Breaking the Cycle - and Holding Myself Accountable

For the past four weeks I've had a cycle of maintaining (actually gaining - .1 and .3) for a week, and then dropping for a week. Last week was a 'good' week where I dropped. I'm happy about that, but I'm tired of this cycle. So this week - no maintaining, no gaining. I want to see progress! I've made a good start of it. Down 1.2 since weigh in on Saturday.

Yep, I'm below 205! I usually give myself a few days before 'officially' proclaiming a milestone reached, but I'm going to celebrate my first day under 205 just a little ;)

Still, as happy as I am, the focus is on Onderland... Onderland... Onderland :) to that end, I would like to be below 202 by Saturday. I don't know if it's possible but I'm going to follow 'the plan' with that goal in mind.

What really struck me today is how really really nice it is to put on clothes today and not have them be tighter then yesterday. After 2+ years of dreading getting up and facing my closet, wondering "What going to not fit today..." In fact, the pants I put on today might be gaping just a little around the waist... and I just started wearing them again! Now THAT'S the way to start the morning!

Exercise planned for the week:

Did a 30 minute bike ride - kept it between 11-16 MPR. Nice and easy recovery from Saturday. Tonight I'll go for a run - 3 miles minimum as I start a 1/2 marathon program this week in prep for my 'Big' triathlon in September. Wednesday is a longer bike ride (1 hour). Thursday 3 Mile run. Friday a bike and a long open water swim, and then Saturday Hubby and I are doing a 14 mile run/walk called the Double DipSea. (it's more a 'hike' then anything).

I'm still trying to keep my calories around 1000 - like I said, below that and I don't feel well.

The biggest challenge this week will be Wednesday. I've been 'asked' to attend a customer appreciation event at the Oakland A's since one of my bigger clients will be there. I'm sure many of you are going... ooo you get to go watch the Giant's vs the A's in a luxury box?! what's your beef!? Well #1 I'm not good at... what's the word I'm looking for... schmoozing. I do my job and do it well, no matter my personal feelings, but making small talk with someone that I don't give two shakes about... bleh. Then there's the fact that I don't like baseball. Ok maybe 'don't like' is too mild a word, but let's just say I've actually fallen asleep at Candlestick during a double header. just doesn't do it for me. So what's left? Well I used to go for the food and the booze. MMMMMMM baseball food. But, my guess is nothing provided will be 'on plan', so that means I'm going to have to go to extraordinary efforts to get my meals in that day.

alright, I'm done /whine lol!

Anyway - I'm saying all of this more to get it down in writing and to keep myself accountable. -- Cause it's all about Onederland baby! lol

swim/bike/run

Hey everyone how's your collar bones looking today? Mine are working their way to the surface :)

Yesterday ended well. Hubby was tired and didn't want to go run around the lake, so we went home instead. I was ok with that because he does the driving - so I try to be considerate of how he's feeling.

So, we drove home, I changed, grabbed the dog, and headed out for my run.

Now, many of you might not know that my next big Triathlon (I'm doing some 'baby' ones before then) is in 12 weeks and it's going to be a tough one. 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz to SF. a 2.5 mile run after that (it's called a warm up run - huh?) a 9 mile bike, and then another 7.5 mile run. That's a total of 10 miles running. I struggled with deciding what kind of running plan I would do to try to get myself to this kind of mileage, and finally I figured out a 'hybrid' of my own.

I started with the Novice 1/2 marathon plan from Hal Higdon. I had used his plans before and I liked them. I also figured training for the longer distance of 13 miles couldn't hurt me do better on race day. But - I really like my "10K" running program from podrunner intervals the tempo tends to push me, and I like the interval format for getting faster and going longer. So I decided to blend that in as part of my program. Thursday night's runs would be the interval program from Podrunner and the other two runs would be as written by Mr Higdon.

