Monday blues on a Tuesday

Yesterday was one of  those bad days I addressed on a previous post. I think the days I know I'm going to run and burn lots of calories I tend to be a little loose when making food choices. I'm really trying to work on that. I would like to consistently make healthier food choices and not just on the days I'm not running. It's hard but, I have no doubt it can be done! Even my run yesterday was trying. First, I decided that I didn't feel like making the drive to meet my group for our last official training track/speed work. Instead, I decided to run on my own. Funny thing is, part of me was hoping I wouldn't motivate myself to do so...no such luck! I first talked myself into at least walking, then I convinced myself to shoot for a nice easy 3 mile run. Well, by the time I stepped out the door I knew there would be no walking and in the end, I had covered 4.5 miles(running, of course)! Yay me! And you know what? It actually made me feel better. It definitely helped cure me of my Monday blues on a Tuesday.

Typical daily menu

Typical  'good' day:

Breakfast: 
Yogurt 3-4 points(depend on the brand, type)
breakfast bar 3-4 points
coffee with 2tsp of sugar & 2tbsp of cream 4 points

Lunch:
bowl of oatmeal 3-4 points
piece of fruit 0 points

Snack:
1 ounce of goldfish 3 points or
12 Wheat thins 4 points or
10 Townhouse crackers(sometimes with cheese) 4points/with cheese 6 points

Dinner:
5-6 ounce Salmon 7 points
1-2 cups of broccoli 0 points
1/2 cup of mashed potatoes 3 points

Dessert:
Ice cream 5 points


Typical 'bad' day:

Breakfast:
16oz Caramel Macchiato w/ 2% milk 6 points
blueberry bagel w/ butter 11 points

Lunch:
Yogurt 3-4 points
breakfast bar 3-4 points
fruit 0 points

Snack:
Usually the same as a 'good' day

Dinner:
Most 'bad' days end with me picking up take out and, it almost always includes dessert

Even on days when I don't necessarily make healthy choices, I still try to stay within the points I'm allowed.  I also want to point out that on either of these days, good or bad I usually work out which 1.gives you points to bank or use(I always end up using these on bad days) and 2. keeps you fit and healthy. At the end of the week having had good days as well as bad days there is usually a weight loss. :-)

13.72 miles, Philly Rock N Roll, bring it!

8/27/11 + 6:30 a.m +13.72 miles +2 hrs. 47 minutes + 1,822 calories burned = One exhausting morning!!!

Wow! I haven't ran 13 miles since March 21, 2010. Over a year ago! That's when I ran the Shamrock half marathon and, I must admit today's run was no where near as fun as that run, even with two injuries. Maybe it was because there was no crowd cheering you on by name(thanks to it being displayed on your bib), no finish line, no t-shirt, no medal and, no FREE BEER! What gives? Lol! Although I'm battling a little overuse knee injury(way to minimize it Tracey) I'm in far better shape this time around than the last time I ran 13 miles. Back then, I had no idea what I was getting into, having only been running for less than a year. Sometimes ignorance IS bliss.

Today's run was tough! First of all, it was humid as hell. We started promptly at 6:30 this morning, trying to beat hurricane Irene, and five minutes in I was sweating like a pig. The first three miles were rough which, is usually the case with me. I'm pretty consistent and it takes me a full twenty minutes(at least) to warm up and find my groove. By mile 3.45 I was thinking 'am I gonna be able to complete this?'. We're talking roughly 10 more miles to go! I was already getting into my head. I'm my own worse critic and, I'm extremely hard on myself. So, I make these types of challenges far more challenging than they need to be. Well of course, I stuck it out because along with being my own worse critic I'm also stubborn and a fighter and I don't give up easily.

I breathed heavily, sweated, grunted, and yes even walked a little. At one point, I mentioned to one of the ladies in my group that I was only doing 10, she was like oh cool, me too! I was exhausted, my knee was aching a little and I was suffering from 'runners trots'(luckily I made it home, what? tmi?). If you don't know what that is, google it! :-) I was saying those words to her but knowing the whole time I wasn't going to stop til my GPS hit 13. Well it didn't just hit 13 but 13.72. A few of us read the directions in the email wrong and made a double loop when it should have been a single. Oh well, what's another .72 when you've already gone 13?!

