What I've Learned About Weightloss

Friday, May 04, 2007

In order to keep plugging away, it seems like you have to keep reinventing the wheel when it comes to weightloss. You can't just have a plan and go on autopilot and wake up cured of your weight issues at the other end. You have to pull out all the stunts to keep yourself motivated. I've realized it's not about "from now on I will -." It's trying something out. Seeing how that goes. Trying something else. Trying what you've tried before, again.

I think I've finally realized that the end goal is not to have The One Perfect Program that I can follow every day for the rest of my life. The goal is to always be able to adjust to life's circumstances at any given moment and to arrange things at that point to align best with your health/weightloss goals.

  

I can run!

Thursday, May 03, 2007

This afternoon was gorgeous and I used all that extra energy I had from eating extra (I even had ANOTHER bitty, nutritious snack before I ran) to go for a wonderful long run! I had my IPod and my heart rate monitor stopwatch and it was just great! I did stop at two different public restrooms but I did not have to stop to walk, and I didn't feel tired. I think part of the improvement is due to having eaten a lot, and part of it is thanks to my training. I felt sooo good during the workout and soo proud afterwards. I love running on the sidewalk when there's a lot of traffic on the street. Maybe it's narcissistic, but I like having a lot of people seeing me run. :) I LOVE it that this is something I can do easily now, because I really earned it. I could NOT do this when I was lugging 30 extra pounds around. It's pretty consistent - when you see someone out for a jog, they are almost always fit and trim.

So I figured out how to get the distance of my route on mapquest - you just use the "Build Your Route" option. Here's the stats of my run:

6.43 miles!!!!!!! This is longer than a 10K and the longest I have ever run! And to think I never even needed to walk!!!!!!

72 minutes

That works out to just under 5.4 mph and just over an 11 minute mile. That's a pretty snailish pace but I felt GOOD doing it and I know I will improve from there. Any experienced 10K-ers out there who happen to be reading this, what's a good 10K time to shoot for? I think I will be doing one in August and/or October, so I have plenty of time to make improvements. :)

Heart-rate-wise, it took me 20 minutes to get my heart rate up into the high-intensity range (for me, that's 146+). I guess that's a sign that I'm more fit - the fact that my heart rate stays lower longer - but considering that on Weight Watchers you earn more activity points for high-intensity exercise than lower, it's a bit frustrating. Still, I knew it was going to be a long run so I didn't overexert myself at any point. For the most part, once I got into the high-intensity range my heart rate stayed around 148-160. It never did get up above that. But I was sweating after a while, I know it was a good workout, but also enjoyable.

I walked for a minute or two when I was done, but my heart rate zoomed down to 120 within the first minute or so of walking. I think that's another sign that I'm getting fitter...at least I hope so. 120 is in my low intensity range, and I'm sure it just went lower and lower quickly after that.

I have a few insights from this and my other most recent experiences:
*I am at a fitness level now where I need to run. The elliptical trainer is probably good for my interval training, but that's really not fun so I don't want to do that all the time. I like running because it is not tough to get my heart rate to a good place. And what a perfect time of year to be getting into running. I just hope I can still do it when I get to more extreme - hot and especially cold - weather. Oh, and outdoor running is just infinetely more fun and interesting than treadmill running, plus I think it is a good thing to not have the pace artificially set by a machine.
*I need to find a balance between eating enough to feel good and eating little enough to keep losing weight. I think under 1,300 calories is OK once in a while, or on a day when I'm not going to exericse, but it's much better to exercise every day! (As long as it's not super high intensity 7 days a week, which it won't be.) But for the most part I am betting that the balance will really be at 1,300-1,400. I put on about 3 pounds in 1 day eating 1,700, so that's too much (and yet I ate 1,700 again today), but seriously, I did NOT ruin my diet in any way. I'm still doing fine! Just like some days at 1,200 is fine, some days at 1,700 is also fine. But I think that on a typical day I should aim for 1,300 to 1,400 and see what happens. If I eat that much and stop losing weight I'd rather try to up my exercise and see if that helps, and if it still doesn't, THEN lower the calories a little bit, some days. If on the other hand I still feel weak/hungry/tired at 1,300 to 1,400 I can experiment with adding more, as long as I am still losing. I have to remember that this whole thing is about FEELING GOOD, BEING ENERGETIC, and BEING ABLE TO DO MORE PHYSICALLY! My goal was never to get thin but miserable and so tired that I need to spend 12 hours a day in bed!!!!!!!! It really isn't all about the scale.
*Someone at my Weight Watchers meeting today told me that if you gain it quickly, it comes back off quickly. If she is right, then I will lose the extra 3 pounds fast and will get a burst of motivation from that.
*A few days ago I blogged alllllll about my new cardio program - High Intensity Interval Training and Steady State High Intensity Training. Well, it turns out that doing that stuff made working out NO fun. I can see the value, so I think I should do some serious interval training once in a while, but the steady state stuff can be running for fun outside! (And I should probably add some interval training to my outdoor runs....but nothing that makes me keel over 3 miles from home...)

