Weight Loss « Watermelon Waistline

Archive for the ‘Weight Loss’ Category

Gym Musings

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

People with long legs would survive a landslide more easily than those of us who are less vertically endowed: I was on the treadmill next to a man who was a bit taller than me. Even though our feet hit at the exact same time with every step, I was going at a 6.0 pace, and he was going 7.5. This is completely unfair.
Yesterday I walked by a girl about my age on the elliptical. She was pointing frantically and looked like she was shouting something – I actually thought she was yelling at me for a second – but no sound was coming from her lips. Turns out, she was just really into her music. For the duration of her workout, she pantomimed along to the music. I have no problem with this – to each his own, you know? – but if you do act like this at the gym, be aware that you’re in public, and it’s impossible not to notice such behavior…
It’s easier to do interval training (run at an easier pace, with short intervals of high speed) than to run at a pace in the middle consistently. You can end with the same pace overall, and studies show that you increase your fitness more quickly AND have a higher ‘after burn’ (burn more calories in the 24-hour period after working out). It’s win-win!
I no longer feel like the fattest person at my gym. In fact, I often feel good about myself at the gym. Of course, that’s only when I don’t see myself in the mirror. I have these pants that are definitely function over form – they are not at all flattering. I figure that if I wear those pants at the gym, I can exercise my self-confidence at the same time that I’m exercising my body.
Don’t forget your walkman – or to charge it – when heading to the gym. It makes for a long and boring cardio session.
Being next to people who are really putting in effort makes me try much harder than when I’m next to people who are half-assing it. And while I’m at it…
People who half-ass it at the gym get me all bent out of shape. What’s the point?! You’ve done the hard part: Getting out of the house and to the gym. Now make the most of it! Quit phoning it in and step it up a notch. You’ll see the results in short order :)

That is all. Thanks for listening.

Posted in Personal Stories, Workouts | View Comments

The Tortoise Becomes The Hare – Kind of.

Friday, February 12th, 2010

Yesterday I went to the gym immediately before my Kung Fu class for my scheduled 2-mile run – the shortest distance I’ll run over the course of the next 3 months.

When I got to the gym, it was pretty crowded. The row of treadmills was full except for one that was out of service and another that had my name on it: Not only was it available and in working order, but it was between two girls who were both running.

I love running beside people who are really putting in effort – it pushes me to try harder. So this was perfect: The girl on my left was going 6.2 and the girl on my right was going 7.8 (yes, I peeked. I always peek, don’t you?). My usual starting pace these days is 5.5, so that’s what I put it on. I generally end up slowing to a 5.0/5.2 , and I average about 11:30 – 12:30 per mile.

Not yesterday, though.

After just 30 seconds or so at 5.5, I bumped it up to 6.0, where I stayed for a bit. It was tough, but the girls on either side of me kept pushing me. Not literally, of course, and not even verbally, because we didn’t talk at all. You know what I mean…

The treadmill I was on had a virtual track with a light that moved around it showing my progress; each lap equals 1/4 mile. For at least 2 of the 4 laps in my first mile, on the second half of the lap I bumped my speed up to 7.5.

If you’re not a treadmill runner and don’t have swanky technology that helps determine your pace (I don’t, and regular watches don’t count) it’s hard to know exactly how fast you’re going and get your precise pace for each mile. For me, 7.5 is fast. That’s an 8-minute mile. Recall that I average approximately 12 minutes per mile.

I’m happy to say that bumping up the intensity during that first mile got me my fastest (measured) mile at 9:27.

Of course, I couldn’t keep that up for both miles, but I was able to finish both miles in under 20 minutes! 19:28 total. So the second mile took me just 10:01, which is far faster than my typical pace, as well.

Believe me: By the end of that second mile I was dead. Clearly I’m not at the point where I can run at that pace for long distances, but it’s a start! It’s nice to see what I’m capable of.

The way my half marathon schedule is structured, there is one run each week that is much shorter than the rest (2 miles for the first 6 weeks; 3 miles for the last 6 weeks). My plan is to work on endurance on the other runs each week, and really push the speed on the short runs.

Just to see what happens.

For now? You can call me Flash :)

Posted in Half Marathon, Personal Stories, Road Races, Training, Trials and Tribulations, Workouts | View Comments

Weather Be Damned!

