Monday Meanderings

We might as well call this week's version of Monday Meanderings, "The Mostly Fitness Edition." Thus....my spiffy running shoes.
  • Last Friday I had an assessment with my trainer. I had been really excited to see what kind of progress I had made since our last assessment back in August. Sadly, it didn't go so well. My weight was right where I knew it would be, but my body fat percentage hadn't dropped near as much as I had expected. Frustration bubbled up, and we had a long talk. Why on earth wasn't I loosing faster when I have been doing EVERYTHING right?!
  • After our appointment, Meghan went straight to the staff nutritionist's office to have a long talk with her about my case. The long and short of it is that they both feel that I HAVEN'T BEEN EATING ENOUGH - especially since I'm now training for a half. I received an email about an hour after I got home, in which Meghan raised my goal by 300 calories / day. Ouch.
  • I have to admit, I have been frustrated by the very slow crawl of my weight loss. For a while I could blame it on the holidays (even though I did well), but since then it's just been dragging. When you track every bite as religiously as I do, eat very healthfully, and get in 5-6 days of quality exercise every week, you want to see results!
  • Interestingly enough, though, I did go back to My Daily Plate and my own little black record book to check my numbers. Sure enough, they both showed that until mid-November I had been steadily loosing about 1.5-2 lbs/week. At that point we dropped my numbers to 1450 because I was struggling at the time to get the full 1600 calories/day...and since then I've only lost 8 lbs.
  • My doctor didn't want me to drop my daily calorie goal under 1600. I should have listened.
  • The trouble is that 1450 feels comfortable to me. I've not really been hungry, and I've not had to force food. Going up to 1750 is going to be tough.
  • I'll fess up that I've been ridiculously tired lately. Honestly, though, I thought it was just because it was January. I always feel like this in January! Apparently, though, I just didn't have enough fuel in my system.
  • Likewise, I've had two crazy craving days this month...and I hadn't had any cravings at all since I started this last July. We're talking cravings of the sort where you just can't get enough food...and the worse it is for you, the more I wanted it. That was weird, too.
  • SO, I let myself eat what I wanted this weekend, and today we'll get back on track at the higher calorie level. We'll just have to see what happens.
  • Incidentally, I have another 30-50 lbs to lose...and I don't really want it to take another year. Besides, my trainer will be going on maternity leave at the beginning of June...and I want to at least be most of the way there before she goes!
  • On a much happier note, I had a fantastic long run this weekend. Technically, my half-marathon training schedule only required 4 miles...but those training schedules always make me a bit nervous because I just don't trust that they require enough of a runner. I really want to add in a couple of 12 mile runs so that I'm absolutely sure I can do a half! I decided yesterday to drop the speed a bit and just go as long as I could. Yay me, I was able to easily complete 7 miles! I probably could have gone farther...but my legs were getting tired and I didn't want to risk injury. That run felt fantastic, though, and I feel VERY confident that I'll be able to complete the half in good shape now.
  • Lesson Learned, though, I was scheduled to do a fast fun today....45 minutes with speed intervals. Apparently it's not a good idea to do that the day after a long run. I only made it for 30, and had to walk about half. My heart and lungs felt fine....but my body knew it needed rest. I'll redo my training schedule this afternoon.
  • Moving on....the Princess did not get started yesterday because of our running schedule and the children. Hopefully I'll have more time today. I think I actually need to do a bit more swatching before I actually cast on, though, as I'm pretty sure my initial swatches aren't big enough. Moving up a needle size would be a good thing.
  • The my case of Finishitis has healed itself nicely. I'm not going to go crazy and cast on a bunch of things...but I no longer feel like I HAVE to only work on the WIP's in my basket.
  • Given that, I would actually like to have a finished project to show off next week at my guild meeting. I need to pick something and get to it!
  • Daily spinning hasn't been going so well...but I'm blaming my cranky week. It'll get better.
  • I have literally a mountain of clean laundry in my room to put away.
  • I also have a house that needs to be overhauled. I think I'll start on my bedroom today.

Yay! I just got a call from my doctor's nurse. After 4 months and 4 blood tests, I finally got my vitamin D levels up to a good range! Normal is from 30-80, and mine were at 68! Yay! You've no idea how relieved I am!

I think that may be it for now. I need to take a shower, and then I have a lot of stuff I want to do today.

Have a great week everyone!

Comments

Jodi said…
I love reading your posts. It's inspiring and keeps me journaling. I don't share the details on line but writing them out helps a lot. Congrats about the 7 mile run and good luck with eating more. It's funny how that works.
Bonnie said…
Hang in there. You're doing great, and the extra calories may be just what you need for more energy and faster weight loss.

Have you thought about raw almonds? One is about 7 calories. A few added to your breakfast and later as a snack would easily get your calories up.
Shelda said…
All the nutrition information is really interesting! And I know it's frustrating, but hey, you're figuring stuff out. And you know what, what's another year? (if in fact it does take you that long to lose the rest of what you want to lose). That's a healthy rate of loss, and you're *much, much* more likely to keep it off if you lose it slowly (and keeping it off is really the point, n'cest pas?)

Hang in there, girlfriend! You're doing all the right stuff, and it will eventually come together.

The rabid cravings make perfect sense if you're not getting enough calories!
Leciawp said…
You're doing such a great job! And it sounds as if you've got a plan - often half the battle. You inspire me.

I too have a mountain of clean laundry to tackle... and a few things that need overhauling.
Anne P said…
You know... everything is a balance. It is frustrating, tho, when it takes longer than you want for the balance to... well... balance out! Bet you are back on track here soon!
Paula said…
The calorie business is crazy but it is true that if you cut back too much your body will hoard calories. Ever see photos of impoverished countries where the children are emaciated and the women are still overweight? You know those mothers are NOT pigging out while the children are hungry. Yeah. That's not fair but it is nature's way of preserving the species. You are doing great with the training! I used to run, but 5 miles was about my limit.

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