The Wagon Ran Me Over

   

     The holidays are over and all my excuses are used up so it's time to get off my ass and reverse the trend.  I had fallen off the maintain wagon a few months back, but surprising I have been maintaining my weight almost the entire time.  It started with forgetting to track every thing I ate, followed by larger portions at meals, followed by more and more "cheat days" and then the holidays.  It started with one cookie here and a chocolate treat there, till I was in all out binge at every chance I got using the excuse "its the holidays"over and over.

     To be honest I was really afraid of stepping on the scale for fear of what I would see.  When I finally got the guts to do it, I was shocked it wasn't worse than it turned out to be.  I was only three pounds away from getting back into my acceptable 10 pound range.  Now, the goal isn't to just lose those 3 pounds, its to get back to my goal weight and then some.  My goal is 170 pounds which means I am working towards a 13 pound loss.  My plan moving forwards is to decide on what my caloric intake should be, track everything I stuff my face with and stick to my workout routine.   So look for the return of Wednesday Weigh In as soon as next week!

Obsess Much

     This post is completely different than what it was a few days ago.  I had wrote this long diatribe about how I have been so pissed at myself for not loosing the 10 pounds that I am over goal.  I have lost sight of all the positives in my life and stopped thinking about how great it is that I am 183 pounds and not 317 pounds.  I have finally realized I am obsessing over the wrong things.  Yes I need to remember this is a struggle and I have to keep focus or I could ruin all I have worked for, but honestly who gives a fuck about ten pounds.  I sure as hell don't want to anymore.  

     Instead of living in "the glass is half empty" side of things I am going to write a bunch of "the glass is half full" stuff and try to concentrate about the positives of my situation.  The obvious one was the hard work and dedication I have put into changing my life and not being a victim to it anymore.  A painful injury sidelined me for months, caused me to need surgery and rehab and I was able to maintain my weight loss with my diet.  The old Dean would have just given up and slid back into his old habits.  I ate a really, really, REALLY good cookie and managed to be satisfied with it.  The old Dean would have obsessed and looked for every way to get more.  

     There are plenty others I am sure, but after I weighed in today I came to the realization that I can't let that three digit number on the scale control my life.  For example a couple of weeks ago I had been doing quite a bit of running and my weekly mileage had increased to almost pre injury numbers.  When I weighed, not only did I not lose any, I gained weight and it pissed me off to know end.  All I could think about is why nothing was happening.  Before surgery, the running did the trick and now nothing was happening and today, after not running for almost two weeks because of my back I lost 3 pounds.  (Quick side not because I haven't written much in awhile, I hurt my lower back will working on my motorcycle and it has been really painful.  Today was the first day I have felt like running in almost two weeks.)  There are so many things that can affect this number that I almost don't care anymore.  To be honest, I could lose at least 15 pounds right now if I had a surgery to remove a lot of the loose skin around my mid section.  My body might be telling me, I good with were we are, just keep doing what you are doing, so I am going to listen.

Life Without Running

     I would be lying if I said I was completely happy with my current situation, but I have decided all the stress and anger I have spewed the last month was just a waste of time.  While it felt really great at the time to rant about my situation, all it did was deepen my depression for the situation.  I was so down I started to question my resolve and wanted to just give up the whole thing.  In my last post, I even looked to find blame with my doctor and his handling of things and even sought out a new doctor expecting that would solve all my problems and the insurance company would just magically fall into line and allow the surgery.  After a few days I came to accept what is my current situation, drain away all that angers me about the situation.  I've been told that "you only get one life, so live it" and going through it angry just wastes what little time I have with this life.

     So what have I been doing since I haven't been able to run?  That is a good question.  First it has allowed me to spend more "together" time with my wife since I don't have any training runs to go do or races that keeps me busy for a couple hours while she hangs out and cheers for me on the sidelines.  Also, a couple of weeks ago I started my physical therapy which has gone great.  I see her twice a week doing strength training followed by some stretching to increase my range of motion.  I have four more weeks before I am to see the doctor again.  At that point, I assume, we will discuss if we will petition the insurance company again for the surgery. 

