A Cautionary Tale

[Veronica]

How much do you think being injured affected your fitness level? Was that as big a factor as the pizza?

It was all mental. I could have been swimming or biking. A stressful work day leaves me craving unhealthy foods and wanting to hole up in my "nest."

Veronica

[GLC1968]

We should live closer together, we could share a wardrobe!

I currently look fairly close to your November shot after having been all the way up to 175 lbs (my 'before' photo will not come out until I have my true 'after' to share). I have photos of myself at 138 lbs or so from about 8 years ago - and I look a hell of a lot like your April photos! I hope to be back there again before too long.

Thanks for the inspiration!! And congrats on the EXCELLENT results - you are gonna rock that race this year!

[Desert Tortoise]

Veronica, thanks for posting your pics and story. You look fierce and your story is so inspiring. And I agree, maintaining is harder than loosing.

I dropped a lot of weight over the span of year, biked over 200 miles a week and then last year something went wrong. I still don't know if it was my medication (allergy of all things) or my wiring got all twisted but I gained weight, lost desire to bike, felt tired all the time and was in a LOT of physical pain. Docs ran test, they were normal, didn't think it was my meds, etc. But after almost a year of suffering, I insisted on changing my meds and the symptoms cleared.

Here's the hard part, getting back into those good habits! I've gotten back to riding although not to the same level. Next is relearning the good eating habits. Now that's hard to do. Biking 200 miles a week is so much easier than portion control and limiting sweets.

Anyway, thanks for posting! It's very encouraging for this uphill climb of life.

[Velocivixen]

Thanks for your cautionary tale. To me you looked wonderful in both shots.
I have lost over 100 pounds with diet (eating healthful, whole foods and watching portion sizes) and regular exercise. I've kept my weight off for 16+ months and it involves ongoing vigilance.
Thanks for sharing.

[malkin]

That tire wouldn't have had a chance in November.
You rock!

[smilingcat]

+1 of what everyone else said.

When you are training as hard as you do, one has to watch carefully of what one eat in terms of getting the body what it needs. If its not quite right, old injuries show up, you bonk, you get hurt. Also sleep is vital part of training.

Alcohol really affects ones training and being on the top. Here is a link on ethanol metabolism.

[Zen]

what part of this is cautionary?

[Veronica]

Alcohol really affects ones training and being on the top. Here is a link on ethanol metabolism.

Thanks, but we didn't start having a regular bottle of champagne - which is three glasses over two days - until Dec. 31, 2010. And that's all the alcohol I drink. I included it it to illustrate that you can still have "useless" calories.

what part of this is cautionary?

The whole first half.


Veronica

[SheFly]

V - I have followed your training stories for quite awhile, and you continue to be an inspiration to me, especially now as I have packed on the winter - um - 10 lbs. I know how hard it is, and how hard you work. Make sure to give yourself enough credit for that! Like someone else said, you really do ROCK

And say hi to Thom for me. Guess lobster rolls are out, huh?

SheFly

[limewave]

V--you look terrific! What an inspiration.
And as others have said, you look pretty darn fit in the November picture too. But I understand that pursuit to be your fittest, strongest, and healthiest. You must feel great!

[Crankin]

My "ups and downs" have not been that great in the past ten years, since I started cycling. And this year, I was able to maintain my weight/body fat much more easily over the winter.
However, I see changes in my body that I don't like. I stopped doing a lot of core and weight work in the past 6 weeks, trying to do all of the PT things to help my back/hip. The back is better now, so back to the other stuff. I am going to ask for a gym membership/personal training for graduation... I really enjoy working out at home and not schlepping to the gym, but I need a bit of a kick where weights are concerned.
While I am pretty vigilant with my eating, I am not sure if I could be any more restrictive than I am. I am in a phase where I am really restricting even the whole wheat bread, but that won't last when I start adding more miles to my rides. While I am pretty sure a lot of people see me as crazy disciplined, I know I couldn't maintain the work out schedule that Veronica does for any extended length of time. Since for me it's not about competing, I guess that's OK. I seem to go through phases and while I never stop working out, I have to be careful about over doing it.