OK. I am done whining (see my other blog entry from today if you are interested in my whining). I am ready to take on the world!!! :) hahaha.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

WANNABSIZE2 5/6/2007 11:12PM

Great job on your run!! It is SO addicting!! I just did my 1st 10k today. And it felt great and now I'm looking for a good 1/2 marathon to shoot for in about 3 or 4 months! It is SO addicting!! :) Great job!! Report Inappropriate Comment

Not on Track

Thursday, May 03, 2007

For the first time since I started in late January, I have not been on track since last night. Yesterday afternoon I was hungry, tired, and lacking energy. I'd had several days in a row of under 1,300 calories and even one day under 1,200 when I went to bed at about 5:30 p.m. After work yesterday I had already eaten all 1,200 of the calories I'd planned for the day, but was still hungry so I added milk to my hot chocolate and also had oatmeal. I went to the gym and did high intensity cardio, but only for a half hour. I was too tired to do any more or to do strength training. I went home and was asleep around 6 p.m., but Jess called at 7:00 and I didn't fall asleep again after that. I was feeling nauseated, turned on the TV (I hardly ever watch TV anymore), and eventually gave in and had a can of macaroni and bean soup that had been around since before the diet (I don't usually have commercially prepared soup anymore - too much sodium). But I felt so much better after the soup!! Is it possible for your stomach to complain if you eat TOO healthy? Too much fiber, too many nutrients to handle? When Jess got home he made a pasta dish that smelled soooo yummy and I kept begging him for some, even though I really wanted him to control my eating and tell me no. He did let me have 1 piece - it had oil and a bit of melted parmesan cheese on it. WHY can he eat like that and stay thin? HOW does he eat half of it and put the rest in a tupperware container for the next day? I am so frustrated I could cry. I really have to live like this forever?? Only 5% of weight losers keep it off. Am I starting to put it back on?
When I tallied it all up this morning it came in at 1,694 calories and I'd gone from 135.0 yesterday to 137.8 today - 3 pound gain. Good god my body is not forgiving. The 135 was on Jess's scale though so it's possible I'd gained a little of that weight yesterday, though at that point I had had several days in a row of eating less than 1,300 calories.

Anyway, the out of control spiral continued. I was OK this morning, though I didn't really want to eat too much because I have my WW weigh in this afternoon - in just a few minutes, in fact. But I've managed to eat 1,612 calories today and it's not even 3 p.m. yet. After the lunch I'd packed, I also ate the lunch provided for me at a meeting, which included romaine lettuce, 3 oz. chicken, 1/4 cup croutons, 1/2 pita, and TWO big warm chocolate chip cookies. It's like all self control I had for 3+ months is out the window.

