Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 7

As I was writing the date on this, I realized that it's the anniversary of when I started losing weight in 2009. On this day, 17 years ago(?!), I was 253 pounds. I *hate* this "before" photo of me, but seeing the pictures side-by-side really drives home how far I've come.

Of course, I didn't just lose all the weight and keep all of it off for all this time. I've gotten as low as 121 pounds and as high as 197. I feel my best at around 130 pounds, give or take 5. My ultimate goal for maintenance is about 133.

So where was I on the scale on this day, 17 years to the day after I started counting calories?

I was at 149.6... I broke into the 140's! It wasn't that long ago that I was super excited to see the 150's again. A few months ago, I really didn't even dream I'd ever see the 140's again. I'm now only five pounds from being a "normal" BMI (I'm considered "overweight" until I'm under 145). I've been asked several times recently how tall I am--I'm 5'4". 

I've still been doing the same stuff I've been doing over the last seven weeks: lots of fiber, no sweets or snacks (occasionally I have a piece of fruit in the afternoon if I'm hungry, or even a small portion of leftover dinner). Running three days a week, adding just a tiny bit of distance each run. I think what has helped me the most is the not snacking. I used to snack after dinner, but now I've been eating a large dinner and I don't have interest in snacking later.

For my running this week:

I've had to modify my routes so that I run past my house about a mile in (to drop off Joey at the house, which I mentioned last week). Thankfully, my neighborhood is is almost exactly a mile around the perimeter, so I take him around the neighborhood and then drop him off at home and add head back out until I hit my goal for the day.

Friday- My previous run had been 1.53 miles, so I planned to aim for about 1.60. Since I don't know a 0.6 mile route from my house, I just had to guesstimate and I overshot a little (not a bad thing!). I ran 1.70 miles at a 12:08/mile pace and average heart rate of 151 bpm. My "Joey mile" was 12:23; years ago, he would be out in front of me, pulling me along, the entire time; but now I've had to deliberately slow myself so he can keep up. I feel really bad for him; he would run with me until he legs gave out if I let him. I'm hoping once it's not so humid, it'll be easier for him. He's got SO MUCH FUR, the humidity has to be really hard for him.

Sunday- Same sort of thing. Previous run was 1.70, so my plan was to aim for about 1.80. Again, I dropped Joey off (that first mile time was 12:18) and then I did a guesstimate to continue the distance. I overshot again and hit 1.92 miles. I could have kept going in order to hit 2.0, but I decided I wanted my 2-miler to be a special day of its own. Finished the 1.92 miles at an 11:54/mi average pace (11:27 without Joey) with an average heart rate of 151 bpm.

Tuesday- The weather was GREAT for running! Unfortunately, as soon as Joey and I started out, my legs just felt heavy and I was feeling very tired. I was bummed because it was my 2.0-mile day. Since Tuesday was the last day of my running week, I couldn't put it off. I just pushed through it, and was thrilled when I hit the two-mile mark! It wasn't that long ago that I was struggling HARD to run half a mile. Now, my average heart rate is down a little and my pace is getting a little faster (without trying). I finished two miles--12:04/mi with Joey and 11:14/mi without Joey. Overall, I did 2.00 miles with an average pace of 11:39/mi and average heart rate of 152 bpm.

The running has actually done wonders for my day-to-day mood! Even after all these years, I still get really nervous before a run (even a short easy run). I have no idea why. But as soon as I get home, I walk straight to the bathroom, put the shower on straight-up cold water, strip as quickly as possible and jump in before I cool off. The cold water feels SO good! And then I feel good about it the rest of the day. It's exciting to see the improvement so far.

A few random personal things from recently...

Joey- I took him to the vet about his balance/"clumsiness", and after a thorough check-up, the vet didn't find anything concerning. We think it could be his hearing; he's definitely had hearing loss over the last year or so, and a sudden noise can startle him to losing his balance. But he has no balance issues when he runs with me, and the vet was very impressed that he can run a mile at his age. (Granted, we are not running to qualify for Boston, but running nonetheless. The vet also did some bloodwork since he's getting old, and she said there was a slight abnormality with his kidneys. She doesn't think it's alarming, but we're going to retest him in a few months and compare the results. 

When I tell him that my mom is going to come pick him up, he gets SO EXCITED. So we go outside and he stands like this, watching the end of the road for my mom's car to turn the corner.

Eli is starting the fire academy in a couple of weeks! I can't remember if I mentioned it here or not, but he wants to be a firefighter and has been working really hard to get in shape before he starts the academy. As a mom, I am terrified of him becoming a firefighter; but I am happy that he's chosen to go back to school to do something that interests him. He put in his two-week notice at work yesterday. He still lives at home, but spends most of his time at work, the gym, and his girlfriend's apartment.

Noah is still working full-time and living at home to save money to buy property (he wants to build a house). He's just now starting to look at other options for jobs. He would ideally like to get into a trade like electrical. We've been helping him explore those options. For now, he works a lot (he picks up overtime for the extra money) and when he's not working, he's usually spending time with his boyfriend (yes, you read that correctly; he is very happy and Jerry and I are happy for him!). 

Jerry and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary on Sunday. We did the most unlike-us thing we could have chosen... we went to the Henry Ford Museum! I have probably mentioned (several times over the years) that I hate going to that museum because I chaperoned field trips every.goddamned.year. when the kids were in school. But I've changed so much over the last 4-5 years. When I became vegan, I started reading more about veganism--which led to reading more about the impacts of diet on the environment (I *highly* recommend the documentary called "Eating Our Way to Extinction", free on YouTube). That led me to interest in politics, which led me to learning about war, which led me to learning about history. All things I never had any interest in. 

Anyway, Jerry and I went to the Henry Ford Museum and it was like looking at it with fresh eyes. I really enjoyed our time there! (Jerry has always loved the museum.) We were there for five hours and didn't even see everything. My favorite part was that there is a temporary exhibit called Fabric of America: Our Fashions, Textiles, and Technologies. So perfect for me! There were quilts (including one from the 1700's) and lots of clothing and furniture from throughout the last couple of centuries. It was super interesting (even Jerry liked it).

I was stunned to see this quilt called the Vine Quilt from the late 1800's. Every single one of the leaves and vines are hand-appliquéd! Having appliquéd petals on a couple of quilts myself, I know how much time this must have taken. And most of these individual leaves are pieced with multiple fabrics!

The cats are still spoiled rotten. Estelle is about 18 years old and just recently, she's started to show her age a little. She's gotten smaller and is starting to look a little frail, like Phoebe did for a few years before she passed. But Estelle still gets the zoomies occasionally and she always shows the "kittens" who's boss. Chick and Duck (mainly Duck) are about as needy as two toddlers, which drives me crazy. But I'm still obsessed with Duck and we are totally codependent, haha.

I brought them some "cat grass" from Eastern Market in Detroit. They LOVE this stuff!

Well, I guess that's enough update for now. I *promise* to post my Beans and Greens post by Friday. I'm writing that here so that I actually have a deadline and I stop procrastinating!

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 6

I'm still here! I had an insanely busy week last week. I wasn't planning to skip a post, but my therapist asked if we could meet on Wednesday instead of Tuesday last week and I had my days all screwed up. Tuesday felt like Monday and Wednesday felt like Tuesday. Anyway, by Friday I decided to just wait and post today.

About a year ago, I decided that I was probably never going to fit into my old clothes again, and I started working on resizing what I could and even merging two pieces to make something bigger. Which is what you see with the shirt I'm wearing in this pic... I thought the camouflage sleeves would work well with a Jurassic Park hoodie. I cut down both sides as well, in order to expand the width. Then I just took the cuffs from the hoodie and put them on the camo sleeves.

