The Answer is Tea

I have been drinking tea in the evenings after dinner and it is like a miracle cure for the munchies!  I used to drink it pre-kids and sort of forgot about it.  Cherelli reminded me about tea when I had my food meltdown last week and it has really helped.  When I start to feel munchy I get up and make some tea and that solves everything.  It both gives me something to ingest, is also relaxing, and the calorie cost is zero! I want to stock up on more sweet tasting teas like apple/cranberry.  No caffeine of course.

Things continue to go well on the exercise front.  I was sore yesterday from all the lunges and squats but I didn't let that stop me from going to boot camp at 5:30 this morning.  This morning mostly my glutes were sore.  Fortunately it was a cardio/abs day so I wasn't put through too much torture.  I took some ibuprofen and ate a 1/2 of banana before I left just to help with the soreness.  My lower back is still a bit sore too.

I talked to the boot camp trainer about lunges and squats on the smith machine.  He didn't see any advantage to using the machine so I might go back to doing them on my own.  The back of my neck is sore from the bar (even with the pad) and I think I was leaning on the bar more than lifting it.  Ideas, ideas.  We'll see.

Tomorrow is a 3 mile run and strength training and Saturday is that 7 mile run.  Eek!  Saturday is a busy day, we have a holiday party in the early afternoon and Miguel wants the afternoon "off" to watch a soccer game.  So it's either a morning or an evening run.  Another game day decision.

Hope you are doing well, keeping your body moving and the stress down as we cruise through the holidays!

13.1 - Here I Come!

Another busy weekend that's rolling right into a busy week!  This past weekend was my 41st birthday so I had a lot of fun (and food).  On Friday evening a friend came over for dinner.  It was a totally relaxed affair and it was nice catching up despite the kiddie chaos around us.  We ate pretty healthy too, which was good.  On Saturday I took the kids to playgroup and Miguel went mountain biking.  He's been getting back into that lately.  That evening I went out to dinner in The Big City with my jail girls, as I call them (we all used to work in SF jail together).  We went to cocktails and then Umami burger.  Yummmmmy!  I had a vodka soda, a burger, tons of fries/onion rings, tons of various dips, a pint o' beer, and a cupcake.

On Sunday we went to get our Christmas tree.  What fun!  I felt like I was in a movie or something.  We picked out a fine specimen and took it home. I went to the gym while the kiddos were napping and got in a good bike ride before hitting the weights to do back/biceps/core work.  A bit of stretching and I was out the door.  That evening Miguel and I went out to dinner to celebrate the big 4-1.  I had beef carpaccio, a glass of wine, and linguine with clams.  We shared a creme brulee for desert.  Perfect day.

Yesterday (Monday) I hit the gym for my first legs workout since getting my new routine from Ian.  I didn't have enough time to do my full 32 minute run so I did 21 minutes quickly.  I did a 3 minute warmup walk and then I did one-minute rotations of 6mph, 5mph, 4.5mph.  That means I ran 6mph for 1 minute seven times!  I can't believe how much the feeling of running at 6mph has changed since the first time I did it.  It still feels fast but no longer crazy-fast.  So glad I pushed myself to try it the first time. 

After the run I did legs/shoulders/core work.  I did the new legs stuff - lunges/squats on the smith machine (no weights other than the bar), squats w/shoulder presses, etc.  It was VERY hard.  I still don't know if I'm going to keep these as part of my routine.  You know I'm not into suffering.  I left feeling good that I conquered them as I had to really push myself just to get through each set.  My legs are sore as heck today and my back is a bit sore - which is concerning and another reason I might not keep these.  We'll see, I probably just need to get stronger so my back doesn't have to work as hard.  The smith machine just doesn't feel natural though, which I don't like, I'd rather do things without machines if possible.

So today is a day off from exercise and then back at it tomorrow (bootcamp) through Friday.  Ok...onto the BIG news.

Dun, da, daaaaaa...I registered for a half-marathon!  A friend emailed me that she's doing it and is looking for training partners.  And my running pace isn't too slow for her - bonus!  So I figured, hey, why not?  If I have to do a run/walk that's okay too.  It's the Kaiser half-marathon in San Francisco and it is in 8 weeks!  I found a training plan, Hal Higdon's (Novice 2) 12 week plan, and I'm going to modify it to fit my life.  I'm going to drop one of the running days altogether (the short run) and do bootcamp instead.  Long runs are on the weekends, which are perfect.  Oh, and I have to start on Week 4 since I don't have 12 weeks to train.  That means I have to do a 7 mile run this Saturday.  Eek!  Guess who's getting up at the crack of dawn on Saturday?  I sure hope it's warmer than it was this morning.

