V-CLUB TRAINING CORNER
We’ve teamed up with Marilyn Trout, certified USA Cycling Elite Coach to answer V-Club members’ training questions. You can view her coach profile at: http://www.trainingpeaks.com/coachdirectory/searchbydiscipline.asp#MarilynTrout
Send your cycling inquiries to Marilyn, and for a limited time, if yours is selected to be answered in our V-Club column, VeloWear will send you a $20 gift certificate that can be used towards any purchase on VeloWear.com. To submit your inquiry, e-mail her at trout_mic@msn.com, and type “V-Club Training Question” in the subject line of the e-mail.
DIGGING DEEPER
by Marilyn Trout
Did you know that when you climb a 6-8% hill for every additional pound you carry, it will cost you three watts? Hmmmm…has your mind drifted towards buying your way out of lugging any extra weight up the climbs this season like purchasing the titanium bike or lighter wheels or how about taking off that extra waterbottle cage?
Although the commercial during the Olympics tells us that “Life takes Visa”, to be a better rider doesn’t depend on the ease of using our credit card. It goes without saying that discipline and a sound training program are key elements to success in athletics. However, there is a vital cognitive step that is taken even before discipline happens and the magic training program is found. Centuries ago, St. Lukia said, “The body will only do what the mind allows it to do.” It starts in the mind.
The same is true with shedding those extra “wattage costing” pounds. The problem is not to be found with the needs of our belly but with our brain. Author Dianne Hales writes, “The key to permanent weight loss is changing the attitudes, feelings and habits that determine what, when, why, how often and how much you eat.”
Here’s a few facts, quotes and tips that may help you cycle a few watts faster up those climbs this season. Watts stopping you?
- Choose balance over “diet”.
- Decrease “empty” calories, food items with little nutritional value and excessive calories (refined sugar/processed foods…)
- Stay away from foods that “control” you ie) “I can’t have just one.”
- Don’t eat after 8:00pm or for those on shift work, after your last meal before you sleep.
- Eat slower and enjoy each bite.
- Don’t eat more because you think you need more due to the increased exercise.
- Don’t skip meals.
- Enjoy smaller portions.
- Overeating means overweight.
- Brush your teeth after meals, it helps finish a meal.
- It never tastes as good as thin feels.
- Feed your brain first and then your stomach…this is the key to losing and keeping the weight off.
- People don’t overeat because they’re hungry but as a way of meeting their emotional needs.
- Calories do count and the reduction of them is what really matters not necessarily the proportion of fats, carbohydrates and proteins.
- Eating right isn’t about necessarily about willpower, it’s about changing bad habits.
- “Good health starts with good choices.” How bad do you want it?
Tips to Help Change Your Mind (exerpts from an article by Michael O’Shea)
- Set small realistic goals. If your long-term goal is to lose 20 lbs, break it down into 5 lb. increments. Say to yourself every day that you want to eat correctly to be ____ lbs.
- Weigh your words. Language has a powerful impact on the subconscious mind, so choose your words carefully. Use the past tense as a reminder that you are changing or at least capable of changing your habits. “I used to eat uncontrollably late at night.” Use the present tense to describe the habits you hope to acquire. “I enjoy fruit for dessert.”
- Challenge negative assumptions. Instead of predicting that you’ll blow your nutritional goals, remind yourself of other goals you’ve set and met.
- Give yourself positive affirmations. Positive, motivating phrases repeated frequently throughout the day serve as an effective tool for changing the way people think and act. Substitute “I need to eat” with the affirmation, “I am in control of what I eat.”
- Visualize yourself as a fitter person. “As a man thinketh, so he is.” This is another cognitive strategy that helps break the habit of emotional eating. A person will be more successful at losing weight if the self-image reflects a healthy fit person. Post a photo of a fitter you...if your mind is keeping you overweight, change it.
- Keep a food diary. Keeping an account of what you eat forces you to be accountable for your food choices.
- Commit yourself to the long-term. Never, never give up…those who succeed at staying slim don’t give up. There is no magic plan and it’s not complicated. A simple commitment is what it takes.