I had also started picking up a few things from Salvation Army here and there, kind of accepting that I wasn't going to lose weight. I've spent a lot of time tailoring and altering the clothes how I like them. And now, after just six weeks of working on my weight, everything is way too big! (I've gone down 2-3 sizes.) I'm working on resizing them--I actually really enjoy tailoring my clothes, so it's been kind of fun.

It's made me start looking more at the quality of the clothes I buy, too. I look for 100% linen (my favorite!) and cotton, mostly. I especially like 100% cotton jeans. I've never liked stretchy jeans--they get distorted and they don't hold up well--but the cotton ones are super durable and they maintain their shape. (That said, the jeans I'm wearing in the photo are stretchy--they've been sized up and down several times, as well as patched more times than I can count. I should get rid of them, but I'm going to wait until I have a few good pairs that fit well.)

My biggest issue now with buying my pants from thrift stores is the number of skinny jeans they have! I've always been a flared jeans person because I have huge calves. When everyone was wearing skinny jeans, thrift shopping was great! Everybody was donating their flared jeans. And now that flared jeans are back, the store is loaded with skinny jeans. I'm hoping a new trend comes along soon.

Anyways, that was a long tangent. I've still been doing really well with my diet and with running. Even though my "beans and greens month" is over, I've still been eating a lot of beans and greens. I discovered that you can add greens to just about anything and not really notice them. I eat rice almost every single day, and it's easy to throw some beans into that as well. I promise to work on my beans and greens post this week; I'd started it and then got overwhelmed.

As far as running goes, I had an unusual victory. My pattern for just about every goal I work has been to start a streak of something and then when I miss a day, I quit. Especially with running.

Well, last week I missed a day. I had planned to run three times a week, no more than two days in a row without running. Like I said, it was a crazy week... but it was also SO humid. I found myself absolutely dreading going out for a run. So, I made a decision to skip a run; but only if I didn't let that make me quit. Yesterday was the last day of my run week and the humidity was killer, but I made myself do it so that I wouldn't quit.

A quick recap of the last two weeks:

Friday (the 31st)- Ran 1.12 miles. It was 84 degrees, sunny, and humid--fun! Since I didn't know a good route that would be just over a mile, I started an out-and-back; toward the midway point, I decided to try for a lollipop route and it ended up being perfect. I was aiming for 1.10 miles. Finished 1.12 at 12:25/mile and average heart rate of 153 bpm.

Sunday- Joey was at my parents' house, so I decided to do an out-and-back on the main road (I don't like taking him on the main road because cars go so fast and drivers aren't great at paying attention). It was raining outside, and I actually really like to run in the rain. This run was a good turning point for me--for the first time since I started running again, I *felt* like a runner. It felt so familiar and I got in "the zone" where my mind wanders and I forget that I'm running. Short-lived, of course, but it was good for my mentality. Finished 1.30 miles at a 12:03/mile pace and average heart rate of 152 bpm.

Tuesday- It was only 55 degrees outside in the morning, so I headed out right when it was light outside. Something my psychiatrist and my therapist have talked about several times is the importance of mindfulness--being aware of the present moment--and I've been trying to work on that while running. Paying attention to all the things I can hear and see and smell; feeling my heavy breathing and my heart beating fast.

During this run, I started to think about why it is that I don't *love* running, like most runners seem to. And I realized that I actually really do love it--if it wasn't for how uncomfortable my breathing is. Other than that, I love feeling the breeze on my skin, seeing the familiar sights in my neighborhood, the slight ache of my muscles. That's why I want to get to the point where running three miles feels easy again. Finished 1.38 miles at a 12:30/mile pace and heart rate of 152 bpm.

Saturday- It was hot and humid, but I headed out early in the morning to get it done. I mapped out 1.5 miles in my neighborhood and headed out with Joey. Surprisingly, I didn't feel awful. About a mile in, I was actually feeling pretty good. It was around that time that Joey started falling behind a little bit. He's old, and I've noticed as we've increased the distance, he tires out toward the end. I feel bad, because he gets SO excited to go that I can't leave him home. So, I might have to start planning to pass by my house about a mile into each run, so that I can drop him off. I'm taking him to the vet today; he's been having problems with his balance and coordination. I hope it's nothing serious! Finished 1.50 miles at a 12:32/mile pace and average heart rate of 152 bpm.

Tuesday (yesterday)- Joey was at my parents' house again (they love having him over), so I chose to do the out-and-back on the main road again. Holy hell, it was SO humid and there was absolutely zero breeze. So I was pouring sweat immediately and it wasn't evaporating. I was shocked, then, when I looked at my watch to check my distance for the turn-around point and I saw my pace was in the 11:00's. My pace has been about 12:30-13:00/mile so far. When I turned around, I decided to see if I could finish out the mile under 12:00. When my watched beeped to signal a mile, I saw that I finished it in 11:36! And then I was encouraged to try to finish the run with a sub-12:00 average. The last half-mile, I ran at 11:09/mi. Finished 1.53 miles at 11:27/mile and average heart rate of 155 bpm.

I feel like running is definitely getting easier--when I first started six weeks ago, I felt like I was going to die--and I feel kind of excited to keep going and increasing my distance. I'm now a little more than halfway to my goal of three miles.

Well, I have to get Joey to the vet, so I'm going to cut this off here. I am really going to try to get my beans and greens post done this weekend. Jerry's and my 23rd wedding anniversary is on Sunday! We actually have plans, but I'll write about that next time.

(I almost posted this without my weigh-in, hahaha)...

I was at 151.2 today, which is down three pounds from two weeks ago (since I didn't post last week). It's definitely slowed down, but that was expected. I'm still doing everything the same, though, and it's been consistent, so I'm happy with that. I'm so close to the 140's!

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 4

I flipped this photo to reverse the mirror image--this shirt was one of my "projects of the week". I love doing reverse appliqué! It's super easy and it's so fun to see the design revealed as you snip away. (The PURRVANA wasn't my idea; I got inspiration from Pinterest. But I love it! Also, can you believe it's been 32 YEARS since Kurt Cobain died?!)

Time seems to have slowed down quite a bit over the last couple of weeks, and it feels nice. Usually, I feel like I just blink and it's a month later. The only time that time seemed to slow down was when I was running ;)

Speaking of running, I reached a mile this week! I'm choosing to celebrate that, because I truly feel like a beginner again and a mile is a big deal for beginners. My first run (meaning, a month ago; not back in 2010) was 0.41 miles at a 13:01/mi pace and I felt like I was going to DIE. This week, I noticed that it felt *slightly* easier. Strong emphasis on slightly.

Thursday- My previous run had been 0.90 miles, so I decided to aim for 0.95. It was only 60 degrees outside, and I think that made a significant difference in how I felt. Since I was feeling relatively good, thought it would be a nice opportunity to go for my first mile. And I did--I finished 1.0 miles in 12:25 with an average heart rate of 153 bpm.

Saturday- It was on the cool side again, and I felt pretty much the same as Thursday. I had no idea what route to run--I can tell you 20 different three-mile routes from my house, but for these shorter runs, I'm basically guessing each time I go out. On Saturday, I figured I would do 1.10, but I did a terrible job guessing and had to run past my house. I turned around too soon and was at 1.04, so I just stopped there instead of entertaining my neighbors' Ring cameras for the third time. Ran 1.04 miles at a 12:38/mi pace and average heart rate of 155 bpm.

