Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Reluctantly dressed for Weight Watchers

The scale was completely out of control this morning: 186.6. But I still put on one of my honeymoon dresses, because today is Weight Watchers At Work Day. I will get on the scale - I will not take a "pass" on being weighed though I will tell them not to tell me....because I know.

But I do need to nip this in the butt NOW!!!! The scale needs to go down. TOM is over, so this is the "skinniest" part of my month.

Monday we went to the Red Sox game and had a glorious dinner of a hot dog and a pretzel. Could have been worse. I could have had beer, soda or lemonade,  but I had water. I could have had popcorn, cotton candy, or ice cream instead. I could have had leftover ice cream when I got home, but I didn't.

Yesterday I ate my normal food for a second day in a row! Yeah!!! My husband made dinner - ravioli with turkey meatballs, salad, garlic bread, and we had another round of his birthday cake with ice cream and homemade chocolate sauce. But the remainders went in the trash. There was enough cake, ice cream and chocolate sauce for 1 person to have a pretty big helping. Afraid it might have been me that was tempted, I threw it all away.

I will say that we are going to the Melting Pot on Sunday to celebrate my daughter's 8th birthday with my parents. It is becoming an annual event - One I splurge on. But that is 1 meal, 5 days from now. No reason to eat healthy between now and then.

I didn't get up to run yesterday - I was tired from going to bed late, and I was dehydrated from my salty "dinner", and my legs were still tired from my long run. I am hoping to get out tomorrow and I am hoping to get out the next 2 weeks since I won't have as long runs. I think the real long runs are just tuckering me out, and causing me to not want to run and not eating well because I am tired. It is these types of behaviour that make me nervous to be training for this half marathon. I don't want to lose what I have accomplished just for a race.

I did get up and do my strength training this morning. It was hard to get up, but I did it! And I am so glad I did. And I did do the 15 minutes on the bike trainer that I skipped last week.


Monday, July 28, 2014

Still struggling + 9 miles!

I woke up Monday morning to the scale saying 186.0!! Ugh!! But at least I got on it. There were 3 days last week that I didn't weigh myself and that is when I know I am really headed for trouble.

I chose to do my Long Run on Saturday morning and I am glad I did! I did 9 miles in 1:50. I am having issues with my Garmin so it is saying that the data is getting transferred but it is lost. But looking at my splits, I am pretty happy with them. The last 3 miles were faster that the first 6.

Like last weekend I ate at 3 miles and 6 miles - Sports Beans - still my favorite!

But I was tired, tired, tired for the rest of the weekend! I am glad I can't do long runs for the next 2 weekends!

Saturday I had to go grocery shopping at a different, more expensive store because my normal chain is having boycotts (something I support) so no one is shopping there....and there isn't any food there even if I wanted to. It was $75 more expensive and took twice as long, but I made fairly good decisions. Not 100%...Like I bought a big bag of Doritoes, but threw them out last night after having just 2 small handfuls.

We ate out Saturday night for my husband's birthday (celebration #1!) - Italian. Yummy! Salad, pasta with seafood, we ordered 4 desserts (for the 4 of us) and all shared, and 1/2 a bottle of wine. Yummy!

Sunday night was celebration #2 - sausages with peppers and onions, corn on the cob, and ice cream and cake with chocolate sauce. Yummy!

But so far Monday I have eaten well - eaten all my normal foods. We are supposed to go to the Red Sox game tonight, but it could get rained out.

I am hoping to get out for a run in the morning, even though it will be a late night. I need a nice short run!

Friday, July 25, 2014

Disappointing week

I am very disappointed in myself this week, but I am going to chalk to it up to some months PMS is worse than others.


Right after I wrote my last post saying I was going to eat my lunch I brought, my friend IMed me to eat lunch and I agreed. I bought Wednesday and Thursday, which meant I bought 4 times this week and each time I bought a 12 oz can of regular coke!


I didn't get my run in on Thursday as well - this time I really didn't have an excuse. BUT I did get my 2 strength training sessions in on Wednesday and Friday, though I didn't do the bike either time.


I am especially disappointed in the Thursday run blown off, because Wednesday my legs were itching to get out and I was excited about the run. But it didn't happen. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come, because I do need to get in my runs in the morning. And I do like doing them once I am out there!