That made last night my 'interval' day. So I plugged in my head phones and off I went :)

It was so much fun! :) I really like interval training because I feel like I can really push myself during the shorter run segments and know I'll have time to recover. So, last night's workout looked like this:

BPM Chart
5 min. warmup @ 137-142 BPM
4 min. @ 153 BPM
2 min. walk @ 142 BPM
4 min. @ 153 BPM
2 min. walk @ 142 BPM
4 min. @ 153 BPM
2 min. walk @ 142 BPM
4 min. @ 153 BPM
2 min. walk @ 142 BPM
4 min. @ 153 BPM
2 min. walk @ 142 BPM
3 min. cooldown @ 142-137 BPM

After my cool down, since I wasn't home yet, I went ahead and let the workout repeat and walked for 2 and then ran until I got home.

The exciting part is that I DID push myself on every run segment and kept below a 12 min/mile pace on each one! I have a feeling with the short run on Monday - the interval run on Thursday and a weekend long run... my fitness levels are going to go through some interesting changes over the next 12 weeks!

So, tonight the plan is to try out my new Friday Night routine. I'm going to change at work, BART to the car - where I've left my bike, and then ride my bike to Shadow Cliffs and swim with my tri team. Hubby will pick me up after he gets off work! Should be FUN!

Next week I'm adding weight lifting back in... look out world - cause believe it or not, weight lifting is my first love :P

Everyone have an excellent weekend. Get out, enjoy the summer. It'll boost your body's natural levels of vitamin D and keep you out of the kitchen!

PS: weight is at 202.6 still...

A Blast from the Past

A Long Long Long time ago I heard that Dr Beck had a new book out. So, being the diet book junkie that I am (sorry about using the "D" Word ScottO, but it's what best describes them) I had to order it. Only, it seems the announcement of the book's release was premature. The book wasn't actually 'out' yet. Well, I soon forgot about it. Moved on, gained more weight, did a triathlon, read other books, joined Metifast... you know how it goes.

Last night, however, there was a package on my porch from Amazon. I was really confused because Hubby and I have made a deal to not spend 'frivolous' money for a while. All my 'play money' has been going to race entry fees. So, a package from Amazon meant I hadn't kept up my end of the 'deal'. I opened the package and there was the 'Green Book' Dr Beck's "The Complete Beck diet for life"!

Seems that while I had forgotten that I had ordered the book, amazon hadn't and shipped it as soon as they got some in stock. HA! -- Oh well, I love Dr Beck and I'm sure I can learn some awesome stuff from her as well as get a refresher. You may see me pulling some highlights from it over the next few weeks.

Random Stats that Amuse me- and various other ramblings

I've been on plan for 82 days/almost 12 weeks

I've lost 36.4 lbs - that's .44 lbs a day or 3.11 per week

Other then my first week, the most I've lost is 4.5 lbs, the least was a gain of 0.3

My average weight my first week was 233. My average weight last week was 206.

I give myself a small reward every two pounds (I have to be three days at or below that weight). The longest time between rewards was between 212 and 210 (12 days). The shortest was between 210 and 208 (1 day). The average time to drop 2 lbs is 5.5 days.

I've gone from a size 18W (pants) to size 16 (no W). I've gone from a size XXL shirt to XL.

Since I got my body bugg (April 26th)my average calories burned per day is 2550. On my highest Day (Yeah I did a tri that day) I burned 4260. On my lowest 1850 (This is what I burn if I do nothing but sit on my keester all day).

I average over 10,000 steps a day

So what does all this mean? Well, it means that I really like data and numbers... lol.

So what else is going on with me? Well ballpark food (even lean & Green Ballpark food) combined with a late night and not much sleep has the scale stall. That's ok - it'll even up eventually.

I pulled a pair of pants out of my closet of shame this weekend that were just a LEETLE too tight (you know - some zipper strain) but when I put them on this morning they zip just find and are actually baggy around the waist. How did that happen?! Bodies are just so weird.

Hubby and I are going to go run with the 'group' tonight around Lace Merced. 4.5 miles - I hope it's easier then Tuesday night's run was. When I told hubby that I was looking forward to running with the club tonight he responded that he was looking forward to the cookies they provide after the run! lol - hey whatever motivates you right?