On Saturdays as a reward I usually hit Dunkin Donuts after my long run. The caramel iced coffee is to die!! Unfortunately for me, today was not a good day to do that. After burning 1,822 calories which pretty much burned off my breakfast of boiled egg and an English Muffin with 1tbsp of peanut butter PLUS the 'runners trots' I was depleted. Usually that first sip of my iced coffee is heaven, today? Not so much!

Overall I'd say it was an okay run. I'm not one to try to beat the clock. I just want to finish! Here's a quote I absolutely love because it reminds me of what I'm feeling when I'm out there running. 'In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished'. I have this buddy I sometimes run with and she too can be hard on herself. I've said to her a hundred times 'it doesn't matter if you're having a bad run, or need to take walk breaks, you're moving'. I truly believe that.

Can't believe there's only three weeks before my birthday. Now, usually we want the birthdays as far off as possible because, who wants to get older? Lol! But, this time around I want to move it back not only to avoid turning the big 37 but, because I have a half marathon that very same day!  Who's idea was it to do that?! Hmmm

The Good:
1. I finished!!!
2. earned 32 Weight Watchers activity points (ca ching, I'm seeing Coldstone cake batter in my future)

The Bad:
1. hot and humid, though nothing new...it's been that way the entire summer of training
2. .72 miles more than we'd plan to do
3. running on empty

The Ugly:
1. chafing, oh my...the burn in the shower(forgot to put on my body glide)!
2. runners trot (sorry but, it's a part of running)

PGRC

(a few of us from today's run, somewhere around mile 9 or 10)

And I wonder how I regained 20 lbs.

I love, love love desserts! Did I say love? Well, I do! It is my biggest weakness along with soda, and french fries and well, you get my point. I believe I have an addiction to sugar. If you read my 'about me' you'd know by now I'm also a hypercondriac. Hence my self diagnosed sugar addiction. At any rate, I have this need or desire to eat dessert every night. Good news is on Weight Watchers it can be done. You just have to plan accordingly. Anyway, during the maintenance phase of being on plan I stopped counting my points and then I stopped cooking which, is a huge no no. Cut to yesterday...for weeks leading up to me rejoining WW's I had been picking up take out for dinner which would include dessert. A lot of days my dessert would be this delicious double chocolate chip walnut cookie from Panera Bread now, because I wasn't counting points I had no idea how many points this cookie was costing me and, to be frank didn't care. I'd ran out of ice cream ;-) and knew I needed to pick up a dessert on my way home and thought, oh, I'll stop at Panera. You see, now that I'm back on the plan I HAD to find out the 'point value' of this delicious cookie. Are you ready? A whopping 13 points! Let me put that into perspective for those of you  who are not familiar with how Weight Watchers work. I'm allowed 32 points a day based on key things such as weight, age, etc. Yeah, so you see 13 points is a lot for a cookie. You want to know my first thought after finding that out? 'And I wonder how I regained 20lbs'?!

Not the actual 13 point cookie monster

This Saturday I'll be running 13 miles!! Check back to hear all about it! 

How, how, how and by the way, how?

How do you keep it off? How do you stay motivated? How do you not give in to the cravings? How do you find the time to exercise? If I had the answer to these questions I would be a wealthy lady!! But, these are questions that I get asked often. I'm no expert and I'm only speaking from MY experience and, clearly I don't have it all figured out either. If I did, there wouldn't be an 'after, after' picture of my weight loss success. At any rate, here's what has helped me and continue to help me throughout my journey.

How do you keep it off? It's really hard keeping the weight off. I learned this the hard way. I remember being in my first Weight Watchers meeting 11 years ago. At that time I was about 211lbs(eventually I got as high as 286). I only wanted to lose about 30lbs. I would sit in meetings with people I thought looked amazing who were there to lose 10 or 15lbs. I would look at them and wonder...how hard could it be to lose 15lbs?! Well, hard!! For me, I find that trying to lose 20lbs is a lot harder than losing 100lbs. I've discovered the best way to keep the weight off is, to always stay conscious and try not to fall back into your old habits which, is easier said than done. I mentioned before that I lived, breathed, thought Weight Watchers for over 2 years and I know what constitutes a portion. I got really good at eyeballing it. Cut to 3 years later and I conveniently stopped measuring my portions. Why did I think it was perfectly okay to quit measuring my food after reaching my goal weight? Clearly eating without measuring hadn't worked for me the years I carried the extra weight around, so why would I think I could get away with it now? Short answer, I can't. Maintaining a healthy weight can be difficult especially in today's society it's all about big portions. Super size this and biggie that! So, how do I keep the weight off(most of it)? By accounting for every morsel that goes into my mouth. Good or bad!