Some GREAT news to finally report amidst all that has transpired with my injury I forgot to mention that I was asked to return as a race ambassador for the 2016 MercyHealth Glass City Marathon in Toledo, Ohio.  This year's race will be the 40th anniversary of the marathon and the organizers are working tirelessly to make it one to remember.  My goal, post surgery, was to work hard to get myself ready to at least run and finish the race, however that goal may be in jeopardy with each day that passes.  So, I will heed the advice of my doctor and PT and do what they suggest in this situation, If I only have enough time to get ready for the half marathon or the 5K race than that is what I will do.  If things work out that I won't even be ready for the 5K then I will work the course as one of my fellow ambassadors did last year when an injury sidelined her a few weeks prior to the race.

The last thing I wanted to talk about was my weight.  I have struggled with this recently and I am trying to rectify it, without letting it run my life.  Just as my injury took place back in early July my weight has seen its lowest ever with a 169.5 on the scale.  Without running to continue my calorie burn, the lack of ambition to find a suitable replacement, and my depression fueling my binging habits my weight has crept up to 181 pounds.  I have managed to try really hard at getting back on track with my eating habits and have managed to drop a couple of pounds, but without that vehicle to burn some calories I feel a little like I am hanging on the edge of a cliff by nothing more than my fingernails.  In an effort to keep myself positive, I have told myself that I haven't resorted to my old habits of eating the greasy shitty food, I just have been increasing the volume of what I have eaten.  I just have to get back to watching my calorie intake and I should be in good shape.

Thursday Weigh In / Boy Are My Legs Sore

     Hey everyone, I am pretty damn happy only to have gained a half pound considering a couple of issues I have had this week.  I have been a little susceptible to binge eating, but haven't let it control my life.  I guess I can be happy that my binges haven't been on junk food, I just have been eating a little more than I should have.  The other reason is due to my own stupidity and not listening to my body; because of that I have only been able to run 2.5 miles since Sunday, which I'll explain later.

4/2/15 official weigh in

174 lbs

Total loss from heaviest:  143 lbs

Current BMI:  27.2 (overweight)

     Like I said I have hardly run any miles since Sunday, and I owe it all to my interval training.  Sunday I had strength training and intervals on the agenda, so I did my strength training early before I went to work.  Now keep in mind we had a major three day weekend event at work so I have been on my feet 9-10 hours for a solid two days up to this point.  After work I got home and headed out to get my intervals done.  This was a step up day, meaning that my plan stepped up the intensity, so my workout looked like this:

          2 minute warmup at 10min pace

          6:30min pace for 1 minute x8 reps

          9:00min pace for 2 minute x8 reps

          2 minute cool down at 10min pace

     I was doing just fine till I finished number six.  At that point I started to feel my hamstrings getting sore.  I kind of thought they were just getting a little tired, but didn't think it was a big deal.  My mind kept saying quit, you have done enough, but being a stubborn runner, I pushed through it and finished.  I could barely walk after I was done and knew immediately I had over done it.  Monday was a schedule rest day and thank God, because my hamstrings were super tight and hurt so bad when I would try and stretch them out.  Tuesday I think was the worst day of it.  I had Mandy try and roll them out and man did it hurt.  She couldn't get over how I was reacting with how little pressure she was placing on them.

     Wednesday I decided to give a short 3 mile run a try, at a super slow pace for me.  I got to the halfway turnaround and realized I was probably not going to be able to finish.  I pushed on, but told myself if the pain and aching got to a 4 out of 10 then I would stop.  I quit at mile 2.5 and walked the last half mile home.

     As I sit here and type this, I have yet to try another run today, and am definitely skipping my 11 mile long run I had on tap.  It has been raining all day and is looking like it may clear out around 7ish so I might give it another go with a 3 mile easy run, but I might just wait and do it in the morning.      

Jedi just wanted to say "Hi Everyone"

Wednesday Weigh In, on Thursday??