So my new plan looks like this with 3 runs/1 bike, 3 strength training, 1 bootcamp, 2 rest days.  Looks good on paper, we'll see how it goes in real life!  This week will be different because I just worked out this new plan today.

Sun:  bike/strength training
Mon:  Rest
Tue: Run/strength training
Wed:  Bootcamp
Thur:  Run/strength training
Fri:  Day off
Sat:  Long run

Unnecessary Roughness

First off I want to thank you all for the helpful comments.  I really got a lot out of receiving them - the support and in information.  Thanks!

I'm feeling entirely back to "normal" (whatever that is) today, which is a relief.  I still can't believe how impossible it seemed to resist eating but I'm just glad it's passed for now.  I am taking the advice given and will try to behave differently next time.  I'd love to believe there won't be a "next time" but I suspect that's not reality.

So, back to today.  After my total meltdown this week I got on the scale this morning and thought, "Oh."  I was down from my last official weigh in the week before Thanksgiving.  1.6 pounds down in fact.  Geez.  I sure hope my eating breakdown wasn't related to that friggin' scale because if it was I feel kinda silly now.  But I think it was more than that.  I wonder if not enough sleep was another factor.  I'm trying to get my butt to bed sooner these days.  Anyway, I lost!  Woot!  I needed a little boost and that was a nice surprise.  I am now exactly 1 pound from my mini-goal of getting to my post-pregnancy (pregnancy #1, that is) weight of 178.4 pounds.  Hopefully it will happen before the end of the year - that would be a nice way to ring in the new year.

On to other things.  My legs were SO sore today!  Ouch.  I was even limping a little bit after prolonged sitting.  My muscles are not happy.  But I think that means they're growing so that's good.  I went to the gym after work and figured I'd just try to run and if I couldn't, I couldn't.  I remember that even though they hurt once you warm up that sometimes goes away.  So I got on the treadmill and did a longer-than-usual 5 minute warmup walk and then gave it a go.  I was able to run for 25 minutes without much problem.  Normally I run on 1° incline but decided to go with flat given my legs.  The run was surprisingly easy.  I could feel discomfort in my legs but nothing I'd describe as pain.  I stopped at 25 minutes (instead of my full 32) both because I didn't want to push my legs too hard considering, but also because I was pressed for time.

After my run I did chest/triceps/core.  I feel like I'm getting better at the pushups.  I'm still doing the three "real" ones on the floor followed by 5 modified ones for three sets.  But the three feel a little more controlled, less desperate - if that makes sense.  Anyway, I'm glad to be doing them. 

Ok, so I'm wrapping up.  I'm glad to be back in the 170's for the first time since May 2009.  Again, thank you for all the support.

Bad Mood, Bad Food, Bad Attitude...hey, that rhymes!

Ugh, it's been a tough week.  I don't know if it's the Thanksgiving eating or the resulting weight but something kicked me into a bad mood where I didn't care about my eating and I actually considered throwing in the towel on this whole fitness thing, if you can imagine that!  I figured I must be pre-menstrual but so far, nada.  The good thing is I have stayed steady with my workouts despite my bad attitude.

On Monday I hit the gym and did the upright bike for 25 minutes followed by chest/triceps/core work.  That evening I ate a bunch of m&m's that my mom had sent us home with to help with potty training.  After I acknowledged that I would not stop until they were gone I dumped the remainder down the disposal.  I was so irritated with myself that I could not stop.  So. Irritated.

Tuesday was a planned day off from the gym (poor timing) and that's when things got really ugly in my head.  I had more m&m's from my own stash for potty training and started into those.  Again, I couldn't stop.  I eventually put the remainder down the disposal.  But then I ate 2/3 of a pack of crackers.  And a bunch of dried okra snacks.  And a bowl of cereal.  And more m&ms.  I found myself thinking of words - in relation to my view of myself - like disgusted, disappointed, weak, not normal.  What is wrong with me?  Why can't I stop?  I want to stop, but I'm not stopping.  Ugh.  It was not pretty.  I finally went to bed with plans to go to boot camp in the morning and hopefully kick this bad thinking.