Ok - so now I want to ask you guys a question. I was reading another blogger and she mentioned that she's purging her closet. Getting rid of all her 'too big' clothes and it got me wondering. When do you declare something 'too big'? Is it when the next size down fits? Or is it when it falls off your ever shrinking bootie? do I just stage a huge fashion show and let hubby tell me what's not fit to wear anymore?

What have you all done?

I can't see my weight loss - and The Paper Towel Theory

So I've seen a lot of rumbling lately from folks who aren't seeing their weight loss. Or, who aren't seeing it where they would like to see it, etc.

I TOTALLY understand this feeling :) Even though my husband told me almost daily that he could tell the difference, even though I was fitting into smaller clothes, for a while there, I couldn't tell I was loosing weight when I looked in the mirror.

But, there is a reason for this (other then body dismorphication). It's called the Paper Towel Theory. I read it on Dr Hussman's website many years ago and thought it might be beneficial to share it here.

The Paper Towel Theory

As it turns out, you can get fairly good estimates of your bodyfat composition simply from a single skinfold, or by passing a tiny electrical current through your foot, ankle or hands. What this really means is that fat is distributed fairly precisely on the body. And while it's true that some people have larger fat deposits on some parts of their body than others, it's also true that percentage-wise, the fat on your body comes off fairly evenly.

That's important to remember when you measure your progress. See, one of the first places you're probably looking for fat loss is on those areas of your body that you think are "too fat." But in fact, that's the last place you should look, because I can guarantee that those areas are still going to look "too fat" for a little while.

Think of it this way. If you have a roll of paper towels (or a cassette tape), and you start to unravel it, you can get a good amount off of the roll before you really see a visible change. But as you get further down that roll, even taking off a little more is very apparent.

The same is true with your body. The first place you're going to see greater definition is at those areas where the fat deposits are relatively thin already. For most people, this is around the shoulders and clavicles (the two long bones that run just under your neck, connecting your two shoulders to the breast plate).

Another reason why this is important is that advertisers often prey on the belief that fat can be "spot-reduced." All the twisty ab-crunchers on the market are perfect examples. Basically, these companies get a fitness model that has followed months or years of weight training, aerobics, and proper nutrition, and have them roll back and forth in one of these things, as if they actually got in shape that way.

Or look at all the books promising to help you lose fat "for your type" - pear shaped, apple shaped, dodecahedron shaped - you name it. It's true, for example, that people who are insulin resistant tend to store more fat in the midsection, and that women tend to store more fat in the thigh area. But so what? If you lose the fat, it comes off EVERYWHERE. If a problem area looks "too fat", training that area with exercise may very well improve the definition of the underlying muscles and the overall form of that area. But it will not accelerate fat loss relative to other parts of your body.

If the body didn't lose fat uniformly, we'd all wobble around like Weebles because our relatively fixed bone and muscle structure wouldn't be able to tolerate the variation. The best way to change the size of your body is through caloric deficits. The best way to change the shape is through resistance training. The one thing you need to achieve a total physique and fitness transformation is to do EVERYTHING - aerobics, intervals, resistance training, cross-training (physiologist Covert Bailey calls these the "four food groups of exercise"), small frequent meals, high-quality protein and carbohydrates, low-glycemic nutrition, proper supplementation, water, and rest. As Shawn Phillips says, "the one thing, is everything."

So again, if you're looking for results in the mirror, look for the first signs of improved definition at those areas where muscle is relatively close to the surface. For most people, this is the upper chest and shoulder area. After two weeks, you probably won't see enormous visible changes elsewhere. But those changes are happening anyway.

You should definitely be keeping track of how your clothes feel. Go to the closet and pick out an outfit that's just a little too tight. Put it aside. You'll want to try it on occasionally. Waist measurements can also capture fat loss that isn't necessarily evident in the mirror.

------------------------------------

There you go! :)

Now - if you really want an eye opener - try the Paper Towel experiment. Take a brand new roll and take off one piece (one pound). doesn't really make a visable difference does it? What if the roll is 1/2 gone? Take off a piece... ooo, you can kind of see that can't ya? How about if it's almost gone? Take off a piece - WOW! can you see that!?

Yeah, it can be discouraging in the beginning to think. This one (or three or four) pounds aren't going to make a difference. But they do... That paper towel roll isn't going to unwind itself! You can't grab a sheet out of the middle no matter how much you might want to.

