Weigh-In ... Quick Report

Today's Weight:  164.0

Loss/Gain:  + 0.5 lb

I was wondering if this would happen...I was actually up last Friday due to my carb loading/overeating, so I used Thursdays weight.  It was already up for the week and I was hoping the overeating weight would drop right away.  Well, it didn't.  

The good news is I'm only up half of a pound.  The bad news is I'm up.  

More good news is I have been staying right on track with my half marathon training.

As per my commitment, here's my BodyMedia report for this week.  It looks a little weird to me and I think it's because I totally forgot to wear it one day and then I can't remember if I tracked all my food one day I did wear it.  

I'm short on time today due to a busy schedule, so I'll have to come back to write more later.  I did just remember one thing (Because I'm looking at those numbers up there and thinking I should have a loss after that week...) I was up 3 more pounds than I am today last Friday.  So, I guess I technically did show a good loss...and I should always be honest on Fridays even if it's a huge mess up.

Oh well.  I'm pretty much back where I was so now I can work on getting back below 160. 

Thanks for checking in!  :)

Weigh-In ... The Best 10 Miles

Today's Weight:  163.5

Loss/Gain:  +4.5 lbs

First off, this is actually Thursday's weight, because I knew after some carb loading the scale would be even higher and I couldn't bring myself to add more weight to that because of needing to carb load.  

Here is the data that supports the reason for a gain, or lack of loss. 

I had a nice dinner date with my son Saturday, a dinner party one night and then a teen party another night that concluded with a sleepover and I did not eat well for weight loss at any of these events.  There were many late nights and it was just a rough week. 

It was hard for me to get back on track, but after my epic food fail last night I got up and headed out for my run this morning and I already feel so much better and am back on plan.  TOM was here last Friday, but I don't usually gain while on it.  Gains are usually a PMS thing for me.  Anyway, oh well.  It happened and I know I will lose a lot of it this week. 

On the good news front...

Short Story:

I had THE BEST 10 mile run today and think I may have broken that training wall down by making a few simple changes to how I prepared both physically and mentally.  

Long Story: 

Yesterday I chose to carb load a bit, even though I knew the scale would go up and that helped so much.  The overeating was not helpful as my tummy was a tad upset for the first half of the run, but I know the extra carbs I ate yesterday made a huge difference.  I ended up sleeping later than I planned and so I did not get out when it was cooler.  I was dreading the warm temperatures, but decided to just go out and enjoy my run.  

And I did.  I began getting a little frustrated with my slower pace, but I told myself I had to be slow to endure until the end.  I just didn't allow myself to slow down to a 13:00 minute mile pace.  I hovered around 12:15-12:50 and made myself be okay with that.  When I wasn't concerned about the pace I really enjoyed my run.

I also started hydrating early on in my run.  I took sips of my Nuun infused water about every mile from mile two on.  I knew the carb loading had helped because I didn't need to take in fuel (I use GU gels) until just before miles 4 and 8, like I originally planned. 

There was a slight breeze, but it was pretty much a full sun, humid morning with shade to cool off in off and on.  And you know what?  I was fine.  There was no overheating, no feeling like I'm gonna die and I just enjoyed myself.  The best part was when I hit ten miles I knew I could've kept going for 3.1 more.

Apart from severe overeating last night What I did yesterday worked for me and now I think I have a good plan to get through the half marathon and enjoy myself.  Next weekend is my last double-digit run before the race and I am not dreading it anymore.  Glory!

The scale is up, but this wonderful run today makes everything okay.  As always, it's not over folks.  I'm still learning and I'm still pressing on.  :)

Have a great weekend!

The Worst Evening in my Journey Ever

Note:  This post is kind of hard for me to share because I know some of my readers personally, but just like I track all my victories on my blog I want to track the failures.  This situation has never happened before and it will not happen again.  I appreciate in advance your kind understanding. 

***

I've never been a binge eater.  Well, I never have been in the sense that I have never sat down and purposely just let myself eat and eat out of some emotion.  I have eaten at a meal or function until I was stuffed and then been like, "Oh why did I do that?"  But I've never eaten until I was so full I hurt physically ... until last night. 

I'm still not quite sure what happened and I'm very embarrassed to be sharing this, but I wanted it noted in the books that I had this moment.  