I didn't buy my lunch today - I ate my normal lunch. I had to bring my daughter to the ER to get stitches and I made sure I brought a snack with me because I didn't know how long we would be there (we were in and out in 1:15!!! That has got to be a record!)


Sunday morning is supposed to be pouring, and we are going out to dinner on Saturday night and even though we will be having pasta, I don't want to risk feeling icky like I did a few weeks ago when I had pasta out. So I am going to do a 8.5 mile run in the morning,

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Bad week, go away!

Is it Friday yet?! My eating has really been out of control this week and I want to put a break on it.

After Sunday's large lunch at Applebees (hello, 4 pretzels for an appetizer!), I had leftovers for dinner. I did throw the rest of some leftovers out.

Both Monday and Tuesday I ended up buying lunch at work - at the last minute. Both of which included a 12-oz Coke and onion rings.

Monday night dinner was seconds on pasta before rushing out to my daughter's soccer practice.

Tuesday night was steak tips (which we originally were going to have on Sunday). I did make sure to get green beans before my husband put real butter on them. Grrr.....And after dinner I had the TWO remaining Skinny Cow bars (4 PPV each).

Tuesday I didn't get up to run. I hope it isn't this way each week - I was just so tired! I need the extra sleep. My body needed an extra rest day.

TOM is coming up later this week (darn 24 day cycles lately!). But it is HUMP day and I am trying to change it around now!

On a good note, I am wearing a Size 14 pair of white jean capris (bold I know especially since TOM is so close!!). And with the smaller size pants I had to cinch in the belt 1 more hole.

And I did get up this morning and do strength training. I didn't get my 15 minutes on the bike as I blew off a lot of my pre-camp prep last night and had to do it this morning. I woke up at 4:15 and considered blowing it off, but so glad I didn't!

I am hoping this off feeling is just PMS. And I hope to turn it around today - at least the lunch at work part. It is unnecessary and makes me feel so bloated. This is why one shouldn't drink soda!


Sunday, July 20, 2014

Another 8 mile run

I got up Saturday morning to 182.4, so a little shy of 50 lbs. But I knew I would be playing the WW game - I wore only a tank top and running shorts - the same outfit as 2 weeks prior when I got my 50 lb disc. They had me as 50.4 lbs - the difference between the 2 scales was only like .6 lbs which it never is.


I won't have my WW meeting at work this week because she is on vacation.


I ate way, way too much for dinner last night. This is why I don't cook foods I love because I over eat! I made a couscous salad, grilled asparagus with dried figs and blue cheese, and hamburgers with carmelized onions. My belly was aching this morning. From now on I am sticking to pasta before my long run.


I had mixed feelings about getting up and running this morning. I knew I had to put in the miles, so I could increase my miles in the future to get to 10 miles in the next month.


The morning was crisp (66 degrees) and low humidity. Perfect! I wore my hydration vest (I love it - I love not having to wear an arm band for my phone) and carried caffeinated Sports Beans, which are quickly becoming my nutrition of choice.


In the past I've only taken nutrition at 4 miles. Today I took 1/2 a package at 3 miles and the other 1/2 at 6 miles. In future long runs I would also take some at 9 miles.


I am going to try Gu at some point and see how it goes down. The beans take a while to get down, so having the hydration vest is perfect for that. But in a case where I didn't want to wear the vest (not sure if I will wear it for the actual race), I can't carry a glass of water that long to get them down.


I felt incredibly sluggish - my stomach didn't feel great from the dinner. But I am pretty sure I have negative splits (my Garmin connected and transferred the data, but it has disappeared to never, never land) I finished 8 miles in 1:39 - 2 minutes slower than when I did it 2 weeks ago.


I was definitely having a lot of moments of self-doubt on this run. "Boredom" kept running through my head - I like training on my own, but I've got to think of other things to think about. Maybe I'll start downloading podcasts.


The family wanted to walk around the reservoir (2 miles) - I didn't want my long run to keep from my family, so I joined in.....Ouch, I am hurting tonight!


I hate the feeling like I can't walk. But no pain, no gain, right? I just always worry about pain and if it is going to become more of a problem.