How do you stay motivated? Diet and exercising can get old fast for a lot of people, myself included. You have to remember why you're doing it. Constantly remind yourself how great you feel compared to how you felt 5, 15, 50 pounds ago. I usually work out a lot! In fact my Honey was constantly telling me 'you work out too much'. Well first off, I'd tell him 'can you imagine what my body would look like if I didn't?'. LOL!! Anyway, only you can say what's too much. I stay motivated by actually enjoying the activities I do so,  choose your activities wisely. If you absolutely hate running then don't! Otherwise you won't stick to it. Now, that's not to say I don't get tired or not want to work out some days. In fact, the days I feel the most exhausted or unmotivated are the days I usually feel the best once the workout is over. However, sometimes I just can't motivate myself to go no matter how much I know how great I'll feel afterwards.It happens but, most times I push through that not wanting to go feeling because in the end, I'll be happy for having done it!

How do you not give in to cravings? Those pesky cravings. Sigh! I know, I know. Those chips are just calling your name or in my case Coldstone Creamery(not only does it call my name, it does so with a nice Italian accent, lol). I will confess when it comes to cravings I give in, sort of. Trying to avoid them at all cost can make you miserable. The reason why I love Weight Watchers so much is because, NOTHING is off limits! There are no exclusions. It's all about portion control. It makes it easier to give in to your cravings but within reason. You don't feel deprived. If you currently want to lose weight and you're thinking of going on a diet but, you just love your 'insert weakness here' and feel like you can't give them up? you should definitely check out Weight Watchers. When you feel deprived of something, you'll eventually start to resent the diet you're on and resentment will probably lead to giving up. Basically, the way I deal with cravings is...first ask myself if I really really reaaaaaally want it? Most times, the answer is yes! LOL! If this is the case, I evaluate my points including my activity points and go from there. Sometimes though, the cravings pass. It helps knowing that I'm not on a plan that tells me I can't have it as long as I'm on that plan so, I know I can always have it tomorrow.

How do you find the time to exercise? This one for me is a little easier than most. I know a lot of people have busy lives that includes kids and, that's something I don't have to think about when I want to take a 7:15 p.m spin class. Although having kids should not be an excuse. I work full time and go to school part time so, I'm pretty busy too. If it's important to you, you'll make it work! All it takes is at least 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week. If you have a lunch break, get out and walk for 30 minutes. It's how I started. I remembered being asked when do you have time to eat, if you're out walking? Fortunately for me, I have a little flexibility and don't have to actually eat at my lunch hour besides, it doesn't take a full hour or thirty minutes to eat lunch well, not unless you're consuming a lot of food! Bottom line, if it's important to you, you'll find the 30 minutes to make it happen and exercising actually makes you feel good! Really, it does. :-)

Juicy Hamburgers

Ingredients

	1 spray(s) cooking spray
	1 pound(s) uncooked lean ground beef (with 7% fat)
	1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
	2 tsp minced garlic
	1/2 tsp table salt
	1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
	4 item(s) reduced-calorie hamburger roll(s)

Instructions

• Coat a large griddle, outdoor grill rack or stovetop grill pan with cooking spray and preheat to medium-high.
  
• In a large bowl, combine beef, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt and pepper; mix well and shape into 4 patties, about 1-inch-thick each. (To retain juiciness, be careful not to overwork the meat.)
  
• Place burgers on hot griddle or grill and cook 5 minutes per side for medium (or longer to desired degree of doneness).
  
• Serve burgers on rolls with your favorite toppings. Yields 1 burger per serving. 

These burgers are around 6 points on the Weight Watchers plan. I'm here to tell you, most fast food/chain restaurant burgers are around 10 points and up. Translation...a lot of calories!!!

Yummy! Enjoy!