     Wednesday weigh in coming to you a day late and a pound or so heavier.  Normally I weigh in on Wednesday mornings, which is usually my day, and makes it a little more convenient.  I can take a little extra time to make sure I have cleared my system of any unnecessary weight, or in other words, use the bathroom!  Since my schedule has changed, which I am afraid, looks to be permanent for the foreseeable future.  I was still planning yesterday to get up and weigh in before I headed to the gym, however, when I woke up I went straight to the kitchen and took my two bee pollen pills and drank a half bottle of water.  Needless to say my weigh in would not have been accurate at that point.  I decided that it would just be easier to act like network TV and move your favorite show to another night, so I am switching Wednesday Weigh In to Thursday.

     Since my last weigh in I have struggled a little bit with my food intake.  Mostly it has revolved around my snacking and my portion sizes.  Whenever I have made something to eat I almost always would eat a little extra and not add it to my tracker.  For example if I was measuring out some cereal I was take a small handful and toss it back or if I was having popcorn an extra handful before and after I weighed it out became the norm this week.  I have done this before, but this week it was happening more and more.  I am not stressing about it; I mean shit happens and I would rather eat a little extra popcorn or an extra triscuit or two than binge on sugar and candy as the old Dean would do.  With regards to my portion size, I have just been eating a little more and allowing my calories to go above my daily limit, but not by much.  Some days it’s by 50 calories and another day it was like 200, but at the end of a week it all adds up.   The one positive in all this is my running has come back on line and being able to get back to my regular routine allows me to be able to at least put a dent into some of those extra calories.

3/12/15 official weigh in

176.5 lbs

Total loss from heaviest:  140.5 lbs

Current BMI:  27.6 (overweight)

     Like the Wednesday Weigh In my long run day has changed as well.  In my training plan for the GCM Owens Corning Half Marathon I had an 8 miles to knock out.  We have finally gotten out from under old man winter and a pre-spring warm up is on.  Mandy had the day off from work as well, so we took advantage of the time to sleep in.  After we got up we were playing with the dogs and enjoying the morning as I waited for the sun to kick in and warm things up a bit.  While we were playing around I snapped a cool shot of our older dog Widdle enjoying the warm sun spot in the kitchen.

     The run went alright, but could have been better.  I had strength training yesterday and it was all about my weak hamstrings, and boy did they pay the price.  I was sore all day yesterday and I could still feel it this morning.  The first six miles were fine, but my hamstrings were letting me know they were not happy.  Miles seven started off with a climb up an overpass, and about half way up I got some pain in the outside of my "bad" knee.  I immediately slowed to a walk till I reached the top before I got back in running stride for the decent down.  From that point on I had some light tightness and very mild pain for the remainder of the run.  My physical therapist warned me that this would occasionally happen until the strength in my legs have built up and are use to all this.  Anyway it was great to get outside to run and off that wretched treadmill.  #deathtothetreadmill
  

Hello are you there? It's Wednesday Weigh In

     Hello All!  It feels like forever since I have written a post, let alone a Wednesday Weigh In.  It is mostly due to my life becoming very busy and a little complicated lately.  A couple of friends of mine run a regional publication and due to some unforeseen circumstances need some graphic design work done to help them out.  Needless to say that has added to my responsibilities when I get home from work, which has left me minimal time for other things.  I had a little extra free time today and I had some great news that I wanted to share. 

    

     First though, let us get to my weigh in.  I don't want anyone to think I was hiding my weight because it was going up, but it did start to tick up and last week it was up to 177lbs.  It was nothing to freak out about, but I was getting pretty laid back with my nutrition and portion control.  I decided last week to really try to buckle down and get it right this week; combine that with how well my training has been going I was able to drop two pounds and get back to 175lbs.  Now if I can just get those last to freaking pounds to hit goal.

2/25/15 official weigh in

175 lbs

Change: -2 lbs

Total loss from heaviest:  142 lbs

Current BMI:  27.4 (overweight)

Change: n/a

Here are the weigh in pics from the last couple of weeks

 

      Now for the great news!  I was officially released by my physical therapist today!  She feels that with all my hard work I have put in at home and what we accomplished during our visits I have been able to correct the issues that were causing me all the knee pain.  Now just because I don't need to see her anymore doesn't mean my rehab is over.  To continue to run pain free I need to continue the work that I have already put in.  She has given me 7 new strengthening exercises and finished my training plan for the GCM Owens Corning Half Marathon.  It feels so great to be back to how I felt before all this came about.  I have learned so much that will pay dividends for years to come.  

