My daughter’s homemade jelly-filled shortbread cookies!

My triathlon training is right on track. I am following my training plan pretty much spot on (and even adding more workouts to amuse my competitive spirit during the Jammin’ in January Workout Challenge). Already this week I have accomplished my long ride (enjoyed outdoors), my long swim, my brick workout (ride followed by a run), an interval ride on the bike trainer, an interval swim workout, and an interval run on the treadmill and 2 weight training sessions. I somehow manage to remain motivated even when I don’t want to get up early or when I don’t want to go for a ride or a run after work (especially on Mondays when I have to get up at 4:30 AM to go to work).

I’ve got this! I can do it! I might even be able to do better than finish last! Or I might run out of energy. I might hit a wall or crash and burn. Proper nutrition is not my middle name. I do find that I eat a lot more since I started training and I am pretty sure that all of my choices are not the right ones.

Today wasn’t too bad:
Breakfast: Kellogg’s cereal with a banana & almond milk
Lunch (after my swim & weight training workout): scrambled eggs with black beans, tomatoes, cheese & onions, hash browns, wheat toast and coffee.
Snack: Jalepeno chips (they say that spicy food is healthy!)
Dinner: spaghetti with tomato sauce, bell peppers, onions & spinach, 4 pieces of garlic bread (they were small slices!).
Then I insisted that my daughter bake some of her shortbread cookies. I haven’t eaten any yet, but don’t count on me allowing them to sit there uneaten.

Okay, I gave you a glimpse of one of my better days. I feel so hungry all of the time and I just want to grab something that tastes good and is very convenient. I need to rethink my strategy. I have had some serious cravings for baked goods. I can’t get them off my mind. They tempt me around every corner. Every time I take my girls to the library, I find a new baking book to glance at. I scheme my next baking night. And now I have gotten my daughter involved!

The worst part is that I haven’t gained weight. I know that isn’t a bad thing to most people, but if I were gaining weight then I would be more inclined to avoid the evil foods. But you can imagine what I would look like if I weren’t working out (just take a look at some of my old college photos). This will be the biggest challenge of my training. Eating right is one of the most important components and I am failing!