Getting there!

Hard consistent, focused, determined work pays off. This is not hard.

Losing about a pound a week is not starvation or exhaustion. It is as simple as staying committed to a minimum average of 40 minutes of cardio a day (5 days/week though I do shoot for 6 and usually accomplish 6) and sticking to healthy food choices all week. Yes I have had a few cookies and a glass of wine or two. I even had a cheese steak last weekend. But before I had any of these things, I made sure that I REALLY REALLY wanted them and I was willing to add to my exercise regimen in order to compensate for them. Today I had two tamales (one for breakfast and one for lunch) and they were totally worth the extra time I will spend sweating their caloric totals off.

I am now at 129.5 lbs.

New goal is to reach 125 lbs by the beginning of March. Bring it!

Sock Fetish!- (especially for all you image searchers)

I'm impressed, surprised, and a tad bit honored that my blog is viewed internationally!!! (If you are wondering how I know this and you are a fellow blogger, you can see all of your stats by clicking the stat button.)

The numero uno image that is searched all over the world that lands people on my blog is "sock fetish." Someone in Japan looked at like 6 images yesterday. Last week, it was someone in Canada and the week before it was someone here in the US. Today I have Romania on board as a sock fetish image searcher. So I'm rounding up a few new sock photos for my new found fans...

I might add more to this album. Might as well do it up if you're going to be objectified. Enjoy!!!!

Convert (Goodbye Asics, hello Brooks!)

I can be impulsive in all aspects of decision making especially if instant gratification is involved. As soon as the appeal outweighs the doubt, I'm in. I'd like to think that I'm older and wiser now, therefore I know better BUT that's probably only partially true.

My first "real" pair of running shoes were New Balance. After they wore out I went to Asics and have been an faithful Asics girl for a few years. I tried to rekindle my relationship with New Balance briefly but they just didn't do it for me. Time and again, every time I get fitted for new running shoes I go home with Asics. (Fellow runners, PLEASE get fitted- do not go out and buy shoes without a knowledgeable person's guidance- it will eliminate the trial and error and reduce those mystery aches and pains and potential injury... not to mention it could save you time and money as you will only buy exactly what works for you...)

The Runners World shoe tester person sent an e-mail a few weeks ago asking wear-testers to return and test another (FREE) pair of shoes. Uhm... twist my arm... right?

We went to Runner's High in Metuchen for the fitting and I told the associate that I was hoping to test a good stability shoe since I went home with a great pair of minimalist shoes last time. He stepped away and returned with a pair of Brooks Ravenna 3's. I put them on and they felt great, but even when you're getting shoes for free, you don't leave after trying only one pair. There was an awkward minute or two when the associate started searching for another option that suited my needs (in my size) in the rows upon rows of running shoes that Rodale/Runners World provided. He came up empty. So I became the owner of a brand new pair of Brooks. Fair enough. Free is for me.

I put these on for my nightly date with the living room elliptical but that was no way to test a pair of shoes. The next morning I tested them while running in place for 4.5 miles on a treadmill.


Asics who.....????

These are $@#&ing AWESOME! Is that wrong to say after just ONE (not even real) run???? This must be the equivalent of having sex on the very first date and shacking up immediately after... uhmmm... except with running shoes... Kinda... Well, you get the picture. The point is, I don't even know my Asics anymore. It's like they were my good enough for now but not permanent relationship that I totally dropped like a hot rock as soon as this studly, charming, impressively endowed pair of Brooks showed up. And I'm so certain that I'm making the right move that not even ashamed of what I'm doing. Asics are yesterday's news and my fire for them was just stomped out. They just don't do it for me anymore. Brooks Ravenna and I will likely have an exciting, passionate, firey long term relationship. I will always remember my days with my bright pink Asics Gel Speedstar 5's and all the memories we made together, but it's time to let go and move on to better things.

Of course, I will still have my occasional fling with my Merrel Barefoot sneakers, but my time and love will never be shared equally between the Brooks and the Merrells. I wonder if Runners World will provide me with an even BETTER pair of shoes the next time around..?

weigh in today

I wasn't going to weigh myself but I figured if the number didn't change or showed slightly higher (which will happen- that's part of the process) that it would be good incentive to keep my weekend eating squeaky clean. It's easy to stay focused during the week because eating during work is not a practical option for me. Also, my evenings are riddled with parental duties. Kid pick ups, kid home work, kid dinners, etc. Sheer madness with little time to deviate. My children are usually indifferent to the fact that we do not keep an abundance of junk food in the house. (sometimes they inform me that there's "nothing" to eat) I have to really really go out of my way in order to succeed at ruining my food regimen. I'm glad to say that it's just not worth it.

