Hi everyone...
Tonight is my very first masters swim practice and I'm really quite nervous.
While I've been a competitive swimmer since the age of 5, swam on a US team, competed in both long course and short course US Nationals, and then went and swam in college.....I'm a nervous wreck about tonight's practice. Although I have more than enough swimming experience, I'm terrified that I won't fit in with the master's team.
I've been "out of the water" for 6 years now and I'm very out of shape and I've gained a considerable amount of weight. I can't believe that I've allowed myself to get like this, but it obviously didn't happen over night. So I've been doing cardio and weights at the gym to get myself back in shape but it doesn't seem to be working very well. I realized how much I miss swimming and that I'd like to get back into the sport and thats how I got interested in masters swimming. I'm excited to swim for me...not for the coaches, not for my parents. I'm looking forward to ENJOYING swimming, rather than dreading practices and having kick boards thrown at me if I have to stop during a set. I'm excited to meet people and have fun.....but I'm still so nervous to step foot onto the pool deck.
I guess I'm mostly embarassed. I know its silly to be like this, but I'm afraid everyone will be in good shape and I'll get run over during the practices. I'm wondering if maybe I should put off swimming for a little while until I can lose some more weight.
Can anyone please shed some light on their first masters practice and what you might have been feeling?
I really appreciate any help or advice that you can give me. Thank you!
Parents
Former Member
WOW! :cool: I can't believe the amount of support and encouragement I've received in just the past few days. Your comments and advice has really kept me motivated and makes me want to get back in shape and feel good about myself.
I swam every day since my first practice (Tuesday) I've been doing about 2,500 yards each day. I've been concentrating on long swims, drills, and kicking. I'm a distance swimmer so even when I was in the best shape of my life, I always lacked a kick and tended to just drag my legs behind me. So in my workout yesterday, I alternated 200 free, 200 kick, 200 back, 200 kick. I did kick with a board, kick on my back in streamline position, and butterfly kick on my side.
I know many of you have suggested swimming with the team in their workouts even though I'm way out of shape. I just don't feel ready yet and would like to take a few weeks to practice on my own before I join the team in workouts. Since they are tapering, they seem to be doing a lot of sprint work, which I certainly am not ready for.
As far as the weight management goes, I've been keeping a daily journal of what I'm eating every day. Its really helped make me realize what I'm putting into my mouth and that picking here and there does add up! I work behind a desk all day, and my workplace is the typical office where everyone brings in food from home and there is CONSTANTLY garbage food around. I've done a good job in the past few months resisting the junk food that people bring in. I always keep fruit at my desk to munch on if I get the craving.
However, what I'm worried about is going into over-kill mode with the "dieting" (I hate to call it that, I'd rather just say learning to eat healthy). Yes, I realize that I need to change my eating habits...but it isn't an easy thing to do overnight and I feel like my body sometimes is going into shell-shock. I'm the type of person who likes to have a little something sweet after a meal, like just one cookie or a few chocolate graham crackers. I haven't been allowing myself to eat those types of foods, and I'm afraid I'm depriving myself. I might as well let it be known that I do have a history of an eating disorder (bulimia specifically) and I don't want to send myself into "binge mode" where one day I might gorge myself on junk food from feeling so deprived. Are there any suggestions for how I can still get my treats in but not over-do it? I'm trying to keep my food in moderation and to control portion sizes.
I know I've been eating the right foods, but I think I could be eating too much of it. So, I've considered buying a food scale to help control my portion sizes, but I'm worried thats going to be too much for me to handle right now. I want to ease myself into this, rather than go full force all at once. I read up on the thread on this message board called "Swimming and Weight Loss" and I'm somewhat confused with how to control my eating habits. Some people say stop eating when you are full, others say try to incorporate 5-6 small meals a day, some say don't eat past 7pm. A lot of this is difficult for me because I don't know what constitutes 5-6 small meals, and I don't usually like to eat before swimming and the team's workouts are from 7-9 at night so I guess that throws out the 'not eating past 7' deal. Are there any basic guidelines that I could go by to help control portion sizes and to choose the right foods to eat?
