I Workout, Therefore I Eat.

OK. Once again it's been a while. I like the idea of having a blog, but I'm not good about coming up with things to post to my blog. I just end up talking about me which is OK since it is my blog. I've seen other blogs that are full of great wisdom and insight. But I'm not quite there yet.

So to give you an update, I am still slowly gaining and losing weight month after month. I can't figure out what the answer is to the age old question, "How do I lose weight?" Who knows. I can't tell you. I'm a person who is very committed to exercise. I workout 4-5 times a week. My workouts include 1 hour Boot Camp or Running or Cycling (mostly indoor lately) or Indoor Floor Hockey. In fact because of my dedication to working out I achieved a personal record in two of my last 3 races! Unfortunately, I missed a PR at the Cherry Blossom 10 by 1 minute. It was not my fault. The course was so crowded I got off to a very bad start. But I managed to improve both my 8K and Half Marathon times at the Shamrock Sportsfest in Va Beach last month. I have one more race this month, Pike's Peek 10K and a half Marathon next month.

I know that my body has become accustom to all this exercise. It's true what they say, "Running will not help you lose weight." The theory behind that is that runners tend to eat a lot. I eat a lot because I tend to think "I just ran 10 miles so I can eat these buffalo wings". In fact, I always put exercising before eating healthy. If I miss a workout I dwell on it wondering when/how I can make it up. If I overeat, I don't think twice about it. If someone asked me if "I would you rather skip desert or run 6 miles", I'd rather run 6 miles so I don't have to skip desert.

So, long story short I need to tackle my eating habits. I tend to do fine during the day. But it's when I get home that the problems start. I can't stop eating until I'm full. I joined that Weight Watches again. I feel like someone that's going back to church after they've lost their faith. I sit there listening hoping that someone will say something that will unlock the mystery of weight loss. So, far it's the same old blah, blah, blah that they've been saying for years. They ask what are my eating triggers. As far as I know I do the most mindless eating when I'm at home or bored. This is why I avoid going home until it's pretty late. If only they can give me the trick on how not to be bored then I'll stop munching all evening. I bought a crochet book and some yarn. I figured if my hands are busy I won't be able to eat. I haven't tried it yet, but we'll see.

Anyway, that's were I am right now. I'm training for two upcoming races and hopefully I'll be on my bike and out on the trail soon. The weather here has been dreadful and I'm still busy cleaning out my mom's house. Along with a bunch of other events that took place over the past few weekends, cycling has been at the bottom of the list.

Until next time...

Test MMS

I'm testing this new mobile blogging capability. Now maybe I'll be able to update more often.

My New Bike

So I've been trying and nothing seems to be working. All my efforts (No fast food, No eating after 10pm, Workout 4-5 times a week, Eat 2-3 servings of vegetables a day, etc.) are not working. No matter what I've done I've been gaining weight since the beginning of this year. I'm not perfect. I think I indulge too much and then make up for it by adding extra workouts. But I think it's not enough. I may have to go back to counting calories. But whenever I've done that in the past it just makes me obsess over food. Plus how many calories should I be eating. I was thinking going back to WW, but all they ever do is sit around talking about food. Plus I'm not interested in spending money on another weight loss program. I'm already in a Boot Camp, but I don't go as often as I should because it's COLD!!! I end up going to the gym and I usually don't work as hard all alone.

So, I'm not sure what's the next step. I'm going to keep working out, mainly because I like it. And as you can see I got a new bike for my birthday and I'm hoping to join a cycling club this spring. Don't tell my running club, because I may have to choose one or the other this summer. Maybe I'll even enter a duathlon this fall. But we'll see.

Anyway, just wanted to keep you up to date in case anyone was actually reading this blog. I'll try to post more often and not just when things are going well.

Week 4 Goals - 1/19/08

I did pretty well sticking to my Week 3 Goals.

Here's How I did from best to worst.
Best -1. No fast food.
2. No eating after 10pm.
3. No vending machine food.
4. Avoid eating out for dinner.
5. No Alcohol.
6. Limit Snacks.
7. Eat 2-3 servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
8. Stick to 3 hour eating plan.
9. Drink at least 32oz of water a day.
Worst -10. Track Calories in Daily Plate.

As usual, I did not see a change in the scale. But despite the frigid cold in the area, I managed to do 5 workouts last week and that made me feel pretty good.

Now for week 4, I will keep the same goals. And depending on how well I do during the week, I am going to designate Saturday as free day reward. I usually do my long runs on Saturday mornings. So I'm going to reward myself with eating/drinking whatever I want in moderation (excluding the foods listed in my 2009 Resolution).

So here it goes:
1. Stick to 3 hour eating plan.
2. Avoid eating out for dinner. Prepare dinner at home.
3. Eat 2-3 servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
4. No vending machine food.
5. No eating after 10pm.
6. Drink at least 32oz of water a day.
7. No fast food.
8. Limit Snacks. Make my own healthy snacks.
9. No Alcohol.
10. Keep a food journal.

