Picking up the Pace

It was back to the grind today. Oh yes, back to school. Goodbye staying up until 1. Goodbye sleeping in until 10. Goodbye laying out by the pool. Goodbye... until next June. :)

~

So. I got lazy this summer. Yeah. I never do well on a strict diet but today I went back to eating only whole foods again. That I can do. It's easy to know and understand what to eat and why. I'll let you know how it's going every once and a while. Happy eating!

I want one! :(

So last night on Facebook I posted that I was going to try out Zumba for the first time. I also asked if there was any sort of dress code (like that you wear stretchy pants to yoga and not running shorts) that I should be aware of. I was told no and wore my usual running gear. Everything was good when I got there (in plenty of time of course) and I was all into it until the instructor told us that the next song was a 'booty shakin' song'. Ok, I can shake my non-existent butt. But then I notice everyone going to their bags and getting those coin belt things that belly dancers wear. Something similar to that. I was totally jealous! I wanted to jingle around while doing all the dance moves! The instructor had some up front if you wanted to buy one after the class but I decided to wait until I stick with the class. It was lots of fun and I can't wait to go back soon!

A Fresh Start

Good news or Bad news? Hmmm.

Good news: Krissy and I are starting another half-marathon training tomorrow! No half at the end, but we're trying a new training plan to see if we like it.

Bad news: I've gained all the lbs. back that I'd lost since last summer. Whoa. I think I'd been so strict during my half-training that I went overboard afterward. And although I'm by no means fat or over weight (so stop rolling your eyes at me) , I feel uncomfortable with myself and how I'm fitting into my clothes. A shirt i used to love suddenly didn't look so good. That's what I hate. It's less about the number on the scale and more about the fact that I want to wear sweatshirts all the time to cover up the fact that my pants are tight. Lame. Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes.

Making the Cut... Sort of

So in my lunchtime boredom (I was at a curriculum writing session and had an hour for lunch in Alvin) I went to Walmart. I found a book by Jillian Michaels, Making the Cut. It's a 30 day program that should have me 'cut' in no time. It's very hardcore and although I may want to go full force with it sometime, now is not it. The timing isn't right and I think it would freak out my mom to say the least. She's worried about me not eating enough and exercising too much as it is. (She's not at my apartment watching me scarf down everything not nailed down.) I'm going to start a modified version this week. I'm planning on cooking from the book but not as often as it advises. I just don't have the time to cook for both lunch and dinner EVERY day. No thanks. The same thing goes for the workouts. I want to keep up with my running which isn't possible on this plan. I'll have to mesh the two together. I think the strength training will be good for me though. I won't start the workouts until I'm over this cold/sinus mess that I've got going on right now. I was so mad that it kept me from running in the awesome weather yesterday. But, not being able to breathe and coughing up goop is not conducive for a run.

Oh, yeah - I'm starting my Lent early. No sweets or soda. I'm giving myself two exceptions: if Nathan and I go somewhere fancy for Valentine's and get dessert AND my brother's birthday. Bring on the sugar and caffine withdrawls.

"Me" Time

I need a little "me" time. Yes, yes, laugh it up. The girl who lives alone and who's boyfriend has been offshore for two months needs some "me" time. Let me clarify my situation for you and you might understand me. . . if you are a runner. It's been two weeks since the half marathon. When I was training for it I ran with Krissy on three of my days (full of gossip and venting- which I needed) and did my long run all by myself. I also enjoyed running alone and being alone with my thoughts. I took a week off basically and have since spent all of my runs with my running buddies or on the treadmill at the gym surrounded more people. All I want right now is a run with sunny weather ALL BY MYSELF. I enjoy running for it's selfishness. I don't need/rely on a team. It's all about me, and even though I love my running buddies and enjoy having a gym to go to when the weather is crappy, I need a good run - all alone. :)

~

Oh, yeah - I went to the gym to meet a trainer today for a free "yay you are a part of our gym now pay us even more money to train you" session. Anyway, I found out my body fat %. Always interesting, right. I've been working hard at eating well (especially before the half) and obviously running. I'm down to 19%. I was 25% last summer. Sweet. Now, if I can add in strength training to my workouts, I should be all set by swim suit season. :)

~

I am thinking about giving up sweets again for Lent even though I'm not Catholic. I think is good for me to give something up that I LOVE so much. If I could do it last year I can do it again. Thoughts?

