July 31, 2013

Orange is the New Black

I got the worst night's sleep last night. I hate those kind of nights, where I just toss and turn all night long! When I got up this morning, I got on the scale for Wednesday Weigh-in:


I was happy to see that I was down a pound from last week, so staying on track is paying off. I was 100% on track all week. Not that it was easy! But I managed.

I decided to switch over my PointsPlus target to maintenance now, even though I'm 2.5 pounds above goal. So instead of my daily target being 26, it will be 32 (plus my 49 weekly PP and my activity PP). I decided to do this because I felt pretty hungry a lot of the time, and with the higher mileage I've been running, I just feel like I need more food. So we'll see what happens with the higher target this week; if I gain, I might back off a little, but if I maintain or lose, then I'll be happy with that.

Today was a really tough day for me. I wanted to binge SO badly, and I think it had something to do with the fact that I got no sleep last night. I was dragging all day, and I really just wanted to eat and eat and eat. At around 1:30, I thought, "There is no way I'm going to make it through the rest of the day without a binge!"

I started trying to come up with something, anything, to take my mind off of it. Today was my rest day, and I had planned to get up super early tomorrow morning to fit in my five-miler before we leave for Cedar Point. Instead, I decided to run it today, for a couple of reasons: 1) So that I don't binge; and 2) So that I can sleep in a little tomorrow before we leave, and I'll be doing a lot of walking at the park. (Trust me, it was hard to make that decision!)

Since the boys were home with me, I ran on the treadmill instead of outside. Yesterday, I had started watching Orange is the New Black on Netflix. I'd heard really great things about it, and my friend Julie worked on the show (I'm not sure exactly what she did, but she's been writing about it on Facebook, and this was a very big deal for her). I only watched half of the first episode yesterday, but I really liked it, so today I turned it on again while I ran.

I was scheduled to do the five miles at "race pace", so I just decided to try and get my heart rate into Zone 3 (tempo zone) for at least 25 minutes or so. I set the incline at 2% this time, to see if that would help get my heart rate up the same as when I run outside. I definitely felt the higher grade! But it seemed to be the best match to simulate running outside, so I'll probably try and do all my treadmill runs at 2% incline now.

The miles went by kind of slowly today, and I was glad to be done.


I actually ran a little further than five miles, because I was interested in the show. I love when that happens! Once I stopped the treadmill, I forgot to stop my Garmin, so that sixth split is obviously wrong, even though I adjusted the total time.


I felt so great when I was done, and my urge to binge was totally gone. Now, I can sleep in a little tomorrow (by "sleep in", I mean until 6:30 or 7, haha). We're going to head to Cedar Point at around 8:00, and spend the whole day there (until the kids are tired/cranky) and then head to the hotel. We're spending one night at the hotel, and then we'll head home on Friday. Jerry's really excited to do something so fun on his days off this week, and the boys are talking more about the hotel than they are Cedar Point. I'm just looking forward to getting out and doing something different!

We're going to pack a cooler with lunch for tomorrow, so we don't wind up eating all kinds of junk at the park. I don't remember what kinds of food they have, but I imagine it to be all kinds of fair-type foods--lots of deep-fried stuff. If something is really tempting, we could always share a treat while we're there. I'm saving the activity PP I earned from today's run for tomorrow.

I'm not sure yet if I'll be writing a post tomorrow night. If not, I'll catch up (hopefully with lots of fun pictures from Cedar Point) on Friday.

20 comments:

  1. Be forewarned that I don't think you can take coolers into the park anymore.. I'd check, in case that was your plan.. pack lots of ice!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Kelly I would check that out, However we have passes to Kings Island and we just pack a back pack and bring PB&J sandwiches and other snacks, with lots of water. But you can pack a cooler and go to the car for lunch.

    Oh and Did you love Orange is the New Black? I did, it is a great show, very funny.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Have a great trip! The first time we took our kids to Disney World they were 8 & 4. We stayed at a resort off of Disney property and there was a whirlpool/hot tub in the master bathroom. On our drive home we asked the kids what their favorite part of vacation was. They both said ... the hot tub in our room! haha I told my husband we could have traveled to a town 10 miles away and had a hot tub in our room for a heck of a lot less money!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just got done binge-watching Orange Is the New Black! Great show. I love your description of how strongly you felt the urge to binge and then how the workout totally turned it around. That just reaffirmed that I need to keep on doing the same thing - distracting my urges to eat crap with a nice, healthy round of challenging exercise. Thanks for the reminder. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. We have been in Sandusky the last few days. I'm not sure you'll have time, but we have three extra day passes for Kalahari good August 1 from 9am-10pm. If you're interested email me. I can most likely leave them at the front desk. Have fun at Cedar Point, where the food is still as greasy as ever!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lindsey, that is SO generous of you! Thank you for thinking of us, but we'll be spending today at Cedar Point. Hope your family has had fun!