I guess what I'm trying to say is - hang in there folks! Every pound matters weather you 'see' it or not!

The Game is Over

And I survived. I got my excercise for the day in. I got lost inside the stadium twice and walked the whole thing both times! Yeah, I'm that good.

the best part of the night was that they actually had food that wasn't hot dogs :) sliced turkey and veggies whoo hoo! Yeah, I lean and greened at a baseball game.

I'm on my way home now, but I wanted to share one little thing that occured to me while I was hiking around the stadium in work clothes.

You often hear the expression "never let them see you sweat". Well I propose that the female version of that is "never let them see you limp"

yeah, I was wearing heels tonight. :)

Sleep - it does a body good

One thing about being go go go on the weekends is that I don't get to catch up on my sleep like in the 'old days'. Luckily, I can work from home now and then and on those days instead of getting up at 5AM I can wake up at 9 - it's bliss. Today was a work from home day (at least in the morning) - so I got my extra few hours of sleep and it seems to have had some benefits because I weighed this morning and I'm in the 202's! I like the way that looks!

My 3 mile run last night was hard. I don't know if it was the low calorie day I had on Monday, the lack of sleep over the weekend, the heat or all of it, but I struggled. But, I did it - got it done, logged in the books and I'm sure my body benefited from it. My training partner (the dog) thought it was tough too :) He actually let me squirt him with the hose when we got home when normally he runs as soon as he hears the water turn on!

Had a small NSV last night :) I know, this may sound weird to some people... lol. But I'm a 'center of attention' kind of girl. I have what some call a sanguine personality. I pretty much thrive on positive attention. One of the things that weight gain does is tends to make one 'invisible'. Which can really be disheartening to one who likes to burst in the room to "Hi NORM!" if you know what I mean. Of course you start to erode your self confidence and sometimes that makes getting the weight off even harder. My husband even mentioned at one point. "I miss the old self confident you" And he was right, that person was buried under the weight gain and all the mental crap that went with it.

One of the things completing Lavaman did for me was give me a sense of accomplishment and self worth that had been lacking for so long. For the week we spent in Hawaii after words people would recognize my purple hair and go "You did Lavaman didn't you! I remember you! Awesome job!" I was still riding the high from all of that when I came home and there, waiting for me was my first order of Medifast. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Although I'm only 30% of the way toward my goal I feel 100% better. My confidence is back, I walk with my head up, I meat people's eye when I walk down the street, I'm 'me' again. Hubby is back to stopping me in the middle of dinner, just to wrap his arms around me and snuggle, and I'm thriving.

But last night, something happened that hasn't happened in years. Again, this is probably going to sound really weird to folks, lol!

Yesterday I had on my favorite slacks, there's something about them that's really flattering - just the perfect cut, perfect length, and one of the few blouses that that actually show off my waist. As I left work, I had stashed what is my almost always present sweater in my bag because, it was hot, and I headed down the street toward BART. I was almost to BART when I heard it...

"Whoa MaMa!"

A CAT CALL!

For me! I haven't had that in AGES. Maybe that makes me shallow, but I'll take a compliment when it's given - hahah.

Look out world - Shawn is back!

One of my weight loss goals...

Is to be as sexy as my car ;)

I was going to wait until 200 to post a picture, but it was too nice a day, and I was feeling too good to not snap a quicky before heading off to the city.

Breaking the Cycle - and Holding Myself Accountable

For the past four weeks I've had a cycle of maintaining (actually gaining - .1 and .3) for a week, and then dropping for a week. Last week was a 'good' week where I dropped. I'm happy about that, but I'm tired of this cycle. So this week - no maintaining, no gaining. I want to see progress! I've made a good start of it. Down 1.2 since weigh in on Saturday.

Yep, I'm below 205! I usually give myself a few days before 'officially' proclaiming a milestone reached, but I'm going to celebrate my first day under 205 just a little ;)

Still, as happy as I am, the focus is on Onderland... Onderland... Onderland :) to that end, I would like to be below 202 by Saturday. I don't know if it's possible but I'm going to follow 'the plan' with that goal in mind.

