Dieting!

  The exciting thing about having completed my biggest fitness goal for my life, Ironman, is that I was allowed to relax for an entire month without any terrible guilt about the terrible foods I was eating and the weight I was gaining.  Mentally, I needed a break.  My body paid for my indulgence with an increase in acne, fat cells, and sluggishness.  It is very easy to drop healthy habits.  They really aren't very fun, even if they are good for you.  I could use the excuse that I worked night shift and pretty much anyone would forgive my bad health, including my nurse practitioner.  Only one person knew better, but she was too busy stuffing her face with red vines and cookies to do anythign about it :-). 
  I went to the doctor this week, and my cholesterol levels were high.  I wasn't terribly surprised, but my NP did not lecture me, she gave me another night shift free pass.  Well, when my heart is in danger, I will jump through a few hoops to remedy the situation.  I wasn't going to wait to see if I could improve once I went to days!  I started a healthy diet, and intended to drop about 25 pounds by April (Tour de Mesa time).  I weighed 155 when I made that goal.  I currently weigh 150- a year ago, I weighed 135 lbs and ran a marathon in 3:40:??.  It is discouraging in some ways since I did this to myself, and I should have known better.  I know there were factors like depression, stress, and night shift that contributed.  And, I don't hate myself for giving into the treats that help me cope in the moment, but I am trying to shift my focus.  I love all my heart can do for me, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself it I didn't take my cholesterol levels seriously and wound up having a heart attack.
  The recommendations I was given were to include more whole grains, fruits and veggies in my diet, and to exercise regularly.  Hmm, well, exercise should not be a problem, and I like these foods.  I am trying to reduce the "bad" fat in my diet and replace it with "good" fat.  I am steadily increasing my veggie count, and am up to 5 servings per day.  I am hoping to work my way up to 9, but that is a lot of veggies!  I am trying to reduce my packaged food intake since it tends to contain a lot of salt- which might be bad for me (they're revisiting that idea).  I am also trying to increase the amount of fish I eat. 
  In addition to changing my foods, of course, losing weight can lower cholesterol.  My diet this week has been limited to 1200-1300 calories/day, and, to be honest, I have trouble getting through my workouts.  I did hills on the treadmill for an hour yesterday, and by the end of it I felt dizzy and weak.  I did a circuit training workout with my trainer today, and felt light headed quite a few times.  My whole body just felt weak afterward.  My body needs to adjust, of course, so I will give it another week before I re-evaluate my calorie deficit.
  In other news, I am getting set for my marathon in February.  My 20 mile last week was 3:18:17, so I need to keep pushing to get to that 3:00:00 goal (trying for a 4 hour marathon).  My speed drills are killing me.  I am discouraged that my fast pace on my tempo runs used to be my full marathon pace :-(.  But, I am working to improve, and I will be having a great race year if I stick to my healthy diet and keep up with my training.

Grumpy Girl

There are just those days sometimes when everything gets on your nerves.  It makes you grind your teeth and snap at strangers.  They call it, "the wrong side of the bed".  I do not know if there is a cure for it, but I find it interesting the things that I absolutely HATE on this kind of day.  Today it was the constant cleaning at my work.  Since I work night shift, it seems like I would be used to being around when carpets are vaccuumed and cubes dusted.  Usually, I get annoyed if I can't use the bathroom or if I get done with my workout at the gym and the locker room is closed for cleaning.  But, today was special.  I was irritated by the yellow caution signs, the locker room being cleaned before my workout, the carpet cleaners, and the vaccuming of cubicles.  I try not to be a crazy person, but some days I can't keep the crazy from bubbling up to the brain. 

It isn't that I don't enjoy the fun kind of crazy, but the random anger about cleaning or mistyping my password for the 100th time makes me feel like a 5 year old who needs to take a nap!  I probably need to take a nap...  They should have nap time for grown-ups.  Why do we suddenly not need sleep because we are able to have jobs. 

Well, when I get irritable, it often helps to get some exercise to get the energy out.  I went to spin class, and I felt much better afterward.  Of course, that didn't last long enough, and I am cranky all over again (I blame the sleep problems)

New Year's Resolution Time!!

We all have a resolution like "This year I will lose weight, budget better, get in shape, move ahead in my career. . ."

We all have something that we disliked about the way we lived last year, and 2012 is a chance to start again.  My 2011 was not my best year in a few ways, but I learned a lot about myself, and I learned a lot about my husband.  We are both better for having faced the challenges we did, but we are also in the process of rebuilding some things that fell apart. 

For my husband, he begins the year by leaving his job and returning to school- forever.  That is to say, he is going to get his masters in education and become a math teacher.  This is a huge step for him, and I am very proud.  He is a little nervous about the change, understandably, but I believe the career he is in now has never felt rewarding to him, and it is important to him to feel that he is making a difference.  Beyond this change, he has also made a resolution to lose 70 pounds!  That is a tough goal, and I do believe he will accomplish it, but I am going to be extra naggy for the next month on the nutrition and exercise side of things since the toughest part is when you start good habits.

I am going to be struggling to get back to my former 130 lbs.  So, while my husband loses 70 lbs, I will be working off 25.  I do not really care for diets, they make me cranky, but I will sacrifice my good mood for a while to gain the happiness of looking and feeling good.  The plan is simple, 1200-1700 calories per day and exercising at least 1 hour each day 6 days a week. I am aware of how much I hate being hungry, and how much I depend on food to comfort me.  But then, no goals worth reaching were ever easy. 

My other resolution is to be able to do 20 push-ups from my feet (no girl push-ups this year).  As much as I like exercising, this seems like a pretty easy thing to achieve.  I absolutely HATE push-ups though.  I think it is because they are so hard for me and make me feel weak every time I try to do them.  My trainer thinks I have a mental block, and I probably do to some extent, but I will overcome that as well!

Good luck to everyone who has made a resolution!  I hope we all make some positive changes this year.