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Even if you don’t live on the East Coast, I’m sure that by now everyone’s heard of the current weather situation we’ve been dealing with: “Snowmageddon” as it’s being called. In a way, the crapload of snow we have is messing with my workout plans, and in another, it’s actually helping me as I get back in the running groove.

On Sunday, there was too much snow to run outside and my gym was closed, so I pushed my first run to Monday. It would have been tough to fit that in on Monday, though, because that’s when I have my Hip Hop class. But, that class was cancelled, and the gym was reopened, so I got my first run in just one day late.

On Tuesday, I should have had Kung Fu, but it was cancelled. In the late afternoon, though, the roads between my house and my gym weren’t too bad and my workload was light, so I took advantage and went down there for my next run (3 miles – still tough). It would have been a challenge to do both the run and Kung Fu in the same day on my first week – especially if I wasn’t able to cut out from work early. (Thanks, boss!)

Yesterday, the roads were awful again, but I needed to fit a rest day in there somewhere anyway.

Today, I know that I’ll get to the gym for my scheduled 2-mile run whenever I see an open window for it.

It’s like this: I know that I can’t just go for a run whenever I want to at this point in time, so whenever I see an opportunity for it, I seize it! Especially during this first week of trying to get into the swing of running 11+ miles per week again, it’s kind of nice to have that urgency due to the weather, as well as the forced relief from my other class commitments.

Not that I don’t miss Kung Fu and Hip Hop, because I do. They’re both a lot of fun and I’m ready to go back! It’s just helpful to have that break allowing me to ease into the half marathon training.

I love that I’m not letting the weather hold me back, even when some of my standard workouts aren’t available to me.

Take that, Snow Miser!

Posted in Half Marathon, Personal Stories, Training, Workouts | View Comments

Curses!

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Due to the large quantities of snow dumped onto my city over the weekend, I am unable to run outside for the time being (we’re expecting more tonight, too…). And, due to the power outages that resulted from the snow, my gym was closed on Sunday. Which meant I wasn’t able to start my training for the half marathon until yesterday.

But start I did: My schedule called for 3.5 miles, which I completed, but holy hell: It was HARD. (that’s what she said…)

I believe I’ve mentioned that I’ve made excuses for not keeping up with my running lately. Well let me tell you, it showed on the treadmill last night. I was struggling, bad. I didn’t have to walk, but I had that belt moving pretty slowly for a while there.

Previously, I was at the point in my running that 3.5 miles wasn’t too difficult. It seems I’ve lost a bit of fitness in the last month or two. Blast!

It’s good that I’ve found this out now, and I’m certainly not going to let it stop me. In fact, knowing that I’m not where I was is just more motivation to get back there – and then surpass it. I’ve found that my running improves only through consistency, and I’m terrible at being consistent without a schedule.

And now I have a schedule for the next 3 months, so that should help!

Posted in Half Marathon, Personal Stories, Road Races, Training, Trials and Tribulations, Workouts | View Comments

It Begins.

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

Tomorrow marks precisely 12 weeks (84 days!) before the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon I’ll be running. The majority of training schedules for the half are 12 weeks, and therefore, I’ll be starting to seriously train for this event tomorrow.

After checking out a number of different options, I’ve decided to use Hal Higdon’s Novice Half-Marathon Training Schedule as a guide. I’ve used some of his other training schedules in the past (8k and 10k) and have been happy with them, so I figured I’d stick to what works.

It’s been over a week since I’ve really run and – believe it or not – I actually miss it! I’m looking forward to getting out there again, and since I’m so much more consistent when I’m following a schedule, I know this is just the beginning.

Here’s my current concern, though: Pittsburgh got hit with a major snow storm last night and this morning. I’m from Buffalo, originally, so I’ve seen snow like this before, but not in the 10 years I’ve lived in the ‘burgh has as much snow come down all at once. A lot of trees were downed and thousands of homes and businesses were – or are still! – without power. We lost power for almost 24 hours… big pain in the butt.

The roads aren’t very well plowed and many sidewalks haven’t been shoveled yet; clearly not ideal conditions for running outside. And, my gym was closed today due to a power outage. I’m concerned that they will be closed tomorrow as well. If that’s the case, where do I run?

