Well, it was an interesting month, this February was.
Here was the plan:
Day 1: 15 minutes arc trainer, full body strength (at gym), 30 minute treadmill run
Day 2: 60 minute outside run, yoga
Day 3: 45 minutes DDR, full body strength (at home)
Day 4: 60 minute outside run, yoga
Did I follow it? Of course not! Not ONE WEEK.
The first week, I pretty much stuck to it, but skipped 30 minutes of running outside in favor of DDR and did the epic walk. The second week, I got super sick and took most of the week off. The third week, I pretty much ran test 5ks all week increasing my pace, culminating in a really awesome time I’m happy with on race day. Then, last week, I was nursing shin splints from the race, so I laid off the running until the weekend, when I finally ran a full 10k distance on the treadmill and walked all over creation for my birthday pub crawl. Nope, not as planned at all.
I think I’m ok with that. I’m really starting to realize that exercise (or at least the extent that I do it) is really not what’s driving my weight loss. It’s the food that I need to really watch. I’m not going to start skipping workouts and sitting on the couch or anything, but when things don’t go according to plan, I think I can take it in stride a little bit better than I did before. A little better, at least.
I also discovered that I really do enjoy running outside and loved running the race. I foresee at least 2 more this spring. I’ve earned my running muscles and though my legs do talk to me a bit more the next day when I run outside, I don’t hurt myself doing it! The idea of maybe doing a half marathon or a marathon someday doesn’t sound quite as ludicrious as it used to.
Eat-y wise, besides this weekend (your own birthday celebrations have no calories, I declare), I seem to have been doing pretty well. Not quite as well as January calorie-wise (I definitely ate a little more this month) but I seem to have done better at eating more fruits and veggies. That’s something, right? I also found that if I listen to my body, it adjusts my appetite for the level of activity I’m getting. The week I was sick and not working out, I had to force myself to eat enough. The next week, I was back to workouts, and hungry again. If I was in maintenance mode, this month would be a huge success in learning how my body works. Is it time for that yet? I can’t wait…
Anywhoooo… What did that translate to progress-wise? It’s hard to tell. I’ve been fluctuating wildly (I was 154 last week then up to 157 and down to 153 today), so I’ll let you know when my weight decides to stay put for a while! It’s definitely lower than it was last month, so I’ll take it. What”s up in March, the month of never ending birthdays and celebrations? Stay tuned.
EDIT: Oh yeah, the meditation challenge? Yeah, I stink and tried it once and gave up. Maybe someday…
I'm a video game producer and a lover of anything game related by trade. I'm a triathlete by hobby. I live for being on or in the water as much as I can - scuba diving, snorkeling, paddleboarding, water slides... you name it. The dichotomy between my outdoor and indoor realities are interesting, but they're all mine! Longer version
charlotte
Congrats on the weight loss! And no worries about the meditation – it happens to all of us!
Div
In my “Meditation for Dummies”, the thing I managed to read and do was possibly a sleep meditation (I sometimes have problems getting to sleep). I imagine, though, if you trigger it different in your head, it might not put you to sleep. Basically, you count your breaths. Slow, deep breaths. Count up to some number – 25, 50, 100, whatever. Then count backwards. If you screw up or are interrupted, start over.
It actually clears my head rather well. It gives me something innocuous to concentrate on, so I don’t get distracted by random crap. You can start at 25 and then increase by whatever, whenever. Just shoot for five minutes.
Tangenting off of the chick-whose-blog-you-got-the-meditation-thing-off-of, I used to LOVE the deep relaxation at the end of my yoga class. But mine was guided. Dude would have you basically tense up your fingers for 5-10 seconds as hard as you can, then relax. Then do that for your ENTIRE body. You felt like a lovely, wet rag afterwards. So relaxing and restorative. 🙂
Still super kudos on all the running you’ve been doing. 🙂
Even better, your body telling you how much to eat. That is a -fantastic- skill/ability to acquire. It is most useful. When you’re in tune enough with your body, you can figure out what it needs and what it doesn’t and fuel it appropriately.