Adjusted Reality

“Reality can be beaten with enough imagination.” – Mark Twain

Month: January 2016 Page 1 of 2

Ker-flop!

These last two weeks FEEL like they have been a big ol’ ker-flop of failing of adhering to plan.  However, it’s not all bad.

Jan28-1

We joined a tri team this year and got some official team schwag!  Wheee!

Training:

  • Normal run Monday, Tempo Tuesday, then initiate mid-week taper week.
  • 3-4 miles on Wednesday and Thurs, 1-2 miles Friday and Saturday.
  • Run 13.1 miles hard on Sunday.  I’m not going to be upset with myself if I don’t make it because I’m training for a marathon, but I’m going to go for a PR (sub 2:08). About 30-35 miles total.
  • Continue with 15 minutes non-running per day (bike, swim, strength, stretch, walking, etc).
  • One weights session (two preferred), but no weights Friday or Saturday (and no heavy weights).

Early last week, my hip started to hurt.  Not enough to cut the streak, but enough that I cut most of my runs short to try and preserve myself for Sunday’s race.  I still was able to get 26 miles total, which isn’t too far off.

I did well with including short cycles, stretching, swims, or walks most days.  Weights didn’t happen though.

I didn’t quite hit 2:08, but I got close, and I raced hard, with my head on straight, and put up a legit effort.

Racing real hard on Sunday also tends to mess up my next week, plus, my chiropractor popped my hip REALLY hard on Monday, and she asked me to lay off running for a few days.  So, I really haven’t done much this week and I’m having another one of those arguments with my brain.

Irrational brain: “Your hip isn’t too bad, just run on it, maybe it will feel better”

Rational brain: “And maybe it will nag me for the next 6 weeks… that’s never happened before, hmmm?”

Irrational brain: “You haven’t run for 4 days, you may actually die from this”

Rational brain: “And I ran every day for 28 days before that.  Life will go on”

Irrational brain: “OMG we’re so behind, how are we going to be Woodlands ready?”

Rational brain: “One unplanned week of low/no mileage is not going to tank a marathon.”

Irrational brain: “You haven’t run a 20 yet this cycle and you’re running out of time to get 2 of them in”

Rational brain: “Actually, I’ve run two 20 milers and a 26.2, plus a 17, 16, 4×15, 14, 11, 2×10, and lots of other miles in between.  Even if I skip this weekend to heal, I’ll have 3 more weeks to get in long runs.”

I know in my rational brain that I’ve trained sufficiently for a marathon.  It really depends on whether or not my head shows up March 5th.  The way to make sure I FAIL at that is to push through a minor injury and equate running with (unnecessary) pain and burn out quicker.

Also, I’m doing things like sleeping 11 hours last night for no real reason.  My body is craving some respite.  So, I’m going to force rational brain to win out and rest as much as needed, so this week is like…

  • Make my hip feel better.  Run when I’m ready/when the chiro says its ok.
  • Cycle, swim, do weights that don’t make it cranky, and/or stretch every day from now (Thursday) until the end of the week.

That’s it, that’s all.  Hopefully I can sort this out this week and be back at 100% by next week.

Food:

Jan28-3

Breakfast.  Like errryday.

  • All Most lunches and dinners are healthy take out my normal pre-race lunch and one meal after the race Sunday.
  • Continue tracking my food, attempting a -500 calorie deficit, and sticking to my macros EXCEPT for Friday and Saturday (eat what I burn, push the carbs a little more).  Post-race, I’ll give it a go to keep a deficit but that’s optional too.
  • Continue to track weight.
  • No booze after Wednesday.

I actually did pretty well here.  I’ve gotten accustomed to the -500 calorie deficit, and it felt decadent to eat up to maintenance calories two days before the race.  I splurged and got a sandwich one lunch, and we got italian one dinner.  I was within my calories both day, so I’m calling it a-ok.

I haven’t hit the scale every day, but a few times a week for sure.  Sadly, it’s not moving much, but I am feeling like I look better in clothes and things are a little less jiggly. If I’m remembering correctly, that is usually the first step in things going the right way, so hopefully the scale will follow soon.

  • Continue tracking food and trying to hit the -500 calorie mark and keeping an eye on macros.
  • Weigh a few times a week
  • I am “on notice” with the booze – I went a little crazy early in the week.
  • Transition to cooking food rather than relying on takeout so much.