Tuesday- I went out at 6:30 and it was about 70 degrees (not terrible) but the air was thick with humidity. I ran about as slowly as I could, hoping to feel good throughout. It actually ended up feeling the best of all my runs so far! Still not easy, but I didn't feel completely spent toward the end. I ran 1.10 miles at a 12:42/mi pace and average heart rate of 153.

When I look back at my first run, my average heart rate and max heart rate are both significantly lower than yesterday's, but I think that might be because the duration was so short. It was only five minutes to start, so my heart rate didn't have much time to build up. Once I reach my three-mile goal, I'd like to work on lowering my average heart rate. Ideally, I'll be able to run at my MAF rate of 136 bpm; at my MAF rate was when I didn't dread running because it felt so easy. I would love to feel like that again.  

Anyway, as you can see, I've added a little to each run and four weeks later, I'm up to 1.10 miles. If I continue at about this rate, I should be able to start three-milers in October--the best time of year to run!

This was the last week of Jerry's and my beans and greens experiment. Since we started this for health reasons, the purpose of the beans and greens was to get a lot of fiber via whole foods--and beans and greens are basically the perfect whole-food high-fiber meal. I'll write more about this in a separate post. I made a big variety of versions of beans and greens, so I'll post photos and recipes/links with all that. Now the problem is that I have to figure out what recipe each photo was for! I should have written it all down.

I wish I'd thought of this beans and greens thing earlier, because holy cow--the weight is dropping off quickly.

I was down 3.2 pounds this week. In the last four weeks, I've lost 14.6 pounds--I'm more than stunned!  These are the factors that have been working for me:

*I'm vegan for the animals, but a vegan diet is probably the only reason I didn't get back up to 250+ pounds over the last couple of years. (There are a lot of vegan junk foods, however, so it's easy to gain weight, vegan or not.)

*I quit eating sweets several months ago. My sweets-eating was getting out of control, so I made a bet with a friend where I would lose quite a bit of money if I ate sweets before the end of August. It was rough at first--it actually took much longer than I thought it would to get rid of the cravings--but now I have zero cravings at all for sweets. I literally don't even think about them (and believe me, that is CRAZY TALK). I mean, my blog is Runs for *Cookies*! Even after this bet is over, I don't want to eat even a single cookie, because I'm like an addict and I just lose all control when attempting moderation.

*Eating a ton of (natural) fiber. Whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and fruit. (That literally looks like a line from the health food books I love to hate.) In the beans and greens post, I'll write a little more about the specifics; my breakfast plays a big role in my fiber intake. My diet sounds extremely boring, I know; but my spice collection is huge and just by changing out spices, the same meal can taste completely different. My diet is far from boring (in my eyes, anyway).

*Not snacking. This wasn't a "rule" I made; I just naturally fell into it when I quit eating sweets and started eating very filling meals. The fiber makes a big difference--it's impossible to eat a high fiber meal very quickly, so meals are longer and more filling. I eat dinner at about 5:00-ish, and I'm not hungry again all evening (I go to bed at 9:00). Most of the time, I don't eat lunch; but if I'm hungry, I'll eat something (usually a small portion of dinner leftovers). 

*Cutting way back on salt. I've never had high blood pressure, so I never paid much attention to sodium intake. Since I've been eating only whole foods this month, however, my sodium intake was cut drastically. I also scaled back on how much salt I cook with. I've noticed that my weight doesn't fluctuate much at all day-to-day and I think the sodium plays a big part. I used to swing 3-4 pounds overnight sometimes, depending on my dinner!

That's all I can think of right now. Overall, I think the switch to whole foods has had the most impact on my weight this month. My body feels *so* much better, too, and it's only been four weeks!

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 3

It's hard to believe it's only been a week since my last post, because this has felt like the longest week ever. Usually time goes by unbelievably fast!

Posting these Wednesday Weigh-Ins again has been so helpful in getting back on track with my diet and exercise. Getting started was the hardest part, but now that I feel like I'm in a good groove, I feel pretty determined to see it through. And the fact that I saw such good progress in the first couple of weeks was motivating, too.

Running is still HARD. Of course, I don't expect that it'll feel like it did back when I was running regularly and/or training for races. But I just hope it starts to feel easier as I continue to build mileage, because wow, am I out of shape.

This week:

Wednesday- I think I wrote about this last week. Ran 0.80 miles, 12:46/mi pace, average heart rate of 150 bpm.

Friday/Saturday- When I woke up on Friday morning, I let Joey outside and when I opened the door, I smelled smoke really strongly. I thought maybe there was a fire in the neighborhood, but it was 3:00 in the morning and very quiet; I would have heard if there was something like that going on. Still, it was strong enough that I woke Jerry. He told me it was from the Canadian wildfires.

When the sun came up, the sky was so hazy looking. The visibility was terrible. I couldn't even see the trees at the other side of the marsh across the street, which only happens when it's *very* foggy outside. I looked at the weather app, and the air quality was piss-poor (and yes, the smoke was from the wildfires).

This is where the "old Katie" started to nag me. A few weeks ago, I told myself I would run on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; since "old Katie" had a habit of being very all-or-nothing, it would have felt like I somehow failed if I chose not to run on Friday due to the fires. But I could hear my therapist's voice in my head telling me that I was only practicing self-care; running in such bad quality air would definitely not be taking care of myself.

Still, I was worried that I was subconsciously using it as an excuse to procrastinate or skip my run. Trying to let "old Katie" go, I ultimately decided that I'd skip the run Friday and try for Saturday; if the air was still terrible, I'd even put it off again. The hard part was simply the change in plans--I thrive on routine--but this is an obstacle that I've needed to work on for a long time. A change in plans doesn't have to offset my goals.

It rained Friday night, which helped clear the smoke quite a bit; on Saturday morning, it was much better. I headed out before I could change my mind, aiming for anything more than 0.80 miles (my previous run). It felt hard, like all of the runs have felt so far, but maybe slightly less hard than before. I ran 0.85 miles with a 12:43/mi pace, average heart rate of 155 bpm. This is interesting, because my previous run's heart rate was 150 bpm and I felt HORRIBLE, but at 155 bpm for this one, I felt (slightly) better.

Tuesday- (I'll explain below why I didn't run Monday) I set out to run anything more than 0.85 miles. From the very beginning, my body felt heavy and I could have sworn I was running backwards by how slow it felt. Since I couldn't care less what my pace is, I just focused on trying to reach the distance. I truly thought I might have to stop midway, but after half a mile, I could "see" the finish line and that was enough to make me push on. I was going to stop at 0.86 miles, but I was practically in front of my house, so I just continued until hit 0.90.

Despite feeling terrible, I'd run 0.90 miles with a 12:34/mile pace and average heart rate of 154 bpm. Since I was deliberately going very slowly to try to avoid getting to the point where I can't breathe, I was really surprised to see my pace was faster. So maybe I am improving a little, just not in the way I hoped. (Like I said, I don't care about my pace as much as I do the distance and especially the *feeling*; I ultimately want to be able to run three miles and have it feel easy again.)

The reason I ran Tuesday instead of Monday was because Jerry and I spontaneously decided on Sunday morning to go for a bike ride at the Metropark (this led to sore hips and thighs). A spontaneous bike ride is *extremely* unusual for us. Ever since lockdown, we sort of got into the habit of being far less active in our free time. We've never been one of those couples that goes out kayaking, cycling, running, etc. every weekend (that would be great, but it's never been us).