I guess I’ll call my gym in the morning and see if they’re open. If not, I’ll do a quick reconnaissance mission around the neighborhood to see if it’s safe to run outside. If neither of those prove successful, I may have to put off my training start until Monday (unless anyone has any other suggestions for me!).

I’m confident that one of those two options will be available to me. I’m pretty optimistic that I’ll be running tomorrow, one way or another.

Btw: Thank you for all the props at my 90-pound loss milestone! Between here and my Facebook page (wanna be a fan?!) I’ve received a number of congratulations and I’m humbled by your support. I feel great about how far I’ve come, and having finally hit this number that has eluded me for so long has reenergized me in my quest to lose the next 22 to get to my original goal of 150. So yeah, thanks :)

Posted in Personal Stories, Road Races, Training, Trials and Tribulations, Workouts | View Comments

Two Steps Forward

Friday, February 5th, 2010

Good news, friends! After months of dancing around – but never hitting – 172, this morning I hit the elusive 90-pound loss mark!

That’s ninety. NINE-OH. Holy smokes :)

I’ve been focusing much more closely on what I’ve been eating. No more crackers, for one thing. I’ve also been eating out minimally again. Thankfully, for the next month or so I have no plans that will take me out of town (always a huge challenge food-wise), so I’m confident that I can not only maintain this lovely breakthrough, but surpass it.

Now that I’ve lost 90-pounds, my next mini-goal is to leave the 170′s behind me as I bust into the 160′s. Hopefully that’s just a week or two away!

It’s funny: I’ve begun so many diets in my life. I remember in particular starting a diet when I was about 14 (cabbage soup diet, anyone?) and weighing 164. Obviously, at 14, 164 is overweight. But now? That will be a fabulous weight. Hell – when I get back to that I’ll be 2 pounds away from 100-pounds lost.

It’s absolutely insane to me that I once started a diet weighing 164… and then gained 100 pounds instead. Talk about a failed diet!

Today I had lunch with a client and two of her colleagues who I had never met previously. My client (who I hadn’t seen in a while) asked if I had lost weight. I told her that yes, in fact I have lost weight. Then she asked how much and – high on my new goal – I was happy to tell them. Not surprisingly, they were all pretty surprised. One of the women was a bit overweight; the other not at all. The one who wasn’t overweight was very interested, asking questions about how I did it, how long it took, etc, and the one who was overweight seemed to be dying for a subject change. I was happy to move on to another topic myself, as I could sense her discomfort, but the others kept asking questions. I felt bad for her: It’s not easy to lose weight. And it’s definitely not easy to be around folks who have lost weight while you sit there with a plate of beef enchiladas covered in sour cream in front of you.

However, I refuse to feel bad about my success. I’ve worked hard. And even though I know it sometimes makes people feel uncomfortable or envious, I’m damn proud of myself.

I’ve lost 90 pounds!

Posted in Personal Stories, Trials and Tribulations, Weight Loss | View Comments

The Munchies

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

One of the challenges that I’ve always faced when it comes to my weight-loss efforts is a simple truth about myself:

I like to eat. A lot.

This creates some serious difficulties considering I’m trying to limit my food intake. What I have to do to accommodate this penchant for eating is 1 – find foods that are low in calories so I can eat a lot of them, or 2 – foods that take a long time to eat. That way I can prolong the eating process as much as possible to feed this weird passion.

One thing that does not fit into either of those two categories is crackers. As you may know, crackers are evil. And silly me, I continue to buy them. They’re fine if you can limit yourself to 5 or 6, but I have an extremely difficult time doing that. I love them. And again, I love to eat. Therefore, I inevitably end up stuffing my face with cracker after cracker, until I’ve eaten hundreds of calories worth of them… or finished the box. It’s like I have this insatiable urge to munch and even though my head says “Enough, already!” my fingers and mouth say “Shut up, Head – crackers are delicious!”

It’s gotten to the point that I have forbidden myself to purchase any more crackers until further notice. Maybe in a few months I’ll try them again and test my resolve. For now, though, I know having them in the house is just asking for trouble.

It’s far easier to avoid temptation in the grocery store than in your kitchen.

Remember that.

