Food for Fuel – twice the bridesmaid, now the bride (and no Imodium required!)

So the end of a journey, or is it………???

For those who have followed my progress, you will know that I started working with Adam Wade as a nutritionist in late July to try and halt my weight loss and gain a few pounds along with fuelling my triathlons better – and it’s been quite a journey!

Have I gained weight? No, but I also haven’t lost any more so it has stabilised and I think it is worth qualifying that I started this journey as I also headed into what was rapidly becoming my A-race of the season having hated Nottingham half and Cotswold classic had its swim cancelled – so bring on Outlaw X at the end of September. This meant quite intensive training whilst trying to gain weight - perhaps not a smart move 🤷‍♀️

But I have learnt a huge amount over the time with Adam, I viewed food as a ‘necessary evil’ so I could get through my training, with an almost crippling fear if weight gain. Has that completely gone? No, I am writing this while trying to relax for 10 days on a canal boat and can feel myself avoiding cake unless I go for a long walk to ‘earn it’- so definitely still work to do emotionally. But Ona more practical and logical front I am now far better at refuelling after intensive or long sessions, fuelling appropriately before them and training at suitable times of the day so meals aren’t missed.

I have really enjoyed cooking the meals and it has definitely made me eat much ‘cleaner’ interns of sauces for things like chilli, and there have been occasions where I have adapted recipes to my taste with no issues.

Has it had an effect on performance? This is really hard to quantify, I certainly feel as if I have been recovering faster and can give more in subsequent training sessions. I have been less tired post training and seem to have more time thanks to training earlier. In terms of quantifiable results, Outlaw X saw a 10.5 minute decrease in time versus Nottingham Half despite the bike course being hillier and (in my opinion) windier and the run course being significantly hillier. Bike was 0.4mph av faster and normalised power 13w higher, while the run was 17 secs per mile faster. I think this points to both well executed training (thanks Paul for great coaching) and significantly better nutrition to both fuel that training and the event itself (huge thanks to Adam for the plan). Additionally, Adam was adamant that Imodium prior to racing was a poor choice due to how it slowed down digestion, so I gave this a go and can happily (in fact ecstatically) report that I had absolutely no issues during the race and will no longer take it as a precaution…….

Will I stop here? Absolutely not, the mental ‘demons’ have not gone away so I need to continue working on managing them and remember that food is fuel rather than an enemy. Plus I have rediscovered my love for cooking along with some delicious new recipes which are tasty and healthy – so bring on 2022 and while I may not be ‘bigger’, I can stay strong!