OK, I really gotta go but let's keep this in perspective. Obviously I was not eating enough for several days and my body was getting weak as a result. Now I am nourished and can really blast the calories off at the gym this evening. Right now I have to face up to the fact that I'm about to have my first gain at a WW weigh in ever. But the control is back NOW. From now on I will plan out my calories and will aim for 1,300 to 1,400 per day, plus at least 60 minutes of high intensity (though doesn't have to be top-end of the high intensity range) exercise per day to work it off. And I will lose the last few pounds and FEEL GOOD!!!!! Dammit!!!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

WANNABSIZE2 5/3/2007 5:43PM

Don't sweat it!! We ALL have days like this! I think I ate half a jar of peanuts today!! eek!! Oh well though, right. I'm not going to dwell on it. And as far as a 3 lb gain, that is probably water / food weight, and you'll lose it in a few days. Chin up! You're doing AWESOME! And one day off track will NOT make you gain all of your weight back! It's alright. Do NOT beat yourself up. You're doing great! Report Inappropriate Comment

Weekend Wrapup

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Hello there all you fabulous sparkers! :) I spent the weekend in Boston. I was only planning on staying through Saturday, but after a whole day of biking and walking around the city we were too tired to come home. Jess doesn't have an internet connection, so no SparkPeople, but I do have some healthy food there so I was able to have a nice breakfast and lunch before coming home, and once I got on SparkPeople this evening I realized I'd only had about 700 calories so far so I got to have a huge dinner. :) I had pumpkin, a salmon salad, cereal, and a chocolate bar!!! I love pumpkin now - my new treat!

I did my first steady state high intensity session today, with my heart rate around 85%. It was kinda tough but not awful. I went 65 minutes on the elliptical. At first it takes more effort to keep my heart rate high, but after a while it just stays up there as long as I keep pushing. I like it that I sweat more with these new workouts. It just feels like I'm really WORKING out. Something to be proud of. And of course, something that's going to improve my endurance and speed!

Afterwards, I did strength training, but started to feel pretty hungry, so I just did 1 set of everything I hadn't done yet, stretched, and came home. Still earned 7 APs today and ate them all.

Yesterday I did a "size check" with Gap bootcut jeans. (the standard, right? I hope!) I brought every size from 2 to 10 into the dressing room and started with the 10s.

10 - way too big
8 - fit weird. tightish in the thighs, loose in the waist
6 - just right!!!!!!!!! :)
4 - couldn't even button :(
2 - didn't even attempt

So I am an official 6! I am happy to be a 6 and not an 8, because I think I was recently really in between. But I am sad that I couldn't even button the 4s. The last "size check" I did was with a stretchier material, and with those I could easily zip not only the 4s but the 2s also. I think I really need to stick with jeans for my size checks from now on. Jeans tell the truth! :)

I can't believe I'm a 6. I used to be a 12 so I'm half my old size, haha. I can't believe the next time I actually shop for things I'm going to buy (as opposed to just trying things on to see what I can squeeze into) I will be looking at 6s! Actually I still am not buying stuff yet because I have 10 pounds to go, and like the woman at La Sposa said, every 10 pounds is a size. So I predict I will be a 4 when I reach 124. And that ain't bad!:)

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

WANNABSIZE2 4/30/2007 12:09AM

Looks like you had a fun weekend!!! BTW your man Jess is H O T (hope you take that as a compliment :) ). Great job on the size 6's!!! Exciting!! You've come such a long way!!! I was looking at your old bikini pic and your latest and you just look SO happy now! :) You're an inspiration! Keep up the hard work - you're amazing! Report Inappropriate Comment

My First High Intensity Interval Training Session

Friday, April 27, 2007

I was nervous about trying HIIT but in a good way - something new is often like that. I used the elliptical trainer because of the constant heart rate readout and it went really well! As I am learning, at the beginning of a workout it's hard to keep my heart rate up, but once it gets up there it's a lot easier to keep it up there. Those 1-minute work intervals HURT! I know what they mean by the anaerobic burn. I think sometimes I get a hint of that burn when I run. It's OK to go anaerobic sometimes, of course, but on my steady-state high intensity days I think I should avoid it. It just doesn't feel good. I do like how it feels though to get my heart rate into the high intensity range and keep it there - can you tell I'm looking forward to SSHI a little more than HIIT?? But I think HIIT will be good for me because it'll push me to new levels.