     Anyone in or around the Toledo, Ohio area that is suffering from a sports related injury or is in need of physical therapy that is not sports related, than get in contact with Alisha at:

 Elite Sports and Orthopedic Physical Therapy

6919 W Central Avenue

Toledo, OH, 43614 

Telephone:888-294-1089

E-mail: Alisha@toledophysicaltherapy.com

   

Wednesday Weigh In / Rehab Run

     We got two inches or so of snow this morning and when I let Jedi out to go potty that was the last thing on his mind.  He seems to love playing in the snow so I went out to join him.  Now two inches of snow doesn't sound like a lot, but when you are a chihuahua dachshund mix and your legs are only like two inches long, that is a hell of a lot of snow.  Anyway I snapped this pic of him and had to share it because he looked so stinking cute.

     I was excited to get to my PT appointment because I really wanted to get some new things to work on because the static stretches I have been doing three times a day, every day was getting a little old.  Well I still have to continue the stretches, but got some new stuff to work on including yoga.  Yep that's right I said yoga.  I will give this yoga the old college try, especially because if I do I can skip two of my stretching sessions.  Today she also gave me a variation of a single leg squat to build strength and promote good running form.  Basically I do a single leg squat on an elevated platform and swing the opposite leg in a running motion.  It was quite difficult at first, but I was getting the hang of it by the end.

     Since this week we concentrated mostly on my running form to try and correct my issues that have been adding to my IT Band related pain, Alisha had me on the treadmill for most of the session.  While working on my cadence, she noticed that my left leg form seemed to be really good, but the right leg, the problem leg, isn't extending enough in the push off and isn't bending enough when I bring it back forward.  This is causing my leg to kind of swing out to the side to help clear the ground.  She had me get off the treadmill and do a few static movements that will aid in the muscle memory for proper form.  My form improved quite a bit after just a few minutes of drills.  Alisha then had me hop back on the treadmill and try it again.  It is amazing how much better you feel when you are running with proper form.  

     We finished with all the running drills, I cooled down and we talked about a few thing and scheduled my next appointment.  When we were all done with this session I hoped on the treadmill and banged out another 2.5 mile run, since I hadn't run since Sunday.  I concentrated on my form trying to keep my right leg in the proper position.  Now this may be due to being on the treadmill versus the road and after my therapy treatment, but I managed to only get a small amount of light tightness and pain for a short time around two and a quarter miles in.  I don't want to get my hopes up to much yet, but I came away from today's visit and run feeling very optimistic.  I would say I am right on track for starting my training for the Owens Corning Half Marathon at the Glass City Marathon in April!  

     Since it is Wednesday I need to post my current weigh in to hold myself accountable.  Sorry I skipped last weeks post, I just ran out of time.

1/21/15 official weigh in

176.5 lbs

Change: +1 lbs

Total loss from heaviest:  141.5 lbs

Current BMI:  27.6 (overweight)

Change: +.1

Wednesday Weigh In / PT Visit

     Hello from cold Cold COLD Northern Ohio. It's been in the single digits the last couple days and wind chills have been almost unbearable.  When its this cold I usually do something stupid like shave my head, but it's a new year so I felt like I needed a new look.  Actually I was just looking pretty shaggy and really need to clean it up some so instead of just shaving my head I headed to the local barbershop to get a trim.   I decided I wanted to continue to grow the top, but wanted to trim down the sides and the back.  I am digging the look and I think it will lay a lot better when it gets longer.

     

     As you know I haven't been running due to what I have self diagnosed as IT Band syndrome, or better known as "runner's knee", so it has been difficult trying to maintain the weight loss let-a-lone try and loose any. I had a slight up tick this week, but that is not bothering me at all.  With how my weigh ins have been going recently it doesn't shock me what the scale said today. 