In fact, I couldn't even remember the last time I rode my bike. Three years ago? Five? Jerry even got our bikes tuned up last summer and we never. took. them. out. So, when I was feeling kind of antsy on Sunday morning, I told Jerry that I felt like *doing* something--I didn't know what that meant, just that I had some energy to burn. He suggested going for a bike ride (probably not even being serious) but I actually thought that sounded like a good idea. And now that he has a truck, we're able to easily take our bikes somewhere to ride (we don't have sidewalks or bike paths near home, and it's pretty dangerous to ride on the roads).

We parked in the same place that Jessica and I used to park for our long runs when we were marathon training. One direction of the path leads into the Metropark, and round-trip is 10 miles (I'm surprised I remembered that, considering I haven't done a long run in probably seven or eight years).

It wasn't too hot or sunny, which is why I ended up really enjoying it (if it had been sunny, I probably wouldn't have gone). There were a lot of people out walking, biking, fishing... it was rarely busy when I used to run that route, so it was nice to see people out being active. And it was inspiring to me to make me want to be more active, "just for fun".

We took our time and chatted the whole way, and we really enjoyed it. We stopped for a picture on the bridge where we'd had our first kiss back in 1999!

Remember that time I went for a long bike ride with my helmet on backwards? Hahaha, Jerry never lets me forget it.

We both said we should go again next weekend; the whole thing, including the drive, only took about two hours and it set a good mood for the rest of the day.

Anyway, I feel good about my activity for the week. I did all three runs, increasing the distance (just slightly) each time; and I did exercise when I didn't even *have* to ;)

As far as my diet... three weeks in, and I've still been making some variation of beans and greens for dinner. I usually cook every other day; I'll make four portions and we eat it two days in a row. It's so odd not having to feed kids! Of course they're welcome to eat what I cook, but beans and greens aren't exactly the most enticing for 20- and 22-year old boys.

If I were cooking for just myself, I would eat dahl literally every day, but I've been making a variety of things to keep it interesting. I've been taking pictures and at the end of the month, I'll do a post of all the variations I've made. I honestly think that the beans and greens are what is making my weight drop like it is. We haven't had any processed/convenience food (for a while, Jerry was obsessed with breakfast burritos--tofu scramble with potatoes, peppers, vegan cheese, and chopped vegan breakfast "sausage" on a tortilla--and we ate it way too frequently).

The beans and greens are so filling that I don't even have thoughts of snacking after dinner. The sodium reduction alone is probably responsible for the large drop in what I assume was water weight. After last week's large loss on the scale, I assumed this week would be negligible; but once again, I was pleasantly surprised to see the scale moving along in a downward direction.

I was at 159.6 last week, and this morning I weighed 157.4.

It feels SO good to see progress. My poor food choices over the last couple of years had been hanging over my head and just felt so heavy all the time. But I guess I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to change it. I want to keep this momentum and make some permanent (healthy) habits!

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 2

Mirror selfies are the worst--so awkward!

Believe me, nobody is more surprised than I am that I have kept up with this for two weeks, haha. Knowing that I had committed to posting here on Wednesdays has actually been really helpful, though--now I remember why I liked the accountability (and also hated it sometimes).

This week hasn't been eventful at all, so this is going to just be a quick recap and weigh-in.

Jerry and I have still been eating some form of beans and greens every day for dinner, and I really love it. I don't think my digestive system has EVER been this happy! To find recipes/ideas, I've basically just been choosing bean dishes and then adding greens whether the recipe says to or not. Dr. Greger's cookbooks, How Not to Die Cookbook and How Not to Diet Cookbook, have a lot of good recipes that include beans and greens, too.

I had a container of salad greens that I bought with the intention of having salad before dinner every day, but didn't end up doing that. Next time, I need to make my dressing before buying the greens--otherwise, I get lazy and don't feel like getting out the blender and all the ingredients to make dressing. I didn't want to waste the greens, though, and I wondered if I could incorporate them into the beans and greens. (This was a mesclun/spring mix, so it included some red and green leaf lettuce; and cooking lettuce seemed really weird to me.)

When I googled it, I was very surprised to see it's actually super common to add lettuce to soup and other hot dishes! I made creole beans and added several handfuls of the mesclun mix (chopped) while it was cooking. It all wilted just like any other green and I honestly wouldn't have known what the heck kind greens were in there. We ate it with red rice and it was delicious!

Of course, this morning I happened to read that there is a big outbreak of some parasite in fresh produce, causing cyclosporiasis (main symptom is explosive diarrhea, can last weeks). And guess which of the 34 states who are reporting cases has the highest number? Correct, it's Michigan. Particularly, my county and two bordering it. And the most likely source for it? Lettuce mixes. Naturally.

It can't be killed with the typical chemicals, bleach, vinegar, or from freezing, but cooking food to at least 158 F will kill it. So maybe being too lazy to make salad dressing saved my ass (literally) this time. Jerry and I are going to Eastern Market (a farmer's market) in Detroit this weekend, so I'll buy a bunch of greens there. Collard greens freeze really well.

There is also a Vegan Fest in Detroit on Saturday! Other than my friend Bonnie, who lives in West Virginia, I don't know any other vegans. I'm excited to go check it out and talk to some of the vendors, and not feel like "the weirdo" with crazy harebrained ideas, like choosing not to eat animals ;) If anyone else is planning to go, let me know and I'd love to say hello.

[I started this post by saying it would be short and to the point. Have I *ever* done that?!]

Anyways, my food has been great this week--tons of fiber, beans and greens for dinner, lots of water. No sweets or snacking after dinner. Eating a filling dinner has helped a ton in cutting out the snacking.

As far as my return to running...

It's been SO HARD. I've been doing what I planned (three days a week, only goal is to run farther than the time before, in order to build my endurance up to three miles again). I am still just so stunned at how hard running feels. I had forgotten what it's like to be a true beginner, and to say it's humbling is an understatement. It's also been super hot and humid over the last couple of weeks. I've been doing my runs in the morning, but it's still not very hospitable.

-Last Wednesday, I did 0.63 miles at 13:04/mi. Average heart rate of 148 bpm.

-Friday, I had a VERY hard time. I kept telling myself to just go slowly, I can reach 0.64 miles (just slightly more than Wednesday). I ended up doing 0.65 at 13:23/mi and had an average heart rate of 150 bpm. (The air felt thicker, so I think that had something to do with it feeling so hard.)

-Monday, I was totally dreading it. I'd had such a rough run on Friday that I didn't want a repeat. Thankfully, it ended up going much better than I expected. I even thought about doing a full mile, but then I realized that would mean I'd have to do more than a mile next time. I'd rather just do smaller increments until it feels easier. So I ran 0.75 miles at 13:00/mi with average heart rate of 153 (interesting that my heart rate was higher but I felt better).

-I ran early today, knowing how hot it's going to get, and once again, felt like I was going to die. I pushed hard to finish 0.80 miles at 12:46/mi and 150 bpm heart rate.

And finally, my weigh-in...

Last week, I was at 166.2, and I was 158.6 today--what the heck?! Believe me, I am shocked. I was unsure I should even post this, because it's very atypical; I must have been retaining some serious water weight or beans and greens are magical foods. I definitely notice a difference in my clothes, though, which is nice. I'm not expecting a big loss (if any) on the scale next week after a week like this, but right now I'm happy to see the 150's again!

[It's funny, I remember saying, probably several times over the years, that I "never wanted to see the 150's again". It hits a lot different on the way down than it does on the way up!]

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 1

Surprise! I actually stuck to my plan and I'm posting a Wednesday Weigh-In.

