I met with a lovely and very interesting photographer today who previously stopped me during a run to let me know he was interested in capturing and sharing my story. What story exactly, I thought to myself as I continued my run after our brief encounter. I was flattered that he'd stopped me, though not particularly conversational at the time, but I didn't think of myself as having anything interesting to share.We finally set up a time to meet and I'll admit I was a little apprehensive going into it. What came out of it however, was quite splendid and profound. The pleasantries out of the way, the photographer started to ask personal and introspective questions. Actually, he started out asking me ago share my story, which superficially isn't very interesting at all.I was born with a birth defect, which was a surprise to all when I was delivered and 6 months later my leg was amputated below the knee. Yatta, yatta, yatta. But that really wasn't the part he was interested in. Our conversation evolved to discussions about how everyone has some obstacle in their life, for some it's physical (whether internal or external) while for others it might be emotional or mental or psychological. I shared my thoughts on how I feel like people pre-judge based on what they see, which was the reason behind wearing pants for the first 2 days I was on Survivor. "She has one leg, therefore she is [fill in the blank- weak, handicapped, disadvantaged, etc] therefore I will feel [sorry for her, pity for her, the need to help her]. While none of those thoughts are inherently negative, I think they distort how you approach the interaction. Therefore instead of pity for me or feeling threatened by someone else, why not just feel compassion towards each person you meet, recognizing that each individual faces their own struggle or suffering every day (some just more obviously than others) and would likely benefit from your kindness. This is the essence of what we hope to capture in our photos. More to come once they're done.
I actually don't believe that all. You aren't a chicken, just because you eat chicken, nor are you tofu or shrimp or the big plump doughnut you snacked on this morning after breakfast. Don't lie, we've all done it. But I do whole-heartedly believe that what you eat is still very important because it is the primary source of your energy and also plays an important part in recovery. Your diet should be composed of a combination of protein, fat and carbohydrates from a variety of sources. My motto is MODERATION. Eat what you like because you enjoy it, but in moderate quantities since often times the foods we tend to enjoy the most aren't the foods that provide the best breakdown of macronutrients. If you tend to gravitate towards fattier foods, then make sure the other foods you eat contain enough protein to meet you daily protein needs. That being said, what are the recommendations for daily macronutrient intake. Protein: ~1.0 g/kg bodyweight Fat: 0.5-1.0 g/kg of bodyweight Carbohydrates: this macronutrient is a little trickier to nail down - For someone in engaging in regular exercise: ~5.0 g/kg bodyweight - For an athlete engaging in intensive exercise: 8-10 g/kg bodyweight plus - 0.5 g/kg/hr during short-duration (<90 minutes) activity - 0.75 g/kg/hr during long-duration (>90 minutes) activity - 0.8-1.0 g/kg/hr during very long-duration (>3 hr) activity So, what does this look like? Here is an excerpt from Alex Viada's article on How to Properly Lose Weight. For now, focus on the breakdown of each meal. If you're actually interested in losing weight then link to his article here. Say we have the following daily intake for a sample individual (a 5'8" 165 pound 5k/10k runner who is looking to be more competitive at longer distance trail runs, and believes that dropping to 158 would make him lighter on his feet): Also, Alex does a great job discussing the role of macronutrients and optimal timing and sources in his article on Nutrition for Athletes, Part 2 on the Complete Human Performance website. No need for me to re-invent the wheel. However, I will be following this post up with recipes for
|