The holidays are KILLING ME!

I think that from now until January 1, I'm just going to focus on maintaining and not losing... I'm still eating very healthy and in reasonable portions, mostly, but the daily assault of cheeses, chocolates and pastries is becoming extremely difficult to resist.  Even my beloved, crunchy veggies, which have appeared at just about every party I've been to, have had themselves violated by creamy dips.

I still don't think I'm doing too badly, overall.  And once the holidays are over and I get to reclaim some of my time, my keester's going to be back at the gym, battling the fresh crop of New Year's Resolvers for the cardio equipment.  I wish them the best, of course - but I hope they adhere to the time limits on the treadmills.  :)

Right on track!




And you know... I actually weighed less yesterday... weighed 159. However, I refuse to cheat, and I am going to post the numbers as I see them on the scale... because even if I am weighing a little more because of water (which I suspect I am because I ate a lot of salty stuff yesterday), how my body deals with salt and water and stuff like that is something I need to keep tabs on, too.

Feeling pretty good today. :)

Couch to 5k - week 1, complete!

Been adhering, mostly, to my planned eating...

And I weigh in tomorrow. I have high hopes. WOOT!

OK, went to the gym last night and had a pain-free run (although I admit it was difficult because I was feeling very fatigued for most of the day yesterday).

I'm not going to overreact just yet - but I am going to consult with the doctors, anyway. And I'm certainly not going to just stop exercising. I'll have plenty of time to lay down and be still when I am dead.

And, really, apart from being tired again (this time due to a late bedtime and being at the office by 7:30), I feel like a million bucks. It's really amazing what a difference just losing a few pounds makes... even just five pounds makes me feel noticably better. That, in and of itself, is great motivation. Honestly... feeling great is the best part about a healthy lifestyle. Losing weight and getting into smaller clothes and all that stuff is great, but feeling really and truly at the peak of health is the best. I feel like I'm "on my game."

So my week is a little crazy. I'm figuring on getting to the gym on Saturday morning, but I need to find one day between now and then to get there, and today's not going to be the one - and neither is Friday because I need at least one rest day between runs. It's going to have to either be Wednesday or Thursday, and it's going to have to be in the morning because I have a meeting with Nancy after work on Wednesday and a political fundraiser AND choir practice on Thursday. Why is this time of year so nuts??

I am going to commit to Thursday morning. There.

xposted to shakingthetree :

Okay... so if you've been following along, you know that I keep getting pain when I run. I'll go so long for so many weeks, then I'll get pain in my right tibia.

I got to wondering... could my bizarre but my otherwise heretofore nonproblematic birthmark be part of the problem?

In my research, I read about Casey Martin. He's a golfer; he has the port wine stain birthmark on his right leg, just like me. He has the associated Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome... which I am suspected of having.

Read the article in the link. Go ahead.

I'm making an appointment with a specialist based on the recommendation that I get screened for Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome, which will help me understand more... but this kind of frightens me a bit.

Could my constant problems be because I have the problems Mr. Martin has - to a lesser degree, certainly, but still..?

Am I putting myself at bigger risk than I thought by trying to run?

Will my circulation in my leg deteriorate? Do I face... possible amputation?

I need to get to a doctor and get some answers.

Today's weigh-in...

161.5.

Not great... but not bad! I actually thought it was going to be much, much worse than that... as two weeks ago, I jumped on the scale and weighed 165. Holy crap, Batman.

As I see it, this is really pretty good, considering that I looked/felt my best when I weighed 140 - 145ish. That's when my infamous before/after picture was taken; that's when I felt like I'd really "landed." When I began to dip into the 130s, people actually told me I looked too skinny... so maybe 140 will be my ultimate goal. It'd be foolish of me to set a ridiculous goal of 115 pounds and try to be a skinny model... because skinny models do not have bodacious boobies and curves that could stop traffic. When I am at my ideal weight, I have both. (Yes, I'm tooting my own horn. Go ahead and get angry, but then you should get over it, because it's true.)

I also feel good about today's weigh-in because it means that since I officially hit my goal in 2007, I have only gained sixteen pounds since then. In the past, I would have gained MUCH more than that - which means that some of the skills I learned in The Beck Diet Solution have stuck for good. I do think I will revisit the book, though, and do some refreshing. Couldn't hurt. I even thought about starting the whole program over again, with whole new response cards and everything. I might do it.

So I'm going to re-set a goal of 145 and see what happens... if I lose a pound a week - a conservative yet very reasonable expectation - I could reach my goal by the end of March... just in time for lovely springy weather, cute spring clothing, and with a buffer of time to lose a tiny bit more if I want to be super-svelte for swimsuit season.




