Moderation is the key

Just a quick post. Despite the whole cookie slip up last week, I still lost half a pound! I weighed in at 232.8. It was disappointing not to lose more, especially since I was down to 231.8 half way through the week, but I did learn that the cookies are just not worth it! Moderation is the key. I am considering getting brave enough to post a picture, but not tonight, other things to do but maybe next time!

Week (or Weak?) Two!

It has been a rather hectic week. Our main vehicle blew a piston, so it needed a new engine. Considering that our second vehicle is a motorcycle and we are a family of 6, we really need a functioning car! But the cost for a new engine in a suburban, and the value of a suburban in today's market, does not compute! Thank goodness for Craig's list. It only took 2 days to sell and we were able to get a lot more than the $200 scrap value that the car dealership was willing to pay. We were also able to get a good deal on a truck with a full size cab, so we can fit the whole family (more than any car we could get, and we really do not want a mini van :-\. So we had to get all that settled, and what is a crisis at one moment, is history a week later.

I weighed myself last Sunday, and was excited to have lost 5 lbs.! My weight was 233.4. But here I am, almost at the end of a second week, and will be lucky to see any loss on the scale at all. I made the mistake of baking cookies this week (twice), and all of the kids are at Grandma's house, so there was no one here to eat them! I did take quite a few to a friend, but my weakness is in the dough! Let's be honest, I simply ate too much.

Exercise wise, I have completed Week 2 in the Couch Potato to 5K Running plan, which was run for 90 seconds, walk for 2 minutes for a total of 20 minutes. This works out to 6 reps, plus a warm up. I felt really good, still feel like I could do more, but I am sticking with the plan. I also got my bike fixed yesterday, but have not been out on a bike ride yet. With my bike out of commission for the week, I was overall less active than last week because I failed to substitute any other type of activity for my planned bike rides.

So, in a nutshell: My running was really good this week, other exercise was not good. Eating was so - so, except for my cookie fiasco. We will see tomorrow how it all weighs in!

Getting Started

To struggle, to succeed, to fail and to struggle again. Such is much in life. We all have our own weaknesses to deal with, and mine for the last 15 years has been my weight. As with most, as a teenager I could eat most anything. I was active enough that I never gained weight. Weight gain really started with my first child when I was 23, but did not become a real issue until child number two! I was about 40 lbs. overweight. By child number four, I was 30 and weighed just over 200 lbs.

That was 10 years ago. I have gone up and down since then but have never dropped under that elusive 200 mark. I have been active off and on over the last five years. I have done a few sprint triathlons, a few 5k runs, and two summers ago I did an Olympic distance triathlon (1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run). At the time I weighed about 215 lbs. I was a Slow, Fat Triathlete, but I did it!

There are two things that I really enjoy about triathlons and running. One is that you are competing against no one but yourself. The other is the words of encouragement that is given and received from other participants. I have especially noticed this during triathlons. While I putt along, some super athlete passes me, telling me "Good Job!" and "Keep it Up!". There is no judgment, only encouragement.

Last February I pulled a muscle that stopped all exercise. I never really got back on track (so to speak :-). During the summer I did the Couch Potato to 5k training plan and in September I did a Sprint Triathlon. It was a real struggle, I was not really prepared, but I completed it.

During that time, our business was really struggling. My reaction to stress is eating, and my weight went up to an all time high by December, 244 lbs! Our business sold at that time, but it is hard to get back doing the things that we know we should do. During this past spring I put in token efforts here and there, and at the beginning of this week, I weighed 238.4 lbs.

I have a new plan of action, that includes much of what I have done in the past (eating healthy foods and exercising), but I have also decided to record what I eat and to keep a blog. It seemed easier than a journal (something I have often thought about) and it feels like there is more accountability. After all, someone just might read it!

This week I started the Couch Potato to 5k running plan again. I get up early, walk to the track to warm up, do Week 1 of the program and then walk home to cool down. Week 1 is a 20 minute workout, 3 days a week. It is a 60 second run, then walk for 90 seconds. This is repeated for 20 minutes, or eight repetitions. I do this on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and then bike on Tuesday and Thursday. On Saturday I will do a weight workout.

So far the week is going great! I am eating really well, have run twice this week and biked on Tuesday. This morning I went for a 30 min. walk because of a flat tire (not 'pump up' flat, but a 'needs patching' flat). I know that I am already down a couple of pounds, so the week is going really well!

Well, I am sure that there is a lot more that I can say, but will save it for later posts. So for now, That's All Folks!