First, though, I want to apologize for last week's blog update email. I use a company called "follow. it" to take care of my rss feed--basically, whenever I publish a post, they send out an email saying that there is a new post on my blog. I even pay extra so that I can personalize the sender, subject line, and get rid of the ads (even if I left the ads on there, that money doesn't even go to me--so why would I do that?!).

Well, the site wasn't taking my payment a couple of months ago, so I decided to try again later--and I forgot. My payment defaulted and I didn't know it, but they reset the things I'd personalized back to their "free" plan (tacky ads, no subject, etc.). Meanwhile, I'd contacted their support so that I could make my payment (the site still wasn't accepting it), I made the payment and apparently everything was good to go. And then I was pissed when I saw the email that was sent out after my last post. You can't even really tell what it is! If I didn't know what follow.it was, I wouldn't have even opened it.

So anyway, I *hopefully* have it taken care of now. I guess I won't know until I publish this post. Moving on...

I honestly had absolutely no idea when or what my previous weigh-in was, but curiosity got the better of me and I looked it up. It was on May 15, 2024--I am stunned that so much time has passed since I stopped writing frequently.

Back then, my weight was at 145.4. Now I kind of wish I hadn't looked, because I hate seeing the effect the last couple of years has had on my weight.

A note about my shirt: I've been really into altering clothes lately--I started by just doing visible mending of some clothes with patches and embroidery to hide stains or tears, as well as covering logos with appliqué. Anyway, my therapist talks a lot about the importance of self-care and it started a routine that I've been doing for nearly a year now and I love it:

My therapist's office is right around the corner from a huge Salvation Army store, and after my sessions, I go pick out a "project piece" for the week. For the shirt in my weigh in photo, I saw the green hoodie and loved the color--but it had a Moosejaw logo across the front. With some inspiration from Pinterest, I gathered up scraps and made the "very hungry caterpillar" to get rid of the logo. I also embroidered "eat the rich" under the caterpillar to let out a little political frustration, haha.

Anyways, now I pick out a project piece each week after therapy and make something that either turns out cute or turns into a dust rag or more scraps for another project. But it's been a really fun routine that I look forward to every week. And then I usually wear my project piece to therapy the next week.

Here is another shirt I did. When I was in elementary school, we had a very fun custodian who all the kids really liked. He used to call me "Katydid" and I remember feeling special that he gave me a cool nickname (although I'm sure all the kids had nicknames).

Before I even get into my weigh-in today, I should mention a few things that may affect my weight loss/gain this time around. First, my age--I started having perimenopause symptoms about a year ago and from everything I've heard/read, it becomes *very* difficult to lose weight in the peri/menopause years. I keep hoping I'm the exception 😂 

I'm also not as active as I used to be. For several years, I was remodeling the house and garage, refinishing furniture, building things with wood, and it seemed like I always had some project that was very labor intensive. My favorite pastime right now is sewing/crafting, which requires a lot of sitting (I do keep my iron all the way across the room from my sewing machine so that I have to constantly walk back and forth, though--every little bit helps!)

Following my surgery, my thyroid (or the half that's left of it) has been doing the job so far of keeping up with my thyroid hormones. As long as that stays good, my thyroid shouldn't cause problems with my weight.

Anyways, about this week... I actually did pretty well. Jerry and I stuck with our plan of having some sort of beans and greens dinner every day. I've been taking pictures, so maybe at the end of the month I'll post the meals we've had. I've been trying to be creative so that it doesn't feel like eating the same thing all the time and it's surprisingly easy to adjust most meals to include a bean and a green. My digestive system seems so much happier now that I'm back to eating loads of fiber and mostly whole foods.

As far as running goes, I chose to go the way of a full beginner again (well, myself as a beginner). I've done four runs since my last post (first one was right after I posted), and my only goal for each run is to run a little farther than the previous run. Even if it's just a hundredth of a mile, I will eventually reach my goal of three miles.

Let me tell you, that first run was HUMBLING. It doesn't help that I picked the hottest/most humid day in the middle of a heat wave to start. For the first day, I decided to start by just going around the block and if I felt okay, try to go farther.

Well. I felt like I was going to die after the first lap around the block--0.41 miles--and I stopped there. It hasn't been *that* long since I ran around the block, but it felt ten times harder than before. And I wasn't even going fast--my pace was 13:01/mile. I don't know if the weather had anything to do with it, but it was already 80 degrees with full sun at 6:30 AM, and the air felt like a steam room.

Friday was run number two and since I know that running around two blocks is half a mile, I figured I'd do that. It was just as hot, and I was really not looking forward to feeling as miserable as the last one. However, because the distance is so short (relatively speaking), I told myself I'd be back home in less than 10 minutes, tops.

It definitely felt just as hard. Harder, even. I almost started walking as soon as I hit 0.42 miles, but I managed to push myself to finish. Total of 0.51 miles, pace was 12:42/mi.

Monday, it was 70 degrees and raining and I couldn't have been more thrilled. ANYTHING was better than the heat and humidity from the previous two runs. I was afraid to try adding another block to the distance, so I ran the same two blocks as before but added a short 0.02 by going just past my house. Total was 0.53, with a 12:49/mi pace.

Which brings me to today. The air was thick with humidity when I stepped outside to fill the squirrel feeder--and that was at 5:30 this morning. I was hoping that I was miraculously back in shape when I headed out to run and it would feel fantastic. Alas, that was not the case (shocking, I know). When I run a block going in a different direction, it's 0.63 miles total, so I chose to try that today. I figured that if it was too hard, I'd just try to make it to 0.54 miles and then walk the rest of the way.

Well, it was definitely hard, so I kept reminding myself to slow down. It's easy to pick up speed without realizing it and suddenly I'm struggling to breathe and I have to slow myself back down. Being this out of shape isn't fun at all.

Anyway, I gave it my all in order to finish out the whole 0.63 miles--I was only a couple of houses from home when, of course, Joey had to stop and poop. So I had to stop my watch for about 15 seconds while I picked up his poop and I could have used that as an excuse to just stop there, since I'd already gone farther than last time, but I started running again and finished it out. Ran 0.63 miles with a pace of 13:04/mi.

I'm going to consider my running this week a success. Even though it was extremely difficult for me, and I was very humbled, I did what I'd said I would--run a little farther each time--so I am happy with that.

And finally, my Wednesday Weigh-In. I didn't do an "official" weigh in for week 0, but I was at 168.8 last Wednesday, and today I was at 166.2. I don't really have any expectations for my weight because of the variables I mentioned earlier, so I'm good with this.

For this coming week, my plan is to just keep doing what I'm going. Lots of fiber, portion control, and building up my running fitness. I have to say, knowing that I was going to be posting this today was VERY helpful all week--the accountability factor is real. One week down, and now onto week two! 

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 186

You know how when you haven't done something in a really long time, it just gets either more difficult or more awkward the longer you wait? Yeah, that's how I feel about writing today. It's been so long that it feels both difficult AND awkward.

I'm not sure what to say, really! Everything has been pretty much the same around here, more or less. A year ago, I was still going through one of the worst times of my life, so I am very glad that life has been uneventful, for the most part. I thought I'd moved past it, but that year and a half of my life changed me a LOT inside and I've been struggling with that. (Also looking for the right therapist)

Anyway, the current uneventfulness doesn't leave much to write. I chose to write a weigh-in post today mainly because of the writing prompt! I think it's been three weeks or so since my last weigh-in, and unfortunately (or, perhaps, fortunately), nothing has changed. Without looking back, I think my weight was at around 145 last time and that's about what it was today:

I still haven't made any significant changes to my diet/exercise, so I wasn't expecting to have lost anything. I haven't been actively working on creating new habits or breaking bad ones. It's hard to admit to myself when I know that I have what it takes and I know what I need to do in order to reach my goals; I just don't have the drive to do it. I tell myself that if I want something badly enough, I'll do what it takes. Even though I very badly want to get back down to a comfortable weight, it's clearly not enough to make me do the work.

