I am posting this a day early because, well, I’m running a
marathon tomorrow!!! A marathon I am not
fully prepared/trained for. But I’m one
of those crazy runner people you hear of that will do whatever she has to so
that a registration fee will not go to waste.
And that means I researched the cut off time and then used a pace
calculator to determine that I could power walk the whole thing in a worst case
scenario and still not DNF. So yea, I’m
doing it!
Last Saturday my scale shocked me yet again by saying I had
lost yet another 2.1 pounds and was now 164.6 lbs. Whoa!
Since I rarely weighed myself until I started losing weight after I got
to my highest weight, I really have no clue what my weight was at any given
time in my life before I started trying to lose weight. Well, wait, that’s not entirely true. Before I met the guy that I dated and then
got fat while dating him, I actually was trying to lose about 15 lbs, so I did
occasionally weigh myself at that time, but I don’t really remember much about
my weigh ins at that time. I think I
weighed around 180. I know I wore a size
11. Let’s look at this from a waist size
perspective, because I do remember those.
When I took my measurements on Saturday, my waist measured 32.25
inches. That is just amazing to me, for
starters. When I started thinking a
little on Sunday about my measurements, I realized that the last time I
remember my waist being small or small-ish was when I was 22-23 years ago (15
years ago), it was around 28 inches. I
know this because I wore size small BDU military pants for my job as a security
guard at the time and those fit waist size 28-30 and they were a little loose
on me. So, yea. I’m only about 4 inches away from being back
at my smallest waist size!!! I’m not
saying that’s a goal, but if I could get to 30 inches, that would be beyond
awesome to me.
Okay, let’s review this week in exercise…
• Saturday: I had originally planned my last
pre-marathon long run of 10 miles for this day.
However, the universe was plotting against me doing it on this day. First, it was COOOOOOLD, windy and
rainy. You see, I can do any 2 of those
things at once (remember I ran an entire marathon in March in 34° and
drizzle? Yea!), but not all 3. That’s just too much. So, Saturday was ruled gross and I didn’t
run. I also had salmon jerky to prep and
start and I couldn’t take 2 hours to go for a run without messing up my prep
timeline. And then I was meeting a
friend for a late lunch at Red Lobster (hello endless shrimp!) and then we
yakked for hours, way longer than we meant to, but it was fantastic! I then went to the mall and went gauge
earring shopping (the holes in my earlobes are zero gauge, which is
surprisingly a difficult size to find gauged earrings for…lots of 2 gauge and
lots of double zero gauge, but regular ol’ zero gauge can be very hard to
find). I ended up at the gym at 10pm and
did over 5 miles on the elliptical in 65 minutes, then did my machines workout
minus the leg press machine because the one I use was broken (I tried one of
the other ones and did not like it, it hurt my knees…meant to go do free squats
but forgot…oops).
• Sunday: got that 10 mile run done and wow was it an
amazing run! Just straight up
amazing. For starters, I decided I
wanted to run around the Ladybird Lake Hike & Bike Trail near downtown
Austin. If you make the whole loop from
the Mopac Expressway pedestrian bridge all the way to the dam at Pleasant
Valley Dr, it’s like 10.15 miles. I just
take a nice cool down walk for that final .15 of a mile. All but mile 2 was under 11:00 and mile 2 was
11:01, so does that even count? Most of
my miles were around 10:25-10:50. Mile
10…my final mile…guess what that one was.
Give up? I ran mile 10 in
9:33!!!! Yea, I can’t believe it
either. That’s just crazy! The run just could not have been more
perfect. I got to run the entire length
of the new (well, it opened like a year or so ago) boardwalk. I’ve run the portion of it that is west of
interstate 35, but that’s not even half of it.
Now I’ve run the whole thing and I love it. That was my favorite part of the whole 10
miles. And that’s where I took my selfie
for this run. Had to plan it properly so
I could get the skyline in the background.
I think I’m going to start stuffing my selfie stick in my hydration pack
so I can take better running selfies.
I’m such a nerd.
• Monday: I had planned on a 6 mile run this day followed by my home
kettlebell/bodyweight (aka: the KBBW) workout. However, I was apparently
not done being groggy from Sunday and didn’t get up until after 8am.
While I still technically had the time to do both, I knew if I did them both
that I would be rushing to get ready for work afterward. So, I settled on
just doing the KBBW workout. I have graduated from doing modified pull
ups to doing regular full pull ups. This means I can only do 5 instead of
the 10 I was doing with the modified ones, but hey, 5 regular pull ups over 4
rounds of the exercises equals 20 pull ups!!! That’s awesome!