About a week after my last marathon in November, I saw 136 lbs when I stepped on this scale. Let this be a reminder to all of us "average" runners with slower metabolisms that high mileage does not give you the license to eat whateverthehell you want.

Hard Logical work = results, people:

130.75 lbs! I'm less than a pound away from my first goal! It's honestly not that hard. I just keep reminding myself that I want results more than I want to impulsively eat something unhealthy. I remind myself that I can have whatever it is I have a fleeting craving for if I'm willing to put in the extra time/effort to burn it off. My willingness to work it off is my deciding factor. Last weekend, a strong sweet martini was TOTALLY worth the extra time on the boring-as-hell elliptical. Today, I don't want a martini enough to work for it.

I'm going to start running more again to prepare for the 13.1 NY and this will be in addition to all of this moderate cardio and core training. I loathe running in cold weather almost as much as I loathe high mileage on a treadmill. (actually anything more than five miles on a treadmill is almost unfathomable) I wonder which will ultimately be the lesser of two evils for me.

Isn't this a weight loss blog too? (for now)

Progress resumed. I last weighed in "publicly" on December 10th and I was 132.75 lbs. and right after that, realized that it was wiser to stay in maintenance mode since our home turned into a holiday cookie making factory and seemed to have delightful indulgent food every where we turned. (If you recall, right after the Philly Marathon in November I was 136 lbs!!!! What the....????)

I went back to regimented healthy eating on January 3rd. And...

Why yes, I do weigh myself on an antique medical scale.

Now I'm looking at 131.75 lbs. And as I anticipated, if I stay focused AND realistic, I can lose about a pound a week. I can lose more if I make more time to burn calories OR if I don't mind feeling weak and atrophied by cutting my intake. No thanks. I'm good with a pound a week. I'm aiming for at least 45 minutes of cardio a day that keeps me at my aerobic base while still allowing myself to run three times a week. Running puts me at my anaerobic thresh hold and although it burns calories, it actually hinders fat loss progress. On the days that I run, I cut my aerobic base cardio to 30 minutes.

This is my main cardio source right now. It's really boring, but I'm getting used to it:

As a runner who never downloads nifty apps and always purposely leaves her Garmin at home, I'm sure that it's not so shocking that I do not require high tech new fangled fitness equipment. We picked this elliptical up on craigslist for like 60 bucks. It retails for about $250. And no, I would never step out of the house in that outfit unless there was a fire or some sort of emergency. As per this post, I take great delight in wearing all the back-of-the-dresser clothing for my at home workouts. I watch more TV than ever now. This eliptical-ing cannot happen with just music or awkward silence. I would surely die of boredom.

What am I eating?

Same ol' breakfast:

This is 1/4 cup of oatmeal, 1/4 cup of whey protein isolate, 1/4 cup water, a tbsp of flax seed meal, 1 tsp natural almond butter, and a few chocolate chips. A minute and 15 seconds in the microwave and it's ready!!! I wake up at 5:30 am and this breakfast keeps me full through lunchtime.

Oh, and I eat the same thing for lunch (every day during my work week) but I add some berries or banana and some Greek yogurt. Yes, it's kinda boring. But I'm so used to it that I don't even think about how boring it is. If you think about it, going to the bathroom isn't very exciting, nor is driving to work or washing your hair, yet we do all of these things in order to yield a desirable result. So... same goes for my monotonous lunch.

I do have some sort of snack after work. Sometimes it's a wisely chosen healthy snack. Occasionally it's a snack size bag of crunchy cheese doodles or something in the same ridiculous category. Either way, I try and keep the snack under 200 calories.

Wouldn't it be truly pathetic (and not very smart) if I had the same thing for dinner? Well, I don't... and don't get all uppity about my fruit and vegetable shortage. I make up for a lot of it at dinner:

An abundance of the above concoction is usually accompanied by a turkey burger, tilapia, or a small steak. Salad greens with light dressing tend to accompany it as well, though not all the time. NO white carbs. No butter or cheese.

I will confess that now that I am running only a few times a week and I'm not beating myself up if I don't cover ____ miles/week, I'm drinking more coffee. I'm at four cups a day. And it's lovely. It's also lovely to be at peace with the occasional FEELING of hunger. When I was in marathon training mode, I was always worried about giving my body enough fuel for the next run. If I felt hungry, I assumed my body was telling me something. Right now, I'm just responding to that hungry feeling with "oh that's ok" and waiting until it's actually time to eat.