I feel like I'm approaching one of those defining moments I get occasionally. I get to the point where I'm finally ready to make a change and then I go ahead, full throttle, definitely a bit overzealous. That's kind of how I've always done things, haha. Ideally, I'd find a comfortable middle ground.

I haven't really set goals in a long time and I miss that drive I used to get when I was focused on meeting a goal. I'm torn between wanting to strive for some goals and wanting to just go with the flow. Yesterday, when putting on some of my "warmer weather" clothes, I realized that I either need to set some goals or buy a new (larger) wardrobe, hahaha. My weight is up about 10 pounds from last year and that means a whole clothing size. I don't have "back up" clothes anymore. So, I need to make a choice. And I'm going to set some goals--defined and measurable ones, like the days when I felt almost unstoppable.

The two things that are most important to me (physically) right now are losing 10-15 pounds and exercising regularly. Since those are very broad, I have to break them down. And to be honest, I haven't done that yet. I already know *what* I need to do; I mainly need to figure out a motivator or some sort of drive that makes my goals feel like a priority.

I didn't intend for this post to sound negative. I really need to write more frequently so that my thoughts are more organized. I never realized that the daily (or even near-daily) blogging helped in that way. I keep telling myself that I need to do a "catch-up" post, so I'll do that no later than Sunday (if I don't give myself a deadline, I may not do it).

For now, I'm going to sit down and write out some goals, as well as plans/habits for reaching them. Maybe that will be the motivation I need to get started. Let's hope so! ;)

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 182

I figured I'd better do a weigh-in today, since it's been three weeks. Yikes! The time has been going by so fast and it feels hard to keep up. I've really been enjoying the time away from my blog, though. It hasn't really been for any reason other than my needing a mental break from it, and it's definitely helped.

I wish I could say that my weight has gone down a significant amount since my last weigh-in, but I definitely wasn't expecting it to. Nothing has changed as far as my diet goes (which isn't a good thing) and I want to create better habits. This month has been kind of crazy and I need to do a better job at handling changes to routine.

As far as today, I was at 145.2, which is down only a little from the 146 that I think I was at three weeks ago. Since my habits haven't changed, I can't expect my weight to ;)

The boys on Eli's baseball team asked if I would take pictures at their games again this year, and that made me feel good! So of course I agreed. It's a surprisingly big time commitment, though. I usually take about 250 photos during the game (I do a lot of bursts so that I can have fun action photos), and then I have to upload them to my computer so I can weed out the ones that didn't turn out or have multiple similar ones. (I usually narrow it down to about 100.) Then I try to make sure I have photos of each kid. And then I upload them to a shared album so the kids can download what they want. I really enjoy doing it for them, knowing that they are excited to have them.

Despite the changes in routine, I haven't been eating *too* terribly. I haven't had any sweets/desserts at all (and since I don't crave sugar right now, I'm not going to chance it for a cookie or something). I recently bought a cookbook called Vegan Asian by the blogger at The Foodie Takes Flight (Jeeca Uy). [I've been buying cookbooks over the last year or so rather than using recipe sites--there are just SO MANY ads on sites that it takes way too long to simply check out the ingredients in a recipe to decide if I even want to make it.] I'm glad I got this book because it's absolutely amazing. My favorite cookbook for sure. I've made several recipes and all have turned out delicious.

The only problem is that many ingredients aren't exactly healthy. There is a lot of sodium (mainly from soy sauce) and a lot of oil (for stir-frying). Also, I've been eating portions that are definitely bigger than they should be.

I'd like to get back to not eating after 7:00 pm (that is the biggest help when I want to lose weight, I've discovered), but it's nearly impossible with Eli's baseball schedule. His games are usually at 4:00 (sometimes as far as 45 minutes away) and a lot of them are double headers. So we don't get home until 8:30 or 9:00!

As far as exercise, I haven't been doing my morning runs anymore and I would really like to start them again. The reason I stopped was that I injured my knee in the stupidest way possible. I was cleaning out the garage and I was trying to remove a drawer from a small nightstand. I bought it at a garage sale ages ago with the plan to refinish it; but when I tried to sand off the paint, I discovered that it must be some sort of magic paint because it will NOT come off. I gave up.

Anyway, the drawer was stuck and I couldn't, for the life of me, get it to open and come out. (I had an idea of how to use the stand without the drawers and I wanted to try it.) I grabbed a hammer and started trying to hit the drawer outward--it was budging a tiny bit. After several hard hits, it was finally starting to come loose. I pulled back the hammer and swung really hard, thinking that final blow would get the drawer out.

Well, the hammer smashed right through the drawer's bottom (which was just thin plywood) and landed right on my goddamn kneecap! The pain was blinding and I couldn't even move. I was really worried that I shattered the bone--how could a direct blow from a hammer NOT?--but I wound up with a very deep bruise and a very painful knee. It hurt to even move my foot for about a week, which is when I stopped my morning runs.

I should have started right back up but so much time had passed and "one more day" wouldn't make a difference (story of my life). And now it's weeks later. Someone sent me a link to a challenge for a run streak in May, which is mental health awareness month. You can sign up (kind of like you would a race) and it's a virtual challenge to run (or walk) one mile a day for all of May.

I really like that idea! Since I'm passionate about mental health and I would like to get back to running, it seems to be a good fit for me. I haven't made the commitment yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to.

I met a friend at the Metropark on Sunday for a six-mile walk. She'd chosen the last place we walked so it was my turn to choose. I found myself feeling nostalgic for the path where I used to do a lot of my long runs with Jessica (and even by myself). It turned out to be a bad day for that particular park (it was flooded in a lot of areas because we've had so much rain) but seeing people out running on the path gave me a little pang of longing to do it too. I find it so inspiring--whether the person is very fit and fast or out of shape and slow, it inspires me all the same.

I know I've said this a few times now, but I'm going to make my goal for the week to be a couple of runs--not just around the block, but at least a couple of miles. If it's too hard, I'll take walk breaks, but I think I can manage a couple of miles if I run slowly enough ;) ALSO, I'm going to post a Friday Night Photos before my photos get out of hand!

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 179

I was so sure that today was Tuesday. I even felt relieved that I had one more day before my Wednesday Weigh-In, hahaha. I knew I was not going to do well this week (well, it's actually been TWO weeks since my last weigh-in). Things have been so out of routine and the last couple of weeks was a challenge.

Jerry had to do a special project at work which temporarily switched his schedule again (naturally, it was right when we were getting used to the new schedule). Everything they had him doing was so *not* what he'd signed up for when he took the new position in December. It's back to normal now (including his schedule) but it gave him enough insight to reconsider the position.

He has an interview in a different department today. It would be a big leap for him, but he said he'd really like to learn new things. It would also give him experience that he can use outside of his plant--if something should happen and he needs to find work elsewhere, it will give him the skills that he can use in all sorts of settings. He said he'll be happy if he gets the position, but he won't be devastated if he doesn't.

The biggest change would be that he'd go back to working a screwy schedule--except it would be day shift rather than the night shift he'd been working for three years. After all he did to get the new schedule he has now, he said he kind of misses the longer days! He'd prefer to work three or four 12-hour shifts a week than five 8-hour shifts (which makes sense--it's nice to have three or four days off a week!). He also misses having random days off during the week, rather than just the weekends.

