Sweat & Sparkle

Sort-Of Victory

Has it really been a week since I wrote anything here? Well, here I am, ready to dish up some scintillating tales that will have you gripping the edge of your seat in wild anticipation!

Or not. I’ve just been extremely busy. Today my car is in the shop, and I already got the dreaded call with my estimate, so the stress of worrying about money and about my car has me ready to tear into the cookies in the kitchen at work. (And why, pray tell, are there always cookies or candy or cakes in this kitchen, anyway?)

Since my car is in the shop, I didn’t have a way to leave the office to get any lunch. Luckily I had a frozen Smart Ones oatmeal in the freezer (or unluckily, because have I ever mentioned that I bought those purely as an experiment and think that oatmeal tastes like wet cardboard?) A well-intentioned co-worker took pity upon me and came back from lunch with a bag from McDonald’s for me.

I panicked when she placed it on my desk. Noooooo! I am on a diet! Get that evil bag of seduction off my desk!

I smiled and said thank you. I told myself to throw it away. NOW.

I contemplated the bag after she walked away. Well, I don’t even know what’s in it!

You don’t need to know! Throw it away, you fool!

Did I listen? No. I opened it. A cheeseburger and fries waited for me to devour them.

I ended up eating the fries. I added it to my MyFitnessPal food diary, feeling guilty. I had to draw the line at the cheeseburger. Three hundred more calories, when I will still be hungry afterward? Have I been fighting so hard to lose weight for months just to cave like a spineless weakling?

The cheeseburger went in the trash, but now my office smells like McDonald’s, which is not helping with cravings for junk food now. I’m disappointed that I ate the fries, but at least I stopped myself from eating the burger. I am going running this evening, and I really wasn’t looking forward to throwing up mid-run because I scarfed McDonald’s for lunch.

So, a sort-of victory. I could have done better, but lordy, I could have done so much worse!

Running Apps

I had a good weigh-in on Saturday, down a bit over two more pounds to 174.2. No complaints here! I’m looking forward to breaking into the 160’s and being just a bit closer to my goal of 130.

Over the weekend, I sat down and planned out my workouts for the upcoming week. It’s going to be busy, and I want to be sure I make time to work out each day and have no excuses.

Since my runs have been getting longer, I have been exploring running apps for safety. Mostly, I want one that will send my location to my boyfriend while I am running, so he will know exactly where I am. If something goes wrong, heaven forbid, I want my phone to keep sending him my location. I tested Road ID on my last run, and it sent him a link but just kept saying it was waiting for tracking information and never sent him my location.

Can anyone recommend a good, reliable app that will keep him updated with my location while I am running?

8 Miles and Earrings

Last night I decided to go for a run. I wasn’t sure how far I would run, but my last long run was 7 miles, so I was really hoping for 8.

I didn’t think it was going to happen. Between mile 4 and 5, I got the bright idea to leave the park I was running in and head up the sidewalk to a side street that had a few hills. Gotta start training on hills, right? Well, maybe not in the same run I was shooting for distance! It really wore me out. I thought my heart was going to pound right out of my chest. I jogged/dragged myself back to the relatively flat path in the park and felt like I had blown it: not even 6 miles in, and I felt wasted.

I’m not sure what kept my feet moving during those last 2 miles. Certainly not the music on my phone, because for some reason, it kept repeating the same few songs over and over, which was more than a little annoying, but as tired as I was, I didn’t want to deal with wrestling my phone out of my arm band and trying to figure out the problem with sweaty fingers.

When I hit mile 7, I just kept repeating to myself, “One more mile! One more mile!” It seemed like the lady on RunKeeper was never going to say “Distance: 8 miles”, but I finally heard those magnificent words and slowed to a walk to cool down.

After that run, I finally felt like maybe I really can train for a half marathon. I joined a running club and am looking into group runs to keep me motivated and accountable, to make sure I don’t let myself slack off. I already marked a group run on my calendar for Monday evening. I hope they don’t take off and leave me in the dust!

In my last post, I mentioned that I ordered a pair of earrings as my reward for losing another 10 pounds. Someone asked me to post a picture of the earrings, and I didn’t know how to do that in the comments, so I am posting it here. Here are the earrings that should be in my mailbox when I get home, if the tracking information is not lying to me:

They look huge in that picture, but I swear they are not gangster-bling-sized 🙂

Double Chin

I have a list of small rewards for each 10 pounds lost to keep me motivated and to treat myself for my hard work along the way to my goal weight. My reward for reaching 179 was a pair of earrings I saw online and loved. I weighed in this past Saturday at 177, and I couldn’t wait to get online and order those earrings! I can’t wait to get them.

I have been struggling big-time this week. I have cravings for soda, junk food, fast food, sweets, you name it. If it’s high-calorie, high-fat, and a sure diet-killer, then I want it! NOW! I don’t want to give in. I don’t want to break the weight loss streak I’ve started. I don’t want to slip backwards and gain weight back.

I’ve lost 34 pounds now, and instead of celebrating that and being proud, I find myself being extra critical of myself. If I’ve lost 34 pounds, why do I still have this stupid double chin? I hate it more now than I did when I was over 200 pounds.

I still have 47 pounds to lose. This is not the time to start konking out and flaking out and losing my grip. A lot is going to change over the next 47 pounds. I’m sure that double chin will disappear. I just need to be patient and keep chipping away, one pound at a time.

Thirty Pounds Gone

My goal last week was to lose about 2.5 pounds to bring me down into the 170’s and to cross the 30-pound weight loss mark. I worked out each day last week and logged my food in my food diary, then stepped expectantly onto the scale Saturday morning.

I lost 2 pounds and weighed in at 180.2. My instant reaction was to groan and mutter “So close!” since I didn’t make it into the 170’s. My brain leaped to reviewing the past week to pinpoint what I did wrong and what I needed to do differently.

I slammed on the brakes. What was I doing? I hadn’t done anything wrong! I lost two pounds! I ushered my inner critic out of the room and reminded myself to celebrate those two pounds and the fact that I am still losing weight. The week was a success, period! No analysis necessary.

And I still broke the 30-pound mark, anyway: 30.8, to be exact.

My stepkids were home this past weekend, and my youngest stepdaughter was in the room while I was working out. She watched me struggle with the ab section of a Cathe Friedrich workout (if you know Cathe Friedrich, you know how tough her workouts can be). My stepdaughter dropped whatever toy she was playing with, lay down on the floor beside me, and said encouragingly, “Look, I’ll do them with you”, then proceeded to finish the workout with me.

We moaned and groaned our way through planks and crunches and other torturous maneuevers, and she delighted in making me laugh, because it made it hard for me to breathe when my abs were already knotted up from the workout. We high-fived when we miraculously made it to the cool-down and could finally collapse on the floor.

My goal this week: hit those 170’s!