If you counted my calories, you'll notice the number is quite low. But I have the kind of metabolism that doesn't require a lot. (Pity party please.) Many of you would lose more than a pound a week if you did what I'm doing. Let's see what happens next week and see if I can get back under 130 before the month's end. The ultimate goal is to get to the mid 120's right around the time I start to increase mileage in preparation for 13.1 New York. (this actually takes place in Queens NY. Hey, I didn't name the race.) I am testing the lighter = faster theory. If the theory is sound, I'll drop a little more for the NJ Marathon in May. Relax, I'm barely 5'3". Going as low as 120 (I can't imagine less right now) is fine.

The Problem With Phys Ed and School Sports

Do you remember what it was like to be in high school? What about junior high? The desire to find acceptance, to fit in yet be noticeable. To stand out without sticking too far out. To be your best and be known for your strengths while hoping like hell that your weaknesses are not what define you.

This is the A-Number-1 reason I did not participate in school sports.

I attended ONE practice session for the high school track team and was by far the slowest, least coordinated and most out-of-shape girl that showed up. The rest of the girls were polite enough NOT to laugh at me and some were even encouraging and helpful. But I was humiliated. I woke up so sore the next day that I could barely move and even though the coach did her best to try and persuade me to keep at it, I refused to show up for the second practice. I would not endure that humiliation again. I spent the remainder of my high school years living in envy of the girls who ran, played or cheered. They had this talent and gift that I desperately wanted but would never have. I had placed myself out of the "athlete" category at the age of fifteen. With all the wisdom and insight that fifteen year olds typically possess, I decided it was best to resign myself to a life of inactivity.

Let's fast forward to about fourteen years later when I ran my very first 5k. I started going to the gym about four months prior to this race because I wanted to lose the rest of the weight that I had gained while pregnant with my third child. I remember the THRILL of running two miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill! It was an amazing accomplishment as it was something I never thought to even try before. I was soon able to run a little longer and a little faster and I decided that I would try this road race thing just to give myself some incentive to keep at it. I worried like hell about finishing last but just kept telling myself that it wouldn't hurt to try this. Much to my surprise I finished in the middle of the pack. Not fast (duh, I knew that wouldn't happen) but not incredibly slow either. I ran an entire 3.1 miles without stopping!!! I was so excited! A few months of spending twenty to thirty minutes a day on the treadmill was all I needed to accomplish this?!?! Amazing. I wish I knew sooner that I had this in me!

After the elation waned, I found myself remembering that longing I had in high school. How I watched the girls in their varsity jackets with envy, knowing I would never ever know what it felt like to wear one. How I was afraid to run in front of anyone because I was afraid that I would be too slow or tire too easily or just look ridiculous in front of everyone else. I knew that there was no way I was ever going to be fast so I didn't need to display this fact to the rest of the world.

I'm still not fast.

But it's different now. I still always finish somewhere in the middle of the pack every time I run a race. (Ok, ok... I'll admit that I have placed in my age group a few times, but...) It has been seven years since my first 5k. Since then, I have run thousands of miles. There is a vast collection of medals,prizes and t-shirts from countless races in my home. To date, I've run three marathons and six half marathons and countless shorter-distance races. Every starting line is a blessing and honor. Every finish line builds both my confidence and my humility. Each person who stands there with me at the start- whether they finish far ahead of me or far behind has earned their victory with their own will and strength and might. It isn't all about the competition against others. It isn't about being THE BEST. It's all about giving YOUR BEST and being proud of your accomplishments and efforts.

What if there were truly a way to remove competition from school fitness programs? What if we could teach young people that they don't need to be one of the best in order to enjoy a sport? What if the next generation undoubtedly knew that fitness doesn't require athletic talent? A mile is still a mile even when you run slow. It's still an accomplishment. It's still 1400 strides toward a healthier body. I am grateful for what I have accomplished, but how I wish I knew all of these things when I was fifteen. I wish I knew that serenity, contentment and peace could be found by lacing up my sneakers and stepping outside EVEN if I never outran anyone else. I wish I knew that stress and anxiety could be washed away by going out for a run. I wish I experienced the simplistic joy of willing my body forward. I know all of these things now, and my children are learning them too. They all enjoy and understand the challenge they impose against themselves when they step out to the start of a race. The mother within me beamed when I heard my son answer a simple question while he was still DYING from finishing a five mile race. He was asked by his non-runner friend "Why would you do this to yourself?" and he simply said "It feels good to finish."

So there we have it. Take the competition and pressure to perform for others out of the equation and... it just feels good to finish. Well said, oh fourteen year old boy of few words. Well said. Do you remember feeling that way after phys ed class? Yeah. Me neither.