I have in triathlon to the court and course. It’s not always how much more time or training we invest in sports, but the approach in which we train. Maybe this off-season will be the key to technique improvement, which in the end will make you more efficient while using less energy.

Starting your training NOW for the upcoming season may seem like the best way to improve, however it may only be a direct path to BURNOUT.  Sports seasons are long, and there is plenty of time for training. Give yourself the training gift of REST. Find a new endeavor, and who knows?  Maybe it will make you a better athlete than you thought you could be.