Same ol’ same ol.  I may have had a few more glasses of wine this week than I’d like consoling myself over my running break, so I need a few days off of that (even if I’m still not running).

Jan28-2

Better late than never (from two nights ago).

Life:

  • When I put my laundry away, set out 3-5 things I’d like to wear over the next week.
  • E-cig only twice next week and not any for the three days leading up to the race.
  • Continue to wash my hair at least every other day (and always on bad allergy days).  Keep laundry basket out of bedroom and wash it once it gets full.
  • Gaming during downtime at work, coloring at home.
  • Exchange my Christmas gift at the outlet mall.
  • Clean out workout room and build shelves.

With life, I did so/so.  For some reason I was feeling less fancy and didn’t really think through outfits for the week and just chose stuff at random.

I picked up the e-cig more than I wanted to.  Life goes on.  We’ll try again next week.

I neglected to color last week but I’ve already rectify that this week.  We’ll get to the shelves… someday.

This week, I’m pulling back the goals a bit and just going to give myself a break and not try to do anything really productive or crazy.

  • Get 8+ hours sleep every day this week (so far so good minus Tuesday night’s 6 hours).
  • Grocery shop and batch cook for next week over the weekend.
  • Do something fun over the weekend that isn’t just the G-rated version of Netflix and chill.

I feel pretty draggy this week, and I know the worst possible answer to that is to load up my to-do list.

On that note, off to take over the world, or fall asleep trying…

3M Half Marathon

For some reason, we end up doing 3M Half Marathon every other year.  So, since I haven’t raced this one since 2014, I haven’t raced a half marathon since April 2014, and we had friends registered meant that we were in for 3M Half Marathon – downhill to downtown.

Jan27-2

I think if the race would have been last weekend, I might have been in better shape.  During the week of the race, I had some major low energy moments to deal with, like I had some low-level sickness going on.  I slept a lot.  I couldn’t hold half marathon pace for more than a quarter mile without dying.  I ran everyday as per the streak, but my long run for the week was 3.5 miles and most were 1-2.

My hip was way out of alignment all week (I thought I had just strained my hip flexor somehow) and after cracking it, my chiropractor asked me to take a few days off running. She almost never does that, so I must have been pretty off.

Also, I’ve run inside for the last 3 weeks due to allergies.  Maybe I’d forgotten how to run outside?

I decided to say fuck all that and at least try for a PR.  My goal was to go out at pace and try to hang the fuck on.  Or as I said in this post, hurt a little, hurt more, hurt a lot.

The befores:

I slept DECENTLY the night before.  I probably got about 6.5-7 hours (good when the alarm is at 5am – 9pm is not really a bedtime to me right now) but I was definitely tossing and turning a bit.

Food: I woke up and ate two caff chews (so, about 1/3rd of a gel).  That was actually pretty awesome, it woke me up quickly and shook the grog out of me.  For pre-race breakfast, I might have have done myself wrong.  I’ve been eating yogurt, cereal, and fruit for breakfast lately and it’s been good, so I did that.  But the only cereal I had at home was some really old stale tasting granola.  Between all that stuff, by the time I arrived at the race, I was kind of nauseous.  No bueno.

I did get on the treadmill at home for a warmup, 3 mins walking, half mile run, 3 mins walking.  My hip flexor was not feeling great but I filed that away in things I’d deal with later and got going.  Speaking of going… perfect way to poop at home before getting on the road!

Jan27-1

Yay poop?

We ended up arriving to the race pretty late, and because it was 36 degrees, that was ok with me.  Given that we only had a few minutes before the gun, I decided to skip the throwaway thermal shirt I had packed (good decision), keep the throwaway gloves on (good decision, my hands might have fallen off), and skip bag check because we thought it might not even still be happening (bad decision – it was COLD after and I would have loved a jacket).

Jumped in the porta potty lines and I took my first caffeinated gel (as per the plan) while the national anthem played, the gun went off, and there we still were, quite a few people ahead of us waiting to potty.  Oh well.  They wouldn’t dismantle the start line while people were still here, right?

