New Shoes, New Book, Old Gym

A quick post and then I am headed to bed!  I stayed up later than I planned last night and I think a nice, long night sleep will do me some good.  So, three quick bits of news...

1.  I got new running shoes!  And not just any running shoes, but Brooks Pureflow. 

I chose these shoes for two reasons.  First, because at the Marin 10k there was a treadmill with a camera hooked up to it.  They filmed you running and then told you about your foot strike and what type of shoe might be good for you.  Mine was pretty normal but the guy said I should try these.  Next, they were a big hit with runners in the Runner's World shoe review.  The testers loved them.  And they're not bad looking either.  Here's what Brooks has to say about them:

Neutral to Guidance runners can experience a run for the senses without losing the comfort of dynamic cushioning. The PureFlow brings a little more shoe and a whole lot of technology to a slick aesthetic. With a wider Nav Band coming up the lateral side and grabbing the midsole, the foot receives arch support without the bulkiness of underfoot materials. A center strike pod provides guidance in finding the natural landing zone, and modern air mesh wraps the foot for an incredibly comfortable fit.

Since they only have a 4mm heel-to-toe offset (my old shoes, like most, are 8mm), your foot is more flat on the ground, instead of having the heel raised up a bit.  They're like an intro into minimalist (barefoot) running.  But I'm not going there, this is about as minimal as I'll get.  I wore them today, though not to run.  I hear your calves will need some adjusting and my calves are already sensitive so I want to ease into the transition.  Tomorrow is a run day.  I might go for a shorter run to avoid my calves getting too sore.

2.  I broke down and purchased another new book.

The End of Overeating by David Kessler.  Dr. Kessler spoke recently at my work and I have been meaning to buy the book ever since.  I don't think it's so much about dieting per se, it's more about the food that's available today and how we are wired to go overboard on it.  At least that's what I got from his talk. Here's how the publishers describe it:

Most of us know what it feels like to fall under the spell of food when one slice of pizza turns into half a pie, or a handful of chips leads to an empty bag. But it s harder to understand why we can't seem to stop eating even when we know better. When we want so badly to say "no," why do we continue to reach for food?  Dr. Kessler met with top scientists, physicians, and food industry insiders. The End of Overeating uncovers the shocking facts about how we lost control over our eating habits and how we can get it back. Dr. Kessler presents groundbreaking research, along with what is sure to be a controversial view inside the industry that continues to feed a nation of overeaters from popular brand manufacturers to advertisers, chain restaurants, and fast food franchises.

I'm still reading the Beck book too, though not being a very good student.  I haven't been reading my reasons for wanting to lose/maintain my weight twice a day.  Haven't been making response cards.  Haven't been patting myself on the back nearly enough.  But I have been eating sitting down more so that's progress.  Good job Michelle.  Actually, I wrote something similar in my workout log today so I am doing a little patting.  Anyway, I am hoping to glean some kernels of information from the Kessler book.  Not that lack of information is what causes me to get out of control with the food sometimes, but I think gaining more knowledge helps - it can help with the guilt/shame crap that sometimes surfaces after I binge. 

3.  And finally, I went to the gym after work today.  This update isn't new and exciting like the previous two but it's always good to log a gym day.  Started with the bike, 25 minutes on the upright, level 7.  My legs are STILL getting hammered by level 7.  It's going to be a good long while, if ever, before I move up to level 8.  And after that I had legs/shoulders/core work to do.  Leg day is definitely a challenge but I try to tackle it with a positive attitude.  I remembered my AccelGel and I know that helped because my afternoon snack was zilch! Which is a good thing as I made homemade pizza for dinner and the points added up quick!

That's all I got.  It's 9:15pm and I'm headed to bed to read a bit.  Hopefully I'll be snoozing by 10!

Real Pushups...Conquered!

I hopped on my scale yesterday morning with a feeling of pleasant anticipation.  I knew I'd drop since the gain from last week was at least partially based on ttotm.  And lo and behold, down to 166 pounds!!  Woot!  That's a 3.6 pound drop from last week and a 1.6 pound drop from the week before.  Excellent.  It's always so nice when the hard work pays off.  And remember, this is with my chocolate egg mistakes.  You don't have to be perfect to lose weight.  In fact, I would suggest if you ARE being perfect than you are at risk for gaining it all back.  Figuring out how to live in the real world, eating mistakes and all, is necessary for maintenance.  I am now 7.2 pounds from my mini-goal.  Sweet.  Sweeter than chocolate eggs.

The WW meeting yesterday was about Plan B when you can't do your regular exercise.  This was a lesson I had to learn years back when I was more rigid in my thinking.  I still struggle with it sometimes but for the most part I've learned that there are alternatives to my "routine" if I can't do it for some reason.  Sometimes I'll do a shortened version of my workout, sometimes I'll do something else altogether.  And sometimes I just have to let go and accept that for this day, or this week, I will not meet my goal.   It's the old battle vs the war thing.  I've learned that doing something is better than doing nothing.  Sounds so obvious but it was a tough one for me to learn and internalize.

