Before, After, and Maintenance

I've been at the same weight for about 6 months (+/- a month), so I've decided I'm at my maintenance weight. It's tricky at times, but it does seem that this is where my body wants to be--between 125 and 130. Now, 125 puts me at a 98 lb overall weight loss, but I'm not sure I really feel the need to push for those last 2 lbs. right now to make it an even 100 lb. I've been working pretty hard for the past year and a half (almost 2 years, I suppose), so that I think it's time that it's time for me to just step back and reassess my fitness/nutrition goals.

In the spirit of this new phase, here's a little photo progression of my weight loss since June 2008 (apparently I really like to put my hands on my hips):



This was in June 2008, when I was about 223 lbs. I had just started working out at this point, and had probably started looking at making good food decisions (May I also mention that my hair needed a trimming).



This is from December 2008 (down 40 lbs.), when I was on my way to a friend's wedding. It was the first time in many years that I was able to buy a dress from the misses' section, so I was pretty excited.



This is just before my grad school graduation in May 2009 (approx. 65lbs. down). I'm thinking of getting this dress taken in to wear on Easter in a few weeks. Again, my hair is doing something funky.



August 2009, here in Central Texas in the beautiful hills (80 lbs. down). The first summer in about 5-6 years that I've felt comfortable wearing shorts (or that I've actually worn shorts). WIN.



11/15/09--Rock n' Roll San Antonio! About 90 lbs. down. I think I lost 3-4 lbs. in this race. Epic sweatfest.



A few weeks ago. At maintenance weight (about 127 that day, perhaps?). At my cousin's jazz/blues concert. Too bad I didn't get a picture of the boots I was wearing. :-p

So here I am. Maintaining at the moment. I'm running 4-5 times a week, (trying to) lifting weights 1-2 times a week, and cross training about twice a week. So, activity of some sort 5-6 times a week. My nutrition's been fairly constant for the past 5-6 months: I rarely eat meat, eat lots of fruits and veggies, and mainly drink water (expect when I have coffee or tea 4-5 times a week. And the occasional social alcoholic beverage). I let myself have a sweet once a day so I don't crave them (right now, Milk Maids!). So for the time being, I'll keep on truckin'.

I finally decided on a March race--the Austin Runner's Club Daisy 5K scheduled for next Sunday. HOWEVER, it has been postponed indefinitely (something about not being able to secure the course...?), so now I'm scrambling to find another March race. Hopefully I'll find something for the last weekend in March. It may require driving to another town.

Maybe in the future I'll do a post of bad race photos. 'Cause I've got plenty of those... :-p

La Twinge

A few weeks ago, I noticed a twinge in my left knee. It wasn't bad, just a slight, sharp pain on the very outside of my kneecap. Since I considered my right knee as my bad knee and my left as my good one, I didn't really think anything about it. However, over the next few weeks as I ramped up my mileage, I began to notice the pain more and more, especially towards the end of my runs. Finally, last week I just decided to take a few days off in order to give myself a rest.

I only ran about 4 miles last week, and spent quite a bit of time on the elliptical. On Tuesday I did 2 miles on the treadmill with no pain. Today I did 4 miles outside (67 degrees--sorry Northerners and East Coasters!) and felt a little soreness towards the very end, but that was it. So...I guess I'll just keep an eye on it, and ice it and take ibuprofen as needed. I've also curbed my mileage ramp-up just a bit, or I'll at least try to ramp it up more gradually. After last year's knee problem, I suppose I've learned my lesson. The story of my twinge.

In other news, I've stopped eating--well, eating so much, or eating when I'm not hungry. I'm still not sure what spurred my mini-binge, but I'm 75% sure it was TOM-related. And now I'm feeling quite bloated, thank you. As if you really wanted (or needed) to know about all of my bodily functions. :)

Most of the time, I love being a woman, but sometimes...I wouldn't mind not gaining and losing the same 3 lbs. every month. However, I think the joys of shoe shopping and Sephora more than make up for it.

Hide the Food!

