More Pain = More gain?

This week I wanted to talk about exercise.  Everyone has heard that exercise is an important part of living a healthy and active lifestyle. The American Heart Association recommends getting 30 minutes of moderately intense activity daily. As the next season of Biggest Loser begins, we know that the torture Bob & Jillian put them through is a big chunk of how they lose the weight. I know that eating healthy, and keeping portions smaller are big parts of the picture, but so is exercise.

Lately I've seen a few posts on the Weight Watchers 20s board on getting started with exercise. Asking about running habits, C25K, zumba, biking, etc.  I think when you are first getting started, people get discouraged if they can't do a lot. The way I think of it is, if you are walking 20 min a day now, that's 20 min more exercise than you were getting before! Start slowly & talk with your doctor before starting if necessary. With my profession in life, being a physical therapist I know that certain physical impairments can make exercising difficult, but exercise is good for everyone. It is what I preach to my patients every single day. Start with what you can & increase from there. Get support from your doctor, a physical therapist or a personal trainer if needed.

I never really exercised until college. Well, I was a cheerleader in high school, but I was a HEAVY person. At college my best friend and I discovered the gym and dropped some weight. I never thought that I could be a runner. I HATED to run. When I was at Disney World January 2006, and saw everyone walking around with their post race medals, I just had to have one. I promised myself that I would get back home & learn to run. I also rejoined weight watchers after that trip.

I started running a little at a time. 1 minute run, a couple to rest, then increased it as I could. That spring I ran my first 5k, about 3 months after starting running & I finished in under 36 min. That lead to a few more 5ks, then I signed up to do the Hartford 1/2 marathon in 2007. Unfortunately due to family issues,  I ended up skipping out on it, but decided to run in the Kona 1/2 marathon in june of 2008 with Train to End Stroke. A cause I'm passionate about because of my family & my work, I raised over $5,000 & with the help of the program & my trainer at the gym finished my first half marathon. Since then I've complete 2 other half marathons and have been training for my first triathlon.

Now, with all that running and exercising you may wonder, "why is she still struggling with her weight?" For me, weight control is always a tough thing to deal with. My nutritional balance varies where sometimes I'm right on track, and then I'll go completely off program for a few months. Sometimes, I just don't have the motivation to work out. I LOVE exercise, and I feel great afterwards, but sometimes I get in a slump where I'd rather just sleep in. I'm in a slight slump this past week.

I skipped my workout this morning. My race is creeping up (2 weeks away!), and I should be more focused than ever, but I find myself dragging. My goals this week:

• Get in all my scheduled workouts
• Eat clean & healthy when possible (track it allllll)
• Get to sleep earlier at night
• Not let stress get the best of me

Tonight we are heading to Brewfest (fabulous microbrews), then hot tubbing at a friends house. Tomorrow I have an unexpected day off, so I'm planning an extra workout I think. Maybe all 3 sports even. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend filled with exercise and fun times!

Also check out Running Diva Mom's blog for a fuel belt give away!

And..... Keep on Keeping On for a giveaway on the most stylish way to display your race medals! If I don't win, I think I'll have to buy one!

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"You're scheming on a thing that's a mirage, I'm trying to tell you now it's Sabotage"

Today is thursday, which means, WI day. However, I did not WI. I swear it was an accident, I just totally forgot until after breakfast this morning, although maybe subconsciously I was avoiding it.  It seems like whenever I have a good week, it is shortly followed after that by a bad week, or a series of bad weeks.  I feel so proud of my success, determined to do it again and again. I see the light shining at the end of the tunnel & a voice cheering me on, "You can do it! You'll make it to goal, keep working at it!" Then somehow I disastrously screw it all up.

"Self-sabotage is when we say we want something then go about making sure it doesn't happen." ~Alyce Cornyn-Selby


I considered to myself why I let this happen....

