At one point in my life I weighed 300 pounds. I worked hard to lose that weight. I didn't go for surgery or a radical change. I just cut the calories and increased my activity levels and slowly over about 2 years, the weight came off. I am still 30 pounds from what I consider my "goal" weight of 155 but I finally learned about a year ago that I had to let that goal go and live my life. I was too wrapped up on that magic number and losing focus on being healthy and happy.
So my life has moved forward. My goals over the last 5 years have shifted from looking good in a bikini to walking 10 miles to riding my bike 100 miles to running a Marathon and then doing a 1/2 Ironman Triathlon. The ultimate goal is still a full IRONMAN distance triathlon (2.5 mile SWIM/112 mile BIKE/26.2 mile RUN). I will be an IRONMAN ... but i digress from the topic at hand ...
Food. I may have lost 120+ pounds but I still love food. I still indulge in the occassional ice cream and chocolate and I still crave my mom's roasted chicken with all the fixings. Heck, being a triathlete has worked in my favor as a former fat girl. HOW? Well a PB&J sandwhich and a bannana is a great breakfast choice before a long ride or run. And after a 60+ mile bike or a 14+ mile training run, you can have an extra roll with dinner and not be too concerned about excess calories. Don't get me wrong, I eat healthy most of the time now and I think about my choices but as any other fellow endurance junkies will tell you, Extra Food is a nice fringe benefit for the hours of cardio. The firm legs are nice too!
So with any kind of chemo, one of the first sets of healthy cells to go are your tastebuds and stomach cell's. They are some of the most rapidly dividing cells in your body (besides your hair and skin). So if you are lucky enough you might not have the mouth sores that some chemos cause but you will probably experience some change in taste.
My experience on Interferon is that everything tastes wrong. Especially anything that is slightly salty or very sweet. Over the month of high dose, I had lost my taste of everything that I enjoyed. Chocolate - blah, peanutbutter - double blah - any kind of cheese or meat - forget it! Bland is the way to go. I still have my dairy and have found comfort in fresh fruit, plain chicken and yougurt and bagels and juice. Until 1 week ago that is ....
After a week off of Interferon, my taste returned to normal and all bets have been off. In part because I know in a week, everything will taste bad again for the next 11 months. I have not been eating in massive amounts but I sure have induldge in treats that I usually save for long milage days. The biggest problem? I haven't been doing the long miles! The calories have no where to go. Hmm..let me take that back, lately they seem to be going straight to my waist.
I feel a little out of control and I hate that feeling. I guess that means it is time to sit down and plan a little workout/nutrition plan for the first few weeks of Interferon shots. No time like the present to start.
Vacation pictures coming tomorrow!
Living STRONG but hitting the Hershey's a little hard .....
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2 comments:
Hey, you deserve some Hersheys!!! You will get back into race form in no time! Enjoy yourself right now...
I appreciate how you wrote, "Heck, being a triathlete has worked in my favor..."
That is a statement in the positive and so critical to your training. Don't ever hide what you want to be or who you are or becoming. So what if you don't fit the 'mold' or in an area that is tri-friendly. Who does fit that mold, anyway? Exactly. The mold is a fabrication because of media fabrication and the physiques of professionals whom train 35-40 hours a week.
Rejoice in who are are, where you are and what your becoming. You are many things, a proud triathlete among them.
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