      Delete
  6. I don't know if you can answer this. I reached my WW goal weight in 2011. I haven't really been keeping track of points, and of course gained weight. I took my books back out and I noticed that in my books the lowest WW weight loss points is 29. In your blog posts you state yours is 26. I am wondering if WW changed up its points system and I should keep working off of the 29 or should I be re-adjusting to 26 for weight loss? I do know that 31 or 32 is my maintenance points (plus activity and PP of 49). In the few weeks I've been keeping track at 29, I have maintained but not lost. This can be typical for me to hang on for a few weeks and then drop down 3 - 5 pounds so I'm just confused as to whether I should stay at 29 or move to 26. Thanks, for any insight you can give.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When WW first came out with the PointsPlus plan, the minimum PP allowance was 29. The following year (or two), they changed it to 26. They said that if the 29 PP was working out for you, then there was no reason to change it. Personally, I find 26 PP VERY hard to do--I have to add in some weeklies and activity PP each day so I'm not hungry.

      Delete
    2. Ah, thank you for clearing that up for me! I was just thinking I would have to go back and buy a new program to figure out the mystery. Yes, I think 26 would be a little difficult - I can't imagine doing it for too many weeks - based on how hungry I am at 29 ;-) The 29 must be working as I hopped on the scale this a.m. and lost 3 pounds. Keep up the great work you do on this blog. It has been very inspirational to me!

      Delete
  7. Orange is the New Black is my new favorite show...I am getting close to finishing the season and omg it is so good! Just wait until you get to the episode where Tasty and Poucee do their "white people politics" routine...you will die! So glad it got you through your workout! (And thanks for publishing my success story on motivation Monday and linking it to my blog!!)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I just started following the Hansons method (thanks to you!) and I was writing in my scheduled runs into my planner and figuring out what my weekly mileage will be. I have the book on my kindle but I must have missed the part about the tempo runs (which is what I'm assuming you did today) Do you add a mile for warm up and cool down, thus essentially doing seven miles? Include the warm up and cool down in the 5 miles (so doing only like 3 at race pace)? No warm up or cool down?

    When I wrote it in, I added the 2 miles, but the first week I have a speed and tempo run, my mileage will increase 11 miles over the previous week (unless my math is off somewhere). I mean, the first speed workout itself will be about 8 miles!! On a Tuesday!!! Starting to get worried...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Have fun at Cedar Point! Just so you know, there are a few "healthy" options you can find, but they are expensive. The park has a Subway on the main midway, and there is a TGIFriday's at the Breaker's hotel off the back of the park (open to the public). I also heard good things about some of the offerings at the Midway Market (toward the front of the park), but I have never tried it. Again, all pricey options. But if you run out of your packed food, there are places to eat that don't involve deep fryers. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. hope you have a great time! I hear that orange is the new black is a great show!

    ReplyDelete
  11. There is nothing better than a good workout to make sure you get a good night's sleep. I love the little set up you have for your treadmill, with the shelf for you laptop. I love watching TV shows while I run, it really helps distract me. I usually end up listening to podcasts. Great work beating the binge urge! Workouts usually suppress appetite so a quick run is the perfect outlet.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm OBSESSED with Orange Is the New Black. It's a great show that I watched in just a couple of sittings. I wish I had a treadmill so I could have walked and watched!

    ReplyDelete
  13. My friend told me about that show and said it's just the kind of show I would love. I kind of forgot about it, so thanks for reminding me. :) I have chronic problems with insomnia, and I think it's one of the reasons I want to eat. It's so hard not to when I am tired all the time. I ate at Subway when we were at Cedar Point, but yeah, not many healthy options, and the food is SO expensive! There are a lot of restaurants just outside the park, so you could also get stamped and go back in.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I am not sure about the tv program, but it is clear that consistency is paramount in achieving your fitness goals.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I've already watched the entire first season of Orange is the new Black. Super loved it. I couldn't stop watching it.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I realize this is too late but there is a Subway in the park. I was there in June (from Colorado). It's hideously expensive compared to regular, about town, Subway but it's a healthier option than anything else they have.

    Hope the kids enjoyed it. My roller coaster junkie teenager thought it was epic!

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)