1. I get lazy - I get tired of perfectly tracking points or getting up for early morning workouts. I seriously for some reason decide its not worth the effort, even though deep down I know it is.
2. I'm fearful of what comes next - While I want to become a thinner, healthier person, I think at some level I will begin to think now what? I'm no longer the girl struggling to be thinner, constantly worrying how chubby I am or how many points is that? I kind of stall up, nervous to make a giant leap to a thinner girl on a healthy mission.
3. I'm afraid of extra expectations- If I'm no longer a chubby girl then I won't have an excuse for running slow, eating dessert or having an extra glass of wine. I assume people will expect me to be a health nut all the time, and I just am not sure how I will fit that expectation. I hate letting people down. I usually would rather let myself down before letting someone else down.
4. 1 screwup = why even bother - Sometimes I get in the mentality that one extra bite, 1 small binge ruins my day, my week, my whole WW & healthy lifestyle plan. Once I get off track, I find it hard to move forward. I beat myself up instead of moving on.
5. low energy level - This is mainly due to the poor eating aka filling my body with crap. Not eating enough protein, eating too many starchy processed foods, and too much sugar. My energy crashes, and do you really expect me to be gung-ho on exercise and weight loss when I feel like a slug?
6. Stress/emotional eating - could be a whole other topic for another day. When I am stressing or upset, I use food to comfort me. Horrible habit, I've been working to overcome it for years. I'm getting better, but not there yet.

In the past I've definitely done things to stop the cycle, put a halt to this horrible self-sabotage I create. I've done...

1. Relax time after work - a non food related activity (usually listening to John Mayer with a glass of wine) for a certain amount of time before I can calmly make dinner without scarfing down the entire kitchen or pantry.
2. Pre-planning - "Those who fail to plan, plan to fail." or something like that I think it goes. When I schedule out my dinner meals for the week, grill my chicken for salads on sunday before the week starts, and think about my challenges the upcoming week holds, I feel more in control. When I have an attack plan I feel more motivated than when I do flying by the seat of my pants.
3. Eliminate temptations - Ice cream used to be a HUGE trigger for me. Now I don't keep it in the house. Stacy's Pita chips I have to keep far far away for fear of eating the whole bag. Recognizing the foods that make me jump ship into overindulgent land are outta here!
4. Keep myself busy - By cutting out alone & down time, I try to get rid of that bored "eating just to eat" habit. Painting my nails, reading a book or magazine, writing here, all keep me out of trouble in the kitchen.

Needless to say, I didn't follow any of my advice this week, so this week I will regain focus by doing the following...

1. Planning my meals
2. tracking daily
3. Considering my challenges (dinners out, etc)
4. working out consistently (and HARD!)
5. Getting enough sleep

Even as I post this, it is past my bedtime, but I really had the writing mood on to put this all down for you to read. Tomorrow I have a 50 min run planned for the morning, to follow after my great workout today. I did another bike-run brick. My run half was going pretty tough, I was at 5.5mph (hooray for getting faster!) doing random inclines and really feeling like I may keel over at any moment. Then, right before I was about to finish, I started to feel so good, I wished I had more time to run! I swear if I didn't have to go get ready for work, I would have ran another 10-20 min I think. Hopefully the run goes well tomorrow. I am going to try out a pair of new socks I bought from Road Runner Sports (which is my favorite place to buy running gear). They are Pearl Izumi Elite low socks, in pink of course! I'll post a review on them after I take them for a test run.

Tonight I was making dinner for Kevin & I. He got stuck in traffic when a car hit a state trooper on the highway, killed him & injured 3-5 others. We didn't know much of what was going on at the time, but found out later about it. I made a delicious dinner a coworker had told me to try. I made a cold sauce with chopped tomatoes, olive oil, fresh basil (from my garden), garlic, & brie cheese. I cooked organic whole wheat spaghettini, and sauteed some shrimp with olive oil & garlic, then combined. The cheese melted and make a yummy, lightly creamy sauce with the tomatoes. Dare you to try it ;)

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Take that, online tracker!

Today is Thursday, WI day. I am happy to report I am down 2 pounds to 186.5! I did as I pledged to do and tracked every bite, and even though I was not as diligent with my workouts as I would have liked, I was still able to come out on top after 2 parties & a weekend without much sleep. I reallllly want to post a copy of my tracker, but for some reason my Mac does not want to help me with that endeavor. If I figure it out, well I guess I'll post it then!

