Sabrina Lopez
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You Are What You Eat!

7/20/2015

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As a kid, I use too eat a whole box of pizza and a 2 liter bottle of soda by myself. My father use to ask me for a slice and I would not want to give him one. I would scold him because I wanted to save some for breakfast. YES, I loved unhealthy food very much. I was overweight my sophomore year in high school and this is when I decided to pursue running. I learned a lot about myself through eating since I have been overweight, anorexic, and bulimic. Throughout high school and college, I had no idea what a healthy diet for a runner looked like so I would just eat anything I could get ahold of. 



Dying to be Thin
My long time struggle of insecurity and not knowing what was a healthy diet for a runner made me unaware what was bad or good. As a young adult, "Not knowing,"led me to struggle with anorexia and bulimia. Fact, 10 million females and 1 million males in the U.S. battle anorexia or bulimia. As many as 13 million more struggle with binge eating disorder. You are not alone! If you are a runner who is struggling with anorexia and bulimia, let someone know as soon as possible. I recovered and YOU can too! =)


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Bad Eating Habits
This is somewhat embarrassing but I will tell you a quick story. As we all know, eating is very important to every athlete especially before a big race. You might think, Friday night or Pre Race night? During my first year at Oregon State I  use to love DINNER; believing that I needed to shove my face with everything I saw. This included but was not limited to: Pasta, Pizza, loads of bread, chicken breast, salad, ice-cream, brownies, cookies, and BBQ ribs. I would not stop eating until my stomach grew to where I could not see my toes or breathe.  I thought that maybe my body needed the extra boost to run faster, stronger, and win! Guess what, I was last place.  I learned that the human body does not register fullness/satisfaction after the first 15 minutes of eating. Clearly, I had a problem! A week later I found out I had high cholesterol and I would force myself not too eat for a couple days. I came to the unfortunate conclusion that I was not immune to a crappy diet. Despite a healthy weight of 135 pounds for my 5'4 frame and high levels of exercise; I wasn't as healthy as I could be. I needed to make some changes!

Change
Over the years, I redefined what I thought about food and what should be a good "diet for runners". Personally, I do not believe in diets but I do refuse in eating anything that is unhealthy. I am now 120 pounds and I am healthy as I can be. Well that's what my doctor says! :)  YES, I do eat unhealthy at times but its because I am human. However, I do not crave unhealthy meals. With training and staying consistent in eating healthy, I found myself running faster as I PR'd in most of my races this past season. Instead of a restrictive meal plan, I have developed a new mindset about food. I still eat what ever I want, but I no not crave un healthy foods as much. Yes, I do have temptations at times, but I never let it get the best of me. I know that a McDonalds hamburger, fries, and a milk shake won't make me a better person. What's changed? I now know what's good for me and what is not.  

As an Athlete Be Sure to Eat Three Meals A Day!
Every day, I look forward to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. My mind is as if it is like a clock.  Food is what gives me fuel and energy in each and every run/ workout. An example is:
  • Breakfast: French Toast, sausages, bananas, and eggs, with chocolate milk
  • Lunch: Salmon, lettuce, asparagus
  • Dinner: Pasta and Garlic Bread
  • Snacks: yogurt, fruits, carrots, almonds, bar
  • Dessert: sherbet ice-cream, yogurt 


Favorite Snack
 As you read above I had  high cholesterol and  it also does run in my family. Dun... Dun.. Dunn...BEETS! Got to love how your hands and teeth get RED! :p  (Can I suck your blood? hehe ;) ) I have done a lot of research on beet juice and drinking a cup of beet juice every  day is proven to lower cholesterol. I drink beet juice every other day since beets are pretty pricey. Here are some amazing facts that has helped me and thought I'll share with you one of my healthy favorite snacks. Recent studies suggest, drinking a cup of rich beet juice; lowers cholesterol, a great source of nitrate, increases endurance athletes oxygen uptake, and helps detoxify the body. I will keep drinking Beet Juice! PS: I love mixing in some carrots and lemon. "Optional"  






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How the little things can make you FASTER

7/10/2015

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PictureStopped doing the little things= unsuccessful runner
I believe there is more to it than just running, you have to eat well, drink plenty of fluids, own the right shoes, get plenty of rest, keep your mind focus and love every bit of it. There's a lot of the little things that can make you, a stronger and faster runner. Most of these little things we often forget or neglect.   I believe they are essential to becoming the best athlete you can be. Two years ago,  during my last year of college at CSULA, I did not do the little things and as a result I got slower and weaker.   I failed to stretch properly, I had poor eating habits and I ignored my body telling me to slow down.   I did not do core workouts, pushups, spending time in the weight room, and plyometrics.  I can honestly say that I even felt overweight, insecure at times, weak, unmotivated and depressed.  This created me to have many ups and down and during my last track season at CSULA, there was a moment during a 10k conference  race I realized everything was coming to an end and it was up to me to show not just my school but myself what I have worked for all my life.   During my race,  Andres (bf) loan me his watch to help me with pacing my time so that that I can ensure that I will keep my pace in order not to over do it and crash towards the end.   My goal was to hit 85 seconds per lap although I did not hit the qualifying mark to make it to Nationals again, the important factor was that I knew my goal. I felt really nervous about the race because it was practically my last chance to run for college. 
My last two 10,000 meter races that I ran I felt were horrible; I was about two - three minutes slower than my personal best.   As I lined up next to my competitors my heart was racing and my hands were sweating like in all my other races but this time I was finally done with school work, all those papers and grades completed, now it was my time to focus. The starter said, " On your marks"  as we stepped to the line and everything went silent...BOOM! The race started and according to the watch I was on pace to hit that qualifying mark... for about four laps.   Slowly my pace started to decrease and my shot for making it to Nationals slowly diminished. I felt weak, I could not push myself to the level I knew I can do, I felt overweight and I felt embarrassed since I was the defending conference 10k champion.   I felt like I let down my team.    All of this could have been avoided if I did the little things. 

Last track season was my first year competing post collegiately and now representing Skechers Performance. I began to train with a fellow runner, Rosario Casteneda.   We motivated each other every morning,  by waking up early and beginning our runs at 6:30am.  We continued our work outs together, by running drills, plyometrics, core excercises, weight room training, and stretching the important muscles. When I felt lazy, Rosario would motivate me and vise versa. I felt confident, stronger, faster,  happier, fit, lean, and alive.   My race times started to get faster and closer to my personal best. After a few weeks into season, I had bounced back from a bad season and pr'd in  three different events. This has to be proof that the little things do work.   I've established great things in my life and that is, there is no sense to ignore your body and neglect your passion.  The key words are embracing the little things, by being focus, paying attention to your health and body, staying motivated and getting motivated by others, organizing your time, and believing that all will be worth it. 

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did the little things and as a result felt ran faster
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