Wednesday Weigh In: Back On Track

You know when you’ve had a good week, and you just know the scale will know it too?  Yeah, that was this week for me.  They haven’t been happening too often for me, so I’m savoring the Feeling In Control Thing going on in my head right now.

My goal last week was not only to not gain, but to erase last week’s .6 gain and then some.  That way, in my world of crazy, it would be almost like last week’s gain didn’t happen and I could get back into my No Gains streak again.

When I stepped on the scale this morning it showed a 1.4 lb loss over last week, and a .8 loss from the week before, meaning that I met my goal of being lower than two weeks ago by nearly a pound.  Whew.

I have been truly much more aware of what I have been eating (and how much of it) and I can definitely see why the scale hasn’t been moving for the last few months.  Even though I have been exercising a lot, you just can’t create the kind of deficit to erase all of the calories I was consuming.  This week I made an effort to cut back on the alcohol and limit my simple carbohydrates (aka “white” stuff).  I’m really assessing my level of “fullness” after a meal and stopping before I really feel too full.  Finally, the biggest thing I am aware of doing this week is allowing myself to feel my hunger.  It’s OK to be a little hungry sometimes, as long as I don’t let it get out of control.  But a little bit means my body is using fat for fuel, and that’s a good thing.

Exercise wise I am running on my off days from bootcamp, three or four miles.

This next week will be a challenge because I am going on vacation.  Last time I went on vacation, every time I go, I drink more, eat more and move less.  My goal is to exercise every day but the travel days.  Even if it’s half an hour on the treadmill in the fitness center, or laps in the pool, but I plan on doing something active every day.  And of course, my goal is a no gain vacation.

Current Week:  -1.4/-0.8 (current week/previous week) lbs
Total Weight Left To Lose:  14.4 lbs
Age:  42
BMI:  28.2

Wednesday Day Weigh In: Pain and Gain

I did not meet my goal this week.  The scale this morning showed a 0.6 lb gain over last week.

I was honestly shocked when I stepped on the scale today.  I did not think it had been a bad week at all.  But when I looked back through my tracking, I saw that I was slightly over calories nearly every day.  Considering those days all had exercise calories added onto my normal 1200, I guess I did worse than I thought.  In my head, I thought I was under nearly every day.  In reality, I was over nearly every day.  Not by a lot, but then the scale isn’t upt hat much either.  It was a true reflection of my week.

I’m very bummed.  I thought I’d had a better week.  I really am disappointed that I didn’t keep the no gain streak up for another week.  But I’m determined to keep the scale going in that direction.  My trend over the last month is definitely in the right direction, and I can feel and see the changes both in my head and in my body.  I’m more careful.  I’m debating my choices more.  And I am getting stronger in my bootcamp classes.  It’s harder to tell with the running because it has been so hot, so my pacing is off.  But I’m still at it, which is half of the battle.

This week will be more of a struggle.  Family is coming in from out of town and this always means more eating and drinking.  Definitely a weak area for me, family gatherings.  I will really have to be on my game.  But I do not want to see a gain next week.  Ideally, I’d like to be lower than last week’s number to erase this gain and get back on track.  That is my goal for the week.

Current Week:  +0.6
Total Weight Left To Lose:  15.8 lbs
Age:  42
BMI:  28.5

Wednesday Weigh In

The last time I saw this number on the scale was March.  Yes, I looked it up.  I knew it had been a while.

March was a stressful time, with the lead up to my son’s wedding, and I started feeling the stress.  I stopped being very careful about my food or drink, and the pattern continued until, oh, Memorial Day.  Granted, we’re talking only four pounds here, but still.  I went up and down and up and down with those same four pounds week after week and it was driving me crazy.

I did the Runner’s World 39 Day Running Streak and started bootcamp classes around Memorial Day.  I started feeling better about my journey again.  Even though the weight still wasn’t where I wanted it to be (in other words, it wasn’t going down), I felt stronger and more capable every week.

Three weeks ago I started my “no gains” philosophy to weight loss.  The first week, I didn’t gain.  The second week, I didn’t gain again.  Here were are in the third week and I am so happy that I’ve done it again.  I haven’t gained.  I’ve made good choices, I’ve kept up with exercise even during the hottest week of the year, and I just have a much better feeling about where I am and what I am doing to meet my goals.

I lost 1.4 pounds this week.  It isn’t huge.  It isn’t grand.  It isn’t even the lowest weight I’ve clocked in during the last six months.  But it represents another week of no gains and inching closer to where I’d like to be.  I feel good about it.  And now the line in the sand is drawn.  I can’t be above this new, lower threshold next week.

It should be a good week.

Current Week:  -1.4
Total Weight Left To Lose:  15.2 lbs
Age:  42
BMI:  28.4

Refrigerator Oatmeal

With the summer heat here in the Northeast hitting the boiling point these last several weeks, I’ve been getting up earlier and earlier to try and get my runs or workouts in.  This is something I struggled with last summer, but since the RWRunStreak got me in the habit of getting up and in my running clothes before 6am, it’s much more of a habit this time around.

