April 23, 2012

A weekend of temptation

I haven't been talking much about diet and weight since I started marathon training, but I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had gained some weight since I started training. So Jessica and I both decided to stop going out to eat after our long runs, and we've reined in the excessive snacking. I started tracking food again for the first time in a really long time, and have been doing really well with it.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I actually saw 147 on the scale one day, and it made me totally panic. That weight is actually 10 pounds OVER my "panic weight"! My jeans were tight, and some of them didn't even button anymore. So over the past couple of weeks, I've dropped back down to 138. My jeans all fit nicely again, and I can actually see a pretty big difference in how I look in the mirror. I know 9 pounds in two weeks seems extreme, but that's the way my body works--when I start tracking food, I drop a lot of water weight quickly. I've been eating a base of 1,600 calories a day; more if it's a run day.

When I really set my mind to a particular goal, I am very determined to reach it. That determination was much needed this past weekend, because I faced a lot of temptations. And I made it through the weekend on-track. I had set a goal to be 135 by the time I go to Indy for the half-marathon, and I kept focusing on that.

So, the weekend of temptation started on Friday night. Noah had to go to a birthday party, so Jerry and I took both the boys out, and I dropped off Jerry and Noah at the bowling alley for the birthday party. Then I wanted to do "something special" with Eli. When I asked him what he wanted to do, he said he wanted to go to the dollar store to pick out a toy. We did that, and there was so much candy there--I so badly wanted to buy a big bag of candy and go to town on it.

I even sent Jessica a text, telling her I was tempted, and she talked me out of it. (I love that she "gets" me, and knows the right things to say when I most need it). I wasn't hungry, I just felt that old habit gnawing at me. I associate certain stores with junk food, and the dollar store is one of them.

He ordered cotton candy ice cream with Reese's
peanut butter cups--that wasn't tempting at all!
We still had an hour to kill, and Eli wanted to go out for ice cream. There is a Tim Horton's with a Cold Stone Creamery inside, so we went there. That was HARD for me. I love ice cream! And they had this concoction that looked insanely good: a warm chocolate chip cookie, topped with a scoop of cookie dough, topped with ice cream!! But I ordered a decaf coffee and drank that while Eli ate his ice cream. When I got home, I had my planned treat of Cadbury mini eggs (210 calories for a small bag).

I want to be clear that Cold Stone is not "off limits" to me, nor is candy. But there is a time and place for it, and I've indulged way too much lately; so it's time I practice saying "no" once in a while ;)

Saturday wasn't too bad. I went garage saleing in the morning with my parents and the kids. I bought some clothes--they are in the washer right now, otherwise I'd take pics to show you what I got. I even got an Under Armour running shirt for 75 cents!

On Sunday, I went to church. I said I would go this week, and I did :)  Jerry, me, the boys, and my parents all went together. After church, I had a baby shower to go to. I can't believe I still haven't mentioned this on the blog... at first, she asked me to keep it quiet, and then when she made the announcement, I forgot to write about it! Remember my friend Sarah? I went to Arizona in October to be the matron of honor in her wedding. Anyway, in December, she discovered she was pregnant (planned--she wanted to get pregnant right away). So she's having a boy, and she's due in August.

I brought along a photo of Sarah and I that was taken at MY baby shower in 2004. Of course, we had to recreate the photo this time around!
Left: 2004  Right: 2012
I ate lunch before I went to the shower. I wasn't sure what kind of food would be there, and I like to eat lunch early (at 11) and the shower wasn't until 1:00. It was easy to pass up lunch at the shower, but the dessert? There were lots of desserts that tempted me! Luckily, Sarah asked me to come sit next to her while she opened her gifts, and everyone was eating dessert while she did that. I don't know if I could have resisted otherwise ;)

So, I've stuck to my calorie budget every day and it's paying off. I'm going to try and continue to track calories through my marathon taper weeks (starting next week, my mileage will decrease significantly until the marathon). With the decreased mileage, I won't need as many calories, so I want to be careful about my indulgences!



