10 mile run today, that wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared. Started rough but I settled down around 3 miles in (after I tripped on a root and did a faceplant :smack: ) and the rest was fine. Weighed myself after the run (very dehydrated I’m sure) and was down to 195, lowest I’ve been in 20 years.
Last week: 209.78
Today: 208.82
Change: -0.96
My goals are…
Goal 1: 199 by May 1
Goal 2: 190 by July 4
Goal 3: 175 by 2011
…which were set up to purposely be ambitious at first and taper off to a more realistic and sustainable maintenance level that would coorespond to a life-long healthly lifestyle. At this stage in the game, that first date might be a little early, and I might have to push it back a little. But I am ok with that, if the overall effect is the same, and I am still working towards the ultimate goal of a long term success.
Congratulations! Welcome to the double digits, feels nice doesn’t it?
Trail running is much more fun than tracks and streets IMHO. Better scenery and the terrain makes you use all those little stabilizing muscles, plus coming home with some good honest dirt on you feels very rugged and outdoorsy 
Don’t dehydrate - I’ve done it and it’s absolutely no fun. If you step on a scale before and after you can get an idea of how much you tend to sweat off, make sure to carry adequate water and/or electrolytes and stay hydrated (on my longer runs I’d use my 1 min walk breaks - every 8 minutes - as a reminder to take a swig).
Down another kilo and now just half a kilo above my first goal.
I am down one pound since I last weighed myself, but I am suffering the onset of a flu. I hope to get well by Monday soon so I can resume my routine.
The good thing is that it has been 4 months since I was down with flu. Before I start execrising, I was regularly down with flu like every month. Hopefully this is nothing major.
Ok, this is a really, really stupid question, but when people say "I ran ten miles yesterday*, are there walk breaks involved? Because I “run” 2.5 miles a night but don’t consider it running because I walk 15 paces after every 120 that I jog. I’ve been working and working and working to shorten the “walk” intervals (and I have, considerably), and I’ve been in constant awe of how, apparently, no one else needs to do this. Are a lot of those other people taking walk breaks, too?
I’m sure many are, there’s nothing wrong with it. There’s some good studies showing that alternating walking and running is good for long term benefits. IIRC they talk about running on the order of 10 minutes with a one minute break, similar to the routine Valgard used. I’ll sometime take a short break at my halfway point of my long runs, to eat my Gu and drink some water, but otherwise I try not to break during a run.
I’m not even close to being a 10 mile runner (yet) but I think they do mean 10 miles straight, no walk breaks. Not that it’s bad to take a walking break at all, but if you build up to it gradually I think almost anyone without major health or joint problems could work their way up to a 10 mile run. Have you tried a program like Couch to 5k? A ton of people including me have used this to work their way up to a 30 minute or 3 mile run with no walk breaks.
I just finished my last C25k run this week and this morning I had an awesome run and finished my first 3 miles in about 36 minutes. It was 38F degrees and drizzling and my socks got soaked after about 15 minutes and I lost my ipod the other day so I had no music to serve as a distraction and I held my glasses in one hand because they kept fogging over but in spite of that or maybe because of it, it was really great. I even got a few nods from other runners passing me from the opposite direction.
Ok. That’s what I thought. I am not upset–I am fine with my progress, and am confident that I will continue to improve. I just don’t consider myself any kind of a “runner” until I can do 5k straight, and I was suddenly shocked into wondering if somehow walk breaks were an understood “normal” for people.
March 1 - 145
April 1 - 142
Yesterday 140.2 (drat that .2!!!)
March 1 I started a new job and resolved to start new habits as well. I’ve been almost 100% on bringing my own breakfast (either: packed 1/2 cup either steel cut oatmeal or cottage cheese, and 1/2 cup berries). I’ve been pretty good about bringing lunch every day but friday (lunch: 4 oz meat protein, 1-2 cups raw veggies of choice --usually green peppers, snap peas, or green beans, 1 oz yummy cheese, piece of fruit). Fridays I go out and get something “fun” but reasonable – some brown rice sushi, cuban beef stew, grilled chicken from the Halal cart. I don’t “measure” dinner, just stop when I’m full, but before I’m stuffed.
A very nice/evil person at my office brings lovely baked goods from the farmer’s market EVERY thursday and that’s been rough to walk past. I have definitely succumbed to their siren call. I also noticed sugar cravings right before my period (must. have. jelly beans).
I’ve been going to a 1 hr karate class twice a week, and at first the easiest class was just killing me, now I think I’m ready to add a 3rd day, probably an “endurance” class – a 45 minute interval workout with bags to kick/punch. I’ve also set a goal of testing for belt rank promotion in the next cycle (early June) and that includes a very tough 1.5 hour workout to work up to. I also walk about a mile daily in the course of my commute.
In an ideal world, my goal is a fit 125, but I’ll take a fit 130 very gladly if that’s what I can maintain comfortably. That’s what I weighed before I started law school. I’m only 5’2, and damnit I have two size 6 suits I’d like to fit into again! Suits are expensive!
It’s totally up to you. I don’t think that I’ve done a nonstop run of more than 10 miles. When I started getting up around that distance I decided to give the run/walk thing a shot and was pleasantly surprised to find that my time over long distances did not go up (it stayed the same or decreased) and I finished stronger and less tired. There’s a well-known running coach named Jeff Galloway who is a big proponent of this method.