Anyway, I only write about this because while Jerry was working longer days the last couple of weeks, it affected our eating habits. Eating dinner later, staying up later, eating snacks after dinner... the habits I'd worked hard to get rid of! I wasn't surprised then, to see my weight was up today.

I think I was at around 143 last time and today I was at 146. I'm not happy about it, but I can't pretend I didn't know that would happen when I fell back into some old habits. No excuses here--just accountability.

My friend Emily texted me a few days ago to ask if I might be interested in running the Detroit Marathon with her this fall. After I laughed out loud and declined (which she totally expected), I started to think that maybe I'd like to start running again. (I don't mean the runs around the block, which are more for mental health than physical fitness.) I certainly have no interest in distance running again, but it would be nice to feel back in shape enough to run 3-5 miles a couple of times a week.

The very next day, I came across a movie on Netflix called Tyson's Run. I am sure I won't do a good job explaining it, so here is the trailer (below). While I normally prefer thrillers and horror movies, once in a while I love a "feel good" story--and this one is GREAT. I don't know if it's the movies or if it's me that is getting more emotional with time, hahaha.

Watching that movie was inspiring to me, and again, I thought about wanting to run. Jerry asked me if I miss running and the answer is that I miss running *when I was in shape to run*. Running when I'm out of shape is not at all fun; and unfortunately for me, the only way to get into running shape is to run! Over the last several years, I just haven't wanted to put up with the discomfort of training. However, I really miss the feel of coming inside after a good run and feeling great all day.

On the occasions I do go for a run, I can feel my leg muscles aching and my lungs begging for more oxygen, and it's so hard to think ahead to the point of how good I'll feel when I'm back in shape. Having patience with diet and exercise is so hard, isn't it?! If I truly want to find joy in running again, I have to put in the work to get back into shape. And that takes time and patience. I already know what I need to do if I want to get back there--I just have to go into it with the right attitude.

I'm going to give it some more thought this week. In the meantime, however, I am going to state my goal for this week as this: I am going to do a "test run" this week to see just how bad off I am! Hahaha. I'm pretty sure I can run three miles, but I am 100% sure it won't feel easy. I don't care at all about my pace, but I'm very curious to see how I feel. And then I can decide if I'm willing to make the commitment at this time in my life ;) 

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 177

Well, that was a short two weeks!

I wasn't planning to stop blogging for so long, but it was really nice to let my computer collect a little dust over the last two weeks ;)  I'd like to do a "catch-up" post (for the last couple of months, haha), but I wouldn't even know where to start. When I was blogging daily, I started struggling to come up with things to write about; while I still don't have anything major to write, it feels good not to feel totally blocked when I sit down to write.

If I was to boil down the last two weeks into one main point, it's that I don't do well without having a routine (which we all know already). A couple of months ago, I actually managed to get into the most normal sleep routine I've ever had (and I've never had a "normal" sleep pattern--insomnia has plagued me for my entire life). I made myself turn off the lights by 10:00 pm, which is unheard of for me (my mind just doesn't shut off). At first, it was really hard to fall asleep that early, but as I get older, I prefer getting up early over staying up late. So I kind of forced it and eventually was getting a full six hours of sleep--10 to 4--almost every day. And only waking up once or twice during the night!

[Another reason I like going to bed early is because it stops me from snacking at night, which is a big issue for me.]

A couple of weekends ago, Jerry and I went to a friend's house to play some board games. I was a little worried it would throw off my sleep, but I don't want to be held hostage in the evenings on the weekend and not go out and do things! We had a lot of fun and it wasn't even a super late night; I think we got home at 11:30 ish.

I was wide awake, however, and didn't fall asleep until sometime after 3:00, and then managed to sleep in until 7:00--but all it took was that one day to mess with my sleep schedule. After that, my body wanted me to stay up late again. A week later, just as I was starting to get back into the earlier routine, we had another "late" night on Sunday (a few days ago). Jerry and I took the kids to go see Bill Burr in Detroit (a Christmas present). I *loved* spending time just the four of us and we had a lot of fun! Again, it wasn't a super late night, but now I'm struggling to sleep. Again.

For those of you that go to bed early ("early" is different for everyone, obviously; in my mind, I'm thinking 9:00-10:00 ish), how do you handle being out "late" on weekends? Does it mess with your routine? I'm thinking that if I continue to get up at the same time every day, even after a late night, it'll be easier to go to sleep the next night. I'll try that next time, instead of trying to sleep in.

Anyway, with my sleep schedule thrown off, it kind of threw off all sorts of other stuff. And on top of it, Jerry is doing a project at work that caused his schedule to change slightly (only for two weeks, thankfully!).

Even though I haven't been blogging, I've been keeping busy working on projects around the house (and a few projects for other people). Oh, and spring cleaning! We've had a couple of gorgeous, warm days recently--I love to open up the windows, crank up some music, and spring clean/organize. Cleaning feels like less of a chore on a nice day with the windows open. My house was so clean yesterday; a clean house always puts me in a good mood.

As far as my eating for the last couple of weeks, I did okay. Not great, because late nights always make me snack; for meals, though, I did pretty good. I guessed it balanced out well enough, because my weight was pretty much the same as it was two weeks ago.

I was at 143.2, down from 143.6; still about 10 pounds more than I'd like, but as long as I'm not gaining, I'm not complaining ;)

For this upcoming week, my main focus is going to be working on going to bed earlier (and therefore, not snacking). One of Dr. Greger's 21 Tweaks [for weight loss] suggests not snacking after 7:00 pm--and I've noticed it makes a big difference in my weight when I'm following that guideline. The last couple of times my weight dipped into the 120's was when I stopped snacking at night (or I had a piece of fruit or a few dates or prunes or something like that).

I also want to write more frequently. At the very least, I want to do Friday Night Photos because that's always been kind of a journal for me--recapping my week--and I like having that. I haven't done one in a long time so I'll just have to pick and choose what to share, but after that, I'd like to go back to doing it weekly!

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 175

A reader sent me this shirt and the cat looks so much like Duck--I love it!

Happy Leap Day! For not being a holiday-person, there is something that I love about Leap Day. Probably because of numbers and I definitely *am* a numbers-person.

Holy cow, I just realized it's been three weeks since my last weigh in...? I knew I skipped Valentine's Day, but I don't remember why I skipped last week. I wasn't avoiding the scale, so I just probably didn't feel like writing. As I step further from blogging, it's actually getting harder to make myself write. I like the accountability of my weigh-ins, though, so I really want to try to get back to doing them every single week.

I've been hovering in the low- to mid-140's for a while now. Today, I was at 143.6, and I don't remember what my weigh-in was three weeks ago, but I think it was similar.

However, I've recently run into a problem I've never really had before during weight loss, and it's been a challenge...

I've never had a "regular" schedule--Jerry's work schedule was always all over the place and since I'm a "homemaker" (saying "stay-at-home parent" sounds kind of odd now that Eli is a senior in high school!), I based my schedule around Jerry's. Having a swing shift has advantages for sure, but it's terrible when you thrive on a consistent schedule.

I'd never been able to plan meals for the same time every day, have a standing date with friends, or have an available time slot that was open every week (I'm a homemaker by choice, but if I'd wanted to work outside the home, my availability was all over the place--nothing consistent).

All of this is to say that every day was pretty much the same--it wasn't like, "Yay, it's the weekend!", because sometimes a Wednesday and Thursday were like weekends to us. Or a Monday and Tuesday. Or whatever. So, I never had that "weekend mentality"--eating really well during the week and splurging on the weekends, etc. Having such a inconsistent schedule actually seemed to work well in that sense.