Today marked the start of my "big mileage" week. We have a 20-miler scheduled!! We've switched our long run to Friday. So our week looks like this:
M-10 miles
Tu-5 miles
W-5 miles
Th-rest
F-20 miles!
S-rest
S-rest

Today's 10-mile run went really well. My knee felt totally fine--a couple of times, I felt a tiny twinge, but it never turned into anything. We did the 9:1 run/walk thing again--and like last time, our pace was faster than it was before we did the 9:1.
Again, not sure why it didn't say 10 instead of "9.99"...? 10:49/mi pace
I'm nervous but excited about the 20-miler on Friday. We've made plans to celebrate with dinner and martinis on Friday night with some running friends. I can't wait!



26 comments:

  1. If it makes you feel any better, my boyfriend had that cookie ice cream thing from Cold Stone and was very disappointed! ;)

    I struggle SO much with willpower and getting out of the mindset of "it's just this once". Very awesome that you were able to recognize what was happening and reign it back and get back down to a more comfortable weight for you!

    I jogged 4 miles the other night. Well, it's a jog/walk with the majority of it jogging. I'm doing a 5k training program (not C25K, didn't work for me). Not sure why I need to jog 4 miles when the 5K is only 3.1, but whatever. Anyway, I digress - just wanted to tell you that I was literally saying in my head the other night when I wanted to quit so badly at 3 miles, 'Katie wouldn't quit..." I was so happy when I finished (and reached my goal of 4 miles in less than an hour - 57:43)!

    Thanks for sharing your story in such an honest way, every day. You really are very inspiring.

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    1. I'm training for a 5k as well and I have 4 miles up to 6 miles scheduled throughout my training (which I downloaded from Smart Coach). I don't get that either. LOL

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  2. Congrats to your friend, how exciting!

    Also, great job sticking to your plan!! I know it's not always easy, but it's always with it!!!

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  3. "Its time I practice saying "no" once in awhile"

    Thats just what i needed to hear today. Its sooo much easier to always say yes. But its not the end of the world to say no.

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  4. Good for you for resisting temptation. That's where I'm trying to get right now. Your story has been very inspiring to me. :)

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  5. I had that cookie treat from Cold Stone a month or two ago, with their chocolate frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. The first few bites were good, but once the warmed cookie dough hardened from the ice cream above it, it got all hard-sticky, and then it wasn't as good. I realized afterwards that I really just wanted the cookie, not all the rest...

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  6. Horrible weekend. Didn't even bother to look at the scale this morning. I'll see what the damage was on Wednesday (and I got my damn period!).

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  8. I've started thinking of my cravings as a petulant child throwing a temper tantrum. "I want nachos! I want ice cream! I want chips and dip!" It makes it easier to say no or, "No, but you can have an apple instead."

    Also, just like you would with a child, I'll sometimes say, "If I workout for an extra thirty minutes today, I can have some crackers and cheese." It's like telling a kid they can have ice cream if they clean their room.

    I know it sounds bonkers, but it works for me. :)

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    1. This is my first comment/reply ever on here. But THANK YOU for this!! I constantly am able to tell my 5, 3, and 1 year old no to sweets but struggle with self control. Now I'll say no to my inner toddler!! I love this mindset!!

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  9. I used to work at the Tim Hortons/Cold Stone in my town, and the temptation was always SO hard to ignore!! But everyone is right, that cookie thing looks absolutely amazing, but it doesn't taste nearly as great as you want it to, so you would have been so disappointed if you had decided to indulge!

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  10. Good for you for resisting temptations over the weekend! I swear that's the hardest time. Weekends just feel like natural cheat days.

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  11. I tried the jog/walk thing on Saturday to do my 6 miles and it was the nicest run I've had in a while!! I finished in 1hr9min so my overall pace was much faster than running alone. It was hard Not thinking "walking is cheating" but I got over it when I hit the 6 miles and felt amazing!!
    I need to crack down on logging food myself...been really complacent lately. Your post about diet & tracking food came at the right time! Thanks!!
    Cat

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  12. Thankfully Stone Cold doesn't appeal to me but put me in the vicinity of Jeni's Dark Chocolate and I'm in major trouble. Good for you for doing so well! Love the photo recreation!

    Maul that 20 miler baby!