Friday, July 18, 2014

2 more days, 2 more workouts

I did it! I worked out 4 days this work week!!!! I think this is the first time ever??!!!


Oh wait, I looked and last year, right around the same time, I did it 1 week (though I wasn't running outside), then I got sick and my son got sick and I didn't pick up a weight for almost a year.


But hopefully this time is different. This is my dream week....sort of


Cardio on Tuesday and Thursday ---one it is too dark to run outside during the week, I may change to the bike trainer, Step, kickboxing or the sort - I just hate, hate the treadmill


Strength Training on Wednesday and Friday ---45 minutes, followed up by 15 minutes on the bike trainer.


But then again my eating has been pretty off this week and thus the scale has been up 3-4 lbs!! That is the story of my life - gaining and dropping too quickly. Instead of a nice gradual decline, the graph of my weight loss is jagged with many large peaks and valleys.


The scale has definitely contributed to my crankiness this week. And the crankiness had lead to lots of chips and salsa eating :( Yesterday I worked from home and found myself have an 8 oz coke and lots of dark chocolate morsels. For no reason! Maybe being tired, or work stress. So mad at myself for not controlling that.


But I got up at 5 am 4 days in a row and got up and worked out. I would love, love to do this every week. The days are definitely getting shorter and thus 5 am is not quite as bright (the alarm goes off at 5 and I get up at 5:15 - I give myself 15 minutes for my body to react before trying to go to the bathroom so I don't have to go mid-run.


Thursday I ran 4.5 miles and hit 200 miles for the year! That definitely helped get me out of bed. I went up the street 1.5 miles, then back to where I started, and then the other direction and up and down a small hill twice.


Friday was more strength training and bike trainer. I even tried burpees a couple of times. A long way to go!


I am slated for 8 miles on Sunday. I thought it was 8.5 until I looked at my plan. Originally we were going to be in Vermont but my step-MIL asked us not to come. My running partner is using a different training plan for our 1/2 so doesn't look like we will be running together this season. That is ok - sometimes on your own is just easier!

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

2 days, 2 workouts!

We won't even dwell on the scale - this morning said 185.0! Ugh! But I got on the scale and I will just move on. I didn't wear a fun summery honeymoon outfit today for WW - I am going to take a Do Not Weigh. I put on jeans and a shirt - It is humid and pouring.

Speaking of humidity.....I got up Tuesday morning and ran 3.5 miles. It was the first time I ran on a weekday in almost 3 weeks. I really didn't want to get up - I had been sleeping terribly the last 2 nights (part due to getting too much sleep over the weekend, and part due to stress). It has been incredibly humid for days and it was darker in the morning - some due to it being cloudy, but with 3 weeks out of the Summer Solstice, the days are getting shorter :(

I put on my hydration vest and wore shorts again! Unfortunately i didn't really adjust the vest well and it didn't sit right and the tube was against my neck. Next time I need to take the time to get it adjusted right.

Since I only did 3.5 on Tuesday, I'll need to do 4.5 on Thursday - thankfully the humidity should be gone by then.

Last night's eating was poor - I had a 5:00 meeting, so my husband had to pick up the kids, and my client didn't call in until 5:30, so I didn't leave work until 6:15. I was starving when I got home - snarfed down 2 chicken tacos (too much food) and later had a small, small bowl of chocolate peanutbutter ice cream. I threw the rest away!

This morning I got up to do strength training. It has been 3 weeks. It felt awesome! I really, really want to get into a routine. 2 runs a week, 2 strength training a week, then a long run on Sundays.

I wore running capris and just my sports bra. When I do planks, I do them in front of a mirror. Gross!! I decided to start the 30 day Plank Challenge, so I only did 1 for 20 seconds. But seeing my gut hanging down, on a day I am feeling bloated and gross, was eye opening! A reason to keep on working at it!


Monday, July 14, 2014

The weekend that wasn't....

I had every intention of going to Weight Watchers on Saturday, but woke up at 6 am to 182.6 (a .4 gain) so decided to screw it and go back to bed - I was tired. I woke up 2.5 hours later to 181.6 :)


The morning and early afternoon were filled with chores and being lazy, not the cleaning that I had intended for Friday or Saturday. One of the chores was bringing all of my clothes from the last 50 lbs to be donated, along with all the kids outgrown clothes. I hadn't my fat clothes - if, for some reason, God forbid I gained weight back, I didn't want those clothes anyways. I know I was keeping ahold of them since I donated all my clothes "last time". But there will be NO MORE GAINING! It felt so liberating!