For ultramarathons, which I have started to get into, I think there are very few people who actually run the whole distance nonstop - running 26.2 miles solid on a generally flat course is already pretty tough, let alone 30, 50 or 100 miles with steep hills. Over those really long distances averaging 12-15 minute miles is quite good and that’s from people who can run considerably faster over shorter distances.
The point of walk breaks is to provide short rest breaks for the muscles and allow you to recover a bit - even a 1 minute break at regular intervals makes a noticeable difference. If you’re just getting into running, as with any kind of vigorous exercise, it’s important not to go so hard so fast that you injure yourself.
- Easter break has not helped, especially not with a week in Cornwall eating all the wrong stuff. Ah well, here we go again.
I think that’s a great attitude, and one I’m learning to cultivate myself; I do great for five weeks, then have a weekend of eating fat crap, but all the good work I’ve done doesn’t disappear because of two days of eating crap. I’d probably be further ahead without a couple of bad days, but in the big picture, it really isn’t that big a deal.
Today I made my not-yet-famous turkey meatloaf using the 99% lean Jenni-O meat. My question is, the 93/7 turkey meat is $4 a pound whereas the 99% is $7 a pound. Could I just brown the meat and drain the liquid in the future and save some bucks to get the 99%?
This is worth repeating. I just had several crap days myself: I cooked a rich dinner for friends and had lots of leftovers (despite sending some home with them!), then spent 2 days with my sister and young niece and nephew, including a day at a theme park. Lots of chances to over eat and/or eat the wrong things. But I did keep active with walking, climbing stairs, etc. at the theme park, and made sure to go for long walks on the other days, and after they left I got right back on the wagon. It was two special events, not typical days for me. I’ll probably have gained a pound or two at Tuesday’s WW weigh-in, but I’m not going to beat myself up about it, just get back on the wagon. And as long as my size 8 jeans still fit, I’m happy. 
53.9kg on the gym scales - less than a kilo remaining! My next caliper test is May 10, and I want to be at my goal weight by then so the dietitian can tell me whether I’ve hit the magical 16%. I have a couple of parties coming up, so I might have to push back the appointment to ensure I can make weight in time.
My sister is trying to lose about 5kg and asked me for advice and recipes. She is now a fan of the balsamic chicken recipe I got from a website. I’m in love with that recipe - it’s so easy to prepare and pretty much nutritionally perfect.
Today:
Breakfast - apple
Post workout snack - banana
Lunch - vegetables and 2 scrambled eggs
Afternoon snack - muesli bar and a tub of yoghurt
Dinner - balsamic chicken with spinach, tomatoes and quinoa
I’m starting to see more fat loss in my thighs (finally!) and visually my arms are exactly where I want them to be. My energy levels are still good - though I took my second BJJ session off today because my instructor warned me that I was overtraining. I’ve been training 2x a day 5x a week for a couple of months now, but I feel like I could keep going. I think I’m still marvelling at how I’m eating almost half of what I used to, but have just as much - if not more - energy, just by eating better and more strategically. I didn’t know you could do that with food!
Can’t believe it’s taken me this long to look up the monthly thread :smack:.
My weight per the home scale is around 254 which is a nice loss; just had a weigh-in at the doc’s office at 261.5 though. I think that one was artificially high - had just had a large amount of “green smoothie” and was getting desperate to potty, plus it was afternoon vs. morning (which is when I weigh at home). I’m using that as my official weight for Sparkpeople though so Sparkpeople wants me to cut down on food a little. Mostly I’m managing.
Very frustrated right now because I’m having trouble doing any exercise, even walking. I’ve had some stomach problems which may be due to the NSAIDs I’ve been on for my knee, so I quit taking the NSAIDs… and now can barely walk 3 steps. Did a fair bit of walking around DC this weekend with a visiting friend and it was… painful. Hopefully I can restart the NSAID soon and at least walk.
Oh - the green smoothies: some friends talked me into trying them, as perhaps they give better absorption of some of the leafy veggies. Basically you puree them in the blender and add enough fruit to make the mess palatable; I put a relatively high proportion of fruit in mine and they’re usually pretty decent. They look utterly VILE though :p.
Link?
Recently, I made the Red Lentil Curry that was mentioned in last month’s thread. I give it a thumbs up. It was good over rice.
Ha, that might have been me who mentioned it! I’ve made it a couple of times and will likely make it even more when winter sets in.
This is the chicken recipe. I leave out the garlic and basil (laziness), use a bunch of english spinach instead of 100g baby spinach, and sometimes throw in a cup of cooked quinoa. I discovered a couple of nights ago that you can’t substitute chopped up regular tomatoes because it gets too watery. But it’s an easy, fast, and adaptable recipe.
My other favourite quick meal is pan-fried salmon fillets with some quinoa (half a cup for me, one cup for my husband) and a giant salad.
OMFG - I’m getting so frustrated with this plateau - almost three months now of bobbing around the same point (up two pounds, down two pounds, repeat ad nauseum). I’m hoping that the good weather and be able to get out in the garden and start digging will help me get past this - I’m having a hard time reducing my calories further without getting into feeling deprived (I aim for 1500-1700 calories per day). I guess I could trim that a little, but not much.