Nutrition

I'm sorry I've been MIA. I hurt my shoulder about a month ago and reinjured it while having a dodge ball fight with beach balls on Labor Day. Yup, I was acting like a kid and hurt myself. Oh well. I'm pretty well used to that at this point in my life. I went to one of my favorite Doctors on Tuesday and he somehow convinced me that a cortisone shot was the way to go. Now, two days later, my shoulder is actually starting to feel better. I guess he knew what he was talking about. :) Thankfully I can return to working out next week. Tuesday is probably the day he wants me to return to working out, but Monday is legs day and I don't do any machines that have pads resting on my shoulders. Of course I will take it easy and not do something if it hurts my shoulder, but I'm looking forward to getting back to the gym!

Tuesday was a big day for me. Not only did I get a cortisone shot, I also met with a nutritionist. I won't tell you where, and I honestly don't remember her name, but I don't feel like I got much out of the meeting. However, in her defense, she doesn't know me at all and could only speak based on her knowledge of nutrition and the very limited amount of questions she asked me. In my defense, I wasn't sure what all to tell her. I certainly didn't try to hide things from her, but really, how much of my life story did this girl really want to hear?

However, I did mention my previous conversation with my friend from high school regarding not consuming enough calories. She asked me my typical diet, which I laid out for her, and she agreed that I am not eating enough. We did not discuss number of calories consumed on a daily basis, but she then proceeded to tell me that I should be aiming for 1300-1400 calories a day. Huh? Did we not just come to an agreement that what I was eating was not enough? So, thinking I misunderstood her, I asked if I should be increasing my caloric intake on days that I work out. She said to only eat more if I'm hungry. So, that seemed like a bit of a conversation that was going nowhere.

We then switched gears and discussed a meal plan for me. Which is identical to what I eat right now. Thanks. Now, she did suggest that I have some protein before I lift first thing in the morning. I don't typically eat before a workout because I feel like my food is sloshing around in my stomach. But I have been drinking my XM+ on my way to the Y and adding a hard-boiled egg or tablespoon of peanut butter shouldn't be that big of a deal. So, there was a benefit to our meeting.

I'm sure this was a difficult meeting for her. Other than my inability to drop desserts, I tend to eat pretty healthy. I guess I wasn't specific enough in my conversation to help her help me. Don't get me wrong, I am certain that she is incredibly knowledgeable and she was very sweet. Like I said before, I'm sure that I didn't do a good job of letting her know what I am looking for. So, I will meet with her again and see how the next meeting goes. I think I can meet with her a handful of times before I have to start paying. I don't want to waste my time and I don't want to waste her time, but I want to give her another chance to help me.

So, in the meantime, and going forward, I want to learn about food. I want to learn about what foods fuel my body and when I should be eating them (before/after workouts, how many times a day, etc.). I realize that there are many different thoughts on these topics, but I know that I have several friends that have significant knowledge in this area. So, what books do you recommend that I check out? Really, anything that you recommend that I check out, books, videos, etc. I'm all ears. :)