What really struck me today is how really really nice it is to put on clothes today and not have them be tighter then yesterday. After 2+ years of dreading getting up and facing my closet, wondering "What going to not fit today..." In fact, the pants I put on today might be gaping just a little around the waist... and I just started wearing them again! Now THAT'S the way to start the morning!

Exercise planned for the week:

Did a 30 minute bike ride - kept it between 11-16 MPR. Nice and easy recovery from Saturday. Tonight I'll go for a run - 3 miles minimum as I start a 1/2 marathon program this week in prep for my 'Big' triathlon in September. Wednesday is a longer bike ride (1 hour). Thursday 3 Mile run. Friday a bike and a long open water swim, and then Saturday Hubby and I are doing a 14 mile run/walk called the Double DipSea. (it's more a 'hike' then anything).

I'm still trying to keep my calories around 1000 - like I said, below that and I don't feel well.

The biggest challenge this week will be Wednesday. I've been 'asked' to attend a customer appreciation event at the Oakland A's since one of my bigger clients will be there. I'm sure many of you are going... ooo you get to go watch the Giant's vs the A's in a luxury box?! what's your beef!? Well #1 I'm not good at... what's the word I'm looking for... schmoozing. I do my job and do it well, no matter my personal feelings, but making small talk with someone that I don't give two shakes about... bleh. Then there's the fact that I don't like baseball. Ok maybe 'don't like' is too mild a word, but let's just say I've actually fallen asleep at Candlestick during a double header. just doesn't do it for me. So what's left? Well I used to go for the food and the booze. MMMMMMM baseball food. But, my guess is nothing provided will be 'on plan', so that means I'm going to have to go to extraordinary efforts to get my meals in that day.

alright, I'm done /whine lol!

Anyway - I'm saying all of this more to get it down in writing and to keep myself accountable. -- Cause it's all about Onederland baby! lol

Sharing an NSV (Non-Scale Victory)

You guys - I'm in tears right now...

This might not be something that everyone can relate to, but I hope you will join me in celebrating anyway :)

They finally posted the results from my tri on Saturday. Up 'til now, all I had was my finish time - nothing else.

Well, now I know more and it's... well, for me it's a NSV that still has me stunned.

First of all:

My finish time (as you know) was 2:02:33 - that was fast enough for me to place 139th out of 177 people. That is my BEST finish time to date and in and of itself was very heartening.

Of the women who competed I finished 33rd out of 57 - again a really pleasing number.

of women my age (40-44) I finished 10 out of 14 -- again, for me that's good and those numbers along were enough to make me do a happy dance, but -- there was more.

If you read my report you know that I felt like I struggled on the swim. The results paint a slightly different picture. My time for the 500 yard swim - 11:54. That was fast enough to finish 81st out of the 177 competitors. I was in the top 1/2!! and better yet, only 16, YES 16! women finished in front of me! Oh My God!! I was in 17th place out of 57 (women) when I was done with the swim!

The bike and run numbers weren't nearly as dramatic. On the bike I was 134th out of 177, and on the run I was 146th. Just the fact that I finished the run faster then about 30 people is still, a really, really big deal. I'm making progress!!

Thank You FREECYCLE!!

If you've never logged in to freecycle.org, please, do so now. Find out if there's a group near you and sign up. It's, ummm FREEEEEE!

Anyway, I signed up a few weeks ago and have watched some nice things come and go. The other day though, an add caught my eye, I replied to it, and yesterday I came home with two HUGE hefty bags (lawn size) full of clothes size 12 to 9! Jeans, shirts, sweaters and some nice dresses - all in sizes that I'll be able to wear in a few months. This is going to save me a ton on clothing that I would just 'shrink out of' anyway!

I plan to 'pay it forward' and offer my stuff up there as soon as I'm done with it.

Go check it out now!

Finished!!!

Yep - I finished! It was a GREAT race. Well run and so much fun!

500 Yard swim
9 mile bike (mountain bike, single track)
3.5 mile Run

Finished in 2hours 2minutes! whoot!