Race things:

We ran across the start line about 9 minutes back – Logan (who announces all the triathlons) chided us for being late but we weren’t the last ones (that’s happened to me TWICE before) so all was good.  Zliten and I started together and I noticed I was in the 10s but I always take a bit to get going, so I didn’t freak out.  Once we got down the first street, I was working my way down to pace and it felt… decent.  Would have liked for it to feel a little easier but it was what I was working with that day.  Someday I’m going to wake up on race day feeling awesome but this was not that day.  I’ll always take decent over awful, though.

In the first 5 or so miles, Zliten and I ping ponged back and forth.  We’d find a hill and he’d get ahead.  He’d have to stop and tie a shoe and I’d get ahead.  Unfortunately, somewhere in the middle of the race, as my nausea built, he just got too far ahead and I couldn’t catch up.  I was focused on that fucking neon yellow hat he had on, and I could see him most of the race, but I couldn’t put on enough gas to catch him without feeling like I was going to redline myself and fizzle boom.

Here’s where this becomes a positive race report instead of another failure – I didn’t give up.  Even though I felt queasy I took my gels when I was supposed to and SURPRISE, it didn’t kill me.  My stomach actually felt BETTER the second half of the race.  Since I couldn’t catch Zliten, I just started fishing for closer people – the girl in the purple shirt.  The guy in the green shirt.  At one point, I thought I might actually get to my husband because he was mayyyybe 30 seconds ahead and I was gaining on him.  .

Then, probably two things that were related – we started going uphill, and the back of my legs started to cramp.  I tried put my visor down low, concentrate on the ground, and work through it as much as possible, but my cadence definitely tanked and I slowed.  Around this time I fought with my brain.

“You need a gel”

“No I don’t”

“You’ll finish stronger with one”

“But it will be a waste”

I’ve now taught myself that when my strongest argument against a gel is that I’ll waste it… I can spare the 1-2$ if I crack it and don’t finish it.  I did just that – I didn’t finish it but I got some of it down and magically around Mile 12 I started speeding up again.

Jan27-3

My last mile wasn’t my fastest, but it was back in the 9s and I ran up the awful last hill and through the finish and my watch had just ticked over to 2:11.  My official time was 2:11:02.

My husband rocked it with a time right around 2:07:30.  If I could have kept up with him, I would have notched a PR.  I’m a little disappointed I didn’t have that in me, but the truth is… I didn’t.  And that’s ok with me right now.

One day, I’d like to wake up and feel awesome the day of a race and not be dealing with something like a cranky hip or that time of the month or complete and utter burnout.  However, I have been in the thick of training for 2 marathons since October (minus 2 weeks off after #1), not to mention running every day without a break since Monday, December 28th, so my body has been through a lot.

The thing I most proud of was my mind.  I didn’t freak out when I wasn’t feeling 100% right at the start.  I stuck with my fueling plan even through my brain making all the excuses.  I wouldn’t say I stayed positive the whole way, but I found my way out of it.  I fought through a real low at the middle and instead of giving up I just kept problem solving until things got better.  If I can’t have a magical unicorn rainbow day, all I can ask myself is to keep my head in the game and run solidly, and that’s what I did.

Sure, I didn’t quite hit the PR from 5 years and 25 lbs ago.  But even though I didn’t hit the center of the bullseye, I definitely hit the target area.  This is my fourth best time at 12 standalone half marathons and within 3 minutes of my best time.  Considering all the factors about where I’m at right now with training, and life itself, I’m content with how I raced. 13+ miles under 10 mins/mile?  I’ll take it.

After effects: I was POOPED.  I’ve raced for ~8 hours before and been tweaked out and unable to sleep after.  I had 2 1/3 caffeinated gels that morning to fuel 2 measly hours, and I still fell asleep around 2:30pm and took a TWO AND A HALF HOUR NAP AND still slept over 8 hours Sunday night – I’d say the effort was legit.  There’s wasn’t much more left to give.  I may have slept for a week if I ran my PR.

I kind of wish I wasn’t running a marathon in 6 weeks so I could sharpen the stick a little more and go out and give a couple more tries to a 13.1, but I’m also kind of nerv-cited to give the marathon one more try this winter and see if I can find a 4(xx:xx) somewhere in the woods of the Woodlands.  So, we’ll go chase that one down and save more 13.1s for later.