At 3 we went to Canobie Lake Park - an amusement park not far from us.


First stop, water park. We hadn't been to that part before. Been there, done that now. I was thrilled how un-inhibited I felt walking around in my tankini. Turns out the water park was a bust. The lines were long and you constantly were dumped with water while water - dumped with cold water!!


So after an hour, we headed into the rest of the park. I had every intention of running in the morning. I tried to drink a lot of water. I had pasta for dinner. I did have a pretzel too :) But passed on ice cream and fried dough.


I was in bed at 11, everything laid out for an 8 mile run in the morning.


I woke up at 6 and felt so dizzy and nauseous. So went back to bed. First until 8:30 when the kids woke up, and again until 10:45 when I managed to drag my butt out off bed. After all I had a whole house to clean!


And that I did. Not perfect, but a lot better than it has looked in a while. I wish we could afford a house cleaner again!!


I had wanted to do 2.2 miles on Saturday with my daughter and 8 miles on Sunday to bring me to 200 miles. I am already so far behind this month! At 5:30 I still wanted to get my 2.2 miles in (my daughter refused to go!) so I got dressed and headed out into the heat. I am so glad I did - even though I ate my weight in homemade salsa and chips while waiting for dinner.



Friday, July 11, 2014

Thursday Night Race

CI needed a bib for July! Since I didn't run the 4th of July race, I was risking not having a bib for a month for the first time since December. I didn't really want to commit to a weekend race as we have been so busy, plus I am starting my Half Marathon training.

I looked up on coolrunning to find a race, and stumbled upon a small all women race near my house for last night. I was a little nervous because I have never, never run at night, and especially on a weeknight! But I signed up, and then a woman on my local running group (which I have done nothing with yet) wanted to carpool so I picked her up last night.

It was a beautiful night. The humidity had gone with the storms Wednesday night. But it was still warm - 84 when I got out of the car. But it started at 7 so there was tons of shade.

I definitely wasn't planning on PRing. With the heat and it being late in the day, I just wanted to enjoy myself.

I started out a little fast - there were some inclines, but there were also some people with hoses! But then during the second mile there were 2 people watering their flowers (with a hose) but didn't react to people asking to be sprayed.


I was eager for the race to be over. I was hungry! I had had my normal waffle with jelly and a banana at 5:30, but I wanted dinner!

I saw what I thought was the finish line, but no, they just had a clock at mile 3. So I gunned it to the clock but didn't have a ton of juice left to gun it for the actual finish line. But I did smile for the camera and made sure I wasn't turning off my Garmin at the finish line. I did hit it (or so I thought) shortly after. But it didn't stop. My time was actually 32:28. My PR is 31:32.

I wasn't expecting bling with this race, since it was only 151 people. I finished 100th. I love getting medals when you don't think you are going to!

I wasn't thrilled with the post-race food. I did feel a little nauseous and dizzy from the heat. I drank a ton of water and had some chocolate milk back in my car, and didn't get dinner until after 9:00.

Here is the pic I posted. I hadn't really thought about the fact that I hadn't posted a picture of myself in a while, so most people hadn't seen the last 10-15 lbs come off, so I got compliments on my weight loss. *yeah!!!*

Sunday, July 6, 2014

50 lbs and 8 miles

I didn't run at all in the month of July until this morning. My husband got home very late Thursday night and I just didn't want to get the kids up so early and head to a race in the rain, so we stayed home and had a pajama day on the 4th - It was pouring rain by the afternoon. I knew we had 2 BBQs on the weekend, so treated the day like any other,  because I was itching for 50 lb on Saturday.


I really didn't want to wake up though on Saturday. I knew my new leader wouldn't me at the meeting. I woke up at 6. Scale said 182.4. .2 shy of 50 lbs. I knew dressing lightly and going to 1 scale over another, I might be okay. But I said screw it and got back into bed. But 10 minutes later I had to go the bathroom again. 182.2 on the nose! I wore a light pair of gym shorts and a tank top with no bra and went to my meeting.