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  13. I have been slacking on my dieting :( I don't eat terribly, but I snack more than I should, and eat close to bed (I don't get home from work til about 10pm). I need to get back into my awesome, take no prisoners groove! I've lost about 24 lbs and I'm happy w that, but need to keep going! Excellent job on running! I just hot 8 miles without stopping Sunday :) Just need to add 5.1 more... yikes! Why do we do this again?! haha! Excellent job resisting temptation!

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  14. I really need a kick in the pants and to get back to saying "no" once in a while too before I let things get out of control again. I find this post so encouraging.

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  15. I love the dollar store, but I also associate it with junk food... so much junk food!
    Good for you for not giving in!

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  16. Good for you! My weekends are always so terrible, I could use a little "no" paractice myself.

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  17. WOW you did great! Tracking and sticking to my calorie budget really helps plus I try to get 4-5 workouts in a week. I had a horrible weekend with dessert. It’s not off limit but does need to be cut back.
    I had our 2nd son last April and lost most of the weight within 3monhts. I was stuck with 5lbs once I got back to work in June. BUT I had another 15-20 on top of that to lose that was just me. I had been using the excuse we were going to have another so I would wait to get in shape. Well our baby just turned one. :) I’m down to 147 with a goal of 140 but keep yo-yoing around 147-149. Did you find the last 10 the hardest to lose? How do you keep snack foods in the house for the boys without eating them?

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  18. So, I've been doing WW now for what seems like months. And I've lost about 25 lbs. But for the last month or so I've been gaining and losing the same 5 lbs. I don't have a history of healthy dieting (think extreme and yo-yo) so I'm trying to be smart and do things right. I've been reading lots of blogs and you and most others have counted calories with great sucess. I'm just wondering if you'd suggest that over WW or other diet programs. I know 90% of my problem is just committment and I'd probably have more sucess if I was in it 100%, but the 5lbs have me discouraged (especially because I've got 130 more to go!).

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  19. I love how you can "switch it back on," when you need to. I worried before, that one slip and I would be on the road back to 328 lbs. But it hasn't happened. Yes, I weigh 10 lbs. MORE than my lowest, but still 10 pounds BELOW my goal weight. Plus I've been at this weight (149-150 lbs.) for about 3 months now. Maybe it's a weight I can sustain. My clothes still fit and that was really important to me. It's really encouraging to have a good day after a bad one, it makes me feel like I really can do this maintenance thing. You've definitely got it under control. The snacking thing was getting pretty out of control for me, and I feel like it's better now. Yes, occasionally I unscrew that jar of Biscoff spread and stick my finger in there and lick it off. I know you had a contest once and we had to guess how much a glob of cookie butter was, and it was something over a tablespoon, which was way more than I had guessed. But I honestly take just a little bit, and I'm hoping it's only about a teaspoon, 30 calories. At least that's what I tell myself!

    Loved the picture re-creation. I don't know how crazy I would be about it if I was Sara however. You've switched bodies!

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  20. Great job. I actually decided to cut sugar out for a month completely. I have been stuck between 135 - 138 for ever and would really like to get down to the 120's (I am only 5'3"). But it has been so hard to lose the last few pounds. I run my 2nd half this weekend and I can't wait!

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  21. OMG, Katie, any time I want motivation, I come here and look how far you have come. The pregnant belly comparison shot? YOu look rockin hot!And your friend makes an adorable pregnant lady (you did too, you just look so much more vibrant now).
    Good for you for overcoming temptation!

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  22. I am certain the 147 lbs. wasn't all "cookies!" and kind of leads me to something that has been on my mind lately. Water weight! I definitely retain a good 3 lbs of water weight at certain times of the month, and I never know if I should cut myself some slack or work harder (too often, I cut myself some slack). Do you think some of that weight is water weight your body is hanging on to with this hard training?

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  23. Hi Katie! I just discovered your blog last week and have become a daily follower! You are SO inspiring! Congrats on all of your accomplishments!

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  24. I went for my very first run on Monday, and I have to give you all of the inspiration for it. I was SO SLOW, though. Exactly 1.5 miles in 30 minutes, and everyone around me at the gym was just zipping by. I'm just as nervous to go back today (Wednesday) for my second run, to be honest. Stupid Air Force gym & everyone else already being all fit. :-(

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