Sunday, February 26, 2012

"The Plan Works If You Work The Plan"

The title is a quote that my former Weight Watcher leader would say. Today, I stood on the scale and I have lost 3.2 pounds..... in one week...  If you read my post from Wednesday, you know I joined WW online in January to give me a "boost" and have remained at my starting weight for 7 weeks. Obviously, I was not doing the plan. This past week, on Ash Wednesday, I made a commitment to eat healthy and moderately. To be totally transparent, this is after an evening of living out Fat Tuesday to the fullest by making homemade macaroni and cheese with kielbasa and the only thing low fat about the recipe is that I used turkey kielbasa instead of pork. And, I ate most of it that evening. So, starting on Wednesday I started eating the way I should...nothing crazy, as Nate and I did go out to eat three times in that period of 4 days, but I made fairly wise choices for the most part. For example, when we ordered sub sandwiches from Jimmy John's I added more veggies and had mustard instead of mayo. It took the sandwich from being 519 calories and 22 grams of fat to 336 calories and 1.4 grams of fat. When we went to Buddy's pizza, our ABSOLUTE favorite pizza in the Detroit area (and trust me when I say we truly could be authorities on the subject), we ordered an appetizer and then I had the Greek salad. Yesterday we went out with Nate's parents and I chose a grilled chicken sandwich (instead of a burger) and had sweet potato fries instead of regular. Like I said, it wasn't that I went all ninja diet crazy and only had cabbage soup and water. One of the major things I did make sure is that I drank water like I was dying of thirst. The only other drink I had during the week was coffee...well, I also had two Mike's Hard Lite Cranberry Lemonades with my Jimmy John's sandwich... but other than that, I had water, water, and more water. I'm pretty pleased with the results and am now even more motivated to stay the course! 

This coming Friday Nate and I are going to Boston. I am SO excited. Boston...well, really all of the Northeast, has been on my bucket list for a long time and I have never been. The furthest "northeast" I've been is NYC. So, to have a long weekend in Boston is something I'm really looking forward to. I'm hoping to take lots of walks and explore new places and see tons of historical sites. I'm not sure what the weather will be like, but I'm determined to make sure I take what's needed regardless of the weather to go all over the place. (Now, just you wait, there will be some sort of nor'easter that comes through that completely shuts the city down or something.... that sounds like something that would happen to me!)

So here's to another healthy/moderate week...you do realize I'm not committing to a moderately healthy week, right???

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the 2012 Lenten Season.  Although lent was never something we practiced in the church I attended growing up, I have added it as an adult. Thinking of Christ's sacrifice for me is a reminder of how I should live every day, not just during lent. I may be a little more unorthodox than the average Lent observer, but I think I get the basics covered. This Lenten Season, I have committed to eating healthy and in moderation and exercising 4-5 times per week. As I've mentioned before, these two areas are the ones I'm struggling with right now, so it made sense to me that these were the areas where  needed to sacrifice and surrender. So surrendering to God's will and rule in these areas and making a commitment to following it for 6 weeks, takes the opportunity to talk myself out of it out of the equation. After the six weeks, I will have developed some good habits and will have gotten rid of some bad ones. REALLY looking forward to that!

Monday, February 20, 2012

All Quiet on the Blogging Front

When I'm quiet, assume something is wrong. That should be my motto. I haven't written in a while. And this is mainly because I'm struggling. Struggling to "find the time" (do you like that excuse?) to run. Struggling to eat right as all of a sudden pizza sounds good for all 3 meals 7 days a week. Struggling as I make a renewed commitment each day to eat right and by the end of the day it's changed to a "last hurrah...because tomorrow I will start over." Haven't I mentioned before that I'm tired of starting over? If I haven't, let me say it aloud. I'm tired of "starting over." I'm tired of realizing that after joining the online version of weight watchers 6 weeks ago I'm at my starting weight.....still.....  I'm tired of seeing the days and weeks tick down faster and faster and me doing the mental math of "Ok, I have _____ days until I officially start training for the marathon...I need to get crackalackin'!" and having the number in the blank get smaller and smaller and less and less likely of me achieving my goal (My goal was to have lost most of the weight and be on a healthy eating regimen before starting to do the long group runs so that I wouldn't put too much stress on my joints while running).
So here I am. After last night's "last hurrah" of pizza, after a weekend of eating out while visiting Nate's family, I'm back to "starting over" on this Monday, February 20, 2012.

Nate gave me this necklace for Valentine's Day.

 I plan to wear it daily and the verse, Hebrews 12:1, has become my "marathon verse." "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Please pray for me. This is a spiritual journey for me as well as a physical one. I need your help. I need your support. 

