Oct-over

My weigh-in yesterday was less than stellar, coming in at 100.5kg. While it was disappointing, it was hardly surprising because I was still dealing with the fallout from my motviation issues. I was a bit peeved with myself that my entire weight-loss for the month amounted to a tiny 1.2kg (2.6lbs) but, in the spirit of being motivated and optimistic, I decided to look at what I had achieved off the scale.

So, for me, October 2011 will forever be the month that...

I reached my 40kg-gone milestone 
I graduated from the Couch to 5K program
I celebrated 6 years married to my perfect match, Danny
I had photos taken at a wedding that I am finally happy with
I held my first blog giveaway
I conquered a big bout of de-motivation without gaining weight
I didn't let a work trip become a reason to stop exercising
I discovered that I fit into more size 16's (Size 12 US) than I do size 18's (Size 14 US)
I discovered the glorious-ness that is padded bike shorts!

I can hardly call that a month wasted now can I?

Bring on November!!

p.s. - I've had a bit of a play around with my blog layout. I hope it's easy enough for everyone to read. If anyone is having any trouble with it, please leave a comment letting me know :)

Thanks for reading... K

Looking Forward

With the return of my motivation, I have had a pretty productive week.

My run-in with Bob Harper and his idea of yoga resulted in some long lost muscles being re-discovered in the two days after.

My insomnia returned with gusto as I set my alarm for 4.50am on Tuesday night. The more I thought about needing to get up so early, the more anxious I got. At 11pm I admitted defeat and turned off the alarm and told myself I would worry about what to do with my run the next day. 

I ended up doing W3D2 of B210K on Wednesday afternoon. For those who have been reading for awhile you will know I hate running in the afternoon and the last time I had attempted it was at the end of Week 2 of Couch to 5K. It turns out that 2 months haven't made any difference in my feelings towards afterwork running. My shoes turned to concrete and I developed a crippling stitch at the end of the first interval. It wasn't until the third interval that I started to feel like I had worked out a decent rhythm. 

I am finding that once I find that 'rhythm' I end up feeling like I could keep running for ages. It's just finding that point that I struggle with.

Last night I got to try out my new padded bike shorts. The company I work for were kind of enough to give me a pair of branded shorts to wear for my triathlon and training. They make a world of difference to my butt comfort and also have the benefit of giving me a behind like JLo...

I worked out a local 9km route (that's the length of the ride for the triathlon) and Danny and I headed out last night. I was pretty happy with how comfortable I found the distance, despite so pretty nasty hills. Best of all? Today I have absolutely no residual 'bike-butt' like I usually have thanks to the shorts. Definitely worth the strange looks I got while standing in line at my local Subway getting dinner on the way home after our ride.

Today marks exactly three months until the triathlon! I can feel my confidence increasing a little bit each day and I am really excited that my sister has decided that she will be doing it as well. She was the one that suggested the event to me so it seems fitting that she will be there busting her behind with me!!

I am happy that I have so many aspects of the day worked out. I have decided on my kit, I have my training plan ready, and all my flights and the hotel are booked. 

With things falling into place for the triathlon, I have started thinking more about what is next. I have decided I spend most of my time somewhere in the future, rather than the here and now. I always want to have something planned, especially when it comes to exercise. I think it comes from a deep fear that if I don't have something to strive for, I will go straight back to the lazy person I was before and all the weight will come back.

I have just finished reading a book I had borrowed for the library on a whim; 'Marathon and Half Marathon' by Sam Murphy.

This book was pretty awesome! I went into reading the book with a vague 'one day' kind of marathon dream and came out the other end inspired and knowing that this is the right 'next' for me. There are a couple of local marathons and 1/2 marathons (including one that is all UPHILL!) but I want the atmosphere of a bigger event so I plan to head to Melbourne again. I think I will do the 1/2 marathon next year and then look to do a full marathon the year after! Maybe even through the Inspired Adventures program.  Imagine, my first marathon, OVERSEAS!

