The cycle

Im not doing so well on either the exercise or diet department. I "know" what I should do but somehow what I do "do" isnt the right thing.

So I feel like crap because Im not eating right, exercising and sleeping enough -- then I eat some more to combat that feel like crap feeling. See -- the cycle is endless. Im hoping to get off this ride very soon. The ups and downs of the weight battle are very discouraging.

Ive very tired of regaining the same 2 or 3 lbs every week. I know its typical for weight to flucuate within 5 lbs -- its just that 5 lb radius is not where i want it to be. Its on the high end and I just dont feel very good, when I am there. I am trying to remember this is a marathon not a sprint but I want to be there already. i want to be done trying to figure this out. And I want to eat whatever I want and not gain weight --- ha! There I said it, thats really the crux of the problem. I want to eat and eat and eat and not have to do the work to keep the weight off.

So what do I do ? I dont find cutting things out completely to be helpful but I do know what types of snacks and foods are. So Im going to start by going to the grocery store and remedying that.

2nd -- Im in the process of reevaluating my exercise time. I find more often than not, if I wait til after supper, the pull of sitting and relaxing is stronger. I dont very often manage to get out and exercise at that time of the night. It was working well for me at least to go after school. The problem is it doesnt work so well for the rest of my family -- sigh. Im trying to gather up the motivation to get up early and do it then. It really is a great start to the day, I find myself more productive that way. And I cant then say, oh im going to eat this cause im exercising later and then not exercise. The calorie burn is already done. See above issues though with not enough sleep. Its just really hard to convince myself that 5 am is a good wake up time. Let alone that -- convincing myself to go out and run or bike is even harder. As summer approaches, i wont want to work out in the heat of the day anyway, its probably a good move at this point.

3rd -- Im going to search for some sort of running plan. I do better if I have a plan Im following. Whether its a goal to improve my speed, distance or whatever, I need a prescribed plan to keep me motivated. Making my own goals and plans hasnt worked well this year. I really need to step up the running.

4th -- Im going to acknowledge that Im more than a number on the scale. Its so easy to get caught up in what it says that I forget to remember God made me beautiful just as I am. Im remembering to be proud for what i have accomplished. I went from hating running and exercising to doing so on a regular basis. Thats huge folks! I lost over 30 lbs and that my friends is no small feat.

So what if the last 10 lbs are plagueing me -- I am beautiful! Im really hoping I can find the balance again for eating and exercsing. :) Megamom

Logging the miles

I havent been able to get out and run much these last two weeks. It was a combination of factors including a wet basement, weather, extra babysitting and the list goes on. So I purposed to start slowly easing back into a running routine. I long for the long runs that I used to be able to do. I know better than than to jump right back into that leval.

Meanwhile Ive been logging miles on my bike. Ive been able to increase my distance on the bike and keep a pretty good pace. Today I logged 11.25 miles at a 4:35 average pace. That averages out to 13.1 miles per hour -- woot~!

This time of year in Minnesota -- we are soo longing for spring. Sometimes we are lucky enough to have the snow gone by now and warm temps on the way. This year not so much. Last weeks deluge of snow really made winter feel long. So whenever the temp appears anywhere near 40 and the sun is out -- I feel obligated to take advantage of it. Biking in 40 degree weather isnt as easy as it sounds -- I learned what layers I need and what i can do wihtout. I went once this season without a scarf and I wont make that mistake again. I dont always need it for face coverage but i wrap it multiple times around my neck and it keeps that from getting windburned. I still need a fleece headband. I have a thin fleece hat that fits under my helmet but its not quite long enough to protect the ears. So i need a headband to help that.

None of my friends are big bikers but I like to compete against myself lol. I always want to go longer, faster and harder. Some of the hills were tough today. I reminded myself that the reward of getting up a hill is going down the other side!!

Last summer, Mr. F taught me how to actually use the gears on my bike (Thanks honey). Prior to that, I would shift a little but have no idea what i was doing. I really really enjoy biking now that I have an idea of what im doing. My butt is still adjusting to biking longer distances :) And today after an 8 mile ride on sunday and an 11 mile ride today -- my quads are feeling it!

One of my goals for this summer is to bike to a town 17 miles away on the luce line trail and enjoy a nice meal and bike back home. Last summer, I did that with a different town that was 11 miles away. That was one hard ride ... I wasnt accustomed to biking that far yet and I could feel it!

