I think that the power is the principle. The principle of moving forward as though you have the confidence to move forward, eventually gives you confidence when you look back and see what you have done.
~Robert Downey, Jr.
I love the whole new me attempts by folks. Some, very few, make genuine life changing efforts and actually stick to them long term. My niece told me the other day, November 1st was a new month, she was going to be focused, she enlisted some friends to do this health kick with her and then a couple days ago I see her post a pint of Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey to Facebook. She didn't go out to get it, but her little brother brought it for her and she couldn't resist. She is 24. She is tiny. She is strong and athletic and 10 years from now she look back and wish she appreciated her 24 year old self more. LOL are we all destined to the same fate. I think of how I'll feel 10 years from now and how I'll think, man... wish I was more proud of myself 10 years ago. And so we grow and mature.
I'll spare you the minute details of the last couple months, but it was filled with fender benders, government shutdowns, birthday, a death and a couple more birthdays and me taking 1-2 weeks of eating crap and feeling like crap all while not working out. In my last post I told you all that I had done a hydrostatic body fat test in January. I was 196 lbs and 24% body weight. I tried lots of things to lose weight, then shifted to mostly lifting. The first week of September I started running again and took my next body fat test hoping for some lean muscle mass gain of 1-2 lbs. Boy was I kidding myself. what I was really trying to do was prepare myself for the fact that I hadn't really lost much weight, according to my scale and my size 12 pants that aren't going anywhere. Well to my surprise I had lost weight, gain only .5 lbs of lean body mass and that magic formula brought me to 21% body fat.
Holy Smokes people! 3% loss in 8 months is huge. My gains not so much, but as the tech explained, it is difficult to maintain lean mass and not to be discouraged by the little gain, but rather excited that I lost weigh without losing lean body mass. He also said, weight loss will continue to be difficult the leaner I get since there is less to lose. So, I am 21% body fat. My next trip to the dunk tank will be to check and make sure I am maintaining my lean body mass. I am trying to get used to the scale because since I started running in conjuction with my weight lifting schedule I am losing weight. Diet is not on point, but is more similar to 2 years ago where all I did was TRI training, no weights and could eat pretty freely and maintain. Obviously more calories out means I need more calories in. Unfortunately, that weight loss is only barely showing in the waist. I am still in size 12, but fit into 1 pair of size 10s lately. Most weight loss has been in my booty/thighs and back. The belly is always the last to go.
What has happened training/running wise? Started half marathon program 9/1/13. Dropped out a few weeks in, but kept up my Wednesday runs by doing the track at my son's flag football practice. Only did a long run of shy of 5 miles, then walked a 9K with a friend I was supposed to run with. She found out she is pregnant and it turned into a really nice power walk chatting away. Did a 1/2 marathon October 18th, was pretty impressed with my pace and endurance through mile 8. 9 and 10 were tough. The last 5K were pretty bad. Glad the scenery was nice because it was a slow calf cramp, charlie horse kind of finish.
On the horizon- I got a late start to November so I am making up for a few bad eating, no working out, bad sleep days. Today was a great one. Gym. a couple of short runs, 1 mile at break and a 2 miles at lunch, some core work and foam rolling tonight. I am hoping this will be a good start to finishing the month strong. I plan to run a 5K on the 23rd (hoping to PR), a 10 miler on the 24th and in December get busy on my 10K training for the Tinkerbell 10K in January. I'll be doing a couple 5ks in December just to focus on speed, then a 10K a week before the race to text myself. I'll have 6 days to recover before I have to turn around and do it again, so I think I'll be ok. I'll also maintain my weight training and instead of dropping down to 2-3 days a week as I had originally intended. The added strength has really helped my speed and recovery.
Big Picture: Everyday I move is good for me and is good for my family.
Why I Kick A$$: Because even after feeling like I have lost my momentum, 1-day is all it takes to get going. Just have to decide to do it.
Thankful Three:
- For everyday that I mature and have gain perspective about my body image and physical fitness
- For people who invite me to run
- For my dogs who took me on great runs today during our limited sunshine