But then again, after I complete this triathlon, I want to do a full length tri!? I guess being able to choose between all of these options is why losing all this weight is so fantastic.

Speaking of options and achieving goals, Meredith at SwimBikeMom has her first Ironman this weekend in Miami! Her blog, her stories, her goals are a huge inspiration for me. I know I said it before but you should check out her blog! GOOD LUCK MEREDITH!

Thanks for reading... K

A Big Loser

My day had been pretty sedentary and I had the guilts when I got home. I should have been at the pool but I am still avoiding it like the plague. I wasn't keen to do an extra strength training session, and 30 minutes on the exercise bike seemed about as exciting as a kick in the shins.

What to do, what to do?

I had never been a real fan of workout videos, even though lots of people swear by them. I have had 'The Biggest Loser: The Workout - Weight Loss Yoga' rattling around in my DVD collection for a little while after buying it because it came highly recommended. It seemed like the perfect solution to my guilt-ridden evening.

I haven't done a lot of yoga in the past, my many rolls of fat generally got in the way but I thought that, with 40+kgs gone, I might be a little more comfortable with the moves that were required.

I took an obligatory pre-workout picture to show of my sexy legging legs. 

OK, it was sexier in my head...

And after my photo shoot, it was on, Biggest Loser Style.

And then I proceeded to die, Biggest Loser Style....

This DVD is 62 horrendous minutes long. I made it to 37 before Danny got sick of dodging my flailing legs and the profanities I was screaming, all directed at my previous 'friend' Bob Harper... Plus I was a little bit scared that the burning in my legs may have some kind of impact on tomorrow mornings run.

The full 62 minutes will have to wait until another day... Another crazy day!

Thanks for reading... K

Motivation Station

After my whiney post about self-sabotage the other day I continued to flail around in my incredible de-motivated state for the first few days of my mega five-day weekend. Thursday was cardio+strength and I wandered around for hours trying to procrastinate. Friday was rest day which I relished with an enthusiasm normally reserved for cake. And Saturday was W2D3 of B210K and I felt, emotionally and physically, like I was dragging lead.

I had to do something but I had no idea what...

On Sunday, with the thought of that afternoons strength+cardio (errrghh, again already?) hanging over my head I decided to walk to my Mum's house. An hour an twenty minutes and 7kms later I got to her house but I still felt crap about anything. So walking wasn't my magic cure!? Neither was the 1/2 bag of corn chips I ate at her house (surprise, surprise!)

I got home tired and crabby. I saw that the results for the Gold Coast leg of Triathlon Pink were posted. Triathlon Pink is the one I will be involved in on January 29th. These events are held all over the country, one region per month-ish from October to January with my triathlon in Melbourne being the last. I had a look at some of the Gold Coast photos and then checked out the results for both that event and the one in Sydney that had been held in early October. I read the event manuals and felt myself experiencing some of the excitement I had felt when I initially discovered the event and decided to sign up.

I browsed the net a bit further and read a post by Meredith over at Swim Bike Mom and marvelled at the fact that she is a mere week out from the Rohto Ironman in Miami! Now there is a lady who should be feeling a few pre-race day jitters because I read about the Miami event and it is crazy! I can't imagine ever being able to complete an Ironman. And, just to make her even more awesome, she is running for such a worthwhile and special cause; Baby Caden was born with a severe heart defect and Meredith and her husband, after following his story, decided they would use their Ironman adventure to raise funds for Caden and the rest of the Stanley family. 

After my SBM update, there was a little bit more excitement and motivation.

I decided I wanted to practise my transitions. I had thought a lot about transitions and what I would wear for each leg of my event. I am pretty sure I worked out my clothing which allowed me to see how long my changes would take. It was pretty comforting to realise that, as long as I don't forget anything or set stuff up incorrectly, I should be out of transition pretty quickly.