But overnight Marek decided our bed was the place to be and we were up for a good hour+ in the middle of the night.  That, combined with staying up too late to begin with, kept me from going to boot camp.  So I planned to go when Miguel got home from work.  My attitude didn't get much better during the day and by the time Miguel got home I really needed to get some exercise.  When I got on the treadmill at the gym I told myself, "Ok, we're going to use this run time to figure out what the fuck is going on and stop it!".  I thought a lot.  I concluded only two things.  I needed to stop with the self criticism.  Being harsh on myself will come to no good.  It's my go-to self punishment despite knowing it doesn't help.  The second thing I figured out is I just can't have m&ms in my house.  Ever, apparently.  After all that thinking I hit the weights and just rocked out to my music while doing back/biceps/core work.  I left feeling much better than when I arrived.

I had all kinds of ideas about the Thanksgiving eating being a trigger, that my willpower muscle got weakened by all that indulgence, that I was maybe pre-menstrual, or pre-menopausal, or post-crazy.  Maybe, this, maybe that - it didn't much matter because the run itself helped a lot.  By the time I was done I'd decided to go home, have a salad for dinner, and get a good night's sleep.  I felt a bit better already.  Unfortunately Marek came into our room again but this time was slightly less disruptive, he just went to sleep in our bed for a while and then went back to this.  I can handle that.  For a while.

All I know is my mind is coming around.  The negative feelings are lingering, I'm still mad about all the food and I know I need to just let it go.  I hope the scale is not too hard on me tomorrow but whatever it shows will just be a reflection of what I already know.

Today I hit the gym twice.  I went for an early workout and did the upright bike for 25 minutes followed by legs/shoulders/core work.  Then I remembered that I have a training session after work.  Oops.  At the training session I begged Ian for mercy and he went easy on me - sort of.  I got some exciting new things to add to my routine.  Single arm row with the cable - we'll see how these go.  They take a lot of mental effort to do correctly and I tend to shy away from that but we'll see.  Assisted pull-ups.  These I like and am excited to start doing.  Some killer ab stuff I'll have to go into later.  He got me off the hack squat machines and doing regular squats again but this time with a shoulder press thrown in.  And then this lunge thing on the smith machine that is questionable just given how much thought I have to put into doing them right.  And how hard they are.  My legs were SO fried by then, we'll see how I feel about them on fresh legs, hopefully I like them more.

Ian took my body fat with calipers and concluded 37.5 percent.  My tanita scale says 39 so I like the lower number.  In either case, I have a lot of extra fat.  News flash, eh?  The good thing is I'm feeling good again.  The negative attitude is lingering but almost gone.  I can't tell you how much I hate episodes like that but I'm just glad it's over and glad I resisted all the other crap that it came into my head to eat (KFC, other candy bars, chips, etc, etc).  That's good for something.

My Narcissim Waivers...aka I Forgot about Pictures!

I can't believe, CANNOT BELIEVE, that I forgot all about the official triathlon photos!  I blame this entirely on having children.  With my first triathlon I obsessively checked the photos page, I couldn't wait for the pics to post.  This time I checked once, they weren't up yet and I planned to check the next day and totally forgot.  Anyway, without further ado...

I have a big smile on my face.  I will have this big smile on my face in all the pictures.  I couldn't stop smiling.  It was like a nervous tic or something, I just could not stop smiling.

There were three shots of me on the bike but I like this the best because of the other cyclists in the background.  Still smiling.

This is heading out on the run.  I love the woman behind me with her hair flying in the air.  I'm quite sure she passed me moments after this was taken, you can just tell she's running faster than I am.  Oh, I have an idea!  I just looked up her numbers and she and I are remarkably similar.  I beat her in the swim and transition times, she beat me in the run and we were within seconds of each other on the bike.  We started in different waves but overall my time was 4 minutes faster! 

Almost done!  My smile isn't quite as big as it was before.  I think my nervous smile had finally worn off and I smiled purposefully for the camera on this one.

And the big finish!  Someone was on the other side of the finish line encouraging people to throw their arms up...so cool!  And my smile is back!

This is the "relief" image.  You can see I just crossed the finish line. 

Ahhh, my narcissistic tendencies are restored.  I realize I still haven't uploaded my Garmin data.  Who knows if that will ever happen.  I am looking forward to doing a sprint or two in spring to practice for my olympic in November!