Now that Jerry has a consistent schedule, SO MUCH has changed. We're still getting used to it, and we definitely need to work on our diet. We've fallen into the "weekend mentality" cycle. And it's hard to get out of!

I make dinner at the same time every day, which has been so so so nice for planning purposes, and our weekdays are very consistent. However, we've started treating the weekends like a free-for-all when it comes to our day to day life. Mainly regarding food.

It started when we were eating super clean during January. There was a lot of vegan "junk food" that I wanted to make, but it didn't fit in with a whole foods diet. So, I suggested we make Friday a "junk food" dinner night: vegan burgers, pizza, fried tofu, etc. That way, we'd be eating (mostly) clean six days a week and could still enjoy our favorite junk foods. Sounds like a good idea, right?

[I want to note that this is NOT something I call a "cheat day"--we aren't on a diet. We've just been trying to eat much healthier and, in general, I think that having one junk meal a week fits just fine into a healthy diet. Honestly, the junk meals aren't even horrible--just far less nutrition, while still being vegan. I don't like the phrase "cheat day" because it implies bingeing or overeating just to squeeze it all into one day.]

Anyway, what started as a great idea turned around fast--from one meal to then eating whatever all day Friday, then Friday and Saturday, and then pretty much the whole weekend. And on Monday, it's back to the norm. This is a problem we've never faced before!

My weight has been fluctuating much more than usual, and certainly more than it should. I'm talking a difference of 10 pounds in a weekend! It's clearly not all fat, because after a couple of days of eating healthy, it comes right off. But the whole cycle is not something I'm happy with--especially considering I am trying to get my weight back down under 135.

This weekend will be a big test. Jerry and I have been talking all week about how we're going to handle it, haha. Going into it with a plan in place and acknowledging how the "weekend mentality" is messing with our weight loss goals, we're super determined to stop the cycle this weekend. I do still like the idea of making a "junk food"-type dinner on Friday nights, though. When the kids were younger, we used to plan "Pizza Friday" for when Jerry would have Fridays off--that's the only reason I chose Friday. If I leave it up in the air, we'll likely fall back into the cycle.

So, that's an update of what's been happening over the last three weeks as far as weight loss/diet. I've still been running first thing every morning with Joey. A few weeks ago, I mentioned that, for a week, I was going to add one block (only a tenth of a mile) to the run every day--and I did! I made myself do it for a week to see if I could get used to it (and gradually increase my distance).

However, I found it made me absolutely dread the run, which is so stupid! It's only a tenth of a mile longer (60 seconds on a good day), but there is something mental about the fact that when I know I'm only running one block, it feels so simple because I can see my house practically the entire way. So, after that week, I decided that one block is good if it gets me out and running. A couple of times a week, I'll do two or even three if the weather is nice--not planned, but once I'm out there I sometimes choose to do more.

Something that I am very happy with is that I've missed about four or five runs; it sounds odd to be happy about that, but I was so worried that if I broke the streak I started September 1, I'd just quit altogether. The first time I missed it, I was so mad--I'd gotten dressed for winter running, put Joey on the leash, and started making my way down the driveway. There was literally not ONE bare spot of concrete that wasn't covered with ice. It was the kind of ice that has no traction whatsoever--picture an ice skating arena--and was slightly melting so it had a thin layer of water on top.

I quickly realized it wasn't possible to run. And then I realized it might not even be possible to make it back up the driveway! Hahaha, our driveway has a slight slope and my feet just kept sliding back toward the street. Sure, I could have just run on the treadmill; but my purpose for making this morning run a habit was to get outside in the fresh air to start my day off feeling good.

There have been a few other occasions where I've missed the run, but I'm good with that because I get right back to it the next morning--as long as it's so habitual that it feels weird NOT running each morning, I'd say that's successful. I'm just really happy that I haven't treated it as I tend to treat streaks of any kind--quitting as soon as the streak is broken.

Okay, this post is really long for a weigh-in! My plan for the upcoming week is simply to eat consistently. I've been great about getting in vegetables and my diet throughout the week has been super healthy. It's just the weekend mentality that I need to stop before it becomes a habit.

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 172

It just hit me when I typed "172" in the title of this post that 172 weeks is well over three years! [ETA: three weeks later, I opened this post and saw that I didn't change the week number on my photo--groan. After I wrote about it and everything!] It doesn't seem like it's been that long since I got serious about losing my 2018 weight gain. A little over a week ago marked two years since becoming vegan. And a week from tomorrow will mark three years since I quit drinking alcohol. It kind of stuns me that it's been this long!

After Eli woke up during his oral surgery in December, I was kind of desperate for answers. I don't want him to be afraid of anesthesia for the rest of his life (right now, he says he'll never even go to a dentist again, let alone a surgeon). I've always suspected that I metabolize drugs faster than normal, but I didn't know there was a DNA test for it. And I figured if I am a rapid or ultra rapid metabolizer, there is a good chance my kids could be, too. (I didn't know if it would affect the anesthesia drugs, but it was a start.)

I'd been wanting to get tested for the breast cancer gene and especially the Alzheimer's gene for a long time, but was always too scared. Anyway, the point is, I ordered a 23 & Me genetic test--it looks at your genes for a ton of different conditions, diseases, carrier statuses, etc, among things like ancestry and physical characteristics.

I haven't decided how much I want to share yet, but one thing that I found interesting was my genetic weight:

It said that my genes predispose me to weigh about 3% more than average. According to 23 & Me, the average weight of a 5'4" woman of European descent is 151 pounds (3% higher would be about 155.5). 

My result makes sense to me, actually; when my weight was at my lowest of 121, I was wearing a size 2. And I could theoretically still lose 13 more pounds and stay within the CDC recommended weight range! That seems so ridiculous. Anyway, what does this result mean for me? Nothing, really. It's just something that I thought was kind of interesting.

[If you're thinking of doing 23 & Me, I was given a referral link--I'm not sure if it gives you a discount, but I may get something for the referral. That's not why I brought up the test, but I wanted to disclose. Here is the link: 23 & Me genetic test.]

As for this week, I ate really really well. There is nothing I would have done differently. I was a little disappointed in the scale, though, because I felt like I'd lost a lot more than this!

I was at 142.4, which is only down 0.6 pounds from last week. My clothes are looser and I don't feel puffy, so I thought I'd see a bigger loss. But I'm not going to quit doing what I'm doing. I know, as much as anybody, that you can do all the right things one week and lose five pounds, then do the exact same things another week and not lose anything.

I do feel a million times better since eating healthier, though. I've even been sleeping better and running feels easier! Maybe it's just in my head, but I think I see a difference in the mirror, too. A lot of my clothes are still on the tight side, but that's because they fit really well at 130-135 pounds--for a while there, I was really worried I might have to buy bigger clothes. Considering how I feel right now, I really don't want to screw it up for a few Oreos or something; I'm going to keep on doing what I'm doing and hope that everything takes care of itself.

Last week, I said I was going to increase my daily run from one block (0.4 miles) to two blocks (0.5 miles). Physically, it was no big deal; mentally, though, I was loving the "just one time around the block" rule. I wanted to give it a week and then decide that I could go back to one block if I wanted.

I ran two blocks every day this week and now, I don't think Joey will be very understanding if we cut back, haha. He's so used to our routine every morning. I can already picture the disappointment in his eyes if we cut out the extra block ;)  So, we'll continue with the half-mile daily runs.

I can't wait for it to warm up outside. Right now, with all the layers I wear, it takes me longer to get ready to run than it does to actually complete the it!

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