I hopped on my exercise bike for the cardio portion of cardio+strength and I kicked BUTT! I shaved 2 whole minutes off my best exercise bike time for 9km, completing it in just under 20 minutes! My strength training went as good as it can go. I will never get excited about weights, I do it purely for the benefit I get from it, no enjoyment factor at all...

Then, in a further sign from the powers to be that I need to get motivated about this journey of mine, the Sunday Night program showed an update on a story they had previously shown about Tate Kemp, a nine year old with cerebral palsy that is setting some seriously inspirational goals to raise funds and awareness for the condition that he refuses to let slow him down.And just like last time, Tate and his awesome older brother Nate had me sitting on my couch crying... You can watch the video here.

I am happy to say that last night I went to bed with my motivation back on board and my triathlon excitement restored!

Thanks for reading... K

Sabotage

I suffer from a terrible condition... Self-sabotage.

I have a long history with this affliction and it's beaten me so many times before.

Some notable moments -

There was the Weight Watchers Wedding attempt of 2005...

The 10K run of 2007...

The Thailand Trek, also 2007...

And the New Zealand Holiday of 2009...

These are notable because for each I set out with such strong intentions; Lose weight, get fit, be a healthy person. And for each I got a few months away from my 'goal' and became overwhelmed. It all seemed too hard, too time consuming, too much...

In 2005 I lost 12kgs on Weight Watchers in an attempt to become a beautiful, svelte bride. My wedding was set for October and I began Weight Watchers At Home in February. I lasted until June or July when I decided I had all the answers and it was all so easy. It was a pain to count points all day long and I was losing weight so surely I could do it all by myself, and anyway, I was a bride-to-be! I had things to organise and pre-wedding parties to attend! And party I did... And gained back the 12kgs by the time I had to walk down the aisle.

In 2007, I decided I wanted to 'learn' to run. After 'training' for about a month I thought I was a legend! I decided it would be a fabulous idea to enter a 10K road race. As the date loomed, I realised I was no where near ready for a 3K, let alone a 10! This resulted in a fear-induced retreat to the couch. I still did the 10K because my Mum wasn't going to let me out of it. 1 hour and 22 minutes of agony later, I had completed a 10K and my recovery period lasted 4 years.

Around that time I booked us a holiday to Thailand including a trek through the Northern hills. You can read about the horror by clicking here but what I didn't write about was the three months of good intentions and exercise followed by two months of terrified eating and couch surfing that I went through before we left. I jammed all 128kg of myself into the tiny plane seat and jetted off to Thailand in October 2007 and then proceeded to lugged it up the hills.

And New Zealand? I had such good intentions of finally going on a holiday where I didn't spend the majority of my time being self-conscious of what people were thinking of me and whether I was going to break chairs. I had lost some weight since my 'moment of terror' but I was still an uncomfortable 135kg when I got there. It was however, the first holiday I had been on where I didn't gain weight while I was away.

And now... 

Now I stand a mere 3 months away from the triathlon. I have officially hit the danger zone and I can feel it. When I am trying to power through a particularly tough part of a run, I think about the triathlon a berate myself for thinking I will be able to do it. I wonder why I should bother completing the run if I am just going to fail!? I am worried about the swim portion of the triathlon and my solution? Pretend it's not going to happen! I should be getting to the pool to get in some kind of routine before my training starts in earnest in a few weeks.

So now what? Do I make the same mistake I have made so many times before because it's easier today? Or do I learn from the errors of the past? Do I tell myself, when my legs are feeling fatigued, when I stand outside the pool staring at the door, that yes, this is hard at this very moment but in a few minutes, it will be easier again. And do I trust myself that, if I stick to the training I have planned, that I will be ready for this triathlon?

Time will tell, but I know I feel stronger and more confident in what I can achieve than I did in all the years of self-sabotage. And in the moments that I feel at my absolute lowest point, where I want to pack it all in, I will just tell myself that in 101 days I will be standing on the start line and I can be there scared and panicked because I have let myself down or I can be scared (because that's inevitable) but comforted by the fact that I trained well and I am as prepared as I can be.