Yesterday, after writing about my 13.1 training wall, I had an 'ah-ha' moment and told myself I had to eat that day for training and not for weight loss.  I had a long run of 10 miles scheduled for today and I knew I needed to carb load a bit.   In the past I've been more concerned with the scale/weigh-in on Friday than I have in preparing my body for the endurance runs.  

I did fine most of the day, having some pizza for lunch and eating til full, but not stuffed.  However, besides my three-mile run I was pretty sedentary most of the day; driving a lot and then sitting at my computer working on a project.  So when dinnertime rolled around I really wasn't hungry.  

The family was hungry and needed to eat, so I ate too.  I was going to make spaghetti, but no one wanted that so we ordered Chinese.  I figured rice was fine too, but ended up spooning a little more of this and that on my plate until all I can say is I was very full when dinner was over.  

Now I know I didn't eat more than I would at a normal, slightly heavy dinner, but I think all the water I'd been drinking made me full, plus I wasn't too hungry to begin with.  (I know...red flags!!)

Well, then as I served the kids up some ice cream for dessert I served myself a little.  I knew I was too full for ice cream and had told myself I'd just have a spoonful and that was it.  It's like I was out of it though...very weird...and I just ate it.  

That ice cream was the breaking point.  I'll suffice it to say my stomach felt so bloated and I just wanted to throw up.  I'm not going into more detail than that, but it was the worst pain I've ever felt in my stomach with regards to being overly full.  

As I said before I've never been a binge eater, but if people binge and feel that sick when they are done then my heart goes out to them, because I NEVER want to feel like that again.  It was horrible.

I tried using the bathroom a couple times, but to no avail and all I could do was go to bed and pray I'd feel well enough to run in the morning.  I did not sleep well for the first couple hours, but I finally did fall asleep after 11:00pm.  Thankfully I felt a better when I woke up, but my tummy was still unsettled as I was running.  

As I said I still am not quite sure what happened.  I was simply distracted while I ate and for some odd reason I chose to ignore my body when it was telling me I'd had enough.  It was like I was not all here either, like I forgot I can't eat that much any more.  Again...weird and then very upsetting when I was in pain.

I will tell you I learned some good lessons through the couple hours of stomach pain hell:

I will never eat until I'm that full again.  Ever.  I may need to carb load before long runs, but I don't need to eat that much.  My body will tell me when I've had enough and I will honor that.

Thank you for allowing me to share this and now I'm going to go write about something much more happy ... 

My 13.1 Training Wall

Well, I did it.  I ran 3 miles in 33 minutes and change -- goal met.  I ran in full sun with a slight breeze, but with warmth and humidity that put the temperature "real feel" around 80 something.  

Then I cried like a baby on my porch.  My body was drenched from head to toe like I had just climbed out of the pool and I just "enjoyed" the breeze while wondering how much more of this warm weather running I can take.

Folks I don't mind sharing, in fact I need to share, I feel like I've hit a 13.1 training wall.  We've had a fairly beautiful summer, but I'm so sick of running in the warm temperatures that it's making me dread my 10-mile run tomorrow.  I know there are folks that run in much warmer temperatures, but I just don't do so well.  

This may be part and parcel with the fact that this week just hasn't been the best with eating either.  We've had two end-of-summer parties that were a lot of fun for my kids, but included late nights and sleepovers, which leads to less sleep, which lead to not getting my 4-6 mile run in yesterday because I had to get some sleep, which is now leading to dreading my long run.  I did the elliptical instead yesterday, so I wasn't exactly lazy, but I've eaten too much junk this week.

*sigh* 

I will say the good news is I have nothing scheduled tonight except to get to bed early so I can get out earlier for my run tomorrow.  Today I will carb load a bit, hydrate well all day and get my rest.  I can't say I'll be great, but I know I will live.  

There is no quitting, but I want to enjoy my race.  So, I have one request...please, dear Lord, let the weather be cooler in a month.

Motivational Monday - Size 12s

Good morning!  I just had to share a little fun something with you today. 

I bought some denim capris in June for an event - choosing to buy the 12's instead of 14's because all my 14's were getting comfortable - and they were too tight.  I had muffin top with them on and was so vexed.  I ended up going out again on a shopping trip and getting lucky enough to find some capris in a 12 that were cut a little more fuller so they fit me fine.  I posted about that here.  