Thats all for now folks
Mrs. F

Weigh in

Mrs. F

Last Friday: 155.2 lbs.
Today: 156.5 lbs.
Gain/Loss: + 1.3 lbs.
Goal: 140.0 lbs.
Cumulative: 26.3 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 16.5

Comment: Its been a very stressful week with sick kids and water in the basement. I didnt get any workouts in this week and the weigh in reflects that. I did okay on the eating front mostly, so I also think my body is holding onto some weight too. Mrs. F

Mrs. F

Last Friday: 156.7 lbs.
Today: 155.2 lbs.
Gain/Loss: - 1.5 lbs.
Goal: 140.0 lbs.
Cumulative: 27.6 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 15.2

Comment: Im very pleased with my weight this week. Now, If I can just work on the overeating on the weekends -- I will be in good shape. I got in two runs this week and two bike rides, including a 12.35 one!

Mrs. F

P.S. Mr. F is looking to possibly order some vibram five fingers to try out. I hope he does!

Working out

Im still working out how to handle things such as potlucks and eating out. This week my son has a wrestling banquet that is the typical Minnesota potluck style. Let me tell you -- its dreadfully hard to eat sensibly at a potluck. My weigh in day is the morning after the potluck. Fun timing!

Can you imagine if everyone made nutrition facts for every entree? Would any of us eat it knowing how much fat and calories are in some of those hot dishes??? So Im trying to think ahead about how I want to handle this. The first part of my plan is to get a workout in tommorrow -- that way I have some extra burn calories. Im going to try and eyeball half cup servings. Then I am going to take a measureing cup with me. I wont measure in line -- that would kinda silly and time consuming. But ill measure back at my table and give the extra to my teenage son. Hes always up for more food!!! Plus, Im supposed to bring a salad. So I think I will be a fresh salad with spinach and fresh veggies. That way, I know there is something that will be less calories and healthy!

On another front -- I managed to get in two workouts today. Go me! I took a run after school in beautiful Minnesota weather. It was 45 degrees and sunny, lovely day to run. I did 3 miles in 33:12, 11:04 pace. I managed to do a negative split as well! Woot! Then after supper, I was realizing there was too much time til bedtime and I wanted to eat. So instead of eating, I went for a bike ride instead. I went 5.75 miles in 28:54, a 5:04 pace. Too bad, it wasnt potluck today, a 600 calorie burn tommorrow would be awesome. Im not sure that I will have time to run and bike tommorrow plus my legs probably need a rest :)

Keep on running,
Mrs.F

Weigh in

Mrs. F

Last Friday: 157.9 lbs.
Today: 156.7 lbs.
Gain/Loss: - 1.2 lbs.
Goal: 140.0 lbs.
Cumulative: 26.1 lbs.
Pounds to lose: 16.7

Comment: Since I overate on the weekend,I was up to 159 on Monday, so Im pretty pleased with the overall 2.3 down. Especially since its that fun time of the month!!! Im still not settled on the 140 goal weight, i might stop at 145, I*m not sure yet.

The year I gained the most weight was when my special needs son was born. Can anyone say stress???? I made it thru the days of hospital visits, doctors galore, and many fears that he might not even make it. I would tell myself -- I deserved it, after all look at what im going thru.

It would start with one candy bar, and then another and another. Pretty soon, Id buy two at one shot. Or two bags of mini candy bars and eat them all. Im simply couldnt think about weight, too many other thigns crowding my brain.

It wasnt until after Gideon was more stable and I had my last baby -- that I began thinking bout me. I thought along the way I learned how to eat. Times like this, where Ive gained back 10 lbs, show me that I have a ways to go in that journey.

Gideon was sick this past week, 103 temps and coughing and all kinds of ick. It doesnt take much to take me back into the realm of the first year. My triggered response is to eat -- I cannot tell you how many girl scout cookies I consumed. I need to rewrite that schema in my brain that tells me to eat.

Is the hormones or body chemicals secreted during stress that cause us to reach for the food? How do we combat that?

Another trigger for me is lack of sleep. My willpower goes out the window when im tired. Again is the bodys natural response to try and stay awake by eating? Im not really sure. When all is well , I can do the right things, when things are stressful it becomes much more difficult to make those choices.

Keep on running
Mrs. F

My new bike

022 a photo by MJae1974 on Flickr.

I bundled up yesterday and got in a ride of 5.25 miles at 5:35 pace. I loved being able to get out and fly on my new bike. This is what it takes to bike in the winter in minnesota!!!

Yesterdays run

I really didnt want to run yesterday but a friend encourage me to do so. She was right as usual, I felt less tired after running than I did before.

I knew my two eldest were busy after school, so I elected to do two miles on the treadmill at home. I started out fairly slow and kept upping the speed every couple of minutes. As I needed 9/10ths of a mile, I upped the speed to 7.0 and ran the last tenth. That was hard! I wanted to challenge myself to see if i could do it. Next time I might even be brave enough to try 8.0!`

I did the same for the 2nd mile, although I ran that one faster. After running at the higher speed, the lower speeds felt dreadfully slow. It felt good to push myself!