Source

Thanks for reading... K

A Wedding, An Anniversary and A Weigh In

Yesterday I got to celebrate my six year anniversary by going to the wedding of one of my old high school friends. 

Danny and I got married at the ripe old age of 20, and we were the first of our friends to tie the knot. We waited four long years for someone else to finally take the plunge in 2009. I still remember shopping for a dress for that wedding. I bought it online from Dream Diva because I was about 137kg at the time and shopping for evening dresses for someone my size was pretty limited where I live. It looked beautiful on the website but it wasn't such a success when it was on me. At the time, I blamed the dress but the truth was that I was never going to look beautiful at that size.

I had bought a dress for this wedding back in August but I decided it was too short for a formal wedding so I went shopping again. I tried on lots of dresses, getting a big smile on my face with each as the zip slid up and I realised they fit! I can't explain how awesome it was to be able to walk into a 'normal' shop, head to the 'normal' sized clothes and be able to choose a dress, not because it was the only one that fit but because it was the one I liked!

Waiting for the bride

Danny doesn't understand personal space when it comes to photos

The happy couple

At the reception

The wedding wine kicked in!

Pretending to catch the bouquet!

The change from the wedding in 2009 was huge! I was happy with my dress, I felt confident and spoke to strangers. And best of all, once the music started I spent the whole night dancing!! I danced for about two minutes at the last wedding because I was hot, uncomfortable and embarrassed. My thighs didn't sweat and chafe, and I didn't need to kick my heels off after 5 minutes!

---

We stayed the night in a hotel so that we didn't have to make the long drive home. I weighed in when I got home this morning and I was at 100.3kg which was surprising but I think it was mostly from dehydration due to the wine the night before. Either way, I'm not complaining :)

One last thing, I put that dress from two years ago on today to see the difference. Excuse the crazy hair  and facial expression and lack of makeup :)

Thanks for reading... K

The Danger of Being Tired

I woke up this morning and I was completely shattered. After pressing the snooze button three times I realised if I didn't make a move, I wouldn't get anywhere before midday. If I had have had more energy, I would have done a little dance when I realised that it was Friday, rest day!

I have learnt over the last year that being tired leads to lazy decisions and that the best friend of laziness is convenience and convenient, at least when it comes to food, usually means 'very bad'. So, was it surprising when, tired, moody and thirty minutes late for work, I decided I couldn't be stuffed taking something from home for lunch?

And seeing as it was Friday, it was 'buy breakfast' day... Can you see where this is heading in a rapidly downhill direction?

Breakfast - Multigrain bread roll, hash brown, BBQ sauce and a large coffee

Snack - Extra thick fruit bread

Lunch - Rice paper roll, mock duck roll and snack size mushrooms in black bean sauce with noodles

Snack - Three light cruskits with vegemite and Dr Pepper

I tried to make a smart choice at dinner. We bought chips from the local takeaway but I ate a bag of steamed vegetables with a small tin of baked beans to fill myself up on smart fibre food before I ate some of the chips. I quickly wiped the fibre out with another piece of fruit bread with jam and two glasses of wine.

All this could have been sorted out by just saying goodbye to my rest day and getting some exercise in, but therein lies another problem. I haven't wanted to admit it but something is happening with my left foot. It doesn't feel muscular, it feels more internal which means I am terrified it's something nasty like a stress fracture. So I strapped my foot and limited my activity today to see if I can rescue tomorrow's run.

So now I sit here in a wine haze, wondering if I will ever be able to take control of my eating issues, or if everyone, even the skinny ones amongst us, has these kind of issues to a certain extent? 

Tomorrow I have a wedding to go to, and my own wedding anniversary to celebrate (Six years! YAY!) so I'm determined to not dwell on one bad day. I have my fingers crossed really tight that my foot will feel okay tomorrow morning but if not... Well, I'll deal with that then.