Well, last week I had on a favorite pair of linen capris that have been loose for a while and noticed they are getting really baggy.  I can grab a handful of fabric in the rear now.  lol  

Then it occurred to me that my other 14's are getting a tad looser as well.  I even had a friend comment that she can tell I'm trimming up in my middle and we figure it's due to all the running.  

So...Saturday evening I decided to try on the capris I bought back in June and they fit!  Woot!  

After maintaining my weight for about a year it's nice to see the results of regular exercise and eating better show up in a smaller size.  

Weigh-In ... New Progress Pics

Today's Weight:  159.0

Loss/Gain:  -4.5 lbs

Before you think I'm starving myself... lol  Here's my Bodymedia report.  

I was out of town at a kids camp for just over a day and did not wear the armband, nor did I track my food.  (I was electronic free for most of the time.  :) ) Trust me when I say that I did not eat like I was trying to lose weight.  It wasn't the portions as much as the type of food served.  I did take my own half and half, because they always "treat" us counselors with flavored creamers and I didn't want the extra sugar.  But the yogurts and fresh pineapple I took to eat instead of the full breakfast the next day just sat in the fridge in the kitchen.  

I decided since camp was only one full day this year, versus three in the past, I would eat what was served.  The man that runs the kitchen bakes all the breaded items from scratch.  So, there was a fresh biscuit and sticky bun with a good protein-laden breakfast, fresh bread wrapped around a hot dog for a pig-in-a-blanket lunch and then fresh homemade crust on the pizza at dinner.  It was delicious.  I was worried about all those carbs, but I had been careful the day before when I ran and we headed over to camp, so I hoped that would help. 

Sunday was a little better, but I ate everything I burned, so I was very careful during this week to try and make up for the heavy weekend. 

I guess I did just fine.  

Just so you know though...I did not carb load for my 8-mile run this morning.  The last two weigh-ins I've been carb loading the day before and I know it puts the scale up a pound or so the morning of weigh-in.  This time I decided I'd have white rice with my dinner and call it good. 

This was good for the scale, but not so good for the run.  Yikes.  I had to take in energy twice during this run because I was getting HUNGRY.  That's strange for me.  Usually it's to prep me so I don't drag, but not because I'm actually feeling hunger.  

I share that because a week ago Thursday I was 161 on the scale and that makes this loss more like 2 pounds, versus 4.5.  Of course, that still means I've lost a good amount over the last two weeks and I'm owning every pound of it.  I'm being careful.  I'm working towards finishing off my weight loss journey, and I actually eat over 1200 calories a day (imagine that!!) and it's paying off.  

In honor of breezing into another decade of weight loss here are some new progress pictures.  These were taken this morning after my run.  I'm pleased to [FINALLY] be able to say I've lost over 70 pounds -- 73 pounds to be exact.  :D

Thanks for stopping by!  Here's to continuing the downward trend.  :)

Living Like No One Else

The other night I was leaving a bridal shower after not partaking of the barbecue chicken, potato salad, corn on the cob with a roll and saw this sticker on my friend's car:

This is a portion of a quote financial advisor Dave Ramsey has made famous which states, "Live like no one else, so you can live like no one else."  This describes his teachings about living simply to get out of financial debt, so that you can be free to live with all your income later instead of constantly giving your money away to paying credit card payments.  

I've read a little on what he teaches and it makes sense.  

I've also read the testimonials and one common thread you see is it isn't easy, but it's always worth it in the end.

Cutting out the special treats for a time so you can use that money to pay off debt is not easy.  We've somewhat done that, though we are still paying off student loans right now.  Some of his clients have cut back seriously and paid off some grand amounts of debt in the process.  

It's pretty amazing. 

The sticker I saw was on the car of my friend with whom I'd just been talking to about health.  I know her and her husband and they followed Dave Ramsey's teachings to pay off all their debt.  Now debt free they continue to live simply and are cautious about how they spend their money so that they can enjoy life, give to God and be a blessing to others, but without falling back into debt.  

She is also a woman who has lost some weight and is keeping it off.  

She has told me that I inspire her with my story and with my running, but watching her always inspires me.  She decided she was getting unhealthy and packing on too many pounds, so she set a goal to lose the excess weight over a year ago in time to attend her son's graduation from his military boot camp.  She did it and she maintains that loss to this day.

