Six Miles...on a Wednesday?! Yes!!

Yesterday was the last day of my first week back on WW. Last night I was in a munchy mood and really wanted to forage around in the pantry for salty, crunchy foods to munch on. Problem was, I had 1 Point left - this is even with the 17 Points I earned on my Sunday run. So I had a 1 Point cracker and did some serious self-talk as to what it is that I want, why I'm resisting the urge to snack, and how very much I want to feel in control again of my eating. It worked. I got to bed with no additional snacking and ended the week even-steven on Points. Yay me! I was appropriately proud of myself.

I skipped the gym yesterday. I have a minor medical ailment and decided to take a pass. I was also feeling tired. After taking a break from exercise, and then starting up again, there's what I might start calling The Tired Phase. In my experience it lasts about three weeks. It's the time during which your workouts leave you feeling drained most of the time, and you don't yet get the energy boost from the exercise.

This is an evil thing for people starting for the first time because they probably think they can't keep up with an exercise routine, it's simply too exhausting. And further, when you're starting from scratch I think The Tired Phase can be measured in months, rather than weeks. Someone should educate newbies that if they stick with it, they'll eventually have more energy than they've ever had, not to mention weight loss. Anyway, I also wanted to collect my munchkins earlier so I skipped the gym, with a plan to go today.

I went to my WW meeting and was down .8 pounds. Moving in the right direction. The past couple years I've lost weight very slowly. On the order of 1/4 to a 1/2 pound a week on average. I think it's a combination of my peri-menopausal whatever coupled with the fact that I don't make major diet changes. I just return to eating a healthy, balanced diet, as opposed to a diet diet where I make a significant calorie reduction. So .8 is a lot for me and I was happy.

I was feeling a bit iffy about going to the gym today. The minor medical ailment is indeed uncomfortable, though nothing that would prohibit me from working out. You can take your guesses as to what the ailment is but suffice to say, it's not something I want to publish. So I wavered and stalled but then I asked myself a couple questions...1. How will you feel if you go vs not going? 2. What will not going to the gym do to your momentum? The answer to those two questions got me out the door.

I decided to run from my house to the gym, the shortest route being roughly 2.5 miles. But as soon as my feet started running, before I was even off my block, I decided to run a longer route. And by the time I was a few blocks away, I decided to run an even longer route. Don't ask what got into me, it just sounded like a good idea. In the end I took a route that put me at 5.5 miles as I was approaching my gym. But 5.5 is so close to 6, so I ran down a few side streets to get to 6, and as I was running I noticed my last mile was way faster than all the others, I was running it in a 9:35 pace, well, that's so close to 9:30, and I felt really good, so I picked up the pace and finished mile 6 in 9:30. Yippee!!!

My overall average pace for the run was 11:02. I felt really good about that. I was feeling a bit wiped out so I had an AccelGel and then got going on my weight routine, chest/triceps/core. Pushups are still really hard, I used to do 3 sets, 20, 15 and 12 reps. Today I struggled to do 12/10/8. But I did them. I'm actually feeling ok about this getting back in shape phase. And I know that by 'normal' standards I'm in shape now, I mean my standards for myself, which are the only ones that matter, right?

While I was on the run I started craving pesto. But it's SO high in Points. So I had the idea to make a sauce from garbanzo beans, garlic, Parmesan, parsley, garlic and lemon juice - all blended in the Cuisinart. It turned out very yummy, and with the garlic, olive and cheese, had a very pesto like taste and feel to it. That, served with a cup of spaghetti and a side salad was my dinner. Very yummy, and satisfying. Sorry I didn't snap a picture of it.