Thanks for reading... K

The Interval Decision

With the craziness of being out of the office last week comes the catch-up of this week. Most of our time in Melbourne was spent learning new systems and procedures so I am trying to get my head around all of that, implement it and also tackle my usual workflow. The result of all this is little time to blog.

First thing, Taryn, I have posted off your ‘You’ve Been Mangoed’ Lush Bath Melt. Hopefully it won’t take too long to make the voyage to your door. I hope you enjoy it, it smells divine!

Next up… My Saturday weigh in that I was not looking forward to. I dodged a bullet again and came in at 100.9kg. *phew* I was kind of annoyed because I was thinking that a gain would give me the kick in the pants I needed to stop making stupid food decisions but overall, very happy that I still managed a 800gm loss. I know, I know, the fear of gaining should be enough to get me on the straight and narrow but I am a stubborn person when it comes to giving up the things I like.

My exercise has been much better than my eating. I had decided with the work trip and the C25K Graduation that I would just ‘freestyle’ with my running for a few days before starting the Bridge to 10K. I ended up taking a week, three runs, where I just did my own thing, with the only guideline being that I had to maintain the 30 minute duration. I really liked it and even managed a 36 minute run on one day. But this week ‘off-program’ further cemented how much I hate interval running.

I’ve narrowed my distaste for intervals down to a few things; The main one being that once I stop to walk, my legs feel sluggish when I start to run again. My second issue is more psychological. I really don’t like that people who might be around when I have to walk may think that I am stopping because I am tired. I feel like going to each of them and telling them that I am walking because my iPhone app tells me to!! I tell myself that this is a stupid concern and that I need to grow up a bit.

On Sunday I knew I had to make a decision about my next move. I could choose between the Bridge to 10K and the structure that it provided. I knew from doing C25K that programs worked but I was dreading going back to intervals. My other option was to design my own program with gradually increasing durations over the next 6 weeks to sixty minutes but with no intervals.

But I kept wondering if I could trust myself to stick to a program that I created. There seemed to be more accountability when following a plan that someone else had put together, it was almost like the apps had become a faux personal trainer.

Monday was crunch time. I had to make a decision and in the end it came down to pure laziness. I was tired and I didn't want to have to think. I knew that the Bridge to 10K program would tell me when to start and when to stop and it would ultimately get me where I needed to be. I would be accountable to my mate Jim and, based on other peoples experience, this program worked just as well as C25K.

I was actually thankful for being back to intervals (run 10min, walk 1 min, repeat 4 times) when I set out on Monday because as I started to run I realised I was feeling crap... It was like all the bad choices of the week before hit me like a brick wall and every movement felt like I was running through water... Or jelly... I was so very tempted to just stop at the twenty minute mark but I kept telling myself it would get easier. And by the fourth block it did but I know that if I had gone into Monday on my own, with my own plan, I would have stopped about halfway through.

This morning was much better. I felt fresh and raring to go. All the anxiety of the last weeks of C25K is gone now and even with the dreaded intervals I am enjoying myself. The only similarity to when I began Couch to 5K is that I am struggling to imagine myself running for 60 minutes in the same way that I was doubtful about half an hour of running.

I won't be updating Bridge to 10K like I did with C25K because it can get a bit tough to think of things to write about when all the runs are quite similar. I will start to focus on my other exercise, my food and also my daily experiences. As I lose more weight I am noticing some changes to the way I interact with the world, but more so how the world interacts with me. I think some of these are worth writing about because they are encouraging and help keep me heading towards my eventual goal and hopefully reading about them can encourage others. 
 

Thanks for reading... K

Surviving Work Travel

With my recently announced reprieve from appearing in court as a witness I was free to head off on my work trip this week gone without wondering what day I would be summoned and dragged home. In my former job I was always being flown over to Melbourne for work and I hated it but this trip was different. I didn't have the concern I used to have about not fitting on plane seats and the general discomfort that comes with travelling at 140kg. 