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Schedules Schmedules

It is a good thing I've committed to tracking what I'm eating this week because I have yet to set foot in the gym or hit the pavement for a run. I have had other things going on every day this week and haven't had the opportunity to go. So, I've been tracking everything because the threat of gaining that one tiny pound I've lost looms in front of me. Today I decided to weigh in at midweek just to see how I'm doing and I was glad to see that I was down .4.  With the evening classes and meetings this week, I've been tempted to "just grab something" on the way but I had planned for just such a temptation and made extras of every meal this past weekend so that we would basically be eating left overs during the week. Today it will be a long day: 12.5 hours at work. I know that work has planned to provide dinner, but I also know that it will be basically one large serving of starch and fat. So, I brought my own: a kale salad with walnuts and goat cheese along with a couple slices of Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grains Bread. One eye opener from this past weekend was the number of Weight Watcher points in a piece of a blizzard cake from DQ.  17 points...that's right...I'm allowed 26 in a day...and I had 17 points in one very brief sitting. So, with that knowledge, I'm even being more careful throughout this week. The next hurdle will be Valentine's Day and our trip to visit Nate's family next weekend. There will always be hurdles, and scheduling conflicts. What I need to do is jump over them, run through them, and keep moving.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Weigh In

I've lost weight before....a LOT of weight. At one time in my life, I weighted 240 pounds and in the course of a year, I lost 90 pounds. It was not easy. It took courage, motivation and persistence. That was awhile ago. Since that time, I have gotten married and have put on 30 of that 90. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I have started running - committing to run a race (minimum of 5K) each month of 2012. On October 7, 2012, I will run the Chicago marathon. In my mind - my faulty mind - I have believed that running will take care of the extra weight without me needing to cut calories. In fact, at some level, I've convinced myself that I need more calories because I'm running. So, for the past month, I have faithfully been running at least 3 times per week. And I have lost all of 1 pound. That's right.... I've lost only 1 pound. I know better. I know what it takes. I've done this before. I'm not sure how I've convinced myself that it's any different today than it was 9 years ago, but it seems like I've bought into the lie hook, line, and sinker. Today, February 5, 2012 I'm recommitting to do what I know it takes. I can't just work out and eat myself into oblivion. I can't just diet and not include exercise. I must do both. So, using the tried and true Weight Watcher method, I'm starting to track what I eat. Starting today. I was tempted to start tomorrow as today is the Super Bowl and we are going over to friends where I will most certainly be faced with some decadent delights. But I've decided that I'm tired of saying "I'll start tomorrow." What I eat today will have an effect on my weight when I weigh in next Sunday. It is ridiculous to think that I can just ignore today and pretend it didn't happen. Today counts.

On to the Hot Chocolate Hustle update - I ran the 5K in 33 minutes and 55 seconds. I was actually on point to running it under 33 minutes, but my shoe became untied and so I had to stop and tie it and I used that time to catch my breath as well, so I didn't tie it too fast.
This was taken after I had crossed the finish line and had my placement tag removed.
One of the neat things in running all of these races is the fact that I get a t-shirt at every one! I now have 5 t-shirts from different races I have run.

So, starting today, February 5, 2012...tracking all food AND running. Hopefully at next Sunday's weigh in, I'll have a different story to tell.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Hot Chocolate Hustle

This morning I am running the Hot Chocolate Hustle. I woke up with a sore throat that seems to stretch into my ear (if that makes sense....). I also have pain in my legs from my last run. I notice that running on pavement is much harder on all of my joints than the treadmill. Maybe that is a "duh" comment, but I don't know that I've noticed much of a difference between the two before, other than my inability to keep a consistent pace. Nate promises to be at the finish line, ready to take my picture. My dear husband has been so supportive. Here it is, 6:55 on a Saturday morning. He's been up for over a half hour preparing to go with me to my race. For a guy who likes to stay up late and sleep in on the weekends, this wouldn't be his first choice, but he does it willingly and without complaint. I am truly blessed.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

It's Official!

So, I did it! I registered for the Chicago Marathon. I honestly went about it with much fear and trepidation, but know that registering is the first step. Today I ran 5.85K around the neighborhood at an 11 min 43 sec pace. I never had to stop. Never experienced a stitch in my side. So, things are improving greatly. Saturday I run my next race, the Hot Chocolate Hustle and I am really hoping there is some hot chocolate at the end! It's been unseasonably warm, which has made fulfilling my New Year's Resolution much easier for both January and February. We'll see about March! 

If you are interested in seeing the personal webpage I set up at Team WorldVision's website, go to Jenna's personal page.