Monday fail....Tuesday flying

I knew that Monday evenings are hard - not having dinner until 7 pm and being home with a 6 year old for 2 hours. I ate well all day, had my normal snack when me and the kids got home at 3:30. And then by 6 I wanted a small snack - I had some cheese, dried fruit and nuts.....and then more cheese...and more, then rice cakes with Nutella.....and then ate dinner.

So I told my husband that having a family dinner on Mondays just wasn't going to happen - the kids could eat before she goes to soccer and then my son will want a snack later on and she'll want a snack when she gets home, and I will probably do a Shake and then a small snack later. I know family dinners are important, but 7 nights a week are impossible.

First night of "new TV" and I already didn't get to bed at 9:30 as planned. I've been wanting to sort through pictures on the computer for months - usually I do it every few months, I haven't done it since Easter! So I spent several hours picking the good ones out and later I will go through and edit them. So I didn't get upstairs until after 9 and wanted to unwind, so I watched a DVRed show and didn't go to bed until almost 10.

But I did get up at 4:30 and ran. There were a ton of us running today, but not the faster people. After suffering all summer with the humidity, I wanted to test my legs, so I ran ahead on my own. 4 miles with an average page of 11:18. My music stopped pretty quickly and I didn't want to fumble with it, so I ran music-less.

I want to hit 400 miles during the Tufts 10K, and I need 41.5 miles, which is pretty aggressive. I have charted a plan of attack, which includes a 10 mile run (I want to see the work they have done to expand the rail trail, so the only way I can do that is to run the 5 miles to the end....and 5 miles back :) ). I haven't run more than 7 miles since mid-May when I ran 13.1 (and then didn't run the actual 1/2 Marathon race).

Weekly Weigh-in #2

Starting Weight: 232.2
Current Weight: 200.4
Change from last week: -0.6
Total weight change: -31.8

The weight I put here is my own weight at home. Last week I was surprised that the difference between my home weight and the Weight Watcher's scale was only 1.0 pounds because at my normal center I was used to a 1.4 or 1.6 lb difference. But this week I weighed in at a different scale and they had me staying the same (ie a 1.6 lb difference).

I was 100% okay with staying the same in their eyes after such a difficult week.

Between soccer games we went to McDonald's and I made pretty good choices: grilled chicken wrap (instead of crispy - difference of 240 calories!) or a Big Mac. I ordered with no fries but my husband wanted extra fries so I did get the meal - I did steal a couple. I had water instead of soda.

We went out to our favorite indulgent meal:
Bread and butter
French  onion soup
Salad
Steak au Poivre
Skillet cookie with ice cream
Lots of wine

I didn't make a healthy choice there, but I am okay with it. I had "pre-planned" my meal and I owned the choices. We go there once a year, so I want to live!

And....AFTER my meeting I ran 6.7 miles because I knew I wouldn't want to run on Sunday. I didn't start until 9 am and it was warm and humid and I was miserable, but I did it!

Mid-week check in

Despite the eating not going great this week, this week is going well!

Having the client in this week has proven very challenging from an eating aspect, but they will be gone after tonight so I can get back on track and the full week is not lost.

I do acknowledge that I have a very hard time making healthy choices when faced with un-healthy options, but the client visit is only 2 times a year so I chalk it up to a "special occasion" with a finite end date/time. Tonight we are going to a cooking class as a team-building activity....and I will enjoy my wine as well!

Tuesday morning I ran 4 miles - a normal Tuesday morning. But the best run in a long time! Cool, dry temps, losing the camel-bak, having eaten well the day before, running with different people, listening to music, and running on fresh legs could all have been contributors to the great run. My body does not like humidity, not matter what my weight. So I am hoping the drier weather is indicative of feeling better about running.

Weekly Weigh-in #1

Since I feel like I am starting over, I will start again at Week 1, sort of....

Starting Weight: 232.2
Current Weight: 201.0
Change from last week: N/A
Total weight change: -31.2

Saturday I went to a new Weight Watchers meeting at a new location. I had met the leader before as she had subbed at my old location. She was funny. Since it was the first weekend after Labor Day and they were rolling out the new "success story" booklets, it was the perfect week for me to start.

