For those watching calories...

I subscribe to the RSS feed for the Nutrition Data blog. Today's post is striking to me. It's really a reiteration of an article from Marion Nestle.  The first thing that strikes hard:

Here’s the deal on food composition tables: you have to consider these numbers as ballpark figures, not as something engraved in stone.

That's not really too shocking. Food science has never been an exact science. I understand that intellectually. I think I fail to grasp the concept emotionally though.  That's when I saw this:

A 50-gram hard-cooked egg is 78 calories? Plus or minus 10 maybe.

Sure, it's 10 calories; but if it's 10 here and 5 there and 10 over there, that's 25 calories extra that I am eating and may not know it. The other thing that whacks me hard in the gut:

...food companies know quite well what is in their products but they won’t give the USDA any information about nutrient composition beyond what is on the food label; they consider that information “proprietary” and don’t have to.

It seems so useless when reading this article. Why bother when the data we do have is circumspect (despite the very best efforts); and companies want to keep it that way?  Dr. Nestle says:

I use the USDA figures as ballpark estimates and don’t pay any attention to small differences.

I wonder what "small differences" mean to her.  Maybe I'm just tired of fighting a battle that has more obstacles than I have ideas.  Does this mean "counting calories" is really about consistency?  If it is, what does that really mean for the concept of move more + eat less = weight loss?  How can you trust that you are eating less when your morning hard boiled egg could be 68 to 88 calories?  This makes my brain hurt.

Spin, baby, SPIN!

Completed my first Spin class [in six years]. I have the saddle bruises to prove it. lol

It was a great class. I came out of there sweaty and invigorated...and HUNGRY. My couch looked like a good snack at 9 last night. I'm gonna have to work on that. I think maybe I'll buy some protein powder and make a shake for after. For before, I'll try to remember to grab dinner at 5.

In other news, anyone heard of CarboRocket? I'm tempted to buy some. Anyone want to split a flavor(s)?

What would you tell cancer?

Do you read Fat Cyclist? Today, you should. He's funny. He's a cyclist (which we all know I will never be). He's inspirational. His wife has cancer.

Today, he posted an entry that has me crying.

I’d be willing to trade or negotiate. If I could beg for that truce, in fact, I would. “You’ve proven your point. If we agree that you’re the winner, will you stop now? Or if you still want something else, can you take it from me instead?” I honestly can’t think of many limits of what I’d trade.

This is what I say to cancer

Cancer is a part of my life.

Cancer is a part of my life because I work in a hospital devoted to cancer research. I see patients and families on the skybridges, in the hallways, in the waiting areas, and in the dining areas. I see the spectrum of emotions. The fear, the determination, the joy. Through it all, I see an amazing amount of hope and optimism.

Cancer is a part of my life because my stepdad and my uncle are survivors. They beat the odds.

Cancer is a part of my life because my father's mother and my mother's father lost their battles with cancer. They are lost to me.

Cancer is a part of my life because I choose to fight it the only way I can. I swim. I bike. I run (ok, I walk).

One Week Ago *edit*

I swam a full mile. Tonight, I plan to do the same. Hopefully, I won't need to crawl out of the pool this time.

FYI, I updated the post about the swim times. The link to the US Masters TopTen Search is now there.

7:35pm - I walked 3 miles instead of swimming 1. I just could not convince myself that getting in the pool was a good idea. It's good that I did walk. I have improved since my last open air walk (as opposed to a Leslie Sansone tape)...by 10 minutes.

Swim Speed *updated*

Donna,

In answer to your question: yes, your times are probably exactly right. Here are the top ten swimmers -- SCY (short course yard) for females 40-44, 35-39, 30-34 in 2002.

US Masters Search

Slick

I broke down and bought road tires for my mountain bike. As in, no tread. As in, I'm afraid of the damn things. The guy at Bike Barn said I'm not going to fall...unless it rains [Houston's yearly rainfall average? 54 in]...and I don't stay in a straight line [news flash: I can't DRAW a straight line]

Have I mentioned I hate the bike? No? Sit down. pull up a chair. Let me count the ways....

---

In other news, I swam a terrible 500 x 2 last night. That's what happens when I don't go to the gym for a week. Last night was the end of the funny business though. I have no excuses. There's only 89 days left!