1/7/15 official weigh in

176 lbs

Change: +1 lbs

Total loss from heaviest:  141lbs

Current BMI:  27.5 (overweight)

Change:+.1

     Today was my second visit with my physical therapist and I have to say it went very well. We reviewed my gait analysis, which gave a glimpse into what my problem is. Running itself without doing any other strength and stretching exercises can cause a muscle imbalance. For me, running is all I have been doing for two plus years now, so it was no surprise to my therapist as to what she was seeing.  Essentially, as things got tighter and tighter on my right side and my right leg was pulling inward and kind of crossing in front of my left. When my right leg would land it was putting torque on my IT Band and irritating it. Eventually it got to bad and my leg said "I give up" with pain on the side of my knee. 

     After we finished the analysis we moved on to the actual physical therapy part of the visit.  After a lot of stretching, bending, pulling, twisting and deep massaging she gave me my homework. I am still to continue my stretching and foam rolling 3 times a day, but she added 3 stability/strengthening exercises to do once a day. 

     As for my running future, she has asked me to attempt a two mile run and email her how I felt.  If things go well she will allow me to attempt 3-4 more runs before our next visit in 2 weeks. If things continue to progress positively then at my next appointment we will talk about where my training will go from here.  

Wednesday Weigh In / The Shame Of It All

     Merry Christmas Eve everyone!!  Today is going to be a very busy day for me as I am working 9-2 then I am heading to my sister's for a Christmas Eve get together.  I went ahead and wrote this up last night because I knew I wasn't going to have any time today to write it.  I did however wait till this morning to do my weigh in so I can stay consistent with what numbers I report.  Thank God I waited because if this is what I saw this morning, just think what it would have said if I did it last night.  So lets just get this out of the way right now.

12/24/14 official weigh in

179 lbs

Change: +3.5 lbs

Total loss from heaviest: 138 lbs

Current BMI: 28.0 (overweight)

Change: +.5

      I have debated whether to write about this or not, but after seeing what the scale had to say I think it warranted a truthful response.  So on December 19^th we had our company Christmas pot luck, which is always bad for us food-a-holics because of the smorgasbord of food available.  The pot luck took place during work and being the manager of my department I decided to let my employees go ahead and eat while I covered the department.  I felt that was the right thing to do, but what it did was gave me almost an hour to wait to eat so I was extremely hungry when it was my turn to dive in.  Now of course I was going to enjoy myself, it was a holiday party, so I filled my plate with a sandwich, some chips and cheesy potatoes.  The cheesy potatoes were really good so I went back for seconds, but didn’t over do it. 

 

     Now this is where things went all kinds of wrong.  By this time I was all by myself in the lunch room with a bunch of cookies, brownies, chocolate covered pretzels and buckeyes.  I told myself I could have one cookie and one buckeye, well all that did was start that little tiny snowball rolling down hill.  With no one around for me to feel embarrassed for gorging myself and before I new it I was 5 heavily frosted and sprinkled sugar cookies and 5 rich chocolate & peanut butter buckeyes in.  I had that disgusted ashamed feeling, yet I couldn’t stop myself.  I had to physically walk out of the lunch room to keep from eating any more and yet it was all I could think about.  More! More! More! is all my brain would comprehend.  I started chewing some Extra gum to try and keep myself from going back once the minty flavor of the gum kicked in.  The trick worked, but the damage had already been done.

     Now add to that, Saturday my parents arrived in town for Christmas and the family all met at Fricker’s to eat dinner.  There is not one healthy thing about Fricker’s, but boy does it taste good.  I ended up eating cheese fries and greasy breaded wings like it was no big deal.  Normally I don’t make a big deal about it, but because I haven’t been running or getting any exercise recently I am not burning the calories to allow this kind of behavior.

     I have no reason to think this is the beginning of the end and I will slip and slide all the way back to 300 pounds, but it sure did scare me how easy it was.  Especially considering how hard I have worked to get to where I am.  I wasn’t going to write this because it is really fucking embarrassing to admit, but it’s the truth and this is what I struggle with. 

 Merry Christmas Everyone!

