Sunday 12 August 2007

Going backwards with my weight loss

I only weigh myself when I'm home in Melbourne, so it's generally two to three weeks between weigh ins. Unfortunately, the last few times I've weighed myself I've been putting weight on. My eating has been a strange mix of '80% in control' and '20% way out of control' lately. I've been thinking about what I need to do to get back on track and I've come to the conclusion that I need to stop obsessing about it. Of course, that's easier said than done.

I've decided to set myself health goals rather than weightloss goals. I just have to work them out. I like the philosophy in the Chi Running book, where you aim to enjoy the process, so I'm thinking of the following:

I will make healthy lifestyle choices. (eat properly, get enough sleep, etc)
I will treat my body with respect. (good quality food, minimise stress)
I will maintain my current level of activity. (running, gym, walking)

I'm hoping that having broad goals like this will stop me from beating up on myself over small failures. For example, healthy lifestyle choices includes things like eating sensibly sized portions and not drinking too much champagne.

I want to set myself some more specific goals too, but I'm resisting the impulse at the moment because I've gotten myself into a bit of a state about my eating. I remember I did a similar thing with my running recently. I ended up so anxious that I didn't think I could run. Easing up on myself seemed to get me over that, and I'm enjoying running again.

Funnily enough, people are telling me that I'm looking really well. I think that's down to the exercise I'm doing. I'm continuing to tone even though I'm gaining back some of the weight I've lost. I think my skin has been tightening up too, which is a bonus. I certainly feel as though I'm stronger and fitter.

On the running front, I made it out for a short run today. I headed off around the creek. I was hardly out the door when it started raining, but I kept going. It was only light rain and it made it really pleasant to run. There were a few hardly souls out walking their dogs but they nearly all disappeared when the rain started.

To my relief, my calf was fine while I was running, but my hamstring was still tight. Not too tight for me to run though. I kept the pace steady, and aimed to relax as I ran. I also tried to keep my arms from crossing my body too much. I hadn't realised I was doing it, but I'm really noticing it now that Krissi has pointed it out. Running does seem easier when I try not to do that, so it's worth keeping an eye on.

When I got home I made sure I took my time stretching. My leg has been feeling a lot better today, so it was definitely worth the effort.

I felt as though getting out for a run was a real achievement today. I could easily have given it a miss, using my tight muscles as an excuse for resting. One of my running goals is to run three times a week, and I don't think I've actually made it yet. I ran Thursday and Sunday, and I'm due to run on Tuesday, so it looks like I'm going to achieve that goal this week. :-)

On Tuesday, we're going to be doing a 1 km time trial for the end of the running course. I'll be interested to see how I do. I've decided that the aim for me is to run for the whole distance and not worry about the time. When we did the first run, I ended up having to drop back to a walk twice to catch my breath. This time, I might need to slow down, but I want to keep running when that happens. If it's faster, that's great, but if it isn't that's fine too.

I'm not sure how I hurt my leg in the first place. It might have been Body Attack, so I'm going to give that a miss this Monday night. I don't want anything to get in the way of my run on Tuesday. I'll give the class another go on Thursday.

This week's exercise plan is:

Monday - weights
Tuesday - morning run and bike ride, evening Yoga
Wednesday - morning weights
Thursday - morning personal training, evening Body Attack
Friday - morning run, evening Body Balance
Saturday - bike ride, weights
Sunday - morning run and Body Balance

5 comments:

jojo said...

it sounds like a good plan.. i must admit my dieting always sucked..the thing that ever worked for me was the liver cleanse cos i ate however much i wanted, it was all just quality,no processed, no sugar food.. the act of dieting makes you constantly think about food.
good luck for that time trial

lg said...

Hey Kathy, I think it's great to have health related goals as opposed to weight loss ones - If only we could all focus on these. Deprivation does make you more obsessed!!!

Good luck on sticking to the weekly plan

Andrew(ajh) said...

Kathy, what you are saying in this post makes a lot of sense. Diets are dumb in my opinion, they never worked for me. It is all about just being sensible, and getting into the habit of a healthy lifestyle. As LG says, depriving yourself of the foods you love, just makes you crave them more, and you end up binging. So, eat what you want, but limit the bad stuff (treat yourself occassionally), adopt portion control etc.
Your friends say that you are looking great, you're feeling stronger and fitter, and you exercise as much as anyone I know.
Don't forget that a lot of that weight you are now weighing on the scale is the muscle you've added!
You are doing a great job - just keep it up so it becomes a lifestyle - for the rest of your life!

running uphill said...

Hi Kathy they sound like some good goals. I like the idea of good quality foods. If you feel like chocolate have something really nice or a piece of exotice fruit or something rather than whatever is on hand (which is what I can tend to do). Deprivation never works in the long run.

Good luck with the time trial.

Anonymous said...

Your goals sound pretty damn sensible to me, god knows I am tired of stupid diets.

You are so active there is no doubt you are in great shape and are doing some very positive things for your long term health and well being.