I caved!

I have two reason why I caved today and totally lost my mind. 1- my mom is an enabler 2- cookie cake. I'v doen very well with not eating much sugar lately. I haven't gone totally sweet-free like I've done in the past because people look at me like a freak when I tell them I'm not eating any sweets. "Why? You're already skinny!" Healthy is not on their radar. It still makes me feel awkward though. Anyway, I'd BARELY eat any sweets since school started five weeks ago and I've lost about 3.5 pounds. WHOOP! I'm weighing in around 129.5 in the mornings now. Yay for me! I went off the deep end today though. My caring mother thought she should share some of the candy she buys for the teachers at her school with me. I ended up with a gallon-sized bag full of mini chocolates. Bad idea. I ignored them until today. I figured, "One can't hurt." HA! That's how people end up weighing 400 pounds! (I'm also watching the Biggest Loser right now- LOVE that show!) I ate somewhere in the range of 8 chocolates today. That was before I went to a baby shower and ate cookie cake. I couldn't resist. It was well worth it. . . until I went on my run and almost yaked from all of the sugar. Tomorrow I'm back to my very low sugar norm. One day isn't going to kill me or make me fat, but it does remind me not to go overboard and that eating healthy makes me feel great. It's time to go cook my lunch and dinner for tomorrow since I didn't make it home in time to cook it tonight. It'll be Stir-fried tofu and shrimp (Runners World- Oct. 2009) for lunch and dinner tomorrow. There's no way I'll have time to cook before/after Kickboxing tomorrow. I hope I can walk on Thursday!

Making it known

Sugar addiction is a term for the situation where individuals crave sugar-laden sweet foods and find it extremely difficult if not impossible to control their intake.

I will not be eating sweets until October. Yes, I said it. Although I do not enjoy putting my self through torture, I have to do this.

I'm an addict. Admitting it is the first step, right? I either go without and avoid it as much as I can or I am completely out of control. This is the case since my vacation to NYC in June. I'd given up sweets for Lent and been successful. I kept my cravings under control and lost a couple of pounds in the process. I may as well be honest even if it produces grunts, groans, and dirty comments. Before I gave up sweets I weighed 130. (Yes, I know I'm not fat!) Without doing anything else out of the ordinary I was down to 128 after Lent. This meant a calorie deficit from sweets of 7,000 calories. Gross! I told you I ate a lot of sweets. Anyway, I stayed at 128 until NYC. I let loose. It's vacation, right. Well, my sweet tooth kicked back it and it was downhill from there. When I got back after six days of late night meals and desserts I was back to 130. Not a problem, so I signed up for the boot camp class at the gym for July. Working out at 6:30 am and killing myself in the gym was not match for my addiction. I ate everything made of sugar that I could find, most of these items being at my parents house. They apparently have something called 'self-control.' I do not and spent my time there eating cookies, cakes, and ice cream. Mmm. I was still hanging around 130 when Nathan and I went to Puerto Rico. More food. Fried food. And yummy goodies like alcoholic beverages. I was 132 after that week of eating whatever I felt like. Let's just say that by the time I got back from the river I was 133. It's not like I'm fat or overweight. I do not, however, enjoy gaining 5 pounds in two months. No bueno. My major downfall is my need for sugar. A habit that can be broken. Thus, no sweets until October. This gives me enough time to break the habit of wanting something sweet after dinner and saying "Sure!" when my lovely mother offers me more cookies. It should also give me enough time to loos a couple of pounds and have it not be water weight. I eat much healthier when I eliminate sweets and this will help with my running. I'm getting back into it and do not need to run around with 5 extra pounds.
I've NEVER lost more than 1 pound in 2 weeks not matter how hard I've tried so I'll give an update in a few weeks so I can actually document some progress.