In January of '08, just a few months after starting exercise, I learned part of this lesson on a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.  Of course I blogged about it at the time, An Important Lesson @ Golden Gate Bridge, Crissy Field.  The realization that even a walk could burn calories had a profound effect on me and ever since then I have made an effort to not discount "non-exercise" activity that I do outside of the gym.  Wearing a heart rate monitor and seeing the calories burned really helps.  For a while I'd wear it anytime I did anything, a hike with Miguel, a fun bike ride around town.  Now I don't need that reinforcement for social activities but I still wear it at the gym and anytime I'm purposefully "exercising".  

Being back at WW reminds me how much I've learned since starting this journey and how much I like the WW philosophy.  I started WW in 2007 in part because my doctor recommended it.  I'd gone in half-hoping she'd recommend some kind of weight loss surgery.  I wasn't quite heavy enough.  Thank God!  Those surgeries are not the easy fix I thought they were.  I think this is a painful lesson for some, like Carnie Wilson, who just got her second surgery.  Anyway, I'm babbling a bit.  On to the exercise...

I was debating going to the gym since I'd already worked out 4 days in a row.  Friday would make 5. But I actually felt pretty good physically and decided it would be ok.  I went after work and started out with 25 minutes on the upright bike.  Level 7 is still kicking my butt.  After the bike I started in on my chest/shoulders/core routine.

I did pushups first.  I've been doing three sets of 6 "real" pushups and 2 assisted, working toward the goal of three sets of 8 real pushups.  As I was about to start I thought about how I did 10 real pushups at that CrossFit class on Monday, albeit only 1 set.  Maybe it was time to move up to 7 real ones, because three sets is different than one set.  But then I figured, if I can do 7, I can probably do 8.  Ah heck, let's just go for it!  And guess what?  I did it!  I started on this goal of doing three sets of 8 real pushups back in November of last year.  At the time I could do three sets of 3.  And really, it started before then when I worked on lowering the smith machine bar.  It's been a long haul and achieving this goal is a big deal to me.  I can do pushups, really I can!

I forgot to mention that yesterday was our anniversary.  My mom was coming over to watch the kids so Miguel and I could go to dinner.  So I was in a hurry to get home and the rest of my workout was a blur.   I hustled through my weight training and core routine and headed home to change.  We were totally undecided on where to go for dinner but ended up at a place that serves California type fare.  My dinner was:

Pan seared Mahi Mahi on a yummy pile of risotto
Bread and butter
A few bites of Miguel's dinner (steak, french fries, green beans)
Desert was a very creamy bread pudding and ice cream

I also had a vodka soda.  After dinner we went to a bar to play pool and I had another vodka soda.  I tracked it all and, unfortunately I'm only left with 5 "extra" weekly points.  Thank goodness I can earn more through exercise!  I know I can manage.

One last thing, I've started reading "The Beck Diet Solution", very interesting stuff, goes along with a lot of what I practice but I believe will help me take things a step further.  The main thing I'm hoping is the book can help me to do away with these mental battles I have with food.  They are tiresome and I lose half the time anyway.   Gaining freedom from that would would be so cool!

Today is a day off from exercise, though I spent half the day pulling weeds, that's gotta be worth something!  Alright, the kids are up from their naps so I gotta run. 

Like Cardboard, but with Cheese

A quick post to share a new food find. During my blog hiatus I read The Omnivore's Dilemma as well as In Defense of Food. I'd been reading books along these lines for a while, Fast Food Nation, etc. Anyway, something that will likely be very different in my eating when/if I go back on any sort of food "plan", i.e. Weight Watchers, will be the amount of processed foods I eat. I still have my daily coffeemate, that's as fake as fake-food comes, and will likely still have my go-to processed foods but I'm generally moving away from that stuff. Anyway, all that said to share a cracker I happened upon in Whole Foods a week or so ago.

I stopped during a break in work and needed a cracker to go with my Laughing Cow Light Cheese wedges. On the bottom shelf was this Scandinavian Bran Crispbreads. Here are the ingredients and stats:

Ingredients: Unprocessed wheat bran, rye flour, salt
Serving size: 1 slice (10g)
Calories: 12g
Fat: 0g
Sodium: 30g
Carbs: 7g
Dietary Fiber: 5g
Sugar: 0g
Protein: 1g

So, Wow! I bought them and hoped for the best. Well, they definitely fell into the not bad category. Not great but what would you expect from that ingredient list? I spread my LC cheese on two of them, wouldn't want to even try them plain, and they were not only totally edible but they filled me up more than the other crackers I used to eat. Of course I had a very large glass of water along with them. They will be a go-to workday snack for a while I suspect.

One last thing, I'm tight and sore today. Not horribly so but enough that I think the gym is not a good idea. I'm going to take a walk at some point, either after work with the kids in the stroller, if it's not too hot, or after they go to bed.