I've seen her eat and she is healthy.  Sometimes she partakes of the food around her, and sometimes she doesn't.  She's not extreme, but she is careful.  She also stays active whether it's with workouts she finds on YouTube, using her treadmill or staying busy with their carpet cleaning business.  

She's also super encouraging to me on a regular basis about my journey. 

That evening we'd been talking about my using the Body Media Fit armband to help me finish losing the weight and I showed her my stats for the day at that point.  She was concerned because my calories were so low at that point and I wasn't going to eat the meal being served, but I reassured her I was going to have a snack when I got home.  I'd eaten a small dinner and only had room for about 200-300 calories for a snack later.  I knew the shower meal would be way more than my calories left for a snack, so I chose to abstain.  She understood.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that as I left the shower and saw the Dave Ramsey sticker on her car I thought to myself, "Live like no one else now, so I can live like no one else later.  That's exactly what I am doing to finish losing this weight."  I know my friend understands, because she has done exactly that both financially and with regards to her food habits.  

She now maintains a healthy weight and a healthy financial state.  I am going to be like that too, because I know the sacrifices now will be worth it later.  

Weigh-In ... New Tool for Success

Today's Weight:  163.5

Loss/Gain:  -3.5 lbs.

I have written two posts today, so please don't forget to scroll down and catch the other post as well.  Since I'm letting my legs recuperate from my long run this morning I figured I'd catch up on some thoughts, but they needed to be in separate posts, because I have some very different stuff to share.  

That almost sounds confusing...anyway. 

I'm super excited about this loss, because I know I worked hard for it.  I wasn't diligent every day this week, but probably about 6 out of 7 days.  Sunday I totally blew it and informed my family I do not need a full McDonalds meal at night anymore after church.  Yikes.  

But, as I mentioned in my earlier post, I was careful on the other days, especially knowing I blew it on Sunday.  It was not so easy, but I made myself behave so I could see a loss this week.  

As my title suggests I've also added another tool into my weight loss arsenal.  After much thinking I decided to purchase this: 

Okay, I already have an iPhone, but I am now using the Bodymedia Fit Link to track my calorie burn.  It automatically syncs with My Fitness Pal, so I am able to continue to tracking my food with that app.  It also syncs with it's app on my phone, so I can check my calorie burn any time during the day and see where I'm at; or correctly gauge what I burn during exercise.  

So far I love it.  I've learned a lot from it already.  Maybe later I'll do a review of it, but for now I'm simply letting you know because I'm going to make Fridays my weigh-in day AND the day I post my weekly stats from the Bodymedia Fit.  I will post stats from Friday to Thursday.

I've never posted my food journal on here, but I decided that I would do this to help make me a little more accountable as I work towards getting to a goal weight that I feel I can maintain.  I'm still learning about how much to eat and how much to burn, but for now I'm trying to keep my calorie deficit between 500-1000 calories a day to lose 1-2 lbs a week.  

Here's the stats from this past week: 

As always, thank you so much for checking in.  Knowing I'm not a lady who is losing her weight quickly I am always grateful for those who stick around, and for those who are new to my blog I hope I can encourage you that weight loss is possible as long as you never quit trying.  

Have a great weekend everyone!  I'm off to get things together for a 36-hour kids camp.  Whee! 

Some Hardest Things I've Ever Done

This week I did some of the hardest things I've ever done in my weight loss journey thus far.  

An hour and a half ago I finished an eleven-mile run.  I was scheduled for 10-12, so I had said I would do eleven.  At about mile 8 I started thinking maybe I would just stop at ten miles.  However, I had already told my neighbor (who ran with me for the middle three miles) and a few other people I was running eleven miles this week, so I knew I just couldn't quit early.  Oh, but I wanted to so badly.  I finally decided I couldn't quit and even if I had to slow up to finish I had to hit eleven.  And I did.  Of course, I felt great emotionally about it even if I didn't feel so great physically.  This half marathon is no joke.  

Twice this week I also put my needs first, even though it kind of made me feel bad.  Last night I had to call a mom who was running an hour late to pick up her daughter and inform her I was leaving the daughter with another mom at our church because I had to leave.  It wasn't super late, but I knew I needed to get home and get myself to bed to be well rested for this run.  Normally I would just hang out with her, but this time I said to myself, "You know what...there is someone else who is already planning on staying here, so you need to take care of your needs."  