• Tuesday: I was going to do a triple workout this day…wake up at 6am
and run what I didn’t run Monday, then hit the gym for 65 minutes on the
elliptical and the Body Attack class, but about half way through my regular
shift on Monday, my supervisor called and said they needed someone to work
overtime on the night shift, so I snatched that bad boy up! Money talks,
yo!
• Wednesday: first things first, HAPPY VETERAN’S DAY!!! I am a veteran myself. I served in the Army and my time in service was far shorter than I wish it would have been. I had originally planned an easy 3 mile run for this day, but that was contingent upon me running 5-6 miles on Monday, which I didn’t. So I changed my run for this day to 5 miles. I geared up and set out for my run. My run felt great. Not completely effortless, but close. At the first mile my Garmin chimed/vibrated and I checked out my time. 9:50!!! WHAT?!?!?! No way. My FitBit said my pulse was in the mid-130’s, so I was not working hard at all. Miles 2 and 3 were both at 10:01. Mile 4 was 9:30!!! And then mile 5, which was a little hard, was around 9:50 again. I just decided that I wanted mile 5 to be 10:01 or faster, but I was almost defeated by running up a slight incline and into the wind for the last 1/3rd of a mile of my run. But I did it and it felt awesome. My FitBit said my pulse was just shy of 160 when I finished mile 5. Still not super high. But, I was done. 5 miles was my limit this day. It was a great accidental tempo run! Oh, and I said I was going to start taking my selfie stick with me on my runs and I did just that starting with this one. I’d say it’s a much better selfie, don’t you agree?
• Wednesday: first things first, HAPPY VETERAN’S DAY!!! I am a veteran myself. I served in the Army and my time in service was far shorter than I wish it would have been. I had originally planned an easy 3 mile run for this day, but that was contingent upon me running 5-6 miles on Monday, which I didn’t. So I changed my run for this day to 5 miles. I geared up and set out for my run. My run felt great. Not completely effortless, but close. At the first mile my Garmin chimed/vibrated and I checked out my time. 9:50!!! WHAT?!?!?! No way. My FitBit said my pulse was in the mid-130’s, so I was not working hard at all. Miles 2 and 3 were both at 10:01. Mile 4 was 9:30!!! And then mile 5, which was a little hard, was around 9:50 again. I just decided that I wanted mile 5 to be 10:01 or faster, but I was almost defeated by running up a slight incline and into the wind for the last 1/3rd of a mile of my run. But I did it and it felt awesome. My FitBit said my pulse was just shy of 160 when I finished mile 5. Still not super high. But, I was done. 5 miles was my limit this day. It was a great accidental tempo run! Oh, and I said I was going to start taking my selfie stick with me on my runs and I did just that starting with this one. I’d say it’s a much better selfie, don’t you agree?
• Thursday: this is the day I got in the car and drove my happy marathon
running behind down to South Padre Island to run the South Padre Island
Marathon (which is tomorrow). I didn’t
want to not workout and check in wasn’t until 3pm at the hotel, so I had the
whole morning before I had to get in the car and head out (what I didn’t
realize was the drive was a 6 hour drive, not 4 hours, so I didn’t get to my
hotel until 6pm). I noticed on the gym
schedule that the Body Pump class was at 9:30, so I went early to the gym and
got my 65 minutes on the elliptical done before the class started. I’ve done this class a long time ago, when I was
a member of this same gym like 5 years ago.
I remember that it was a really good class and that my muscles were
quite sore the next day.
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After my PLANNED binge at Red Lobster on their endless
shrimp thing going on right now (and of course 3 of the cheddar biscuits…you
know you love them too), I ate the majority of a no sugar added cherry pie on
Sunday. Oops. But, with the 10 mile run, I “technically”
had the exercise calories to cover that little binge (even though I currently have
a “eat no exercise calories” rule). And
the pie was really good. It wasn’t just
straight sugar like most cherry pies are.
The rest of my food on Sunday was quality food, so I’m not worried about
eating almost a whole pie (to be fair, it wasn’t a huge pie, just one of those
6 inch ones). Monday it was back to
normal with my eating. By that I mean,
strictly limiting my calorie intake, plus no eating of exercise calories, plus
super low (read: NO processed) carbs. I
really am much happier when I’m eating in my [new] normal way. Let me tell you, after I gorged myself at Red
Lobster, food was literally disgusting to me.
While Diana and I were just talking after we were done eating I looked
at another table in the restaurant and a guy was eating his food and I seriously
dry heaved a little. So, one good thing
about allowing myself the occasional binge is that it reminds me that it’s good
to be in control and that I really am happier eating and dealing with food in a
controlled manner.
I caught myself trying to slip into the “I’m super comfortable
with food” mode during the week, despite saying I was back on plan starting Monday.
