All rolled into one

I have a lot to say (ha ha ha, nothing new there, I could talk to a fence post!)  And I thought about writing separate blog entries.  I could stretch out what I have to say in maybe 3 or 4 entries.  I could have blog posts for the rest of the week done.  But I don’t like to do that.  I like to say what’s on my mind when it’s on my mind.  My posts are not written out days in advance and pondered.  They are me…raw and open and well….RAW.    My view is it’s on my mind for a reason…so say it when I feel it. Anyway,  I’ll separate these random ideas into different mini posts all within this big post…so here goes!

 

                   Fat Aunt versus Healthier  

              (Soon to be thin) Aunt

 

I’ve always been the crazier aunt.  I have fun with my niece and nephews (and my cousins too….which are roughly the same ages as my niece and nephews).  I’m not afraid to get down on the floor and play the part of the retarded idiotic Aunt.  Actually, I relish the roll of crazy aunt…we have fun (we being me and the kids….we may be slightly annoying when we get keyed up though!).  That role aside, I’m ashamed to admit that over the last 13 years that I’ve been an aunt I’ve been mostly the Fat Aunt.  I was  the Fat Aunt that has loved to play with the kids….but I was the Fat Aunt that when the play became a bit active, I would sit on the sidelines and watch and encourage their crazy shenanigans.  Hey, I was fat…that’s what fat people do right?   The two roles worked ok together.  Crazy Aunt and Fat Aunt co-existed peacefully.  Or rather, I pushed myself to do just enough activity to make them coexist peacefully……I felt like I was going to die some of those times because I was so out of shape, but for the most part those two roles existed happily together. 

 

On Sunday Fat Aunt didn’t stand a chance.  My brother and his wife took the kids to the park.  Of course I went with them….I love to be with them and there was no question in my mind.  I didn’t think about it at the time, but there was never a thought about sitting on the sidelines.   I laid the Fat Aunt role to rest.  I pulled out the Healthy Aunt role.  I played with the kids…..I played soccer (a bastardized version) for what may have been the first time in my entire life. (remember, I recently wrote about my excuse of this foot issue I have that kept me from participating in PE in school…or rather I used as an excuse to get out of it.) Healthy Aunt came out to play….and you know what?   It felt GOOD.   Bring it on!!!

              Running Shmunning

I’ve been writing quite a bit lately about how running has become rough for me.  I’ve struggled to simply run my miles.  My HR is crazy.  I’m not picking up speed.   My legs are heavy.  You name it…its happening.   I have been disgusted because I set a goal in my mind for my upcoming 5k (which incidentally is on Saturday of this week).  I think that doing that is what has been my downfall. I’ve focused so much on the number that when I show signs of failing, that my mental fortitude slips away and I want to quit (my mind thinks it and my body responds).   When I set myself back up in January to lose weight, I was very careful about not setting down and dirty goals.  There was no “I will lose such and such amount of weight by such and such date.”  I knew that when that ‘magical date’ starts to loom the feelings of failure and inadequacy emerge and they are self destructive.   I knew it and I guarded against it.  Yet I foolishly set a very specific goal for running and as the date gets closer and I show negative signs of meeting that goal. (I’m consistently running the mileage 2-3 minutes slower than I need to be doing in order to even come close to the goal).    It’s been self destructive…and my running has suffered because of my mental state concerning it.

 

Why is my speed not increasing?   I’ve heard it all.  It could be any one of those things.  It could be a combination of all of them.  One friend thinks my current weight of 221.7 (as of Sunday’s weigh day weigh in) is holding me back and that my speed will increase in direct correlation to my weight dropping.   My brother thinks that I haven’t crossed that ‘barrier’ yet.  What barrier?   That feeling that happens when I hit the wall and my body tells me that if I push further I will die…..so I stop. However, I won’t die and I shouldn’t stop. I’ve been told I’m possibly running too much (three times a week is where I’m at…sometimes four…but consistently three).   I’m pushing myself too much on my runs.  I’m not running enough…I’m doing this and that.  Who knows…and I wish I had the magical answer.  But I just have to accept the fact that I’m out there running and that I’m doing my best and be happy with it.   I’ve decided to run on Saturday and simply do my best.  Do I want to break that mark that I set for myself?  Yes. Will I be happy if I finish it?   Yes.  Ok, maybe I should say that at the bare minimum I want to finish it with my best time…..which is anything under 43:04.  I know that the adrenaline and whatnot will probably push me a bit faster.  I will hope for the under 40 but I just want to better my time.

