Monday, November 27, 2006

No Sugar, No Energy

First off, I'm not advocating eating sugar but I had a revelation in my workout today. I didn't have as much energy because I started weaning myself off of pre-workout sugar. I started feeling like it just wasn't right.

But is it different to have a power bar and red bull? Or a high calorie carbo drink before a workout? Sugar has definitely been my drug of choice lately. Pretty scary when I realized that. Buzzing around after a sugar binge and feeling literally "high" is a feeling I like.

Sugar is like a drug for me. And because of that I wanted to wean myself off of it. I used to have at least 300 - 400 cal. of sweets before my workout on Saturdays, if I hit a bake sale it was more like 800-1000. I felt super motivated to work it off because of the guilt and had the energy to do it. I always had a super strong, super long, super intense workout.

Super because I was wired!

I wasn't happy with my WO on Saturday so I did a quick 36 min WO today. I felt better today but still didn't feel as strong as I had in past weeks. I found my self actually craving sugar mid- WO. Bingo!

Tomorrow is Snatch day, my favorite, and I had talked myself into returning to 300-400 cal. of sugar. I really like being strong for snatches. But after reflecting the last 10 min while writing this post, I really don't know.

To be honest, I'm leaning toward sugar. Maybe if I get it over with, and have a great WO I can be good and clean the rest of the day.

Why does that sound icky?

8:00 KB WO

Warm up w/ 40 2 hand swings 1 min. on 1 min. off x 3 sets, 6 min total

#1 1 hand swing 10 L, 10 R, 10 L, 10 R 1 min. on 1 min. off x 3 sets, 6 min. total

#2 40 2 hand swing w/ 36lb 1min. on 1 min. off x 3 sets, 6 min. total

# 3 10-1 swing, 1 trans. L, 10- 1 swing, 1 trans. R w/36lb. 1 min. on 1 min. off x 3 sets, 6min. total

#4 1 hand swing 10 L, 10 R, 10 L, 10 R w/ 36 lb. 1 min. on 1 min. off x 3 sets, 6 min total

# 5 repeat 1 set of #3, then #2, then #1, 6 min. total

Total WO time 36min. 720 reps

9:15 Bikram yoga
AM weight 129.8

Todays menu

5-8:00 am coffee w/ cream 85 cal.
11:00 coffee w/ cocoa and cream 100 cal.
12:30 veg soup w/ turkey (4oz.), 1/2c. brown rice, 1/2c. lentils 400 cal.
1:30 2 chocolate suckers 140 cal.
4:00 lg. apple 150 cal.
5:00 misc. 100 cal. ( bites of mashed potato and stuffing)
5:30 broccoli salad ( broccoli, red cabbage, carrot, 2 tbl. cranberries)w/ tuna salad ( 1/2 sm.can plus 1/2 T. mayo, 135cal.) 305 cal.
7:30 2 cups of ginger tea w/ honey 40 cal.

Total calories 1320

Today was a long thoughtful day.

5 comments:

Servius said...

You feel the need to fuel your workout. Just choose higher quality carbohydrates and give it a little time to digest instead of simple sugars just before the workout. It's what I often do.

Royce said...

Don't know how you feel about supps.
But when I am feeling kinda blah before a workout I will drink down an ENDORUSH from BSN.
I likes the mental focus it gives me.
BUT as Rif said in an earlier post whole foods are better and later in the day I can feel the crash from it.
Just a thought.

Tracy Reifkind said...

Marty,

Thanks for your comment, but I think you are missing my point. I really enjoy the high energy output I get from my WO when I have really high blood sugar.

It's not the best way to train long term but it's a trade off. Having a kick ass WO burned some of the extra calories I was taking in, but I was struggling with the nutritional drawbacks.

Being an overeater I look for any excuse to eat! I trained for over a year with plenty of energy without sugar. I was starting a trend that had become a habit I wanted to break.

I trained this morning without any sugar, when my natural energy is high, and it was fine. Now this is the trend I want to start.

Tracy

Tracy Reifkind said...

Royce,
Mark says that most pre-workout drinks are just over-priced sugar drinks anyhow! I would rather eat my calories. TR

Servius said...

cool.