Marathon nutrition updates:
I signed up for Meaghann Featherstun’s course and our ‘late fall half marathon cohort’ starts today though I will probably have to watch after the fact because I will be with all 3 kids at the orthodontist/dentist (I swear it seems like we live there). Despite creating and leading my own multi week courses, I haven’t taken many as a student, so I feel like this will be interesting from a content AND format perspective.
(Note: I have no affiliation with Meaghann and I paid for the course on my own; it was pricy but hopefully worth it!)
On a sort of related note, I never really did a follow up on my weight/hormones/training post, but things seem to have stabilized and I’m not as stressed about it. I have been focusing on eating more protein (mostly Peter Attia’s influence) and being a bit more mindful of what I am eating on long run days but have not continued formally tracking anything nor have I made any sweeping changes. I am excited for the course because I’m hoping to optimize performance for my race; it’s not really designed to address other body composition stuff.
(One positive nutritionally-related thing I did this week was to think through work lunches! I noted on a yet-to-be-released podcast episode that work lunch seems like a novel new problem every week, but . . . obviously it’s not. It’s concrete and solvable and I am determined to bring in decent food to sustain me on clinic days without having to resort to pricy, unpredictable, and often mediocre takeout!).
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(WEDS will be salmon salad + FRI will be hard boiled egg based probably)
School REALLY Starts . . .
School officially started over a week ago, but this is the first week activities are in full swing and homework begins. I am hoping to remain fairly hands off but I do want to encourage the kids to space out their work — I know one in particular would hate doing it last minute. Both big kids seem to have longer term assignments rather than daily things, which I actually think is great for teaching them to manage / plan for the workload.
G does not have homework and hopefully that will remain true for at least a year. I *hope* she can learn to read this year. Though I guess she will get there eventually.
We have something every night Monday through Thurs (Mon / Wed / Thurs, 2-3 kids have something). Most nights don’t go toooo late (7:15 M / W, 8:00 Thurs) but . . . I am already tired. I need to work on streamlining bedtime . . .
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Could your nanny pack your lunches for you? A few months ago I hired someone to help me around the house (not childcare but laundry and dishes and errands and whatnot) and one of her regular tasks is to pack me three days worth of lunches for work! It is glorious. It helps that I take essentially the same thing every day but maybe something to consider for you?
Ugh, work lunches, this is my one WFH joy. Old Job was in the city with great options for lunch within a 5 minute walk and New Job is more rural, just on-campus options, I think I’m going to have to leave too early to make anything… I foresee a decent amount of PB off the spoon in my future.
We worked really hard on reading over the summer but just got reading books, and gah…they didn’t assess the kids, just put them on the same level they were on last year.
I also think it is worth thinking through the order-in options in advance. There will be a day when, for whatever reason, you don’t bring lunch no matter how committed and I think it helps to have a default order-in option so you aren’t trying to decide last minute what to order. Mine is a salad from a salad place. It’s pricy so I don’t order it often but, if my previous lunch plan is derailed, I already know what I am getting and it takes 15 seconds to order it between patients.
I am in the office 3 days/week – 2 days I bring in a salad which 80% of the time is the same salad (greens, rotisserie chicken, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes). I cut all the ingredients up over the weekend usually so I can quickly assemble them the night before. I put the topping on the bottom and the salad on top and that seems to keep well until lunch the next day. The other day I am in the office, I treat myself to lunch which is usually – ANOTHER salad. Ha. But that salad has way more toppings and such so feels like a treat. I probably need more protein but it’s nice to get a bunch of veggies in. I’ve also used the bagged salads at Aldi and bring a protein (again usually rotisserie chicken) if I am really busy/don’t have the time to chop stuff. But it’s easy for me to get a salad during the day since I can just go down to the lobby of the building when I have downtime. It’s trickier for you with how your days are scheduled!
We are down a kid this week since our older son is at my parents, so our nights are extra easy this week since the 2.5yo goes to bed around 7! So I had a zoom with a friend last night and tomorrow I will go to book club with zero guilt about leaving my husband to deal with bedtimes as the 2.5yo goes down very easily! Not that I should ever feel guilty about taking a night for myself.
I made a salad this week with tuna and Greek yogurt over spinach and tomatoes and then realized the whole thing was 250 calories so decided to supplement with a bagel and banana. But! I felt full for hours so we will see how it goes. I was thinking of doing chicken salad next week, but we’ll see. Making lunch to take to work is kind of the bane of my existence. :-p
I hate spending money on lunch out (but still do it sometimes). My best method is to have some kale/romaine, a protein, quinoa, a light lemon vinagrette, maybe a few easy veg (tomato/cucumber). Maybe add olives/fe
Great idea!
I’ve been curious about Meaghann’s courses. Would love to hear about your experience and how much her course provides that’s different from the free content she already has.
I feel like it does offer more – more prescriptive, more individual, lots of opportunity for questions and very well-organized content. It’s not as if there are secrets she’s withholding on the podcast but I find the manner in which it’s presented in the course really useful!