I was able to keep up the intervals for an hour!!! It really wasn't that much more difficult than what I've already been doing, just different. And it got me sweatier. I just think this is going to be really good for me!

Oh guess what!!! BIG NEWS! After my workout, after I finished stretching, I attempted a pushup, which I often do and fail. TODAY I DID ONE! I'm sure Jess would say it wasn't a real pushup because my arms were too far forward, but as far as I'm concerned I did one because I went all the way down, nose to the mat, and pushed myself back up!!! As pathetic as it sounds I have never been able to do that before! That is one of my goals on my sparkpage! I'm not sure I will change it yet - I will show Jess and ask him if it "counts." I thought I'd have to wait until I could bench my own body weight before I could do a pushup. This is exciting! I am getting fit!

I guess I have trouble believing I've been as successful as I have. Blogging earlier today (I've blogged a TON today, haven't I), I was writing about my weight and I accidentally typed 167 where I meant 137. I have done that before, too. In my subconscious I still weigh in the 160s. I did for so long. Also, I have trouble believing that I look thin. In some aspects anyway. In some ways I can look at myself objectively. My upper body is thin. My stomach varies depending on how bloated I am, but it's not FAT. My butt and thighs are the area that still have enough fat to justify me wanting to lose a little more weight (though I know I can't do anything to ensure the weight will come from that area!). But, I guess it's my overall look. Especially the past couple of days where I've felt so bloated and I know my stomach is sticking out because of it. I forget that just because my stomach is sticking out a little, that doesn't mean I don't still look pretty thin overall.

A few people have called me "skinny" lately. One look at my thighs and you'd know I am NOT skinny. I guess I can admit I'm thin. Am I really? It's so hard to believe that! But not skinny. Nobody would hire me to model bathing suits. Well...maybe just bathing suit tops. :) Hahaha.

Also - I have been asked this question twice today and three times total this week: "Have you had to buy a whole new wardrobe?" The honest answer is that I'm waiting until I reach 124, or at least close to it. Anything I buy now is going to be too big when I weigh 124, because that's over 10 pounds difference. (I'm being vague about what I weigh now because yesterday at Jess's I weighed 134.8, today at home I weighed 137.0. And I didn't do anything "bad" that would have caused a 2.2 pound gain!) But I don't tell people my honest answer, because I am SO SICK of hearing that I should stop losing weight. I hate that. I am lucky though that my mom has a general idea of what I like and has given me a few things she got really cheap from consignment shops. Nice stuff, too! I have 2 pairs of designer jeans. But, I am kinda lacking on the basics....right now I have no basic black pants or khakis. I do have those khaki Abercrombie cargo pants in size 2 that keep getting closer to fitting me properly....still too tight to wear in public...but I'm talking about pants for work.

OK, Jess is waiting for me in Boston and it's 8:15 p.m. I still have to plan out all my meals for tomorrow! I am so addicted to SparkPeople!!!!!!!!!!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

WANNABSIZE2 4/29/2007 12:32AM

Great job on your HIIT workout!! I'm a big spaz my HR is usually 80% or higher. During my 58 minute run yesterday using my HR monitor my average HR was 94%. Spaz - I know. Way to go on the pushup!! I wanna do a pull up but am not really determined enough to try I guess... I worry about bulking up my shoulders too much (when I used to do weights more my shoulders got kinda big and maked me look kind of boxy). And I know what you mean about feeling "not skinny". That appears to be my new nickname and I don't think I'm skinny. I think I'm delusional as well though because we took some pics at the beach today and standing next to my gf's who are all size 0's and 2's, then I looked at the pics on the camera, and I was thinking "these girls have pouchier tummys than me? There thighs are bigger than mine?" Does that make sense? They look smaller than me - to me. Okay I'm rambling. But I feel you. I don't feel skinny, I only see what I have left to lose sometimes. Report Inappropriate Comment