Monday Funday

Maybe not so much Fun-day for me (as I have to work). But my daughter Snoose has her first day of camp today! She was  a mixed ball of nerves and excitement this morning in anticipation of the big week ahead. Camp time is bittersweet. Snoose returns home alight with new experiences and adventures that have helped her become more confident and independent. It makes me a proud-mama to see her grow, however, the more she grows the less she's my little baby.

In further news, I went on a pleasant, long ride over the weekend with Michelle and Zoom-Zoom. At some point during this ride Michelle asked me if I had gotten on the scale yet. And I had to confess, I did not. And then she accused me of lying on my blog. The nerve.

I did not lie. When I wrote 'that' I had the full intention of weighing myself in the morning. Then somewhere between when I went to bed that night and drinking my coffee the next day I sort-of, kind-of misplaced that intention. Happens to the best of us.

So . . . . . . . this morning I weighed myself.

First I braced myself, leaning heavily on the windowsill as I eased onto the scale. I watched the digits flash up and down like an unnecessarily long sequence on Biggest Loser before the scale settled on a digit.

It was a nice looking number. But I don't think I've weighed that little since 5th grade. Too much leaning on the windowsill. It was cheating.

The second time I had no choice but to go all-in. I removed my hands from the windowsill and settled my weight over the balls of my feet, resting every ounce of myself on the scale.

And it was terrible. Chad is getting fired up to get down to his race weight as well. Last night we pinky-swared that we'd each lose 10 pounds before Iceman.

P.S. I went running in my new Merrell Bare Access Arc shoes this week. I'll write about it later.

Back to Basics

This image has been going around FB lately. It was a good reminder for me that eating healthy and eating healthy can be two different things.

There's the 'eating healthy' where you limit your calories, eat more salads and fruit, and basically watch what you eat. (Weight Watchers, Jennie Craig, etc).

Then there's 'eating healthy': eliminating processed foods, added sugar, added fat, and getting back to the basics of nutrition. By that I mean eating 'whole foods.'

This winter my diet just spiraled out of control. I managed to maintain my weight fairly well because of the heavy LJ100 training load. But that doesn't mean I haven't noticed the negative side effects of a poor diet: lethargy, loss of motivation, unable to focus, longer recovery times, and mediocre workouts.

A few weeks ago I finally faced reality and admitted that my diet had swayed far into the high processed, added sugar and fat zone. It wasn't an easy thing to do, but it was necessary.

Although I've been eating 'better' by many peoples standards, I still haven't been fueling my body with nutrient dense and unprocessed foods that it craves.

Now that LJ100 training is in official "taper" mode, I have a bit of extra time to refocus on something else. I've made a meal plan for the week that includes lots of salads, nuts, legumes, and fresh fruit. I'm even making homemade salad dressing.

My body is going to be so happy with me!

Cashew Blood Orange Salad Dressing
Kale and Carrot Salad
Baked Apple with Cashew Raisin Cream Sauce
Vegetable Shepherd's Pie
Chinese Apricot Stir Fry
Nuts and Bolts Squash

Daily Scale

I must get on the scale every day.

I know, some of you may think that is obsessive. But I have a problem--and its not the scale. My problem is I don't know when to stop eating. If it weren't for the scale, I would eat constantly. Which is what I did when I stopped getting on the scale back in October of 2011.

By mid-January, I knew things were not good. The jeans were not fitting. But even worse, my dress pants that were a generous size that always fit me no matter what--were now dangerously snug.

Somehow I worked up the courage to take that scary, confrontational, no-denying-it-now step onto the scale. And it was worse than I thought. Way worse. I was not up 6-7 pounds like I suspected, like the year before when I went on a similar bender over the holidays. Nope. I was up 15--fifteen-freaking pounds.

Ugh.

Fortunately my husband was facing some reality when it comes to his diet as well. For the first time we started eating healthy together. With some diligence and self-control, I managed to get down 11 pounds over the next few weeks. Progress. Some relief. I let my guard down . . . . .

And I stopped getting on the scale again for four days in a row.

Once again, I took that step. And, ugh! Again, way worse than I thought. I was thinking maybe 3 pound gain or, at worse, 4. Nope, not me! My body just loves to hold onto waste, fat and toxins. I'm up 7 pounds over a 4 day bender.

And only 5 weeks to the first race of the season.

Stay tuned, because tomorrow I will write about my past struggles, self-sabotage and the goals I have for this upcoming season. I'm going to need to face and conquer my fears if I ever want to see my full potential . . .

Do you struggle with a healthy weight? What helpful hints keeps you on track? And have you ever been within reach of your goal but then you unconsciously sabotaged yourself from reaching that goal?

Yoda

I'm one of those people who is always trying to improve themselves. I'm trying to run faster, ride farther, improve my skills at work, be a better mom and wife, improve my health, study the Bible more, etc. I understand that in any endeavor there are bound to be lulls and valleys. But it seems like I've been in one of those valleys for awhile now. I'm not making progress in anything.

The other day, while talking to my husband about eating healthier, I heard myself say a phrase that I've been saying a lot: "It's just so hard because . . . " And then I fill in a myriad of excuses. 

It's hard to eat healthy because it's easier to grab the chips than make a healthy snack. 

It's hard to train for a triathlon because of my busy schedule.

It's hard to read my Bible more because I'm so tired by the end of the day.

It's hard to improve my skills at work because my hours have been cut and there just isn't enough time.

Reasonable excuses? Not really. They are just excuses. What I'm doing is giving myself an allowance to fail. To continue on with how things are. A reason to be lazy.

Think about it.

Is it really that hard to eat a healthier snack than junk food? No. Not at all. It's not any more physically demanding to grab some veggies and hummus over a bag of chips. 

Is it really that hard to read my Bible more? I read all the time. I just need to set one of my novels down for a few minutes and read the Bible.

Is it really that hard to train for a triathlon? Well, yeah, but I'm used to that. If I really want to pursue that, all I need to do is to switch to AM workouts to allow for a consistent training schedule.

I can do all these things and more, it's really not that difficult. But once I get into a debate with myself, I've already lost. I let myself think that there are hurdles that don't really exist. I can satisfy myself by saying that I'm trying and I can comfort myself when I fail by saying that it was just too hard.

The truth is, Yoda was right: "Do or do not . . . there is no try."

It's just that simple.