In the past, this is how the regaining of weight has happened. I lose a
bunch of weight (or maybe just like 10-15 lbs), then I get all “super
comfortable” with my food and stop paying attention to what I’m practically
just shoveling into my face. Then, before I know it, I’ve regained
whatever I lost and now I’m all disheartened and discouraged and hate life
again. However, I’m happier just in general than I’ve been before after
losing a bit of weight. I think it’s because I have actually found what
really does work for me. I’m happier than I’ve been in an extremely long
time (I don’t even want to guess, that’s how long it’s been) and I’m more in
tune with the way I’m eating than I’ve ever been with a way of eating
before. So, when I have a little extra here and there beyond what I had
planned on eating, I actually notice it and it sets me on alert. Anyway,
I ate that entire no sugar added cherry pie on Sunday after my 10 mile
run. Granted, I did not go over my daily calories (but only if you factor
in my exercise calories, which I don’t like to do), but still…I ate a WHOLE
PIE. It was yummy. Duh, right? I mean, why else would I eat
an entire pie if it wasn’t yummy? Anyway, I was actually completely okay
with the whole pie thing except that it was almost more than my poor shrunken
little tummy could handle and I felt over stuffed for a couple hours
post-pie. What set me on alert was Monday night into Tuesday
morning. I got asked last minute-ish to work overtime on the night shift
Monday night. Cool. I told them last week that Monday night was the
only night I could work this week and I would be okay working it last minute if
someone called in sick, which happened. I don’t normally eat past 6 or
7pm, even when I work the overnight shift. I just chug my water and keep
myself distracted. Well, around 1:30am my stomach was growling and being
unpleasant so I hit the vending machine up for some trail mix. 250
calories for the whole package. No biggie. Then, on the way home,
the real “problem” happened. I bought 2 polish sausage kolaches and then
ate them on the drive home. They were delicious and I only half feel
guilty for eating them. I try not to food shame myself and therefore make
an effort to not feel regret over any food I eat, even if I way overeat.
I just use it as a reminder for why I don’t overeat and try to remember how bad
I physically feel when I overeat so I don’t do it again for a while.
Basically, I noticed the behavior and put my foot down. I stopped
it. Tuesday and Wednesday I ate only what I had planned to eat.
Nothing extra. Thursday, even though it was a travel day and I had
originally planned to go to a sandwich shop after checking into my hotel, I
opted to pack my food for the day and eat only what I brought with me to eat,
no meal out on Thursday. Besides, I had brought my scale with me on this
trip and weighed in when I woke up this morning.
Like I said, I am weighing in today. I brought my scale along for the trip down
here. Originally I wasn’t going to…I was
going to skip weigh in this week, but then I realized that my scale will store
the data and then auto-sync with my home network when I get back home and
update everything, so I thought what the heck and brought it along. I kept it controlled yesterday. When I went grocery shopping on Sunday, I
bought enough apples and grapefruits to tide me over through this afternoon
with smart foods. In fact, instead of
eating breakfast out this morning, I have a package of 4 boiled eggs to
enjoy! I didn’t go out for dinner last
night, but I did eat the fruit and chicken salad with poppyseed dressing from
Target on the drive to the coast for lunch.
Just stopped at a rest stop to eat.
I also ate my apples on the drive down and then I just had my 2
grapefruits for dinner after I got checked into my hotel and called it a
night. Today I’ll have my eggs, 3 small
apples, then a large pasta dinner (hosted by the marathon people with the race
director for the Boston Marathon as a guest speaker!!!) to make sure I’m ready
for tomorrow’s marathon.
I like to eat a bagel and a banana before a long race, so I
did some searching on the internet before coming down here and discovered
BadaBing Bagels. So I’ll be headed there
later today to pick up my pre-race bagel, then to the store to grab a banana. I also will be hitting up The Coffee Hut for
some iced coffee to set aside to sip on before the race tomorrow morning as
well. I like to caffeine load pre-run.
Oooookay! Let’s see
what the scale says today!
I’m not really sure how I feel about this weigh in. I know I’m not going to let it ruin anything
by stressing or obsessing over it. At the
beginning of October, I had a weigh in where I gained 1.2 lbs. But then the following week I lost 2
lbs. So, it could just be my body
leveling out or stabilizing or whatever.
When I do the math with last week’s weigh in and this week’s weigh in, I
discover that of the 1.7 lbs I gained this week, almost a pound of it was
muscle. And also, my body fat % is still
the same. I’m still hovering around
34%. Sure I want that number to go
down. I’d love to get it to 30%. And that IS the goal. But, right now, I’ve decided that I want to
be in the maintenance phase of my journey by the end of this year (with a
secondary goal of being in maintenance by the end of January…because, you know,
you can’t set hard and fast deadlines for weight loss and hope to actually
succeed…you gotta be flexible).
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