My problem is fuel for the mornings.  I am trying to find a balance between what to eat before a workout, and after.  Normally, I need some fuel to keep me going for anything over 20 minutes or half an hour.  I had thought toast might be a good fit, and sometimes before a long run it is, but not if I eat it too close to the start of my run.  If I’m starting my run at 545, I can’t really get up at 445 just to drop a piece of toast in my stomach.

I talked with my bootcamp instructor about it last week after a particularly intense early morning class.  I honestly nearly vomited during class, and all I’d had was toast with a smear of peanut butter.  She told me she would suggest a bit of coffee (not a lot) just to give my stomach something; the milk and sweetener would be enough to fuel the workout.  Then, I could eat a proper breakfast after I got home and cooled down.

But what to do then?  I need something more than toast then, and making egg whites after I’ve sweated it out outside just has no appeal.  Then I saw this yesterday online:  Refrigerator Oatmeal. 

I was intrigued.  The idea is that all the liquid, combined with the bacteria from the yogurt and acid from the fruit, softens and “cooks” the oatmeal and whatever seeds you put in it.  Any combination would do:  chia seeds, flax seeds, mangoes, berries, apples, whatever you had on hand.  You put it all in a container (they use these adorable small mason jars) and put it in your fridge overnight.  In the morning, you have a protein packed, whole grain and fruit breakfast waiting for you.

I had everything pretty much on hand for the recipe, so last night I threw it all in the fridge to try it.

This is what I found after my early morning walk:

It was delicious!  Probably a little too sweet because I used dates and some agave syrup (all of her recipes had some sort of natural sweetener, either honey or maple syrup) but it was absolutely delicious.  It made enough that I only ate half this morning and saved half for tomorrow.  The original recipe recommends that the recipe lasts several days, but not terribly long.

Here’s the recipe I used, modeled after Monica’s at The Yummy Life:

Recipe:

1/4 c old fashioned oats
1/3 c skim milk
1/4 c plain greek yogurt (nonfat)
1 1/2 tsp flax seeds
2 Medjool dates
6 raspberries
1/2 a mango
1 tsp agave syrup

Mix together all ingredients in container or mason jar and leave in fridge overnight.

You could use any combination of fruit, different seeds or nuts, any sweetener (or none).

Makes 2 yummy servings.

Wedneday Weigh In

So here it is, the second week of my “no gain” goal.  This week I met that goal, but just.  I dropped 0.2 lbs this week.

I could have done better this week.  But I also had moments where I very consciously made good choices and felt great about them.

The “no gains” goal may seem like a ridiculously low expectation to some, but it was a good mantra in my head when I was thinking about making bad choices.  “no gain, no gain” was what I kept telling myself.  You will have a gain if you have that drink, or eat that bread or choose pasta instead of salad.  I needed that mindset to kick in, to help me in those moments of choice.

Plus, even if I lost just .2 a week, I’d still lose ten pounds in a year.  Considering I’ve been with the same four pound range since Christmas, that would be progress.  I’m going with what works with me in my head, this week.

I am tracking in My Fitness Pal, and it does help me with accountability.

I am still trying to run most days.  I had to take two days off on Sunday and Monday after I donated blood and felt lousy, but now I am back in the game.

Looking forward to a good day and another week of “no gain”.  🙂

Current Week:  -0.2
Total Weight Left To Lose:  16.6 lbs
Age:  42
BMI:  28.6

Happy Blogoversary to Me!

Happy Blogoversary to Me!  I started this fitness blog one year ago today.

At that point I’d been running for about ten months and was flagging a bit in my fitness efforts.  I had just signed up to live blog at FitBloggin’, and it felt silly to be attending a fitness blogging conference without a blog.  I read lots of fitness and food blogs, but didn’t write one of my own.  So I went over to WordPress.com and decided to start this one.

I had trouble figuring out a name.  I wanted something to do with running but everything I wanted was taken (in my usual over confident style I was looking for names like Chunky Runner or Fat Girl Running or something like that).  I nearly gave up until I came up with Mostly Forward.  It felt right.  I felt like my overall fitness trajectory was forward, but I had a lot of backwards int he journey.  Hence, Mostly Forward.

I had big hopes for the blog.  I had hoped to find a loyal readership.  I thought people would really connect with me and my struggles.  I don’t feel like that has happened.  After FitBloggin’ 2012 I really felt like I had found a great community and strove to be a part of it.  The conversations, the challenges, the interacting.  I saw all of these people who really got a lot from each other in terms of support through their struggles.  Not complaining, but it hasn’t been that way for me.  My blog helps me put my thoughts together and give concreteness to my journey.  But my blog seems pretty solitary.  I don’t get much feedback from others here.  Which is probably because I am not great at the Twitter thing or marketing myself.  I’d like more interaction with other bloggers, but it hasn’t happened.

That being said, I am glad I’m blogging and recording the steps I’m taking to move forward.  My blog is for me, after all, not anyone else.  I don’t write in a certain way, using certain key words, or talk about products because I’m being asked to do so (not that I would mind that per se….).  It’s just for me, a place to sort out my thoughts and keep me on the right path.  And that’s OK.