So...I've been eating a lot this week. Well, a lot for me. There's been a lot of snacking going on. Not entirely sure why, but I've got a few theories:

1. Pre-time-of-the-month
2. Less running/working out because of a twinge (which I'll discuss more another time)
3. Because I KEEP BUYING SNACK FOOD (namely, banana chips. Oh, how I love banana chips...)
   

Since I began making better food choices and, consequently, losing weight, I've developed a relatively strong willpower when it comes to not giving in to temptation. I've probably offended my coworkers more than once by refusing cookies and such (why do people always feel the need to make you eat when they see that you're losing weight?!? Anyone else have this problem?). But for the past few weeks I've just been, well, hungry. Hungrier than usual. To hold myself accountable, here's what I've eaten today:

• Bowl of Special K w/skim milk
• Coffee
• 6-8 malted milk balls (an anomoly in my pantry--a moment of weakness in the bulk food section)
• Handful of carrots w/hummus
  
• Bagel Thin w/peanut butter and blueberry preserves
• Small salad
• Banana
• Apple
• Fiber One granola bar

To my reconfigured way of looking at food, this just seems a little extravagant, mostly because of the malted milk balls. And I've felt kinda guilty all day, especially since I haven't worked out (yet). And especially since I haven't really been hungry all day, just kinda munching. Who knows, maybe I'm just nuts and have a skewed vision of food. But I do know that, at my current size, I really only need about 1800 calories/day to maintain my weight (if I don't exercise). I do find that when I'm consistently running/working out, I'm less prone to be hungry; thus, less munching. So, yeah. I guess I just wanted to get that off my chest. Blarg.

Anyone else have similar issues/theories? Anyone else tried Thomas' Bagel Thins (I'm partial to the whole wheat variety)?

Anyone else love BANANA CHIPS???

I did it again...

...ran another half-marathon, that is!

Almost two weeks ago, on January 24 (the day before my birthday), I ran the 3M Half Marathon. Based on my first half-marathon experience, I was a bit dubious about the whole thing, but I absolutely had a blast! I had been chewing on the idea of an early-2010 half for a while, even before RNRSA. It was down to 3M or the more popular, and more expensive, Austin Half Marathon. It finally came down to cost--3M was $30 cheaper. And it didn't hurt that it boasts a mostly downhill course. So I signed up on New Year's Eve (before the price increased) and got down to some quick training. I got in about 3-4 long runs before the big day, and hoped for the best.

Race day dawned super-windy! So windy, in fact, that the vast majority of the road barricades blew over and the start of the race was delayed for almost an hour while APD reset them all. I must say, I was quite grumpy huddled at the starting line in the 45-degree-with-wind-gusts-up-to-30-mph conditions. But once we got going, it wasn't so bad. I maintained a decent pace for most of the race, and only walked through the water stations. My (infamous) right knee started acting up around mile 5-6, but settled down around mile 10. I took a GU around mile 8, and that definitely helped power me up the one significant uphill section of the race. On the final stretch, I saw a couple of my friends who live in the area, and that was a nice boost. And then...I finished, with an almost 30-minute PR over RNRSA! I think two things can account for that: 1) It wasn't my first long race, so I knew what to expect, in terms of fatigue and nutrition, and 2) the weather was significantly different for the two races. While the balmy, still weather in November drained the life out of me, the chilly winter breeze of January definitely helped push me along, or allowed me to push myself along. Something to remember for future races (including this one, which I hope to do again next year!). After the finish, I grabbed some fruit, got my drop bag, and hopped on a bus to go back to my car. Later in the day, my stomach acted up a bit, but I guess that was just delayed-onset of nerves, or some such business. My friend took me out for pizza later, and then I vegged for the rest of the day.

