October 23, 2013

Hello, Winter

It was another cold morning today. It's almost like we skipped right from "tank top" running weather to "Cold Gear and fleece" weather, without my favorite middle ground (long sleeves, but no hat or gloves required-weather).

Anyway, I contemplated taking a rest day, but I actually really wanted to run, especially because it was only three miles. I've been feeling huge lately, ever since I finished the marathon. I was eating a LOT when I was marathon training, and wasn't gaining weight, but now that training is over, I'm still trying to regulate my appetite. Mentally, I want to eat just as much as I was before; but logically, I know I can't do that without gaining weight. Like I mentioned, I had a bad weekend, and ate pretty much everything in sight; and I've been afraid to get on the scale ever since.

I should probably just face the scale and move on, but because my running mileage has been cut in half, I feel like I've gained a hundred pounds. I could certainly increase my mileage, but after running 50+ miles a week for a few months, I am looking forward to a break. So after a few days of not counting (or caring) what I ate, I am back on track and hopefully after a few days of being on track, I won't feel so big and out of shape (I'm not saying I AM big and out of shape; I just feel that way right now, because I've been eating badly and not running much).

I got completely ready to run, and then took the kids to the bus stop. As soon as they were on the bus, I started my Garmin and ran from there instead of my house; just did a simple out-and-back route. Again, my shoes felt like they had lead in them. My legs just didn't want to move! I was putting in a lot of effort, but my pace was still in the mid-9:00's.


The crappy eating over the weekend probably had something to do with feeling sluggish, too, so hopefully in a few days, I'll feel perkier!

After my run, I ate a quick breakfast. I had plans to meet Renee for coffee at Panera at 9:30. I had a free espresso drink on my Panera Rewards card, so instead of getting regular decaf coffee, I got a non-fat decaf latte (unsweetened). It was really good, and definitely worth spending a couple of PointsPlus on.

I chatted with Renee for a little bit, and then Jessica and Andrea joined us. It was nice to get out and have some grown-up conversation for a while ;)  I left straight from there to go to my mom's house for lunch. My mom invited my two favorite aunts over for a Javanese lunch--one of my favorite meals (that I don't have very often). It's rice and chicken, with a ton of toppings--gravy, cheese, pineapple, coconut, sliced almonds, green onions, celery, and fried rice noodles.


It's a fun way to do a potluck with friends, because you can just tell each person to bring one item, and it makes an awesome lunch.

When I got home, I was absolutely freezing. It was that kind of cold that just goes right to your bones. And it was actually snowing outside! I decided I wanted soup for dinner--I wanted something very hot! My mom mentioned stuffed pepper soup, and I had a ton of bell peppers in the fridge, so I looked up a simple recipe and threw it together pretty quickly. I used this recipe, but I used white rice instead of brown, ground turkey instead of beef, beef broth instead of chicken broth, about triple the amount of peppers. It was amazing!


I love soup season. I think this weekend, I'll start coming up with some more soup ideas and recipes to try out this fall/winter.

Well, I better go read my book. I just got notice that my library book is due in 3 days, and I am only on page 28!

12 comments:

  1. I love skinny taste, she has so many great recipes and gives the old WW pts and points plus. I actually saw that soup the other day and it's on the schedule for this weekend. We had the same jump in weather here in Buffalo too. We had warm weather and now freezing. I love fall and it seems to have been skipped over.

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  2. Your soup looks really good. I'll save the recipe for when I have more sweet mini peppers than I can handle by myself. It was 90 degrees in Arizona today, I wish I could trade you a little cool for a little warm and make it just right for each of us.

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  3. Your heading into the cold. We're heading into the heat here in Australia. Sunday night is soup night in our house come winter or summer. Love soup.

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  4. Have you thought about giving yourself a couple of weeks, maybe even a month, to eat more freely while your body adjusts to a lower activity level? Then getting back to tracking points once your metabolism isn't fluctuating so much?

    I have thought about this a lot because I tend to stay REALLY hungry for awhile after I decrease my activity level. It just feels like torture to try to deprive myself during that time, so I usually just eat when I'm hungry and trust that the extra pounds will come off later when I'm back to normal. Seems to work so far, but I don't know - hard to tell what the best solution to post-race runger is!

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  5. Where I am we also skipped the in between weather. Makes me really sad! I also enjoy the capri pants, long sleeve shirts and no glove weather.... but currently the temp reads at 38º. BRRR!

    I still prefer that to the nasty hot weather though. :)

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  6. I can't wait until my half is over next month because even with all my running AND eating well, my weight is not budging. We went out of town this weekend, and I didn't overeat. I made good choices, and had 1 ice cream and some fried food for dinner one night. When I came home, my weight was up four pounds. WTH? I just don't get it. It's fluctuating all over the place, and I know it's not because of overeating. I haven't had a binge in a long time, and it's rare I have a day where I even eat over my calories. My body seems to not lose weight unless I exercise just the right amount. If it's too little, I gain weight, if it's too much I maintain or gain. Anyway, I am beyond frustrated. Thanks for posting that soup recipe! I have been craving soup lately. It got pretty chilly here, but I love cold weather.

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  7. Hi Katie,
    I read your blog religiously and it has inspired me so much! I seriously cannot tell you how much. I love running but my desire to lose 50 lbs just seems so daunting. I have to remind myself "if Katie lost 120+ you can lose this 50!" and some days that is the only thing that gets me out the door.

    Question - do you have nay posts that address dressing for colder temps? I am a Native Chicagoan yet unfortunately I'm the type of person who looooves running in the heat (like 60-80 degrees is my happy place). I used to switch to treadmill as soon as the weather dipped below 55 but this year I want to try to stay outside.

    Another question - do you think of yourself as a "compulsive eater" or "binge eater"? Has running helped you with this? (not even just allowed you to eat more, but actually helped you feel less compulsive over over-powered by food?)

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  8. That dinner you ate with your mom and aunts looks tasty! It's funny because I live in Utah, and here they call that dinner "Hawaiian Haystacks" and I've never actually seen anyone eat it anywhere else! Cool!

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  9. Food looks good especially as I hit that (4PM) part of the day where I'm getting hungry! LOL.

    I can totally relate to that post-race "feeling big" feeling. It stinks. Even if you haven't really gained or changed it's so easy to mentally feel that way once the training scales back but the appetite hasn't!

    The good news is we now have the tools to keep that under control :)

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  10. Do you like butternut squash? I just tried Emily Bites soup recipe last week and it was very good. I have a roasted cauliflower soup recipe to try tomorrow.

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  11. Wow, that soups looks good! And warm!! :)

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  12. I made that exact same soup recipe last weekend from skinnytaste.com and my family loved it!! :) I topped it with some Kashi 7 Whole Grain Pilaf instead of rice, very good!

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