Week 6 Weigh In

But first a little bit about my week. I did not track my points and I had a few indulgences during the week. I missed one of my runs. And then on Friday I went away with a girlfriend. There were nachos, onion rings, fries, chocolate, chips and candy. What bothers me most is not that I indulged in these but that numerous times I indulged far beyond that full feeling and well into the BLAH feeling.

I returned home Saturday night and between then an my weighin I kept strictly to my points and avoided the salt foods trying to reduce the water I'm sure I retained over the weekend. Sunday I made sure to get in my run. And on Monday morning I was up 1 pound (from the previous week weighing in at home). I can live with that.

Except when I weighed in at WW I was up 3.4 from my previous WW weigh in. Totally shocked me and blew me away. And to top it off, I didn't feel like I was up 3.4 pounds. My clothes were feeling as loose as always, if not looser. I was feeling trim and strong and good. And while I know this will come off as sounding like an excuse but I think there was a problem with the WW scale. The leader even said that she hadn't seen that many gains at one meeting in months.

It really bothered me for the rest of the night but then I thought, so what. If the scale is wrong, that doesn't mean I can't get right back into the zone. If the scale is wrong that shouldn't impact the way I feel about my efforts and the way I feel about the changes in my body.

So yesterday and today I tracked my points. Sunday I ran 3 miles at between 5.5 and 6 mph with a 1/4 mile warm up and cool down (do this at every workout). Last night I ran 2 miles between 5.5 and 6.8 mph. Then I did pushups, abs and some back work on the stability ball. Tonight I ran 4 miles at 5.5 mph. Tomorrow my plan is to push myself to do 1 mile at 7mph. Saturday I'm going to try 3 miles at 5.8 mph and we'll see what I feel like on Sunday.

I want to lose everything I gained and another pound this week.

Week 5 Weigh In

The last two weeks I have gone to weigh in, completely prepared to have lost little to nothing, and wouldn't have been surprised if I had gained. Last week I lost 1.4 and this week 1.8. Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased to see the scale moving down but I also know that I haven't been tracking and there have been more than a few indiscretions over those two weeks, not to mention Thanksgiving and a birthday party. I know it's only a matter of time before it all catches up and I see a big gain. So this week it's back to journaling my points and making a solid effort to following the plan so the momentum continues in the right direction instead of swinging in the other direction.

Thinking of core

I haven't really been tracking points the past few weeks since I figured out what I normally eat in the run of a day and have been sticking to just that. It's been working well but it gets a little tricky when I have an extra treat or dinner is an out of the ordinary. So I'm thinking it might be worthwhile switching over to core and focusing on the whole not eating extra if I'm not hungry. Anyone have any opinions on the matter?

Becoming a Runner

I have attempted being a runner several times in my life. During university I trained with the triathlon club and ran several times a week and hated it several times a week LOL. After a year of training with them I ran my first ever 5K race in 26 minutes. I stopped training with the club and didn't do much running on my own that I can remember.

6 years later I started losing some of my post university weight and started doing some running bits in my walking. Attempted the couch 2 5k program a few times. Then I got pregnant, had spotting early on and was restricted from exercise until 3 months in. And by then walking was a pretty good workout and all I was willing to risk until I knew the baby was good and ok.

2 months after my daughter was born I started the couch 2 5k program again and stuck with it. 4 months after beginning the program I ran the race for the cure in 36 minutes. One month after that we were preparing to move, winter arrived and I stopped running.

6 months later I got a gym membership and would do 1 to 3 miles a few times a week but not with any consistency and never faster than 5mph, usually there were plenty walking breaks tossed in. I didn't consider myself a runner, I just ran in a vain attempt to lose weight without altering my food intake at all.

In January of this year my sister and I decided to run a marathon to celebrate my 30th birthday. I set up a realistic training program and got to it. 5mph was my standard pace and it seemed difficult, brutal on some days. Trying to go higher than that was a guarantee of quitting before my miles were up. Unfortunately several months in I started having knee pain, my doctor sent me to physiotherapy and they strongly recommended I seriously cut back both my mileage and my speed. So the marathon was put on the backburner and I plodded along at 4.7 mph for a few months.

My knee started feeling better. I joined WW and began dropping some weight. I started BLBE and set some goals for my running. I wanted to be able to run 3 miles in 33 minutes by Christmas; 30 minutes by the summer. It seemed like a reasonable but challenging goal as I seemed to be struggling to hit 36 minutes most runs. But I started pushing myself.

I changed my workout mindset from having to finish 3 miles to running for 30 minutes. I started doing some intervals. 5.2 for 2 min, 5.4 for 2 min, 5.6 for 2 min, 5.8 for 2 min, 6.0 for 2min and then over again. That was pretty doable but a pain in the butt to keep looking at the clock. LOL. So I did 5.5 for 5min and 6.0 for 5 min for the 30 min. When I realized that I was pretty close to 3 miles at the end of 30 minutes I kept going to see how long it took to hit 3 miles. And it was just under 33 minutes.

