A Visit with Jamie the Nutritionist

Yesterday, I saw Jamie for my first follow-up appointment since I began my training. Jamie did an evaluation on me back in January which showed that I weighed 129 pounds and I had 3.8% body fat. Her concern was I had nothing to fall back--no fat to burn or convert into muscle. Jamie told me our goal would be to get me to 159 pounds and 10% body fat. I was surprised I was asked to gain so much weight. I have always had an “underweight” Body Mass Index and have tried at various points to beef up. I went to the gym regularly for about 6 months but after I took up cycling I quit my gym membership.

One of the first questions Jamie asked was if I ate 3 meals a day. When I really thought about it, I probably don’t even average 2.5 meals a day. There were too many days of 2 or 3 Carlson’s Doughnuts for breakfast (the best doughnuts!), a burger with lettuce, tomato, and onions for lunch; and skipping dinner. I would eat Oreos and ice cream at night if I was starving. I didn't eat like that every day. It's just that I wasn't eating 3 meals a day, every day. So the last three weeks I’ve been eating 3 decent-sized meals a day. It was shocking at how many times during the first few weeks I had to always remind myself “haven't had lunch yet, gotta do that” or “ooh it's after 7:30 pm, and you haven't made anything for dinner. It is Chipotle time.”

Another big part of Jamie's plan is fat gain. I need to gain 10.9 pounds of pure fat. I was advised to eat a whole avocado every day--easier said than done. Why couldn't it be salami? Or what if I could trim the fat from pork shoulder and braise it and then just eat the pure fat which would melt in my mouth? Avocados, coconut milk, almonds... I'm putting a lot of fat in my body!

At my first follow up with Jamie, I'm up to 134 pounds but I've LOST a pound of body fat. It doesn't make sense! Apparently I turned a pound of fat into muscle thanks to all the training with Brian and cycling. Jamie says it now time to up the protein to help build muscle. I bought whey protein powder and have been putting peanut butter on my bananas. It is definitely progress. Small steps for the big ride.