Another night we were invited to hang out at some friends for a little bit after church and my teens desperately wanted to go.  I just couldn't.  I was having a bit of an internal struggle with food that evening, plus I had to run the next morning (summertime runs mean getting up early, requiring earlier bedtimes).  As hard as it was to "disappoint" my kids, I told them I needed to get to bed to run. *  I did not tell them about my struggle with knowing I had reached my calorie budget for the day and I just didn't feel strong enough to go somewhere where there would be food.  

Instead I broke down and called my friend Stephanie about the food struggle.  This was very hard for me to do.  Despite the fact that I am a very open person, I was embarrassed to call her and basically cry about the fact that I want to lose these last couple of pounds, but it was so hard to not have a snack in the evening.  I think I even told her I watch shows like The Biggest Loser or Extreme Weight Loss and sometimes I envy that they can have a meltdown about wanting to eat something, but knowing they shouldn't and their coach is right there to get them through it.  I knew she would understand and she did. 

She just listened and allowed me to really say nothing other than, "It's so hard, but I know I always give in right at these moments and it's why I've maintained this last year."  There was no great words of wisdom, nothing I didn't already know, but there was the much love and support in a simple comment, "I know."  She does know and as embarrassing as it was to allow myself to be so openly raw I'm so glad I reached out.  

I think the hard things I did this week are situations in life we must go through when we strive for any kind of success.  We have to press through the things we never thought possible, even when we want to quit.  We have to be willing to reach out to those that have been there before us and learn from them. And sometimes we even have to make ourselves and our goals a priority.  

The struggles are not always forever, but if we press through they will make the forever that much better.  

*Note:  About the night my teens didn't get to go to the friends house late...one of the girls told me, "Well, I'm bummed we can't go, but I understand why and I would probably do the same thing."  I was so thankful for her maturity in that moment.  :)

Weigh-In ... 1st 10 Mile Run

Today's Weight:  167.0

Loss/Gain:  +2.0

First, let's get the weight issue out of the way.  I didn't eat so great the beginning of the week.  Then I did better, but unfortunately my long run had to be today so I chose to eat something heavy in carbs last night to help with a little carb loading.  I had a feeling it would mess with the scale and wasn't going to post my weight until tomorrow to see if it evened back out then.  

However, I decided to go ahead and post, because this is my life today.  I think had I done better earlier in the week then I might've been able to at least show a maintain today.  I can't blame the two pounds on one meal, so it is what it is.

And it is not all that defines me. 

Because today I completed my first double digit run.  I ran 10 miles in 2 hours and 3 minutes.

It was a little rough for me.  I had wanted to go to bed earlier than I did and try and get out a little earlier than I normally run to beat some of the heat, but I had a rough emotional evening and that didn't happen.  I know I slept good when I finally did sleep, but I ended up getting up at 6:00 just like normal. 

So, I was okay with that, especially when I saw it was very overcast out.  When one has to run one learns to appreciate every little thing that can help ease the situation.  Clouds block the sun, thus clouds are my friend. 

We were also expecting thunderstorms again, so I was a little concerned about that.  I just put my iPhone in a plastic baggie, sealed it and put it in my amphipod belt and hoped for the best. 

It was rough going out there.  Unfortunately, clouds do not mean it's really that much cooler, nor does it mean it's any less humid.  ugh.  It took a while before I felt like I was in a groove.  I finally kind of found a groove and just kept reminding myself I'm training for a half marathon -- it's not supposed to be easy. 

I finished ten miles about three-quarters of a mile from my house, so I walked the rest of the way.  My legs were so tired.  I'll be honest they hurt.  All I could think was I wanted to shower and then sit down.  That's exactly what I did, so they are feeling better now. 

One of my friends commented on my Instagram that now I'm going to want to do a marathon next.  Um, no.  This ten miles was hard.  Training runs for 26.2 miles probably start at about ten miles.  I also told myself that I don't have to do this distance again for another week, and then only like three or four more times before the race.  I'll never say never, but right now running ten miles is a hard workout for me, so I don't see myself doing anything beyond a half marathon again.  

All in all, I am very proud of my run today.  It wasn't easy, but I did it.  I even cried a few minutes during my walk home as it hit me that I ran for two hours straight. Me. Wow.  It's another moment that I realized I really am a gal with a new ending in life. 

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!