Travelling for work is a very different creature to the trip I took to visit my sister last month. I was going to be travelling with five of my colleagues and be stuck in conferences four out of the five days I was away. I had made some vague plans regarding food and exercise but I was mostly planning to wing it which is always dangerous.

On our first day we all got in and met up around lunch time and it wasn't too hard to make good decisions at the little cafe we found. Melbourne is a much easier place to be vegan. For a start, when you mention the word 'vegan', they actually know what you mean which is a rarity at home. 

The food at the conferences was okay. It was hard to make any bad choices because most of the food wasn't even an option for me. 

Dinners were harder. Each night we went out as a group and seeing as I was with four boys who didn't really care what they were eating as long as it tasted good and one female who is genetically blessed and able to eat without gaining weight we found ourselves at places with very few 'healthy choices'. My week of dinners consisted of pizza, pasta, fries, potatoes in gallons of olive oil, and nachos... I tried to be reasonable with my portions to make up for the bad choices which made me feel a bit more virtuous but I ruined that with red wine... Even though I had given myself such a lecture over alcohol last week I still drank wine every night! I wouldn't do that at home so why did it seem like a good idea?

Breakfasts were good. I switched between fruit salad with muesli and toast with beans, spinach and avocado. I chose the fruit salad on non-exercise days and the toast when I had been for a run... That's right folks, I kept up the running while away! I was pretty impressed with myself. On Tuesday I woke up at 5am and ran for just over 30 minutes around the streets of Melbourne. The area we were staying in had some excellent pathways for pedestrians and bicycles so it was well set up for running. When I run that early at home, there is not another soul around. At 5.30am in Melbourne, there are plenty of people around!

On Thursday, I went out again. The wine had started to catch up with me and my run was quite lethargic. I had to keep telling myself to keep going and I finished the 30 minutes but had no desire to go any further. 

I didn't do any other 'planned' exercise but I spent a lot of time walking, especially on Thursday when I had a day off. I spent it checking out the location for January's triathlon (flat and beautiful! Yay!) and shopping. I went to a couple of DFO's and it took me awhile to realise that I could actually shop in all the shops I used to avoid. I lost count of the number of times I picked up an item of clothing to try on convinced it would be too small only to find it fit perfectly. My most exciting purchase? A pair of mid-length boots that would have been completely off-limits before. When ever I have attempted to buy boots on the past I haven't been able to get the zipped up over my bulging calves but between the weight loss and the running these little babies fit perfectly! And best of all? They were super comfortable... 

I've come home full of confidence and bravado but I definitely am not looking forward to tomorrow's weigh in. I have my fingers crossed for no gain but I really wouldn't be surprised. If there is a gain I am going to focus on all the non-scale victories of the week and work hard on fixing the mistakes. Thankfully, in my current role, these work trips are rare so I won't have to deal with these temptations too often.

Thanks for reading... K

The Graduate : Couch to 5K (W9D3)

W9D3 Program: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then run 30 minutes with no walking.

With a 10am flight to catch, my final Couch to 5K run was going to have to be an early one. I was worried that the sleep issues of late would rear their ugly head and completely de-rail my graduation. Luckily, my sleep was uneventful and I woke up to my 5am alarm excited and anxious. I have realised that my favourite runs are my early morning ones when it's still dark and no one is around. Everything seems so quiet and fresh. 

As I set out I thought about the last nine weeks. The runs where I struggled, the runs where I felt like I was unstoppable. I marvelled at the fact that, such a short time ago, 60 seconds of running had made my lungs burn and my legs ache in a way that made all of this seem impossible.

I also thought a lot about how worried I had been about what others thought of me. I had started with so many doubts about my own abilities that I assumed that every person that saw me running also thought the same thing. I was also making the mistake of assuming the whole world cared what I was doing and would be bothering to watch me run. Truth is, very few people paid any attention to me out there, bumbling along. To them I was just another person, out there, doing their thing. 