Posted in Diet, Personal Stories, Trials and Tribulations | View Comments

A Vicious Cycle

Friday, January 29th, 2010

I weigh myself a few times each week. Friday is the day whose weight I actually count, and the other numbers I use as a gauge to see how I’m doing.

You may be aware that today is Friday. My weight today was 174.5. That’s not awful, but it’s not good, either. I say that it’s not awful because on Monday, I was 178.5. It’s not good though, because last Friday I was 173.5.

This has been a common theme for me, unfortunately. In fact, my weight has yo-yoed between 174ish and 178ish on Fridays and Mondays, respectively, for roughly two months. TWO MONTHS!

Let me paint you a picture:

On Friday I weigh myself. It’s a decent number – I’m not horribly disappointed or upset with myself. Then it’s the weekend! I go out to eat, and get basically whatever I feel like eating. I go out of town, and am not in charge of preparing my own meals, and therefore eat basically whatever is available. I slack on my exercise.

And then it’s Monday and I weigh myself. It’s a terrible number – I’m horribly disappointed and upset with myself. Then it’s time to get down to business! I stay in town, don’t go out to eat, and instead, cook something healthy and delicious. I go to kung fu. I go to my aerobics class (or now Hip Hop). I go to the gym. I go running.

And then it’s Friday again. The scale shows a decent number – I’ve basically made up for last weekend’s indulgences, so I’m not horribly disappointed or upset with myself. Then it’s the weekend!

You get the idea.

I recognize that this is insane and not all that difficult to fix. I simply need to stop throwing a week’s worth of effort and positive actions out the window for a few moments of gratification on the weekend. And to be honest, much of what I’ve yielded to food-wise hasn’t even been all that tasty. Just convenient.

This two steps forward – two steps back B.S. has got to stop.

So here it is: I’m not going to go crazy this weekend on the weekends. Difficult as it will be at times, I will keep myself in check and not indulge in food that is not good for me… or my waistline. And I’ll keep up the exercise on the weekends, too.

Mark my words, internets!

Posted in Diet, Personal Stories, Trials and Tribulations, Weight Loss | View Comments

Taking Advantage

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

At about 3:30 this afternoon, I realized that there was sun streaming through my office window – for the first time all year. That was all the prodding I needed.

I donned my new cold weather running clothes (good buys!), filled my pockets with tissues, grabbed my iPod, and headed out the door.

Usually when I run I have a specific route/distance in mind. But not today; I went out with zero expectations. I simply wanted to run.

It was great running weather: Cool and sunny. Not windy. Not icy. Of course, far too often I came across sections of sidewalk that were still covered in snow (it hasn’t snowed in days). What are people thinking? Shovel your damn sidewalk, folks. Running in snow is tough – like running in sand, but with an added sense of danger (I’m a bit of a klutz, remember?).

Anyway, it was an enjoyable run. I ran more than my typical route, but didn’t set any records. Of course, it’s the first time I’ve run outside in Pittsburgh (ie: with HILLS) in a few weeks, so I feel great about what I did: 3.78 miles in 44 minutes, with no walking. It’s good to know that I haven’t lost too much of my fitness to the cold. Of course, that’s what the gym is for, though I don’t take advantage of it like I should.

But the rare January sun? That I took advantage of.

Posted in Personal Stories, Trials and Tribulations, Workouts | View Comments

I’m Happy When I’m Hiking

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Tomorrow I have plans to go hiking with some friends. I haven’t seen these friends in a long while, and it’s been even longer since I’ve hiked, so tomorrow will be a lot of fun!

It’ll also be a fabulous workout. Lately, most of my exercise has been in the form of running – which is great – but when you do the same workout all the time your body gets used to it and doesn’t continue to progress and change. My running routes are always different in length and terrain so they’re not exactly the same, but hiking is a big diversion from my recent norm. It’s good to throw your body a curve ball once in a while and keep it guessing.

Not to mention that changing up your routine will keep you engaged mentally in addition to physically.

I have no idea how long or far we’ll hike, or what the terrain will be like. All I know is that we’re putting on our gear and heading out after breakfast.

And it will be awesome.

I hope the rest of you are doing fantastic things with the rest of your holiday break… that is, if you’re lucky enough to still be on a break!