I have moved forward.  A year ago I was struggling to keep up with the running, I’d gained a few pounds and didn’t have a great feeling about who I was or where I was going.  This year my running is on track, I’ve started boot camp, I’ve shed a few pounds and am working towards a goal of losing more.  I feel like I really am moving forward, and it feels good.

So Happy One Year Blogoversary to me.   Cheers!

Runner’s World Run Streak Recap

Just typing “Runner’s World” into a title on my blog seems very strange to me.  While I’ve been running for 22 months now, I still don’t feel like a runner.  But I have to say, after participating in this challenge, I definitely feel more like one.

The idea of running every day was still foreign to me when I started this.  I had started running with the Couch 2 5K program and then moved onto Bridge 2 10K.  Both promote the rest days as a way to regroup and heal, and they are invaluable to a beginning runner.

But while I might not feel like a runner, I’m not a novice anymore.  I might be slow, but my body has been doing this now for nearly two years.  I realized that running a mile a day, every day, should be something I could do. And I was right.  I kept up with the challenge and ran at least a mile, every single day, except for one:  June 2, the day I put together our town’s 5K (although I am very sure I walked at least a mile that day).

Best things?  Now running feels like a habit.  There were a few days where I didn’t really want to get out of bed.  It’s hot now, and the only time that makes sense to run is early in the mornings.  There were times when I probably wouldn’t have gotten out of bed except that I didn’t want to break the streak.  But now it feels normal to get out of bed and put on my running clothes and get a quick run in, even if it’s only a mile.  I used to treat running like an event, not a real part of my every day life.  Now it feels more like the routine.

Worst things?  Laundry.  Even after only a mile, my clothes are soaked.  My laundry has been so full of tech ts and sports bras it’s not even funny.  That, and my feet are a little uglier these days than they were before the streak.  But if those are my biggest complaints I think I am doing well.

Here are my stats:

Week 1 mileage:  14.6 miles
Week 2 mileage:  12.3 miles
Week 3 mileage;  14.7 miles
Week 4 mileage:  18.5 miles
Week 5 Mileage:  14.6 miles
Week 6 Mileage (Sun-Thu):  12.97 miles
Total Streak Miles:  87.67 miles in 39 days
Average:  2.25 miles per day

I feel pretty good about it, especially considering I’ve also been attending bootcamp classes two or three times a week for this period too.  On days where I was scheduled for bootcamp, I would get up at 5:30 or 6 and get in a quick mile and then still attend class later in the morning.

Here’s what this year looks like now in my RunKeeper Reports:

January looks pretty low because I wasn’t entering in treadmill runs into the system; I definitely logged more than that.  But if you look, Feb/Mar/April all are pretty even.  May ticks up with the better weather but June really blows it out of the park.  Which is kind of amazing because I haven’t done any long runs; I was doing those on March and April.  It just goes to show you that even a slowpoke like me, if I keep at it, can log some serious miles.  Yay, me.

So I might still be in the back of the pack, but at least I feel more like a runner after this challenge.  I’m definitely glad I participated in it, and proud to have completed it.

Wednesday Weigh In

I posted a slight loss this week, 0.4 lbs.  Which means I met my goal of not gaining this week.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, why my weight loss has stalled and stayed within the same three pound range.  Over the last seven months I have checked in with the scale every Wednesday and every Wednesday one of two things happened:  I either posted a loss or a gain.   Always excited for a pound or two here and there, always feeling good about the good weeks.  Always pissed off about the gains, either knowing full well that I chose the gain with my food choices that week, or being mystified as to where it came from.  One or the other, for a good 26+ weeks now.

And I realized something.  If I never gained, even if I had some weeks with very small or no loss, I’d be in a much better place right now.  I’d certainly be at a lower weight.  The gains wiped out the losses.  I checked my weight today and it is EXACTLY the same as it was on May 29.  That’s two days after the start of the #RWRunStreak.  Check that.  All of those miles I’ve run, all of the bootcamp classes I did and I weigh the same as I did 5 weeks ago.

May 29:  146.8
June 5:  147.4
June 12:  147.8
June 19:  147.2
June 26:  147.2
July 3:  146.8

Three weeks of gains, two weeks of losses and one week of static.  All within the same one pound range.  Five weeks of feeling great about my exercise and building strength and muscle too, sure, but still.

So in my head this week was my simple goal:  no more gains.  I’m cool if I lose half a pound here or there.  As long as I don’t gain it back, then I’ll still be moving forward.  All I wanted was to not be above last week’s number, and I got that.  This week, same.  I have a big Fourth of July party this week, and I’ll need to be careful.  But careful is all I need to be.  I don’t need to not enjoy myself.  I can be careful and still post a loss.  I don’t have to go crazy one way or the other.  But I can’t give up.  I won’t.

I just need to keep moving forward.

Current Week:  -0.4
Total Weight Left To Lose:  16.8 lbs
Age:  42
BMI:  28.7