I change #10. I need to work on a method for tracking what I eat. The Daily Plate is not going to work for me. It's too involved for now.

Wish me luck. I'll report back next week.

Week 3 - Goals

For one week I will strive to do the following:
1. Stick to 3 hour eating plan.
2. Avoid eating out for dinner.
3. 2-3 servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
4. No vending machine food.
5. No eating after 10pm.
6. Drink at least 32oz of water a day.
7. No fast food.
8. Limit Snacks.
9. No Alcohol.
10. Track Calories in Daily Plate.

Establishing Weekly Goals

So, I'm going to try and keep this blog up-to-date. I hope I don't get bored with it by February. I had a blog in 2005 that I updated on a weekly basis and it helped me keep track of my training and weight loss. This will truly be a training and weight loss blog. I will do my best not to segue into work and relationships and other random personal stuff.

This week has not been good for weight loos. In fact, I've gained two pounds. It's the same two pounds that I've gained and loss for several years. But I can't seem to keep it off. On the other hand it's been a great week for working out. I've managed to do 5 consecutive days of workouts. My workout week is as follows:

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - AM Run
Wednesday - AM Boot Camp
Thursday - PM Strength Training
Friday - AM Boot Camp
Saturday - 8 Mile Run

But with all that exercising I tend to eat a lot as well. My downfall is that I work late and I'm not a fan of coming home usually around 8:30pm to start cooking. So, I stop in whatever store I find and pick up dinner.

To make a long story short I'm seeing where I'm failing and I'm going to try and incorporate weekly goals. Each Sunday, I will sit down and evaluate the past week and set up goals for the upcoming week.

My 2009 Resolutions

So I’m flipping through my notebook and I found my 2007 New Year’s Resolutions.
They are as follows:
1. Get Certification
2. Join Weight Watchers, Lose 20lbs
3. No Candy or Soda except for Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Christmas and New Years Eve
4. Retake Swimming Lessons
5. Take up Cycling

I’ve only been able to manage #2 - No Candy/Soda.

I’m flipping through the same notebook and I can not find my 2008 New Year’s Resolutions. Probably because I never stuck to any of them except for the candy/soda thing. I think I had something about not buying any alcohol. No eating at restaurants that had a drive-thru window. Lose weight, Blah, Blah, Blah. I don’t know where I posted that stuff. It’s a moot point because I know I didn’t stick to any of it. So like everyone else, now I’m trying to come up with 2009 New Year’s Resolutions.
Here are the obvious ones.

1 - No Candy, Soda or Fruit snacks except on the following days: Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Christmas and New Years Eve.
I call these dates my Candy Binge Days. I added fruit snacks this year because I like eating fruit snacks and let’s face it - fruit snacks are candy. I want to add stuff like no cookies, donuts or cakes. But I’ve tried that just for Lent and I end up finding some substitute like Apple Jacks Cereal or Graham Crackers w/ Honey and Whip Cream. Plus I love the 100 calorie cookie packs. If only I can limit myself to one a day that would be great.

2 - Lose 20lbs.
It’s like a yearly tradition. One year I’ll actually figure out how to accomplish this. I’m content in the fact that I haven’t really gained a lot of weight, but losing it seems to be the real challenge.

3 - Take up cycling.
I think this is the right step towards doing a triathlon; buy a bike and get into cycling. I started bike shopping this year. I’m hoping to actually get a bike for my birthday (February) and start cycling by the spring.

Now for the new stuff that I think I can manage.
4 - Limit alcohol purchase to 2 bottles a month.
You should know that I am a big fan of wine. I like sampling different wines. But I’ve been known to finish off a bottle on my own within 2-3 days. So that’s like 4-5 bottles of wine a month and that can get kind of expensive. I’m in the process of stocking up before the first, but after that I’m limiting myself to 2 bottles a month.

5- Take a real vacation.
This year all of my trips were really short ones (usually the over the weekend) that had something to do with a running a marathon or visiting family. I really want to take another cruise or go away to some place nice for a week and not have to run a marathon or visit family.

Now for the hard ones…
6 - Eat 2-3 servings of fruits and veggies each day.
This is tough because I may not have 2-3 servings of fruits or veggies available for consumption. This is a new thing that will require more planning on my part. I’m not a fan of grocery shopping and fruits and vegetables don’t last long.

No Personal Growth
As you can see, ALL of my resolutions are related to either a diet, health or fitness goal. You look at other people’s blogs and they’ll have things like… "read the bible", "be a better mother, wife, sister, girlfriend, etc.", "spend more time with friends and family", "stick to a budget", "get promoted at work", "reduce carbon footprint", "learn French, the guitar and non-linear mathematics".

Resolutions like these are all about personal growth. I guess I have no ambition to grow personally, spiritually or environmentally until I’ve achieved my outstanding physical health goals. That alone is plenty to work on in one year. I’d love to add more resolutions, but if this year is any indication of what can happen in life, I don’t want to over commit my time to several accomplishments instead of focusing on a specific few.