Wednesday Weigh-In and Learning To Change Gears

To get the business of the day done - still no change on the scale over last week! I will say that this week has been pretty erratic in terms of day to day fluctuations, to include being up to 157 on Sunday, but, I am happy to say, I've settled back down to where I was - so at least no 'official' gain to report. I feel confident that things will start to move again, because the numbers were bouncing today and I saw 152 briefly lol, so maybe that's a good sign. The scale settled at 153 so that is my official weight (again) for this weigh in. Also, down another 1/4" in the hips - so THAT is reassuring too!

I've been doing great with the food tracking so far this week- it seems portion size is my point of pain at the moment, but even that is not SO bad. I am being very conscious of getting in my 'five a day' fruits/veges. I love that Clementines are in season - delicious! Juicy, sweet - only 35 calories! I eat one every afternoon at my desk and it fills me up! (I could eat two they are so good) I have a little stash of 12 almonds at the ready in my desk, just for that day when a piece of fruit doesn't quite cut it for a snack. That is just 1/2 a full serving by the way...no more leaving the whole can in my desk!

Overall, I am pretty much 'over' the scale stuff...it is a very small part of The Big Picture after all. I know it will eventually start moving again, my job is to continue what I am doing, continually evaluate and tweak where needed, and just trust in the process overall!

Now, my first run for Week 9 C25K last night did not quite go as planned. It started yesterday afternoon at my desk, when I was suddenly hit with the Stomach Issues that consistently seem to plague me at or about the time I ovulate. Crazy but true....I will even go so far as to say that I 'suffer' more ovulation symptoms than I do PMS! I feel sick, tired, crabby and irritable. This can last 2-3 days! I reviewed my food log for the day, and nothing jumps out at me as a culprit for causing such discomforting symptoms (let's just call it.... BLOAT) Of course I also planned to run outside as well - which the last run I did outside was a hard one for all these same reasons, so I got a bit frustrated. Walked to the drugstore for a break and got some Titralac which helped things. (swear by that stuff!)

I also had a bit of stress at work yesterday and then craziness as soon as I got home from work, so that, coupled with not feeling well- would have been enough for me to say, forget the run today.

But, I didn't want to be that easily defeated! I still headed to the track last night for a 'work-out-my-frustration' run. My stomach was feeling better - not great, but I felt like I could run. Well, I ran a mile in 12 minutes...and hit a wall. This was the first time in 9 weeks that I could not self-talk my way through the discomfort. It just wasn't happening! So I walked a lap, and ran again, walked, ran, walked, ran etc. It was still good! The workout sort of evolved into a classic 'track workout' - I did sprints and intervals combined with fast walking. It was not overly organized, I just did what my body felt like it could do at each moment. The sprints were awesome - my form felt good, I felt almost, um, athletic? I still worked up a heart pounding sweat - but I had this breathing issue again, which really seems to hit me outside. Not sure if it's the air in general or the smell of the track? Because of the excess 'air' in my stomach - maybe that impeded my ability to get good quality breaths? Who knows. I still worked the track for 35 minutes and even ran the bleachers at the end - I could only do 3 sprints up/down before my quads started screaming, so it will be fun to see improvement there. Maybe next time I can do 5?

So, even though I was a little disappointed I could not do 30 minutes of slow sustained running yesterday, I still got a great workout in and am proud that I could 'adapt' to the circumstances of the day. I feel I've been so focused on 'Following The Plan As Written' and thus, will beat myself up if I have to miss a day, or modify. Yesterday I gave myself permission to modify and it worked out great. I definitely need to practice more running outside - that is for sure! Thursday might be a better run, I may throw in an extra 30 minute slow run on Sunday to sort of 'make up' for yesterday...we'll see how it goes! At least my 'official' workout schedule calls for 30 minute runs for the next 4 weeks, so I'm sure (hope) over the next month, my endurance will improve before I start increasing again towards One Hour Running.

I also did my upper body workout while watching Biggest Loser, so it felt good to check that off as well!

So I guess overall, I'm learning to take the good with the 'bad' in this journey. Maybe I'm a little slow getting there, but I have much to look back on over the last 8 weeks to pat myself on the back for!