Progress, not perfection.  I’ll take it.  The game plan is to rest up and recover the beginning of this week, and then I’ll start the final push to be marathon ready again on March 5th.  6 more weeks.  Let’s do it.

A Peek at a Peachy Peak Week

Last week was a pretty fantastic week.  I feel like I got a lot done, but also don’t feel crispy fried from it.  I just want to continue riding the wave of inertia and make sure I end up feeling good and fresh on Sunday, so any goals I need to drop to make that happen will be thrown to the ground.

Training:

Jan18-1

Lookie!  A bike!

I felt like I nailed this last week!  Finally!

  • 40-45 miles.  Running every day (let’s try this again).
  • Long run of 17-18 with some form of speed/pickups/tempo/etc.
  • One tempo run of 4-5 miles half marathon pace or under.
  • At least 15 minutes of non-running workout or maintenance a day (swim, bike, stretch/roll, weights).
  • At least 1 weights session (2 preferred).

Look at that!  Besides not doing two weights sessions, I nailed every goal I had last week.  I hit 40 miles exactly (and I definitely would have done more if they weren’t 100% treadmill runs :P).  I did a long run of 17 miles, descending the pace for the first 11 and then intervals for the last 6 with a pace in the 10s overall.  I rocked a 5 mile tempo at half marathon pace.  I am not sure if it averaged out to be exactly 15 mins a day of maintenance, but it was close if not even actually MORE if you include walking.  I did only do one weights session, so something to improve on next cycle.

Race Week!

  • Normal run Monday, Tempo Tuesday, then initiate mid-week taper week.
  • 3-4 miles on Wednesday and Thurs, 1-2 miles Friday and Saturday.
  • Run 13.1 miles hard on Sunday.  I’m not going to be upset with myself if I don’t make it because I’m training for a marathon, but I’m going to go for a PR (sub 2:08). About 30-35 miles total.
  • Continue with 15 minutes non-running per day (bike, swim, strength, stretch, walking, etc).
  • One weights session (two preferred), but no weights Friday or Saturday (and no heavy weights).

Food/Scale:

Jan18-2

This My Fit Foods Gumbo was the BOMB.

I feel like flippin’ Violet Beauregard right now (I’m wearing purple and feel extremely bloated), but I’m doing the right things so I’ll just keep on keepin’ on and hopefully the results will come.

  • All lunches and dinners are healthy take out minus 2 days (probably one weekday + Saturday).
  • Continue tracking my food, attempting a -500 calorie deficit, and sticking to my macros.
  • Push more calories to the 1-2 hours before my workout so I don’t get hangry and cut things short to go eat.
  • Back to the harsh reality of daily weight tracking.

Wednesday night or Thursday lunch are when we needed to pick up food, and we just didn’t.  I did have healthy food all week minus a burger and fries after my long run on Saturday, and potato cakes with lunch on Sunday (apparently I was craving fried potatoes?).  I tracked every day and am getting used to the -500 calorie thing pretty well now.  I didn’t leave any workouts because I needed food so bad I wanted to die.  I got on the scale every day until Saturday (so I have a decent baseline) and will resume once that once a month bloat gets a bit less.  I don’t want to have hormones + some awful number send me into a shame spiral right now. 😛

Race week eats!

  • All lunches and dinners are healthy take out my normal pre-race lunch and one meal after the race Sunday.
  • Continue tracking my food, attempting a -500 calorie deficit, and sticking to my macros EXCEPT for Friday and Saturday (eat what I burn, push the carbs a little more).  Post-race, I’ll give it a go to keep a deficit but that’s optional too.
  • Continue to track weight starting Wednesday.  No judgies.
  • No booze after Wednesday.

I want to give myself a little time of actually being flush on calories before the race.  I don’t expect maintaining a minor calorie deficit will actually affect the outcome of a 2 hour effort as long as I feed myself well that day, but I’ll give myself the 2 days previous as an insurance policy.

Dishwasher arrives next Tuesday.  I am excited to be able to cook again!

Life:

Jan18-3

First time I’ve ever worn this dress and I bought it this summer.

Also a pretty good week in this category.

  • Gaming at work during downtime.  Color at home.
  • Get up 15+ minutes earlier than last week (this is where I’m going to be fitting in the majority of that cross training).
  • E-cig only every other day
  • Go out and do something this weekend with friends
  • Make the workout room usable
  • Get my bike to the shop for a tune up
  • Wash my hair mostly every day immediately upon coming in the house every day and keep the laundry basket far away from the bedroom to mitigate allergies.