I've been doing this run for the past 6 runs, never taking longer than 33 minutes to finish my 3 miles. And I've come to the conclusion that it wasn't my physical ability holding me back from running faster but my mental ability. The marathon we were supposed to run is this coming weekend and while there is a tinge of disappointment that I am not running this year mostly I am glad that I had the opportunity to learn that I can enjoy running. And now I'm thinking I could do a 30 minute 5k by Christmas and perhaps beat my 26 minute 5k by the summer........

Week 4 Weigh In

This was a really weird week. I was taking names and kicking butt all week. Then on Friday I was at home all day and wasn't making the healthiest choices even though I stayed in my points. On Saturday there was an incident with a Twix bar and more pizza than I needed at dinner. Sunday I got up early to make sure and get in a run before my Thanksgiving dinner. But I did well. Had one plate of the things I really love and a piece of pie for dessert. Monday I went to a birthday party and had a piece of cake and too many handfuls of party mix. Then went home and got a run in.

I knew the runs would help counteract some of the indulgences but I was really going into weigh in with the goal of losing something. 1/2 a pound would have thrilled me. So you can imagine my shock when I lost 1.4. Not sure why or how but I'm taking it and glad to have a week without special events to taunt me.

And on the NSV front, yesterday I tried on my prepregnancy pants (remember that my DD is 2 1/2?). I haven't worn them since I was about 9 weeks pregnant. Anyway, I could fit into them all!!! There was far too much muffin top for me to feel comfortable wearing them but they buttoned and fit great on the ass and legs. So another 5 pounds or so should make them wearable. This was so thrilling for me!!!!

Week 3 weigh in

My week was not good as explained in my previous posts and walking into my meeting I was seriously just hoping that I would lose something, anything. My husband told me to lose my purse hardeeharhar.

I lost 0.2 pounds.

And was okay with it. Then I started thinking that even if I only lost 0.2 pounds every week from now until whenever at least I would be moving towards my goal instead of away from it. And then I gave myself a mental slap and said "CUT IT OUT!" This challenge is about getting as close to the goal as possible with hard core work for a short period of time.

I took a look at my eating and realized that I am eating a ton of my points through the day and ending up with 4 or 5 points for dinner and an evening snack. Meaning I was using WPA points in the evening. So I decided that 8 points would be a good amount for dinner and evening snack. Subtracted breakfast points and lunch points and had 7 points left over for snacks through the day. Now I only bring that many points and I don't have to worry about counting anything except dinner. Such a weight off my shoulders and it's working well so far. I'm hoping for a good week, Thanksgiving and all!!

Week/weekend recap

But first a vent. Intentionally washed my sports bras yesterday so I could go for a run this morning. Asked DH to toss them in the dryer last night and went off to bed. Dragged myself out of bed this morning which was a battle and went down to find that he had indeed tossed them in the dryer and then went right back upstairs without turning the dryer on!!!!! So annoyed. But I was up and dressed so I threw on a tank with built in bra and went for a 20 minute walk followed by squats and abs. Not what I had hoped but better than nothing

Well, not a good week up in here foodwise. Used all my WPA in silly ways. But I got in my four runs and according to the scale at home this morning I am down 1 pound. We'll see what the WW scale says tonight. I also didn't do the strength training I had planned on doing and have absolutely no good reason for it. On the plus side I had an amazing run yesterday. Ran 3 miles in just under 33 minutes which was one of my big goals for this challenge. It was doubly satisfying in that I had completely given up on going for a run at all but decided to go at the last minute YAY ME!!

But I'm leaving last week where it is and making some new goals for this coming week which will include Thanksgiving dinner!!!!

Get my four runs in.
Make a plan for Thanksgiving dinner that involves small servings of the things I love the most about turkey dinner.
STRENGTH TRAIN!!!

Help please

Someone shed some perspective on the situation. One bowl full of chips is not a reason to throw in the towel. I went for a run and have no desire to eat any more chips. In fact the thought of eating more chips kind of make my tummy roll over. It's not the end of the road, just a blip on the radar and not a very good one. Anyone? Please!

Regroup and Refocus (or It's a slippery slope)

Tuesday and Wednesday night DD was up through the night throwing tantrums. As a result I didn't get up to go for a run Wednesday or Thursday morning. Wednesday was fine, I'll just use it as my rest day. Thursday I made arrangements with DH to go as soon as we got home from work so I wouldn't be too tired. Except exhaustion hit around 3 pm and I felt lucky to keep my eyes open long enough to make it through the remainder of the work day and bedtime routine.

To add insult to injury I had the major nibbles on Thursday and indulged. Not just a regular Twix bar but a jumbo twix bar!!!!! We had meatball subs for dinner and I used a wrap instead of a bun and only had a few fries but nibbled on meatballs past my satiated point.

It's amazing how these 2 simple days had me ready to throw in the towel last night. But I regrouped and started today fresh. One day of poor eating choices and 2 days working out is not the end of the world and easy enough to bounce back from.

I'm going for a run tonight come hell or high water and will get in my fourth tomorrow. It completely throws off all my weekend plans but right now my fitness takes priority! And I am resisting the chocolate today although it is calling my name (must be coming up to that time of the month). I brought lots of low point healthy nibbling options to allow me to feel I can eat all day without going over my points.

Thanks for all the Woohoos on my last point. I'm determined to have more positive news after Monday night's weighin.