I've really learned this week about how important journaling is. Many times when we're busy, or embarrassed by the amount of points we must have consumed, or just too darn lazy, or some other lame excuse we ease up on tracking. We just say "Oh I didn't have that much," and go about our daily business.   The bad news is, that every little time adds up, and sooner or later we're a few weeks out wondering why we haven't lost any weight since we've been so good, or worked out so hard! In reality we've probably been slacking nutrition wise, but don't have the evidence written down to support it. This week I learned a few things:

• The after dinner points add up quick! (and you usually don't have many left from the day) Typically I would come home from work and after dinner maybe have a glass of wine and a snack like popcorn, gorgonzola or popchips. I learned to go easy on the after dinner snacks.
• The activity points help a ton. Not only do I feel so much better when I work out (and of course get ready for my big race), but I'm burning off maybe some of those extra points I had at some point throughout the day.
• Count the little points during the day. I always have a handful of chocolate goldfish at some point throughout the day that my coworkers and I share. my serving is about 1.5 points or 4.5 a week at least (more on a stressful day).
• Tracking helps you prioritize your splurges. I went to party on saturday & knew I didn't want to spend TONS of points on Sangria. I brought a cooler bag with my MDG64 inside (1 point a bottle), and was able to enjoy 7 throughout the course of the party and enjoy a little dessert instead.

Now, I won't say I'm a tracking pro, or it's made me into a perfect weight watcher. I am definitely more self aware. Like self aware that I overindulged a little today on over a cup of low fat cookie dough frozen yogurt and red wine. Those kinds of days happen, but I am learning to track and move on. What have you guys learned from tracking? Do you feel more in control and have better losses? I hope that I can keep it up again this week!

My favorite running shoe ever!

I did a 55 min bike-run brick this morning & managed to do my run at 5.5mph (I have been at 5.0 since surgery). I did have to take a couple walking rest breaks, but it felt good to get back to my old speed! Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day, but I'm going to hit the gym for a 20 min swim in the morning since I won't be able to fit it in saturday after work. It is supposed to be a beautiful weekend so my goal is to do my outdoor run on saturday and a ride with my new bike shoes on sunday. I may have to change my bike route though to exclude the long downward hill with a stop sign directly at the bottom so I can avoid falling off when I most likely fail to get my shoes out of the clipless pedals. Tomorrow is bike fit day! I'm excited to get the pedals put on & get my bike adjusted so my back stops killing me when I ride. I also got a beautiful new pair of Asic GT-2150s. My favorite shoe ever if you recall. I ordered another pair after hating the Brooks shoes that I tried. I also happened to be slightly drunk when I placed my order, so they came with 2 new sports bras I've been wanting, but my willpower had been preventing until then. My credit card isn't too happy (especially with the new cycling purchases), but no big deal, I guess thats why I'm working this weekend!

So off I go to work towards another successful week of tracking, training, and having fun!

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3rd times a charm!

My new cycling shoes finally! Mens 42 lol

Good news! I got my camera in the mail today, and my cycling shoes yesterday. Was all set to bring my new shoes to spin class tuesday night, but the guy at the bike shop said that the spin bikes would wear down my shoes & I could slip on the road and hurt myself. Yikes, I'm glad I told him about my intentions! I scheduled a bike fitting on friday afternoon and I'll buy by pedals and whatnot then, maybe some gloves too since my hands tend to ache when I ride. Still haven't figured out anything on the wetsuit situation, but some helpful girls (thanks Lindsey & Jamie!) told me I should look into renting. I've googled with no luck, I'll have to ask around or see if I can borrow from someone I know. They posted a little information today on the course & packet pick up expo on the website today. They're having a couple different little seminars I think I'll make sure to attend since I want to learn everything I can!

Oh that tuesday evening spinning class? I didn't make it there, my foot has been getting really tired lately and I don't want to overdo it & have the surgeon yell at me when I go to see him in October. I did get in my scheduled run in the morning, and went tonight to do some strength training. I did miss my scheduled swim, and I haven't been lately, but I feel like swimming is my strongest event at the moment.

Tomorrow is WI and I'm thinking it will be a success, cross your fingers with me! One things I do miss a lot about meetings is the weekly topic and sharing between members. I always loved how the leader would come up with something for us to think about, discuss, learn about that made us grow on our weight loss journey. Doing the plan with online e-tools only I do miss a lot of the support I had at meetings. I'm glad to have the lovely ladies on the WW boards, my blog followers, and other blogs to follow to help keep me motivated and on track. I think what I would like to start doing is on thursdays (my WI day), talk about a WW related topic and hope to get some response from all you readers, almost like a mini meeting. Good idea? bad? Whatever you think, I appreciate that you all are joining me in my journey and would love for you to share my blog with people you know to help me stay accountable and on track. Thanks!!

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