Food for fuel – one step forward, two steps back 🤔 BUT A POOP FREE LONG RUN 🤣🤣

This week was adaptation week so slightly less fuel required and a last minute decision to pop away for a few days meant planning all meals in advance so I wasn’t caught out, and it all started so well…….

Travel on the Monday was planned around training and ensuring lunch was done and dusted, this then caused a major headache – I wanted some retail therapy at Swindon outlet centre and we got into slow traffic on the motorway 😢😢😢 Thank goodness for internet – it was open until 7pm so lots of shopping time 🤣🤣.

First stop - Cadbury’s outlet – whoops 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ but I can honestly say I haven’t eaten much of it yet……..then an eye opener which quite frankly shocked and upset me. Last year I had tried on a beautiful dress in Hobbs (nasty habit of mine) but chose to get new cycling gear instead and hadn’t seen the dress again – until Monday, I couldn’t resist trying it on and wanted to buy it this time, tried on the same size as before and looked like I had just been liberated from a concentration camp – it was truly dreadful and a real wake up call for me, needless to say I didn’t buy it! (But did get some nice shorts and pyjamas 🤷‍♀️)

Once settled into our campsite, well a football club in Fairford, and a rare rest day off we went to a National Trust house near Bath, and it was here I made what felt like a big step forward in planning lunch (even went back to our van to make it) rather than wandering around the grounds with no food and having a tea and cake stop later (not that that is a problem 🤣🤣), picnic packed and off we wandered to find a sunny spot to eat. Was this all starting to pay off?

The next couple of days gave us the chance to ride the Cotswold classic route and be home in time for lunch……….well it would have done if my husband had packed his cycling shoes 🤬🤬, afternoon ride it was then! And lovely to feel energised during the ride managing an excellent average pace with a good brick run after – followed by a recovery yoghurt bowl.

Now I should mention that all my meals for this week were planned by me rather than Adam, I just had guidelines on calories and macros for the day and how each meal or snack was to be made up, I have really enjoyed the recipes but also enjoyed this change.

Open water swimming locally was to provide a meal challenge, eat first or not? I went for breakfast and regretted it after one lap as I had to exit the lake and find the nearest bathroom, not only did this leave me feeling hugely deflated but I’m sure I used more calories getting back into my soggy wetsuit than I did swimming 🤣🤣

It was Friday which gave me my ‘two steps back’ moment, early swim (followed by breakfast this time 🤣) then off to another NT house to meet friends and all my good food routines went out of the window, in hindsight I think it was the pressure of being with non-athletes and not wanting to seem selfish in disrupting everyone’s day. 5km walk around the estate and it was done on a shared slice of chocolate cake with my husband – well I say share, not sure how much he had 🤣🤣🤣 and a cup of tea, it was now 3pm and I was hungry, but we needed to head back home. Instead of eating properly it was dry roasted peanuts and a magnum ice cream. All of this meant by the time I was home I felt quite rotten, dutifully logging it onto MFP meant I saw just how unhealthy the peanuts were, I tried to balance it with pasta, mixed vegetables and some sausages my son had cooked, whilst delicious it didn’t undo the thoughts now running wild – how much weight would those peanuts have put on, they have so much fat in them?

Saturday weigh in arrived and the last week had helped me gain a couple of pounds, my first instinct was to panic, but settled that back down to nail breakfast and a 45 mile ride followed by recovery fuel.

And as for this morning – 1hour 23minutes zone 2 run with a friend, and whilst I had a few ‘nervous’ bathroom trips (not unusual) before going out, it was a poop free run 😃😃, hoping this is partly due to my (mostly) better nutrition 🤔🤔

Next week sees recipes return and harder training, but away for the entire week, so will need to watch this space to see how I get on, especially with two little ones around – and not sure what my niece will make of her menu! Midnight ferry to the Isle of Wight beckons……….