Nutritional Facts

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly..."


Today was my first appointment with my nutritionist. I thought I would love it. I thought it would be fun. It was none of the above. What it was, was scary and stressful. 


Don't get me wrong, Nicole, my nutritionist, is probably the nicest person ever. It's just that having someone evaluate everything you've eaten (or haven't) is kind of difficult. A long, deep conversation; very, very detailed food plan; and 50 dollars in groceries later here are some of the things that I walked away with: 


-Flaxmeal (made from flax seeds). Anyone heard of this? I am supposed to start adding it to at the very least yogurt in the morning. It has some serious fiber and omega-3's in it which I apparently need. I tasted some, and it's not good by itself. I'm definitely going to have to mix it with yogurt. 


-Every meal should include: protein source, carbohydrate source, and veggies/fruit. I tended to center my food choices around one thing (i.e. only one nutrient source such as just yogurt or just salad) Nutritionally, it's best to include both. 


-It's also important to spread you protein etc out through out the day.


-Osteopenia is a serious deal. More serious than I was taking it. I assumed that if I stopped running so hard core and threw in some almond milk once a day or so that it would just go away. This is....sadly not true. Nicole told me that if I don't start taking this more seriously I'm going to develop osteoporosis before I turn 30. I need to start taking better care of my bones right now.


Finally, 
I need to get my act together. This is now or never. Either I'm going to get this figured out now, blow by it, and begin my career in triathlons or  this is something that's going to haunt me for the rest of my life. I don't know about you but having porous bones by the time I'm 30 is not exactly appealing. 


I'm a little afraid, as I suppose anybody would be going into this sort of a situation. I'm also prepared to  give it everything I've got. I've never walked during a race. I've never given up on a class. I've never stopped a workout. I've never taken "almost" good enough. Just because for some reason, this seems a bit harder, I don't know why I would take "almost" good enough for a part of my life that could potentially have the biggest impact on it.  There's a lot of consequences that even I didn't see coming. I mean really? As if breaking my foot wasn't enough! The last thing I need is for something else to break by the time I start running again. 


It puts things a bit in perspective. Three months ago all I wanted, was to run as soon as possible, no matter what. The most important thing in my life was running. Now the most important thing is taking my calcium supplements every morning.