As my energy went through it's peaks and troughs I thanked goodness that I had gotten through the whole program without injury. So many people, on message boards, blogs and Facebook pages, have wound up with various injuries that had sidelined them during C25K. I had experienced side cramps (stitch) early on and managed to work that out. And then there was my slight panic in Week 5 when I developed some lingering calf tightness that turned out to be too much running on hard surfaces.

Since W9D3 was the third day of running 30 minutes, I found that it was comfortable. Actually, anything was going to be comfortable when compared to the the horror of The Hangover Run! I knew that my body was ready to go longer and I spent some time thinking about just how far I may be able to go one day. I have 'Complete a Marathon' in my Bucket Book and it doesn't seem like such an unrealistic goal these days.

When I finished up Week 9, Day 3 I was quite surprised at my lack of emotion about it all. I have read of others getting a bit teary when it's all said and done and I honestly thought that was what I would experience. Maybe it was because I was thinking about what I may have forgotten to put in my suitcase, or because I was considering my next challenge, the Bridge to 10K Program, but I finished up and that was that. I walked home for my cool down and had a shower. No emotion, it was what it was.

I did get a little excited however, when I realised that I got to take my measurements and compare them to my pre-C25K stats. I am always kicking myself that I never took measurements when I started losing weight 'this time around' but I guess it didn't start as a 'Today's the first day of the rest of my life' kind of revelation so I never thought of it. But I did think to take them before beginning C25K!

I knew that I had lost weight and I had needed to replace a few items of clothing in the last two months but I never imagined that the results would have looked like this!!

And, of course, there is the little matter of announcing the Graduation Giveaway Winner. The odds of winning were pretty high for the entrants, all three of them! So, with the help of the nifty random number generator -

I am happy to announce Taryn at Fat Girl In A Skinny World as the winner!! Congrats Taryn, and thanks for being a fantastic follower of my blog. I hope you enjoy reading my words as much as I do yours :)

So now I have a week of work out of town with plenty of shopping thrown in for good measure! There are lots of challenges that come with being away from home so I am hoping I am strong enough to make good decisions!

Thanks for reading... K

A Milstone Weigh-In : Losing 40

I didn't make mention of last week's weigh in because I wanted to make sure it had stuck. You see, in the lead up to stepping on the scales on the 24th, I really hadn't had an awesome week when it came to what I put in my mouth. I was a bit sceptical about how my weigh in would go. I was surprised and excited when the scales flashed up with 102.2kg (225lbs)! I was only 200gm from reaching 40kg (88lbs) lost total!!

I promptly followed this up with our regular Saturday night pizza. I make it at home based on this recipe and always felt virtuous about it because it was sans the traditionally fattening cheese and cholesterol laden meat. The was until, post pizza last week, I plug the recipe for my pizza base only in NutritionData. I almost dropped my bundle when I found out that I was eating 1,270 calories of doughy pizza base ALONE!! Once you added in the toppings, even without meat and cheese, I was eating more calories than my basal metabolic rate (BMR) in ONE MEAL.

When I teamed that with calorie massacre that occured at the work function yesterday with all the alcohol and the drunken hot chip feast, I was not looking forward to this morning's weigh in.

I tentatively stepped onto the scales and closed my eyes. The best I was hoping for was to maintain but I really thought I was staring down the barrell of a gain.

When I opened my eyes I couldn't believe it...

101.7kg!

(223lbs for the imperialists)

I can now safely say that I have lost 40kgs!! When people say 'how much have you lost?' I don't have to say 'Almost 40' :)

And Saturday night pizza? Some major changes are going to happen there, I won't let no dough stand in my way of my next milestone! 50kgs down, here I come!

142kg vs. 102kg

Thanks for reading... K

The Hangover : Couch to 5K (W9D2)

Only two days left to enter the C25K Graduation Giveaway! Head over to this post to enter!