I've got my food all planned out today, and I'm well within my 1300 calorie allotment. Normally, dinner on Friday is my "freebie" - meaning I get to splurge on this one meal a week while keeping it under control all the other days - but since I have a show tonight, I'm going to stay at 1300 today and use tomorrow at breakfast for my splurge meal... and even then try to keep it reasonable.

I feel great, motivation is high, and although I know it's going to be hard (losing weight in the winter is super-difficult for me!!!), I have so many good resources at my fingertips to help me. Onward!!!

Okay, I need to do some shopping and get my calorie-counting in order.

Here's why...

Yesterday, after somewhat of a hiatus, I went back to the gym. It went well. I burned a total of 250 calories (per Calorieking.com's calculations). I completed Week 1, Day 1 of C25k. Good stuff.

My trouble is my calories. To lose weight in a healthy and reasonable way, through a combination of exercise and eating, I need to allow my body to have 1300 calories a day. For example, if I burn 300 calories in a workout on any given day, I need to consume 1600 in order to ensure that my body has 1300 (give or take). During the day yesterday, I had consumed nearly 700 calories during the day, leaving me a good 600 or so for dinner. When I got home last night, I nibbled on some Thanksgiving leftovers (cranberry sauce and some roast turkey), but was afraid to eat too much more than that so I didn't - brought my calorie total to 950. That's low... but not horrific... but I was afraid to eat too much else in my house for fear I'd push myself over the edge. I told myself to stop eating, and I went to bed.

The trouble is the burned calories, which I did not take into account... and since I burned 250 calories yesterday, that brings my total back down to 700 calories - which is not enough for a person to subsist on. It's starvation-level stuff. It's scary. And I did it without realizing it, because I wasn't prepared with food in the house that I could feel good about eating and got spooked.

So a goal for this week is to purchase some snacky things for myself that I can munch post-workout (probably something good-carby for post-running recovery) which will keep me from doing what I did last night... which was to go without.

Bah, hate myself for doing this. I should know better!!!!

Yeah, yeah, I know. I haven't been here in quite a while... but a lot has happened!

x-posted to shakingthetree :

Similarly inspired as lec210 was by last night's episode of The Biggest Loser, I'm going to start running again.

Actually, scratch that - I'm going to take better physical care of myself, and running's going to be a part of that. Seeing the folks on that show last night reminded me that I owe it to myself to make my health and well-being a priority... and it reminded me that I was once brave and determined enough to lose 60 lbs. (and I kept most of it off! go me!) I think, however, that during the course of this year, I've ignored that part of me because I was concentrating on so many other things - the denouement of my marriage, getting my house, nurturing a new relationship, getting better at my job, etc. Also, it doesn't help that my gym closed its downtown location, which was oh-so-convenient to me because it was literally less than a block from my office.

So - on Monday, I started reducing my calories once again (to a healthy 1300 per day - no more of that starvation bullshit - with my free-license Friday dinner), I've dusted off my old CalorieKing.com membership and started using the food diary in earnest, and today I go back to the gym despite its inconvenient location. When my membership expires, I feel certain I'll probably get a membership at the YMCA, which is only just down the road from my house and which will also enable me to work out at the downtown Y, as well. But as long as my current membership exists, I really ought to use it. My other thought on my membership expiration is possibly redirecting that money towards tap lessons... but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I have a year to think about it. And I may want to start tap sooner than that, because I just love it and I want to be better at it, and it's really excellent exercise that doesn't feel like a chore.

I'm very eager to go back to the gym. I've missed regular physical activity, which I got plenty of during The Producers but have been sadly lacking since it closed. So I'm going to get back on the Couch to 5k wagon and get my rear in gear. This is good, too, during the holiday season... gives me a way to wage war against the fattening goodies, and gives me a jump start towards looking hot next spring.... and it'll keep me from being bored. Andrew's working at Harry & David during the holiday season for a little extra holiday cash, and so I don't see him many evenings... so I might as well do something good for myself instead of sitting around, right? Yes!

OK - work is piling up, so I must get to it. Perhaps a report later, post-gym. Perhaps not.

Whew, haven't posted here in a while.

But it just occurred to me - I bought the Wii Fit and the EA Active Sports game to go with it... and there's a 30-day challenge thing that I saw online in connection with EA Sports.

So I think I'm going to do it!  And I'm going to chronicle the process here.

I start July 1!

Wish me luck!

Just checking in briefly to say that I went to the gym this morning and did Couch to 5k, Week One, Day Two.  Did pretty well.

Also did core exercises...

And - I've lost another pound.

Pounds lost thus far: 

4