 

Wednesday weigh in

     I had a really busy day today.  I had to get up around 6 o'clock and take my jeep in to get a new bumper put on for some warranty work.  I didn't get my normal bathroom time in before I left so my weight was a little higher than it would have been.  Keep in mind that I'm not focusing on weight for the next couple of weeks until after the marathon.  So I headed over to the dealership to get my new bumper put on, which took a couple hours, and when they were done I wanted to try and find a shirt to wear for the marathon.  I don't know why am letting something as stupid as a shirt to wear stress me out, but I went to Kohl's then to Dick's Sporting Goods then to another Kohl's and finally Target and I couldn't find anything that I liked.  Actually I found a shirt at Target that I liked, but they did not have my size so I'm going to have to go online and see if I can order it. Anyway, by the time I got back I had about an hour to play with the dogs before I had to head out the door for my run. I had to leave the house so I could be back by 2 o'clock so I could get changed and take Jedi to his puppy check up at 3.  That was pretty much my day!!

10/1/14 official weigh in

183 lbs

Change: +3 lbs

Total loss from heaviest: 134 lbs

Current BMI: 28.6 (overweight)

Change: +.4

     As for my run, I decided to do a half marathon in distance at race pace or slightly faster.  The weather wasn't to bad, mostly cloudy with temps in the low 60s with no wind.  I decided on a route where I would only have one overpass as a hill to mess with.  Once I was on the move I decided to change my route on the fly and do a nice long loop where I thought there wouldn't be any hills.  As it turns out running an area you're not 100% familiar with, you end up finding what you were trying to avoid in the first place.  Luckily they were just some small rolling hills nothing that aggravated my foot.

     I really don't get why my last few runs have felt this way, I know I was doing the pace that I wanted to do, but it felt like such a struggle to do it.  My breathing wasn't the issue, it was my legs.  They just seem to feel tight when I start and keep getting tighter as the miles progress.  It wasn't till I got to around mile six things started to loosen up a little bit and my time began to fall.  I managed to stay under 9 min miles for the remainder of the run. 

     As for my foot issue, I was a little hesitant to really push my pace, but as the run went on my foot felt good and I opened it up towards the end.  I did have a few small twinges of pain, nothing to really worry about, but overall I was happy and my foot did pretty well.  During my run I noticed I was a little tight in my outer and inner thigh muscles.  I think that may have also been a big reason why I felt so sluggish.  I need to concentrate the next couple weeks on getting some good stretching in to stay loose.  I think as I taper and reduce my mileage my legs might start to tighten up, so I'll bring out the foam roller the stick and hopefully Mandy to give me a little massage therapy. 

wednesday weigh in

     Finally, my schedule seems to be settling down a little and getting back to a normal routine.  Today was the first Wednesday that I have had off in at least a couple of weeks.  It is nice not having anything pressing to do today either.  I can finally just get my run in and kick back a little bit and enjoy the day.   

     I played with the puppy after my run so he is tuckered out and sleeping right now and the other two dogs followed suit so I've got a little free time to write this.  As you read last week, I am not concerning myself with my weight until after the marathon, but I am still going to monitor this situation.  As much as I don't care what the scale says, right now, I really don't want things getting to out of control.  Having said that, here is what my weigh in looked like this week.

9/17/14 Official Weigh In

181 lbs

Change: -2 lbs

Total loss from heaviest: 136 lbs

Current BMI: 28.3 (overweight)

Change: -.3

     My running schedule is all kinds of jacked up this week due to some rearranging I had to make the last couple of weeks.  Normally my run today is my long run which usually is the longest mileage, but it also means I would be running it at 9:50-10:00 min per mile avg pace.  This week my Wednesday run is my longest mileage, but it is also wound being my race pace run for this week.    Now I am sure my regular readers have noticed I've been getting faster during this training cycle and that my original race goal was between 9:00 and 9:10 per mile  Lately I have been running slightly above race pace at 8:50-8:59 avg mile which, one, I think will better prepare me, and two, my body just naturally seems to wanna go faster.
   
