Quote Originally Posted by channlluv View Post
I'm kicking myself here because I'm falling back into old eating habits - no self control. I even recognize it while I'm doing it and I can't stop myself, or I've been unable to stop myself or unwilling or whatever. Damn Trader Joe's and their "healthy" snacks. Baked cheese puffs, my big Aunty Fanny.

I know I'm the only one who can control this. I don't know why I can't.

Roxy
Oh, Roxy, I wish I could give you a great big hug. You aren't alone. Really. I could have written these exact same words (except that nuts are my Kryptonite, not Trader Joes ) any time over the past year. I knew what I should and should not be eating. No one was holding a gun to my head when I walked down the bulk foods aisle and bought a nice big bag of roasted salty nutty goodness. (and then repeated the pattern every other day for months... ) Sometimes it was like I was having an out of body experience. I'd watch myself walk down that aisle, fill the bag, all the time wondering what invisible hand was pushing me along, all the while knowing I shouldn't be buying the *as I was buying them*. Then I would eat them. And because I knew I *shouldn't* be eating them, I didn't get nearly enough pleasure out of them. Then they'd be gone and I'd be miserable, wondering what was wrong with me.

The trick is, how to break out of that cycle? Good question. The million dollar question, in fact. If there were one nice pat answer to this, we'd all be thin and happy, wouldn't we.

I wish I had an answer for you, Roxy. I truly do. I've finally managed to break back out of that cycle (Ironman Canada being the trigger that has finally snapped me out of it, or more accurately, scared the crap out of me enough to force me to get serious...) But I believe that you WILL find that place of strength deep inside you, the one that knows that those baked cheese puffs are not what truly makes you happy. Keep the faith, girl. I believe in you.

Quote Originally Posted by channlluv View Post
I was talking about carb loading for what I thought was a long ride and DH poo-pooed it, saying, "You don't need to carb load for 20 miles."
Honestly, he's probably right. It would be good for you to eat a normal-sized meal a few hours before a ride (say, a bowl of oatmeal, a banana and a glass of milk). Give yourself time to digest. I can often ride two hours with nothing but water, but usually around an hour I want 100-250 calories to help me ride better during that second hour. But that really is all most people will need. Our stomachs are not physically capable of digesting much more that 200-300 calories per hour when we are being aerobically active. Anything more than that will cause digestive distress.