It's you... Not Me

you eat too much. Yes, it is that simple.
Training has been going really well. Two weeks ago, I decided that although I'm only going for the Sprint distance at the Lake Geneva Extreme Sports Delavan Lake Triathlon (say that ten times fast), I thought I would move up to the Olympic level so that I could prepare myself better for one of the July triathlons that I plan on attending. That lasted a week. The training for running and swimming isn't all that bad. Basically, instead of running 2 mi. twice a week and then 3 mi. on the weekend, it would be 4 mi. twice a week and 5 mi. on the weekend (eventually moving to six or seven mi. on the weekend). Swimming required roughly 1/3 more laps in the pool - not too bad considering I am not even close to following the distance schedule (I'm either way over or under on any given day) because I'm trying to dramatically improve my technique in hopes of simply getting faster because of swimming more efficiently (and not spending so much of my energy fighting my own body). The bike training was where I had to throw in the towel. I can do 20 mi. in around an hour (not going all out and giving myself some extra time for either a strong headwind or technique training), but when you get to the 25-30 mi. per session range (which the Olympic training requires), it becomes too long on those days where I have doubles (swimming in the morning and riding at night). So, I've decided to split the difference (somewhat) and try for the distances, but not beat myself up if my schedule didn't permit or my body.
Regardless of this revelation, though, I'm having a hell of a time because I simply feel like I weigh too much. This is more psychological than physical because I was heavier last year and it didn't seem to bother me as much. But now that I've decided to give up the weightlifting/bodybuilding bulk, running with 200 lbs on my frame is simply too much. After the training began, I expected to see a difference in weight within two weeks, but my appetite is simply not letting me get there. The fact is that regardless of how much my mind says I need the food, it is obvious I'm eating too much and won't be able to really see some training differences until another 10 lbs comes off (my goal for the season is between 15 & 20 lbs. by September and then hover around the 180 lbs mark until I decide to do something beyond the Olympic triathlon). I'm amazed at how many excuses we (I'm including myself) come up with when complaining about weighing too much, but not doing enough about it. I have a stressful job and I guess that is one of my excuses for liking the food - but it is just that, an excuse.
So, here's to slowly cutting some more calories out of the diet and dropping 5 more pounds before June. We'll see.