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KRISZTA11's Recent Blog Entries
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Tuesday, December 13, 2011
In the past 2 months I didn't have any negative thoughts - at least I cannot recall any, and that's good enough for me.
My mood had been consistently good, and sometimes I just feel happy, for no reason.
If I rate my average mood as 6-7 of 10 in the past, now my mood is 9-10 out of 10.
There is a correlation between this and becoming a regular (yet slow) runner.
I could call it Runner's High, but I think my present mood is Normal.
I would rather call my past mood Depression Secondary to Sedentary Lifestyle, Deprivation of Outdoor Activities and Overeating.
Today I woke up at 6 a.m, sky was dark. It was raining all day yesterday, so I expected similar weather, but when I put on my glasses at 6:15 I could see sky was clear. I jumped out of bed, poured down a glass of water, dressed up and was out at 6:30.
The almost-full moon was up in the west above the hill, and thin clouds ran before it, like in a romantic vampire story. It was 6.5 oC (44 oF) so I felt a bit warm as I had my jacket on, but it was not bad after all as there was mild to moderate wind.
I ran 30 minutes around the park, and up the steep slope on the way home. I enjoyed the changing colors of the sky above me and in the east.
When I got home I could only see another dull, pale gray foggy winter morning out of the window.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
There are several results.
1. I weigh exactly the same as last Sunday: 61.9 kg (136 pounds). This means I ate and exercised right. I think I'll be content and don't take any corrective action while I'm between 60 and 64 kg.
2. I'm totally happy with my body. I feel I do have 6-packs abs (thank you 20 minutes core strength training 3 times a week!), but I still have some belly fat, so only the upper half of the top 2 "packs" are visible - well, I can live with that and won't be sorry if I lose it (the belly fat, not the abs).
3. My obsession with tracking all food and weighing in every day subsided. I cheated and weighed myself on Thursday, but after that I didn't think of it. Not tracking every meals was scary at first, but now feel safe tracking only food eaten after 6 p.m.
4. Instead I'm obsessed with
A) running: when and where can I run, what is the weather like, what clothes I should wear and how clothes worked, what nice things did I see during my runs (thanks to everyone who reads and comments - my family is not really interested anymore for some reason).
B) how my Spark Friend are doing - so now I check my Friend Feed first, not my Nutrition Tracker.
So I spend about the same time Sparking, but it is more fun than tracking calories.
Today I ran again on forest path #2, and my time was even better than yesterday (49:15).
When I got up at 8 a.m. we had the brightest sunshine of this winter: there was a huge flat dark cloud all over the sky, but the horizon was clear and the sun shone in under it. Beautiful contrast! By the time I drank my water, did my meditation and dressed up, the sun went up and hid behind the cloud, so I missed it, but the day was still bright and clear. It was 7 oC on our terrace, but only 3.5 oC (38 oF) on the hill and very mild wind.
I decided to leave my jacket in the car, and run in the same two long sleeve T-shirts (wicking fabric both) as yesterday.
And it worked again! I was a bit cold during the first few minutes, but after that it was OK, and even later I felt warm. Amazing...
On the way back the sun came out so finally I got some bright winter sunshine on my face.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Last night we had the company's year end party.
DH offered to drive me to and from the party, but after his birthday (I drank 3 small glasses of champagne) I thought I had better not drink more alcohol.
So I drove myself, and had only a small glass of wine before dinner.
In anticipation I ate somewhat less during the day,
and did not try all the fancy food on the buffet table.
Instead I chose one dish (traditional Hungarian one, which takes a lot of time to make and also difficult): baked goose with steamed cabbage and mashed potatoes.
I had 2 small portions, and one small cake.
I tracked guessing amounts, it is about 884 calories. A lot, but about half as much as ate and drank in previous years.
The party was fun, but -drinking so little - I didn't really feel like dancing, so left before midnight.