Saturday was never supposed to be a good day eating wise:
I had a normal breakfast.
Then my daughter had a soccer game at noon. As we were getting gas after we saw my husband and son pulling into McDonald's so we followed them - I got a wrap, water and only had a couple of fries so so-so decisions there.
Then we had to go to a 'beginning of season' soccer party - I skipped the chips at the table and drank water, but not knowing when and if I would get dinner, I had 2 pieces of pizza even though it was only 3:30 and grabbed a full Coke for later because I needed to stay awake.
Then she and I went to see One Direction - I had a protein bar and my can of Coke as "tail gating" and then had total junk (but not a ton of it and lots of water) at the concert.

But Sunday I was back on track - I ate well all day except I had 2 Pillsbury Biscuits with dinner. Not bad for a day full of cramps :(

I weighed myself this morning and am mentally preparing myself for a challenging week full of client visits/meetings. Is it Friday yet???

I am back!

Tomorrow morning I go back to Weight Watchers - I went back for 2-3 weeks in June, but haven't been back since (and really hadn't been consistently since January) I am trying out a different location (and a different leader) - hopefully it will work out better. I am making Weight Watchers a priority again - no more running instead of WW on Saturday mornings. Plus we have been away 7 weekends since mid-June, so it was hard to get momentum and was not good on the waistline!

This morning my weight was 202.8 :( Immediate goal is to get back until 200. Would like to be 184 by the time we go on a cruise in April.

I have gained 20+ pounds since last September 20th - some of them have been big jumps, some gradual.

I was going through my pictures trying to find ones to post here and realize how few pictures there are of me in the last year - that is what happens when you start to gain weight!

Last September at the Diva Dash - I was 181 and feeling on top of the world.

Mid-April at the BAA 5K (2 days before the Boston Marathon) - I didn't PR the course (I had a PR the previous year) - the weight gain and the hard Boston winter were to blame

Easter 2015

What I don't have pictures from here is the 1/2 marathon that I was supposed to do over Memorial Day weekend - I trained for it and ran 13.1 miles 2 weeks prior, the weekend after my dad died. But I chose not the run the 1/2 on race day - I did the 5 miles instead. I am glad I did because it was hot! And I did PR the 5 miles with 55 minutes.

Mid-June at my dad's memorial service - I was so miserable that I couldn't wear any of the cute size 14 clothes from our honeymoon I had been able to wear the summer before

An all-women's 5K in mid-July - again, didn't PR the course and the year before had been 95 and 100% humidity

After Beach to Beach 10K - with Joan Benoit Samuelson. See me hide. I was happy with my results because it was the first hilly race and it was very hot - my time wasn't far off my 10K PR

Same weekend as previous picture - see me hide in the picture

My 45th birthday celebration at the Melting Pot

So here I am. A "new year". My schedule is quite different this school year - after 2+ years of planning I am now leaving in the afternoon to get the kids off the bus and working from home. Today is only the 7th day of school. Of the 7 days, 3-4 of them I have had way too much to eat for snack - almost mini-binges, so a rule needs to be 1) don't eat before the kids get home and 2) don't have more snack than I would at work.

I had signed up for a 1/2 on November 8th way back in January - but I have decided not to do it - I feel like that is the story of my life this year. I need to concentrate on weight loss, and I don't lose, I gain during 1/2 training. I will cut back my running even more or stop all together (temporarily) in order to re-lose the 20 lbs. Right now I am signed up for a 5K at the end of September, 2 10Ks in October, a Turkey Trot (November) and a Jingle Bell run (December) and will do the 5K or 10K on New Year's Day. I have been trying to run 15 miles a week - 2 4-milers during the week and 7 miles on the weekend. I had my highest monthly miles in August with 53. I've been doing my 2 weekly runs with my running group at 5 am and then the long run on the weekends on my own.

Things I need to do to lose weight:
--Drink more water
--Move more at work
--Get more sleep
--Cross train 1x a week and strength train
--No buying lunch at work
--No eating until the kids come home and then only my normal snack
--No snacking while making dinner
--Much less eating out
--Get back to meal planning
--Much smaller portions at dinner

If I can do the above, I will be a much better place!

So what has lit a spark this time? Hovering around 200 all summer, knowing my running has suffered, seeing my belly in pictures and knowing that is where a lot of the weight has gone, not wanting pictures taken of me, having to buy a new pair of jeans not because it was too small, but because it was almost worn out in the thigh area, knowing I want to feel good about myself on our cruise in 7 months - it was too hard to get motivated with all these trips this summer (which were for the most part fun, but exhausting and a lot of eating out). But we have no trips planned until April! I do have a lot to do this fall with 2 kids in soccer, and finally starting to pack up more of the stuff at my parent's house (my mom wants to downsize) after taking the summer off.

I can do this!!!!