No time for rest the next day! I worked a textbook-lending event at a local community college library for 10 hours. I was kinda stiff in the beginning, but I think all the moving around, and reaching, and stooping for books really helped me loosen up. In fact I think I would have been much more sore and stiff had I not had to move around so much. That evening, my friends took me out for Thai food and ice cream for my birthday. Overall, I was quite pleased with the productive 48-hours that led into my 26th year of being. :)

For the spring, I've got some 5Ks and 10Ks planned, and I'd also like to work on building my running base to 15-25 miles-per-week. This week will make about 18.5 miles. Next Sunday, I'm running a 5K that's part of the Austin Marathon and Half Marathon. This way, I get to feel a bit of the excitement of the big races, but don't have to put too much wear and tear on me olde body, and I can also make it to work by noon. ;)

If you're in the wicked snow storm right now...become one with the treadmill. If you're in Texas right now, enjoy this beautiful weekend! I hear the upcoming week's supposed to be another wet one...

Gold's Gym and 4 miles (finally)

On Friday afternoon, I finally made it over to Gold's Gym to start my 1-week trial. Well...it's a gym. Lots of strength training equipment and tons of cardio machines (which are upstairs and overlook the weight machinces--kinda cool), a decent-sized pool (with a sauna!!!), a basketball court, a few classrooms, a spinning room, and a smoothie bar. There's also a "Cardio Cinema," where they play movies on a huge screen in a darkened room while you do your cardio. I think this would be a little unnerving, because it's really dark in there and I'd be afraid I'd fall off a machine, in my typical clumsy style. I'll probably try it out one day, if I like the movie they're showing.

So, I got the tour from this dude who seemed more interested in trying to be super-cool (and flirty?) than actually telling me about the joint. Luckily I asked lots of questions and forced him to do his job (what a novel idea...). He also kept trying to get me to join that day instead of doing the week trial, which totally defeats the purpose of a week trial. I held my ground and signed up for the week trial. If I'd been a different person, this guy might have turned me off of the whole place. But I wasn't there to deal with sketch dudes, I was there to work out.

The next day I had a free session with a personal trainer, which more than made up for dealing with the sketch dude. This guy seemed to know his stuff and was able to give me tips on working off the last 10-15 lbs. He suggested that I eat less complex carbs, like cereal and bread (I eat cereal most days and bring sandwiches to work on whole wheat bread), and drink smoothies in the morning. He also suggested I incorporate resistance training into my workout regimen and showed me some exercices that I could make into a circuit. He was able to answer all of my questions and gave me very helpful advice regarding nutrition. I thought I was doing ok in that department, but there's always room for improvement. He then scheduled me for a follow-up visit for this Friday.

I had a friend staying with me this weekend who is a hardcore foodie, so there was lots of good eating and socializing to be done. Even so, I committed myself to finally getting in those 4 miles on Sunday morning. I got up at about 7 and set out. It wasn't hot, and it was cloudy and breezy, which made for a pretty nice time. I started out slow and took breaks periodically to avoid early fatigue. Even so, I hit a mental wall at about the halfway point. I think this was because I was doing 2 laps of a 2-mile loop, and I had to pass in front of my apartment complex, which made me just want to quit and go home. However, I took a walk break and continued on. For the rest of the time, I did a 5:1 run/walk breakdown which really kept me from getting really tired. I probably could have gone on another mile doing this, which is good to know for when I do go another mile. So...hooray! I went back to my apartment, ate cereal (I think carbs are kinda necessary post-run--I'll save the smoothies for the non-running mornings), stretched, showered, and went to church and lunch with my friend and her uncles.

This morning, I made my first smoothie with banana, frozen strawberries, skim milk, yogurt, and a little bit of protein powder. It was really (really) thick, so maybe less yogurt, more milk next time. For lunch, I brought one of those soup cups and my usual apple and yogurt. I also brought some carrots as an afternoon snack, so I won't starve until dinner. After work, I'll hit the gym for cardio and maybe do some of the circuit exercises. It will be interesting to see how things work when it's full of the post-work crowd.

One year, 67 pounds later...

A year ago yesterday, I was bored and decided to go to the gym. Because it was Memorial Day it wasn't crowded. I did the elliptical for 20 minutes and the recumbent bike for 20 minutes. Then I went to Central Market, went home, and made curry.

Fast forward 366 (or 367-wasn't it a leap year last year?) days: I ran 3 miles this morning at 6AM. It was kinda trippy (almost literally) because I didn't wear my contacts or glasses, on the suggestion of my Dad. I thought I almost ran into a curled-up snake, but on closer examination it was just a dead bird. I stopped once, so my time was a little slower than my usual turtle pace, but I was ok with it. And I got back in time to not be late for work.