The meal was wonderful, but must have contained a lot of salt. I woke up with puffy eyes and swollen fingers. ( I saw it coming as I drank 5 cups of water during the party). 2-3 pounds of water up for sure - but my next weigh in is on Sunday so I'll never know ; )
This morning it was 7 oC (45 oF), sunny, no wind.
I put on 2 layers up (thin long sleeves both, no jacket!) and 1 down,
as I ran in jacket in 7 oC+strong wing and in 0 oC-no wind.
It was enough: I felt OK from stepping outside, and even felt a bit warm in the second half of my run. Good to know.
I ran on forest path #2 (green cross-green line), which is 6.92 km (4.3 miles).
Last week I made it in 52 and 54 minutes, and now in 49.5 minutes - my best time ever, with 11.5 min/mile.
Now I had my oatmeal with oranges and I feel excess salt is leaving my body.
At least my eyes are not that puffy.
Thursday, December 08, 2011
I woke up to the sound of wind.
If was beating the windowpanes, and howled among the branches of the trees.
On the other hand, it was 7 oC (45 oF) and sunny.
Interesting. I hesitated a bit, and finally I dressed exactly as I did yesterday (1 oC, no wind). I added a headband to cover my ears .
It felt good both for the run and for the (short) cool down walk.
The wind was not steady, it stopped then it hit so hard it almost stopped me.
I'm so lucky- during my 3 months of running this was the second (!) day with significant wind.
This reminds me of the book Bird Cloud by Annie Proulx (I love her books), where she writes "As soon as we returned to Wyoming, the weather worked itself up, buffeting the site with seventy-mile-an-hour winds. The weather bureau's definition of a hurricane wind is seventy-four miles per hour, but such a violent weather is so common in Wyoming everyone just says "really windy" and lets it go at that."
I wonder if there are any winter runners over there.
Last evening I was tempted again by leftover pizza (by DS, 3 slices). Luckily DD took 2 slices (very uncommon of her), that left me one.
I ate it, but - as it was after 6 p.m.- I measured and tracked, then calculated that I can still make my late dinner healthy by eating some rice, steamed cauliflowers and grilled chicken, and so I did.
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Today I woke up early again, at 5:30, but as I had an appointment at 9 a.m, there was no point in getting up, so slept in until 6:30.
I got dressed ( 1 layer down, 2 up), I guessed it was around 0 oC (32 oF), and off I went to the lake in front of my hotel. Temperature was pleasant, I didn't need gloves or headband.
The lake was frozen. Half of the lake, as I found out later, the half where a small creek flows in is still open water, so the ducks and swans have someplace to go.
I missed dawn, but the sky and its reflection on the ice was pink and purple still.
By the time I finished, the sun was up and the sky was blue - what a gift!
I made 3 circles in 32 minutes, that's 12 min/mile, a very comfortable and relaxing pace for me. Maybe I could run faster, but I will not push it during the winter.
It is enough for me if I can make 4-5 runs per week at or above 0 oC, and hopefully 2-3 runs per week if it gets really cold.
After nice breakfast in the hotel (ham and eggs, a roll and a lot of green peppers and cucumbers), I packed and left. My car's thermometer showed 1 oC, so I guessed right.
It felt rather cold in regular clothes! I missed the gloves very much.
I think my body "remembered" that calories I was going to burn during running would warm me up on their way out, and ignored the signals of cold when I went running.
I got to meet my clients on time.
I'm waiting for one of them right now, so took a few minutes to type this.
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to you for being so disciplined around PIZZA! It's one of my weak spots ;) 
Member Comments About This Blog Post:
What fantastic, great news, dear Kriszta!!! You have really mastered Spark in a way that both inspires and uplifts me :) No longer do you have to track everything you eat - what a major achievement that is, my friend! I doubt I will ever get there, though I'll happily settle for whatever it takes for me to maintain. But to get to the point where you are eating normally...and so healthfully...THAT is really COMMENDABLE! 