Today, Im going to go try out my new bike. The thermometer outside just hit 40, so Im going for it. I plan on layering up and borrowing Mr. F's snowmobile gloves and googles. That should help with the wind.

Eating is going much better this week. I stayed within my calories yesterday and only ate a little into my run burn. For the most part, I want to not eat up those exercise calories.

Keep on running folks,
Mrs. F

New

This week seems to be the week of new equipment. Ive had my running shoes for a little under a year. They have 350 miles of running on them plus some biking and the normal wear and tear. I decided it was time to replace them.

I did some research, did the water foot test, from asics, and found out i am neutral -to over pronator. REally pretty solidly stuck in the middle. So armed with the knowledge of some names that suited that style, I headed to Kohls.

I tried on several pairs,ran up and down the aisles, tried on pairs again and again. I finally settled on Gel phoenix 3's in navy blue, silver and white. I havent really gotten to wear them much yet. Walking in them seems very comfortable. The jury is still out on the running. I took one run in them(the one I spent chasing my speed running cross country son) and they felt sorta heavy. Im unsure if IM just not used to the style or if this isnt a good model for me. A little more concerning was some knee pain afterwords. Still unsure about that as it could be related to several factors including my lupus, osteoarthritis or the shoes. I was having some minor pain with it before the new shoes. So im just waiting that out. It seems to go away after a day or two.

I also got a new bike this week! I am beyond excited about this purchase. I ended up with a trek 7100 and I love it! Its a teal colored bike and I bought shiny silver fenders. The weather hasnt been favorable to riding it yet but I cannot wait. The little I rode up and down the sidewalk in front of the bike store has me longing for spring! The bike is yet unnamed, so I have been pondering names for it!

A friend and I have also started a weight loss blog together. We are both trying to lose weight, exercise and maintain healthy habits. Its certainely harder than it looks. Check it out -- its www.mandkweightloss.blogspot.com I plan to continue writing here and there as well.

Not so good of a weekend on the eating front but some success on limiting my coffee consumption. Onword and upward!

Keep on running folks
Mrs. F

The Weight Train

I reached my first goal of 150 lbs on August 27th, 2010. It took me a year to lose 32.8 lbs. I was estactic and very proud of myself. I had a 2nd goal of losing an additional 10 lbs but that proved to be very elusive. I found myself being okay with staying where I was at.

That slowly led to being okay with 2 more lbs and pretty soon, I discovered I had gained back almost 10 lbs. It didnt happen overnight, it went up and down and all around. Mostly though after Christmas, it stayed up and up and up.

I think I can describe it in one word:complacent. I wasnt as motivated as I was last winter to run. Last winter, I had weight to lose to hit that goal. This winter, I was already there. It was much easier to say, "oh its too cold", "oh im too tired", "im too busy". It just wasnt a priority. I wasnt completely inactive. I did rhythm boxing on the wii fit, some running on the treadmill,and some biggest loser workouts. The main thing though was I ate and ate and ate. I quickly fell into my old habits of I want this and I dont care mode. Id portion a snack(carrots and dip, popcorn or some almonds) and then proceed to eat 3 different snacks in one night. Is it any wonder the scale is going up?

Dont even get me started on girl scout cookies. I have found my willpower in that department is zilch.

That brings me to today -- Im starting over today. Its not going to be pretty, its not going to be easy and its most certainely going to be painful.

As for what I am doing -- Im trying to think through what IM eating, so that I can keep myself full longer. For example, when I was losing weight before, i had been eating 2 slices of bacon with my oatmeal. I cut that out along the way, as the price of bacon went up. So im going back to eating that protein again. Im attempting to my dessert coffee consumption from 4 cups to 2 or 3. Water, water and more water! The last thing I want to try to do better is planning out meals and snacks. Thinking ahead at the grocery store and buying foods that will help me reach my goals and not sabatage them.

I need to get back to running asap -- no more pussyfooting around -- I need to run a mininum of 3 days a week, no excuses. I ran in subzero last year, I can do it again. Besides spring is coming! One of my goals for this year is to run a half marathon. So I need to get my base mileage up enough, so that i can begin a training program for that. Im also hoping to replace my bike in the next month, so Im really looking forward to that bit of crosstraining. I miss biking!

It was challenging lately to get myself to write here. This was always something Mr. F and I did together. I miss his posts! Hes not currently running -- I hope someday he will get back to it.

Thats all for now folks, keep on running
Mrs. F