I've been keeping up with walking during lunch time for 40 minutes. I hoping that will help me shed the excess weight and it helps me to change up my routine.
I completely agree that we spend so much time and money caring for other things (like our cars), and many of us neglect our bodies. I want to change my LIFESTYLE and way of eating and exercising. I don't just want a fast fix, although it would be a nice bonus to see the weight come off sooner than later. I want to feel good about myself and not constantly worry about what other people think. At 25 years old, I shouldn't be this overweight and out of shape...and it scares me when people say that the older you get, the harder it is to lose the weight. So I might as well start somewhere!
WOW! :cool: I can't believe the amount of support and encouragement I've received in just the past few days. Your comments and advice has really kept me motivated and makes me want to get back in shape and feel good about myself.
I swam every day since my first practice (Tuesday) I've been doing about 2,500 yards each day. I've been concentrating on long swims, drills, and kicking. I'm a distance swimmer so even when I was in the best shape of my life, I always lacked a kick and tended to just drag my legs behind me. So in my workout yesterday, I alternated 200 free, 200 kick, 200 back, 200 kick. I did kick with a board, kick on my back in streamline position, and butterfly kick on my side.
I know many of you have suggested swimming with the team in their workouts even though I'm way out of shape. I just don't feel ready yet and would like to take a few weeks to practice on my own before I join the team in workouts. Since they are tapering, they seem to be doing a lot of sprint work, which I certainly am not ready for.
As far as the weight management goes, I've been keeping a daily journal of what I'm eating every day. Its really helped make me realize what I'm putting into my mouth and that picking here and there does add up! I work behind a desk all day, and my workplace is the typical office where everyone brings in food from home and there is CONSTANTLY garbage food around. I've done a good job in the past few months resisting the junk food that people bring in. I always keep fruit at my desk to munch on if I get the craving.
However, what I'm worried about is going into over-kill mode with the "dieting" (I hate to call it that, I'd rather just say learning to eat healthy). Yes, I realize that I need to change my eating habits...but it isn't an easy thing to do overnight and I feel like my body sometimes is going into shell-shock. I'm the type of person who likes to have a little something sweet after a meal, like just one cookie or a few chocolate graham crackers. I haven't been allowing myself to eat those types of foods, and I'm afraid I'm depriving myself. I might as well let it be known that I do have a history of an eating disorder (bulimia specifically) and I don't want to send myself into "binge mode" where one day I might gorge myself on junk food from feeling so deprived. Are there any suggestions for how I can still get my treats in but not over-do it? I'm trying to keep my food in moderation and to control portion sizes.
I know I've been eating the right foods, but I think I could be eating too much of it. So, I've considered buying a food scale to help control my portion sizes, but I'm worried thats going to be too much for me to handle right now. I want to ease myself into this, rather than go full force all at once. I read up on the thread on this message board called "Swimming and Weight Loss" and I'm somewhat confused with how to control my eating habits. Some people say stop eating when you are full, others say try to incorporate 5-6 small meals a day, some say don't eat past 7pm. A lot of this is difficult for me because I don't know what constitutes 5-6 small meals, and I don't usually like to eat before swimming and the team's workouts are from 7-9 at night so I guess that throws out the 'not eating past 7' deal. Are there any basic guidelines that I could go by to help control portion sizes and to choose the right foods to eat?
I've been keeping up with walking during lunch time for 40 minutes. I hoping that will help me shed the excess weight and it helps me to change up my routine.
I completely agree that we spend so much time and money caring for other things (like our cars), and many of us neglect our bodies. I want to change my LIFESTYLE and way of eating and exercising. I don't just want a fast fix, although it would be a nice bonus to see the weight come off sooner than later. I want to feel good about myself and not constantly worry about what other people think. At 25 years old, I shouldn't be this overweight and out of shape...and it scares me when people say that the older you get, the harder it is to lose the weight. So I might as well start somewhere!