I forgot a few things.  I didn’t get the bike to the shop (I have much time before I ride it outside, so it’s not a huge priority).  I didn’t crack open the coloring book (but I plan to tonight).  The workout room treadmill is now usable, but it’s still really messy.  However, I feel like I accomplished a decent amount, especially considering I nailed my peak week training as well.  And… we did this…

Jan18-4

Our wall o’Krasayansky is finally up!  I’m so happy!  We’ve been collecting it for over 10 years….

Race Week Stuffs.  All the things that are To Dos that take effort are kind of negotiable depending on level of energy.

  • When I put my laundry away, set out 3-5 things I’d like to wear over the next week.
  • E-cig only twice next week and not any for the three days leading up to the race.
  • Continue to wash my hair at least every other day (and always on bad allergy days).  Keep laundry basket out of bedroom and wash it once it gets full.
  • Gaming during downtime at work, coloring at home.
  • Exchange my Christmas gift at the outlet mall.
  • Clean out workout room and build shelves.

Regarding the clothing fore-thought, I did that last week and it was awesome because I wore different stuff than the normal t-shirt and jeans because it was easy in the morning.  Right now, since I feel like a giant grape, I may play it by ear on how I feel in the mornings, but it’s nice to have an idea when I have more of a brain than right after waking up.

I’m starting off this week a bit groggy and stuffy from allergies, but hopefully I can shake that quickly and have a great third week of the year!

Question: what is your favorite piece of art/decoration in your house?

If I was a rich girl…

If you’ve been under a rock, you may not have known, but the Powerball lotto is at something like eleventy billion (almost not an exaggeration) dollars.  Now, it’s very likely that one of our two tickets are not going to hit the big one, but it’s fun to dream.

It’s hard to know what would happen until you have cash in hand, but here’s what I’d like to think I’d do.

Bonaire1-06

I’d probably look like this for the first day after the shock of finding out I won set in…

The first steps:

Do all the typical responsible stuff.  Get a network set up to manage the money and LLC type situation you need to set up to not get fucked.

Most people say try to stay under the radar, but at this point, you’re winning like the biggest Powerball ever.  You won’t be able to keep anonymous.  My solution would be to set up a contest where the top 5 people of our choosing get something like 1 million dollar grant to pursue their dreams.  Hopefully, people will be more concerned with coming up with a cool plan than begging and if people ask for money, direct them there.

may12-1

I think the jig would be up…

The celebration:

Give my parents/in laws a chunk of money.  Let them decide how they want to distribute to their families (or however Zliten wants to handle that with his side).

I would invite my closest friends to have a REALLY FUCKING FANCY meal and buy everyone a present, regardless the cost, just the coolest thing that screamed… them.

Have a KILLER party for my extended group of friends and acquaintances.

I’d probably make some time to go visit family and friends we never get a chance to see that live far away.

The splurges:

Hire a driver service.  I never want to drive again if I don’t have to.  Money, make it happen.

I would probably change my cleaning service to weekly from every two weeks. 🙂

I would pay someone to organize and remodel my house while I am somewhere else and don’t have to deal with it.  I’m looking for one of those HGTV type situations… but I’ll fund it myself.  I like my neighborhood and my house and I actually don’t need all the space I have now so I definitely don’t need a bigger mansion, but I’d like it to be shiny inside.

I’m buying a damn new tri bike, whichever one fits me best and feels awesome, no matter the cost.

The short term:

I love what I do.  I just don’t love the fact that I have to go to work everyday and have set office hours and can’t leave Austin in the winter when the air is trying to kill me and can’t drop everything and go to Aruba right now just because I feel like it.  I’d like to phase myself out slowly because I do actually care what happens to the projects I work on and I’d like to make sure they’re taken care of.  I’d like to stay on as a minimum wage consultant for a while until I made sure that that everything was in good hands.

Once I have severed ties with work enough that I don’t have to be in daily, the travel starts.  I have so many places I’d like to visit, I can’t even begin to name them.  My ultimate goal would be to pick my top 10 (or whatever) places I’d want to frequent and buy vacation property there, and maybe even a private jet if it made financial sense, but I wouldn’t be in a huge hurry.