     Today's run was 14 miles and it felt pretty darn good.  I did the same route I did for Saturday's 13 mile run, I just turned right instead of left towards the end to add that last mile.  The weather was really nice today, almost a perfect day to run.  It was a little chilly when I left so I wore a thin pair of gloves to keep the hands warm, but between my long sleeve tech shirt and the sun doing its thing, I warmed up pretty quickly.  By the end of the run it felt really comfortable out.  

     when I sat down to write this I uploaded my Garmin to see how my splits were.  I was really happy with how close and steady they were.  With the exception of the last mile, where I pushed myself to have a strong finish, my slowest mile was an 8:57 and my fastest was an 8:51.  The other thing I liked about it was the fact that there was no big swings in pace.  Its not like one mile I ran an 8:51 and the next was a 8:57 or vice versa.  The whole run felt rather smooth while I was running it and it shows in the numbers.

     I would love to stay and chat, but I have some chores to do and get ready for a Fremont Elite Runners Club meeting tonight.  Also, here is a funny picture one of my Ragnar SoCal friends shared on Facebook.  I thought I would show it because it is a great tip for anyone who may have a circus in town. LOL
 

Wednesday weigh in & a change in my approach

      Got on the scale this morning before work not really sure what I was going to see.  My weight fluctuated so much this week, and I am not really sure why.  I have my thoughts and they mostly stem around my routine/eating habits being off.  First since this weekly post is predicated around what I call my official weight is for the week, let me get that out of the way.

9/10/14 official weigh in

183 lbs

Change: +1 lbs

Total loss from heaviest: 134 lbs

Current BMI: 28.6 (overweight)

Change: +.1

     It is amazing how life can just get in the way of something so simple as running.  I am not trying to minimize marathon training because it is hard and I am putting in a lot of miles, but at the end of the day it is just running and I should be able to fit it in.  I feel like I have done a good job listening to my body and not being so rigid to my schedule that if I miss a run the world is not going to come to an end.  I knew when I made this schedule inevitably things were going to get shifted around.  I just didn’t think it would be this much.  Of course some of it is my own fault, who thinks that bringing home a new 6 week old puppy during marathon training is a good idea, well apparently this guy. 

   

     Before I go any further, let me introduce you all to Jedi.  He is what you would call a cha-weenie, part Chihuahua and part dachshund.  Mandy was introduced to him and immediately fell in love.  Now we already have two other Chihuahuas and a large cat and we needed another animal like a hole in the head.  I have to say the second I saw him I fell in love two.  Needless to say the timing wasn’t right, but we just couldn’t say no, so he is now part of the family and we love him.

     As far as training goes I am hoping to really be back on track in another week.  I have made a few more modifications to my plan and I will be listening to my body if any further changes are needed.  I think once I get past my last 20 miler in a week or so and hit my taper things will settle down for me. 

     After seeing myself stall in my weight loss lately and seeing the scale go up and down over and over, I have come to the realization that I am not going to worry about it anymore; for now.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not done or giving up by any means.  It is just that I want to let go of some stress and I think worrying about it isn’t doing me any good.  It is stressful to get on the scale each week and be so happy at a loss of any kind just to have it ruined by a gain the following week.  Now I am not going to change anything.  I am still going to weigh in each week and post it; I am just not going to care about it.  I truly believe My biggest issue with what is going on is the marathon training.  I know I have said this before, a lot of what I have read and heard from people is they gain weight while training for the marathon.  I have managed to pretty much maintain my weight so I have to be happy about that. 

     The reason for all this kind of came about after I logged my weigh in on my phone.  I was flipping through my log entries and since the end of July my entries looked like this: 182.5, 184, 181.5, 180, 182, and now 183.  This is why I decided to change my approach. 

     So here is the plan.  I will continue to follow my current nutrition plan and do my absolute best not to cheat or go above my 2000 calorie limit except for my long run day.  I will continue to weigh in so I can monitor and make sure I don't completely fall off the rails.  Once the Marathon is over, I will take at least a week off from running to recover and spend some time with Mandy.  Then I am going to take an official weigh in and set my sights on achieving my weight goal of 173 pounds.