I've been considering the Lonestar Tri -- GO DONNA GO!! -- but can't make myself commit. With only 27 days and nowhere near enough training in, I just do NOT trust myself.

I think this year's training is a reality check for me. I'm not sure what reality I'm supposed to be recognizing or what the eventual outcome will be...but there's something about training this year.

Ignore the bike, it will go away

This is my current philosophy. It's irrational and unrealistic. I get that. I just do so much better in the pool than on the bike. Once I get to 2000 yards in the pool, I'm going to switch the majority of my workouts to bike work. Sadly.

I guess it's positive news that I'm hauling my bike with me this weekend when I go visit my mom. She just had knee replacement and is getting discharged from the rehab clinic on Saturday. I'm taking my bike because I know that I have to ride no matter how much I don't want to...and Mom's house is on a hill. A small hill, but a hill I can practice on.

Am I the only one that prefers the swim? lol

Ok, I confess

I went riding with Donna on Sunday morning. Despite the nasty drizzle and the cold. Sadly, my back tire had a slow leak which lead to only 2 miles [how sad and pathetic]. I was actually enjoying myself *gasps* while riding. Despite the Peruvian Butterfly Syndrome, here's what I learned:

Donna rocks it with her iHome2Go. I'm envious and will have to budget for this handy little gadget.
I need bike shorts.
I need to ditch the reflectors (handlebars and seat).
I need to find my repair kit.
I need to CHECK MY BIKE before getting to the park.
I need a class in basic bike repair -- like, oh, say...proper tire pressure, how to change that slow leaking tube.
I need a nifty bike pump like Donna has. Mine is uber-portable but tires [ha ha...no one fall over laughing now] me out in 10 seconds.
No more gel seat. My butt wasn't sore or numb the entire ride [all 2 miles] or afterward.

Progress. I can actually say I didn't hate my ride on Sunday.

P.S. Did you see the news about Lance Armstrong's time-trial bike getting stolen? $10,000 bike. You'd think they would have armed security at the equipment truck. Three other bikes were stolen. What idiot steals a one of a kind bike? Are they going to ride it? Are they going to dip it in bronze? Are they going to ransom it?

P.S.S Does anyone read PastaQueen? I just found out about her through a cousin. So far, she cracks me up!

Lesli: Swimming

I swam this morning. For the first time in ages. I was miserable. I decided it would be best to get used to the frackin' swim cap now than fight with it during the TRI. I had to adjust my cap three times. "Never again," I kept telling myself. I HATE that cap about as much as I hate the bike. However, "never" is never going to happen. It's a safety precaution to make us wear caps. I get that.

Other than the cap issues [fyi, a swim cap is a lot like a giant condom...without any of the fun], my swim as good. I practiced the motions of a few drills I've picked up. Then I swam my real workout: 400 yrds, freestyle. I'm completely embarrassed by how much I've lost to inactivity. UGH. At least I know the swimming part will come back fairly quickly. My goal is to be up to 2000 yards by next Saturday. Then I am going to start adding walking to the weekend workouts.

I hope to be doing bricks by end of March.

Bike saddle

Now that the coughing and stuffiness are nearly an end, I feel like I can actually commit myself to a workout program. *sighs* One that involves a lot of weekend biking. Have I mentioned I hate cycling? Give me a twelve mile swim and a half mile bike ride. I can do that. I might being freaking exhausted, but I wouldn't flinch at that. Cycling? More than two blocks? I'd rather not, thanks.

I'm actually considering buying the cushiest [perhaps I should say, "most comfortable"] bike seat saddle [while I hate the actual activity, I can at least use the right vocabulary, lol] I can afford. Any recommendations?

It's On

Registration opened today. My stomach is one giant knot of greasy fear. I'm not ready. I'm not even close to ready. The hills in Austin scare me.

I've been so scared of this year's TRI, I've thought up at least 1000 reasons to NOT participate. Every time I get ready to chicken out and email our crazy wild little group, I remember that fear didn't stop me from moving to IL and traveling for a living. Fear didn't stop me from move back to Texas. Fear doesn't stop me.

That's my new mantra.