Nov13-4

Living here for a while might be cool though…

The long term:

After taking some time to travel and recharge, it’s time to answer the 1.5 billion dollar question -what would I do with my life if money was no object?

We’ve had some ideas like running a half marathon a week in every state during the course of a year for charity, starting a travel/vacation/diving blog with travel porn pictures and adventures, spinning up a game company (but in the long term, when I’m ready to seriously go back to work), or a billion other things I can’t even think of yet.  But it would be nice to not have the pressure of making an income right away (or, ever) and just pursuing what sounds like I could contribute to the world.

I’d also like to figure out some charities to be passionate about and donating money.  I’m kind of a rebel without a cause right now.  It’s like the episode in Sports Night when Casey can’t figure out which charity to give to because there are so many… that’s where I’m at right now.  Having enough $$ to fully fund a research initiative of my choosing?  That might help, rather than just tossing 100$ at some cause.

And of course, continuing to train and race!  Being that I wouldn’t have limitations like cost or time off work being a factor, I could race all over the world just for fun!  I honestly am not sure whether I’d train and race MORE or LESS – I’d have more time but I also could pursue other hobbies like diving more… it might ebb and flow. 🙂

Do you buy lotto tickets?  What would you do if you won?

Progress is the Opposite of Congress

That pun always makes me chuckle, and it seems even more timely right now… because I’ve finally discovered News Room and am devouring it.  And, also, election year, politics, yadda yadda.

But, unless congress, I can say I’ve made a little progress this week.  Though, there is definitely a long way to go to get where I want, that’s what the second week of January is all about – now that I’ve got just a little inertia, it’s time to keep building on it.

Training:

Jan11-3

The aftermath of almost 3 hours on the treadmill…

Goals for last week are below…

  • 40-45 miles, running every day.
  • Long run of 15 with the last 3-5 portions of each mile after 3 closer to half marathon pace than easy run pace.
  • One speedwork session
  • One fartlek run
  • At least 1 swim
  • At least 1 weights session (2 preferably)
  • Stretch and/or roll 5 mins a day after work

I feel like I did alright here.  I ended up being about 5 miles short of the minimum I wanted to do.  I don’t have a GREAT excuse here.  I ran every day, I just cut some runs shorter than planned – all my easy days during the week were 3, when I had planned for more like 5.  Getting back on a normal schedule is rough.  I definitely wasn’t getting up in the morning for this.  Lunches were full of stuff to do (or not enough time to leave the office between meetings).  So, I ran every day after work – either at the gym or with a headlamp outside.

The upside is that I had two pretty key sessions.  Tuesday was a great tempo run – holding half marathon pace for 4.5 miles and not feeling completely gassed after.  Saturday, the air was trying to kill me with cedar pollen, but I was able to get through a 15 mile treadmill run.  Three things made this bearable – two caff gels to kill the allergy haze, netflixing bad 90s movies on my phone, and a 1/3 mile-ish (one song) pickup to about 9:45-10 minute mile pace even mile after 3.

I did weights on Tuesday and broke my “no leg weights during marathon training rule” and regretted it.  I stretched and rolled a few times but I’m sure I didn’t get every day.  I FINALLY got back in the water after months on Friday and felt so great I got back in again after my long run Saturday.  Just 5-10 mins of swimming after a run brought my legs back to life.  Amazing how I forget this every year.

This week’s goals:

  • 40-45 miles.  Running every day (let’s try this again).
  • Long run of 17-18 with some form of speed/pickups/tempo/etc.
  • One tempo run of 4-5 miles half marathon pace or under.
  • At least 15 minutes of non-running workout or maintenance a day (swim, bike, stretch/roll, weights).
  • At least 1 weights session (2 preferred).

This is the week where I declare cross training a thing in my life again.  I don’t think I’m going to be popping out of bed and springing out into the cold to run before work ever yet, but I can get up 15 minutes earlier and stretch, do my dozen, or ride the trainer, and maybe eventually build to running an easy 3 soon.

Food/Scale:

Jan11-1

When this is one of your unplanned meals out, you’re probably doing ok.