50 POUNDS GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I was beyond excited. I looked back and it was on July 13 last year I got 25 lbs, so almost a year to lose another 25 lbs.


(Granted the scale was up 2 lb this morning and who knows what it will be tomorrow)


I enjoyed both BBQ, but didn't go crazy. No alcohol. But could have been better at both.


This morning I ran on my own. I SO did not want to get out of bed, but since I hadn't run last week at all, I knew I had to do at least 7 miles.


It was no humid and not overly hot when I started at 7 am.  I knew I would try for 7.5, my previous longest run. But then decided maybe I would try for 7.75 since I had 8 miles slated for next weekend. But I didn't want to turn around at such an odd number that I went 3.96 before turning around. But still thought I would stop at 7.75. Well I couldn't just stop then! And since I hadn't gone a full 4, I had to turn around again at the end and so a little more to get to 8.0 miles.


Going to do 8 next weekend as well, and then the following weekend we will be out of town, but I mapped a 7+ mile route...with hills!


I just signed up for a 5K this Thursday night, just so I can say I have a bib for July since I didn't get to race on the 4th!

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Sadness and Stress

Yesterday my father-in-law passed away. He had been battling cancer for over a year and was fighting it, but ended up getting pneumonia and in his weakened state, he couldn't fight it. It was very fast, but thankfully not too fast so my husband was able to drive 4 hours up there and my sister-in-law was able to fly up in time.

In the past, the stress and sadness would have had me running for the pantry. But I am trying to stand my ground this time. I had a bottle of Nutella in my grocery cart this morning and later I took it out. It would not be good to have that in the house right now! The scale said 183.4 this morning! 1.2 lbs away from 50 lbs! I know i won't lose that by Saturday morning, but if I stand my ground, I could be next Saturday.

Running has become a source of stress-reduction over the last couple of months. In June I was getting in a run 3x a week. I haven't run since Sunday and it has been so hard. Tuesday I was overtired and the last 2 mornings I have had the kids on my own. The weather has been way too humid to run during the day. And no, I am not desperate enough for a run to go on the treadmill! Last night we didn't get home until 7 and I didn't go to bed until 11:00. I am home today, with no kids, but I have too much to get done - the house is a disaster! - before my husband comes come.

So last night my daughter had her first soccer practice. No way I was going to stand out in humid weather in work clothes (especially since i was kind of dressed up to wear light clothes for our work WW meeting), so I wore short athletic shorts, a sports bra, and a hugging tank top. People at work thought I was going out to play soccer! I loved that I felt confident to wear so little clothes around my daughter's friend's parents.

Off to make sense of all the food I bought. We aren't supposed to be home to grill this weekend, but I may skip one of our BBQ in order to stay home. But I bought way too much food. A lot of it was fairly healthy - not perfect, but ok.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Good June, uncertain July

How did we get to July so quickly?? How is 2014 1/2 over??!!

June was a good month! I ran 11 times for a total of 50 miles. I ran a Color Run, an Obstacle Race, and my first 10K. I was diligent about getting up and running 2 times during the week.

And July 1st, I didn't get up. I barely got any sleep - maybe 3 hours. We are dealing with health issues with our parents, so it is very stressful. Running helped me a lot this past month with the stress, but last night sleep did not happen and I just couldn't get myself up. But that is okay. I hope to get over 50 miles this month (I am slated for 65-70, but with the family illnesses, that might not happen).

Saturday I went to Kohl's and did a little retail therapy. I pulled Size 14 pants off the rack in the non-Women's section and they fit! (I don't understand Petites though. I have short legs, so pants are often too long, so I decided to try 14P and I couldn't get them over my thighs :( )

I ended up with 1 Size M shirt - I loved it and they didn't have a L, and the cut looked large so I tried on the M and it fit! I also ended up with white jean capris!!!

Sunday morning I ran 7 miles with my running partner. I wore my Nathan hydration vest with the Camel Bak bladdar I bought and it worked out much better. I think I may just run with it on all runs in the hot weather, short or long - I hate carrying water in my hand, and I like that I don't have to wear the arm band with the vest.

This morning the scale said 184.6 and that is during full on TOM!!!