6 Small Meals A day my (big) a@^... aka Skinny People are lying liars.

Today I had what I think was a pretty good day as far as getting my fitness on track.  I took a hillier route to and from work (due to flooding on the lowlands I usually ride) and totalled a little over 1.5 hours on the bike.  After dropping my bike off at home and taking the pupster on a little peepee walk, I actually got on the ball and went to Bikram Yoga class for a 90 minute sweat fest.  Incidentally, my studio sells passes that expire and I have about 25 classes that expire in about a month, so I might be having a lot more gumption as far as Bikram goes in the next few weeks.  I had a Fiber Plus and coffee for breakfast, stove off hunger with a banana and apple before lunch, had a wonderful salad at Devon and Blakely for said lunch, and now i'm at home, contemplating dinner. 

I started contemplating food and dieting during my yoga class (Focusing on the moment and the breath was not in the cards today).  Some of the postures required me to shift my adipose around in order to maneuver my body into the pose and  Bikram Yoga is also done in a room with mirrors; you are told to look at yourself in the mirror between your asanas.  The reflection was sobering, but I was able to picture myself a few months down the road - leaner, stronger, reflecting self-discipline and self-respect.  After the Bikram euphoria wore off though, I started having doubts about whether or not I will really succeed in getting back on the right track with my body and fitness.

I have never been a skinny girl.  As a competitive or at least hard core athlete, I was usually 10-20 lbs heavier than the other girls, with significant "junk in the trunk" and heavy muscling in places I was told by tunnel-vision afficionados of whatever sport I was in at the time I would be better off not having.  As a cyclist, I was told that my arms and back were too heavily muscled (there has never been a time in my life I couldn't do at least a half dozen pullups... no training or trying, it's just the way I was made).  As a climber, especially in korea, I was told that my back and arms looked great, but my butt and legs were just too big for me to tick off the higher numbers.  Despite this unsolicited advise, I pretty much loved my muscles, my sprint was great on the bike, I could tackle powerful cruxes a lot easier than similarly skilled or more highly skilled climbers, and there were plenty of boys who did not have any complaints about the appearance of my rear end.



Adam's latest homebrew in the foreground (ie... i don't drink THAT much!)

 I never really learned how to eat right though.  My active lifestyle kept me from putting on any serious weight, so I just ate whatever I wanted.  I lived with a fellow bike racer for few months who tried to counsel me on my eating habits.  "Mary, you can't eat chips for every meal and expect to be a fast bike racer"... Me: "I am a fast bike racer".  I was happy with the level I was performing at and didn't really see myself as ever being able to move up to the next level.  The next level was for people with real talent and I couldn't picture myself in that category.  Now I've seen a lot of friends move up to the next level and I've come to the conclusion that their diet and nutrition have something to do with it.

I wish I could put a hidden camera on the skinny people I know to find out what they were really eating.  I think they really want to keep it a secret so that they can keep all the skinny-person perks to themselves - like finding clothes that fit right, looking cute, climbing hard, and winning bike races.  The books say "don't skip breakfast", "eat 6 meals a day instead of 3", "don't eat bread", "eat bacon fat for every meal", "eat fruits and vegetables" "eat like a caveman".  I read a book that said eat a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast every day and don't eat processed foods.  I followed that.  Oatmeal makes me want to choke... and I gained weight to add insult to injury.  I can't count to 6, but i stopped eating big meals (except dinner or lunches out or that "big" "important" breakfast I heard so much about), and I just grazed on healthy things throughout the day like fruit, veggies, tuna, yada yada... i don't think that approach has done me any favors.  I also used to cut out all alcohol except for rare occasions, then all the lying liars started bragging about how great wine was for your health.  "Have a glass of wine" they would say.  So I did... and then I realized that by "glass", they really meant shot glass.  Oh, and let's not forget chocoloate and all of it's "antioxidants".  Bastards.

My goal is to work my way down to about 10 lbs less than what I used to consider my "fighting weight."  If my hypothesis is correct, my race results should reflect that difference and I could quite possibly get to a level I never really considered for myself before.  If you skinny people are reading, maybe you can fess up and throw me a freaking bone here.  What the heck do you really eat to get those knobby knees?!?