This past year hasn't been easy, but it also hasn't been nearly as hard as I thought it would be, as I had told myself it would be for many years. At the beginning of last summer, I set out to lose 10 lbs. I enrolled in a twice-weekly aerobics class at the university, and went to the gym twice a week. Though the aerobics class was challenging, I enjoyed moving, sweating, and feeling like I was doing something. The university gym was nice because it was summer and only a fraction of the student population was on campus. Thus, no lines for machines or general crowded-ness. So...I set out to lose 10 lbs. and I lost about 20. I went down at least one dress size, and when I went to visit family in August, everyone commented that I looked a little smaller. Success for part 1.

When school started again in the fall (the second year of my master's program), I re-enrolled in the aerobics class and continued going to the gym twice a week. I also decided that, after the aerobics course was over in early November, I would start running. And I did. A friend lent me The Runner's Handbook by Bob Glover, which has great plans to get started and to increase your mileage. Slowly, I built up to running 20 minutes, then 30. Then I developed runner's knee mid-Februrary, which sidelined me for a couple of weeks. I considered going to a physical therapist, but it just wasn't feasible on my grad school budget. So I just iced and ibuprofen-ed (and still do), and slowly started adding distance again. I continued to lose weight and inches. On Saturday, April 18, I competed in my first 5K. In the rain. Which wasn't so bad, though I smelled like a wet dog afterwards. Two weeks later, I ran the Schlotzsky's Bun Run 5K with my Dad, who has been running for 30+ years. We definitely ran faster than I would have alone, but I'm happy with that because now I know I can push myself further than I thought I could. Later this year, I plan on training for and completing longer races.

During this time, I've also worked on nutrition. I don't count calories, but just pay attention to what I eat. If I've had a big lunch, then maybe I'll just have a salad for dinner. I still love sweets, but only really eat them if I'm not at home. I don't buy ice cream, cookies, or candy from the store. This way, I view a sweet as a special treat to be purchased individually (no more Chick-fil-a shakes!). I've largely switched over to whole wheat grains, and I eat fruits everyday. Overall, I think my strategy has been to just eat less of things, and not stress and nitpick about what I eat. Otherwise, I'd overthink it and sabotage myself. I do allow myself treats, but in moderation.

So, here I am. One year and 67 lbs later. Sometimes I think that it's sad that I had that much weight to lose (and still more). But things happen, life happens, and you work through them and do what you need to do to thrive. I've learned many things over the past year:

• Exercising and weight loss is 90% mental. I think everyone has to overcome whatever mental road block they've set up for themselves in order to be able to commit to any type of plan or program. For some reason, the "physical activity roadblock" switch got turned off in my head a year ago, and I've been able to commit to my goals moreso than previous attempts.
• You really have to do what works for you. What works for me probably won't work for everyone. Some people really need to count calories or exercise with someone for support, so if that works for you, then go for it. My introvert tendencies lead me to prefer working out or running alone. That's just what works for me. If you choose to follow a plan, such as Weight Watchers, or South Beach, or Biggest Loser, don't be afraid to alter it and make sure it works for your pace and progress level. Otherwise, you could become discouraged at not making some prescribed goal.
• Concentrate on being healthly, not being cute or thin. I've got diabetes on both sides of my family, so I knew that I was going to be a matter of when, not if, I was diagnosed if I didn't do something about it. I was also beginning to have trouble with my joints from carrying around so much weight on a 5' 3" frame. These aren't problems that one should be facing at 25 years of age. Once you're on your way to health, the weight loss will follow.
• What's the hurry? It took me at least 7 years to put on all this weight (probably more), so I'm in no huge rush to take it off. While I do have a goal weight in mind, I don't have a goal date. I'll reach maintenance when I reach it.

So, the world according to Ari. Check back for further updates on my running progress (20 miles/week by the end of the summer), culinary efforts, and general musings on life, the universe, and everything (now that I've graduated and have time to muse on such things...).