 

So what did I do today with my running?  Today I decided that I had to get myself out of this ‘I have to walk because I can’t go on mentality’.  I’ve run the 3.5 miles before. It’s not a big deal…..or rather it shouldn’t be!  I decided to run on the C&O Canal to make it as easy as possible for myself.  (It’s easy because it’s flat….or relatively flat).  I decided that I would NOT stop for anything.  I ride my bike that way.  I make it a goal to not touch my feet to the ground when I bike unless it is absolutely necessary (something like stopping at a road and waiting for a break in the cars before crossing is somewhat necessary).  I don’t put my feet onto the pavement on hills.  I don’t put my feet on the pavement when I’m tired.  I keep pushing and those feet stay on the pedals (ha ha ha, even when they aren’t clipped in).  I decided that today I would take the same mentality.  I was NOT going to stop running.   Nothing short of a bear standing on the canal (yeah, it has happened…not so much in our neck of the woods…but it’s happened on the western section of the canal) would make me grind to a walk or worse stop.  Hey, maybe if I saw a bear I would set a new record as I tried to run away from it!!!!  Food for thought…maybe I could get someone to dress as a bear and chase after me????  Anyway,  I wanted to prove to myself again  that I could run the whole 3.5 miles without my body screaming that it was dying. 

 

I of course did it.  3.5 in 43 minutes.  And it wasn’t that bad.  It was actually relatively easy.  My mind was in the right place.

              Personal trainer

 

A month ago I met with the personal trainer that was going to take me on.  It was to be a mutually beneficial deal.  He would get experience and he would also receive before and after pictures to use in his portfolio to help him elicit more clients in exchange I would receive free personal training.  I was excited and quite optimistic about the experience.  The first few days he was in touch a few times.  We were supposed to start working out…but he never set a time and told me he would get back to me.  Time passed and I wondered…but I refuse to chase after him.  I want a personal trainer (even though it’s a free deal) that is gung ho and WANTS to do it versus someone that I’ve chased and kind of forced into doing it.    About a week or two ago he finally contacted me again and said “sorry I’ve been out of touch….I’ve had to move unexpectedly but we will start soon as soon as the move is over and I’m settled into my new place.”  That’s all fine and good.  And if he does contact me I will still take him up on the offer. Free personal training is a no brainer.  However, I’m not holding my breath anymore thinking that he’s going to contact me to do this.  If he does, good…..I will take whatever he has to offer in terms of exercise and advice. But you know what??????  I’ve lost 6.9 pounds since we had that first meeting…and I’ve done it on my own.   Nothing will stand in my way!!!!  With help…..without help….it makes no difference.  I’m losing.  If he wants to tack onto my determination and reap the benefits, than that’s good he can.  But I’m focused and I know where I’m going with or without him. 

 

 

       VACATION VACATION HERE I COME!

 

When I leave my job on Friday at 2PM, I will officially be on vacation and have 10 full glorious days of relative freedom!   I’m so looking forward to the break. We have concert tickets and a trip to Lancaster.  We have a trip to DC.  I have a 5k planned, Todd has a Kidney walk, we have a parade one day (Todd runs sound for the town) and possibly a parade in the neighboring town a different day.  We have lots of stuff planned but lots of down time also.  It should be fun!   But part of me is a bit fearful.  I’ve been doing soooo well with my weight loss efforts.  I’ve been so consistent with my exercise. I’ve been just……doing well.  I have a two prong plan that I’m working on to keep me in the losing column.  

 

Part A:    Since money is tight, we are planning to eat a good many meals at home.  There will be 2 days where we will be eating out. Tuesday we will be in Lancaster County Pennsylvania…we have concert tickets in the evening….but will go up and spend the day. Friday the plan is to go into DC with my family for the day. So we will be eating out that day as well.  The rest of the time we are going to try to focus a bit more on eating at home.  SOOOOOOO, this week I’m sitting down and planning out meals for us to have next week (we are also trying to eat our freezers and pantry down…..way too much food stockpiled).  Today I plan on actually figuring up the calories for each meal.  I will place the calorie count on the list of meals so that when we plan what we are making at home that I don’t end up eating high caloric options each meal of the day.     This plan is not fool proof.  This plan is not in any way at all something set in stone. The sky is the limit for failure.  HOWEVER, I do hope that having the calories set and highly visible that I will make wise choices and be able to manage.

 

Part B:   Exercise the hell out of the week!   I plan on continuing my 3-4 times a week runs. I plan on attending zumba if at all possible (I know Tuesday night I won’t be at zumba as I’ll be in Lancaster)….but that still leaves Monday and Wednesday nights.  I plan on riding my Trek on the canal with Todd.  I plan on really getting out on the road on my lite speed and conquering this road biking thing.  (I’ve kind of pushed it aside this week as I’m still hoping to somehow magically meet my goal for my 5k on Saturday and right now road biking is painful so I’m focusing on running this week…and yes, I talked to my brother and he says that it’s normal, specifically because it takes upper body strength and lots of core strength…both of which are painfully absent in my body).  We have work to do around the house.  ACTIVE ACTIVE ACTIVE.   SOOOO I may inadvertently through circumstances eat some extra calories. ……if I can at least burn a bunch of calories through activity then I may still lose…..or at least hold on to a maintain!   Crossing my fingers!