W9D2 Program: Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then run 30 minutes with no walking.

 
If I'm completely honest, I knew I would end up doing this post despite all my bravado about how I would be well behaved at yesterday's work function.

From the get go, I was in deep doo-doo. My workmates had informed me that there would be no 'behaving' and they would see to that. I had a vague plan to drink mineral water between alcoholic beverages and of setting a drink limit. Neither of these happened and after two drinks, all of a sudden, but not suprisingly, plans-of-attack went out the window. Then, when I got the good news that the court case I am supposed to be a witness for next week was no longer going ahead because the accused had decided to plead guilty, I was in the mood for celebrating.  

 Self-portraits always work out well

*sigh* Things got messy indeed... 

Apparently my workmate felt the need to try and strangle me!

I was saved by Danny taking me home early so that we could go to my Mum's house for a bonfire that was scheduled to start when the sun went down. I switched to water and was feeling much better by the time I went to bed.

This morning when I woke up, I knew I was a lucky girl. I had managed to avoid the worst of what a hangover could throw at me but I still had a headache and that seedy feeling. I lay in bed wondering why I do this to myself and I established the following truths:

• Alcohol is pure poison; surely anything that, when put into your body,  can cause the kind of reactions that alcohol does should be outlawed.
• I am not a funner/more attaractive/smarter person when I have been drinking. I tend to be loud, annoying and clumsy.
• Alcohol cosumption, especially that of the 'excessive' kind, does not mesh well with running... OR anything healthy for that matter.
• Alcohol makes me want food I really shouldn't be eating... Which would explain how I found myself chowing into hot chips at 9pm last night.

When I finally dragged myself out of bed and into the world of people standing upright I found myself face-to-face with a decision. Do I attempt W9D2 of C25K while feeling this way? Or do I spend my day, laying on the couch, oozing lethargy and do it tomorrow, meaning I would have to do day 2 and day 3 back-to-back? I figured my only excuse for not doing the run today was the fear that I wouldn't be able to complete the 30 minutes required... And I didn't want to have a DNF on my C25K record. But my conscience was having none of this. It ternly told me that I had no choice in the matter, I was going to be doing a run that morning and if I couldn't finish it, then tough titties to me because I had made the decision to drink so I would have to deal with the consequences. GO CONSCIENCE!!

I experienced a lot of uncomfortable things on my run this morning that will stop me from ever making such a silly mistake again. As soon as I started it was tough. My whole torso felt heavy, like my core was a huge weight that I would have to drag along with me. My legs weren't heavy, they were just slow and no amount of coaxing seemed to make them go faster. 

About 10 minutes in I was dreaming of week six when ten minutes of running was met with a three minute walk. 

At the halfway point I was severely doubting my ability to finish the run. Even though I was standing, I felt like there was an elephant crushing my chest and I had a pain in my lower back which I think must have been my poor kidneys. 

With five minute left I hit the biggest 'wall' I've experienced so far. If you've watched 'Run, Fatboy, Run' you'll know what I mean.

The desire to stop was overwhelming but I told myself, the only thing worse than not completing this run would be stopping with less than five minutes to go. I felt like I was 'running' at such a slow pace that the walkers behind me would surely overtake.

When Jim uttered those sweet, sweet words "cool down" I could have knelt down and kissed the ground. If I want to get a bit 'glass-half-full' about it, completing the run in that condition was a good experience for me. It sucked enough that I know I will think twice before ever drinking like that again, whether or not I have a run the next day. But it also showed me that, even if I am feeling less than 100%, a run is still possible and shouldn't be an excuse for not getting out there.

Here are the all important stats... I am guessing the GPS was playing up again because I seriously doubt I was doing that kind of run pace... But the walk pace seems about right so who knows?

 Imperial - 10:42/mi

Have you ever encounter a 'wall'? How did you conquer it?

Thanks for reading... K