  • All lunches and dinners are MyFitFoods or Snap Kitchen for the week minus two four (planned meals out with family or friends).
  • The majority of the rest of my intake should be fruits and vegetables, with a little bit of carb supplement around runs (cereal, pretzels and hummus, popcorn, etc).
  • Track my food with the attempt to hit my normal macros (60g fat, 100g protein, 25g fiber), and examine where my calories and carbs are and adjust according to training levels on the daily.
  • No scale yet.  Let’s get 1 week of healthy food down before I do that to myself.

I rocked this.  While I ate out two more times than expected, the food I got was well within the boundaries of my eating plan.

At this point, I figure the best way to go about this is pay attention to two things: a) my macros and b) the amount of calories fitbit says I should eat.  I’ve got my intake set to -500 calories a day, which, in theory, shouldn’t completely kill my training as long as I’m careful, and also take off a lb a week (though I’m not counting on the rate of loss, I’d just like to see a downward trend).

I also know it takes me 3-ish weeks for my body to stop being a stubborn asshole and resisting change, but if I can suffer through that, I should start seeing the progress I’m seeking.

Onward!

  • All lunches and dinners are healthy take out minus 2 days (probably one weekday + Saturday).
  • Continue tracking my food, attempting a -500 calorie deficit, and sticking to my macros.
  • Push more calories to the 1-2 hours before my workout so I don’t get hangry and cut things short to go eat.
  • Back to the harsh reality of daily weight tracking.

These should probably look similar because they are.  The only changes are subtle, like trying to have a more substantial snack before workouts.  I’m sure it will help with my actual performance, and I cut a few of those runs short because I was about to start gnawing my arm off.  I’ve realized the only way for me to really make progress is by measuring, and for me, that’s daily weighing.  It wasn’t pretty today, but you have to start somewhere.

Life:

Jan11-2

Bundled up!

  • Looking to be a pretty mellow week between the myriad of meetings.  Work on getting caught up on my game!
  • Set up a weekly to do list.  Figure out a place it can be shared with Zliten so we can collaborate.
  • No drinks until Saturday night, and be a reasonable human being about length of partying and consumption.
  • Color, read, and/or play KingsQuest.  In other words, something besides the netflix and social media binge all the days.

Well, some of it.  I definitely got some game time in at work.  I set up a weekly to do list and it helped us remember some things I think we would have spaced otherwise.  I didn’t get any home gaming time in, but I made some progress on my book and we finished a page in the coloring book and picked out a new one.

We made conscious decision to indulge in some wine on Wednesday night instead of abstaining, and actually had a little more than I wanted (which is why that whole section is a fail for the week even though I drank responsibly on Saturday).  The upshot of calorie tracking is that I had to own it, and make it work – which meant counting half of it one day, and half the next.  Already being calories down for the day made me cranky and hungry for TWO days, so I don’t think I’ll be pulling that shit again for a while.

What else do I want to do?

  • Gaming at work during downtime.  Color at home.
  • Get up 15+ minutes earlier than last week (this is where I’m going to be fitting in the majority of that cross training).
  • E-cig only every other day
  • Go out and do something this weekend with friends
  • Make the workout room usable
  • Get my bike to the shop for a tune up
  • Wash my hair every day immediately upon coming in the house every day and keep the laundry basket far away from the bedroom to mitigate allergies.

Most of these are self explanatory, but let’s talk about that one that probably make me lose some respect in the eyes of all the healthy peeps.  I don’t do caffeine, I don’t have a huge sweet tooth, but I do have a little nicotine (which, if you examine it alone, away from the other nasty stuff in cigarettes, it’s pretty similar).  The happy thing is that I got a new e-cig set up that is so clean, my lungs feel unaffected by using it.  The bad thing is that without the drawbacks, and while I’ve been trying to control my appetite to hit those diet goals, I’ve gotten used to puffing on the thing every day.

Honestly, I don’t love the idea of being addicted to anything, so it’s time to take baby steps back from it, just on principle.  This week, M/W/F/Su, I will not have any e-cig.  If I’m having diet intake issues, I’ll just have to tough it out with other coping mechanisms.

Overall, this week, I just want to continue the work of inertia, take baby steps towards the places I want to be (and away from the places I don’t), and continue to be enjoy the present.

Second week.  Harder than the first because the honeymoon is over and it’s still hard.  Are you on track with getting where you want to be?

 

 

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