Awww Shucks

205.4 this morning. Didn't hit my goal, but I got pretty darn close! I'm on my way to my race. So, I can't type much. Have a great day everyone!

Run Girl Run!

So, as I mentioned earlier - Hubby and I met up with a running group in San Francisco after work and did a run with them. It was our first time with this group so we didn't really know what to expect. I've had bad experiences running with folks in San Francisco before because... well they are all so FIT. But this group seemed to be a nice cross section and I felt really comfortable.

The plan for tonight was to do a 4.5 mile run around Lake Merced. At the designated time we all lined up, someone yelled "GO" and we were off!

I really wasn't expecting to be able to keep up with the pack. It's just not the way it is for me - I'm slow and I know it :). They all pulled away at first and then, magically, they stopped gaining ground! I did a mental check and found that i wasn't struggling, really, so I just went with the flow, keeping a few folks in site.

The first mile rolled past rather quickly and I checked my watch.. WHAT! 11 minutes!? I kept going. Mile two came -- another 11 minute mile!? But now the running path was starting to head up hill. I was hitting the wall that I always seem to hit somewhere in mile three. I was tired, I was winded, I was hurting... But I was determined. Even as I saw the others pulling away and eventually go out of site I knew what my goal was. I was going to run 3.2 miles (a 5K).

I kept running. I felt like I was barely moving. I wanted to stop, to walk for a while, or even maybe halt all together to catch my breath. But I kept running. I was determined, no matter how slow I had to go, that I would reach my goal of 3.2 miles.

And I did! I finished that 3.2 miles in 37:15 - averaging an 11:38min/mile pace! (that's 5.2 @ 1% incline if you're used to the treadmill).

But I wasn't done yet. Nope - the route was 4.5 miles long. I had reached a milestone, but wasn't to the finish yet! The last 1.3 miles I did a run/walk combo and in the end, I finished the 4.5 miles in 53:53 - averaging a 12:06 min/mile pace. Not too shabby!

What was really exciting was that when I got to thinking about how far I've come...I realized that the first "Marker Set" we did while training to do Lavaman we were asked to run 2 Miles and record our time. That first time out (On 11/20/09) I ran that 2 miles in 31:35. Just a little faster then I ran OVER 3 miles tonight! WHOO HOO!!

But there was something else I realized tonight. I was thinking about how like a MediFast Journey my run was.

We start out so gung ho. We're (usually) losing at a fast pace... We're excited, pumped up, we feel like we can do anything.

Then, at some point, we hit that wall. Our body/mind screams at us to stop... Let me catch my breath... Let's lay down, this is too hard! And we have two choices at that point. We can stop, and hope we're able to get going again, or we can keep our goal in site, keep moving. Yeah, we might slow down a bit... The fat may not be dropping at quite the same rate, and we can let that discourage us. But if we just keep moving in the right direction. If we keep pumping our arms, keep focused on breathing and putting one foot in front of the other over and over again... We'll make it to our goal! And maybe making it to goal, doesn't mean we get to lie down. We may need to keep walking and even running some, but the sense of accmplishment from reaching that goal will help propel us along. And all the pain will be worth it.

Keep running my MF friends. At YOUR pace. As I was told when training for Lavaman. Even if you come in last, you're still ahead of every person who's at home sitting on their couch right now.

Even if your weight loss has stalled, even if your struggling a little with BLT - or whatever. You're still ahead of every person who hasn't chosen to step on this path and start this weight loss journey.

We're all winners - dang it! - now where's my metal?! :)

A Peacefull Easy Feeling

Not much to say today. Took my rest day last night so no workout. And my weight rebounded a little bit this morning. No worries, I was expecting it. Still expect to be at or below 205 on Saturday which was my ultimate goal. Food has been 'easy' again. I like days like this.

The plan tonight is to go run with one of the local running clubs. They do a 4.5 mile loop around Lake Merced every Thursday, so hubby and I are going to stop there, and do that before heading home. I can hardly believe that I look at a 4.5 mile run as such a 'normal' thing now. I like it.

Otherwise - not much else to say... lol. Perhaps I'll have some amazing insight later on today :)