How I've stayed binge-free for six months (and counting)...

(I've written an updated version of this post in a series about binge eating in 2016. You can find the first post here.)

Today marks six months of staying binge-free.

The only other time I've gone this long without binge eating was when I went a whole year between 2009-2010. I'm determined to beat that streak! Over the past few years of losing weight and now maintaining my weight, I've learned quite a bit about my body and my mind--I've learned what causes me to binge, how to know if I'm getting dangerously close to a binge, what reaction my body has to a binge, and ways of stopping and/or preventing a binge.

I don't think I will ever consider myself "cured" of binge eating disorder. I think it's something I'll probably struggle with forever, but I'm getting much better at controlling it. I wanted to share some of what I've learned on my blog, in the hopes that some of it may ring a bell with others who struggle with it, also.

First, here are a couple of posts I've written about binge eating before:
Tips that helped me refrain from binge eating between 2009-2010
A candid post about my history with binge eating

I also want to point out that binge eating is not the same as overeating. Not all overeaters are binge eaters. The main difference between the two is psychological--binge eating happens when you lose all control, and you cannot stop eating. It's usually done in secret, accompanied by feelings of shame and remorse. Overeating is something that many people do on occasion--where you just eat more than normal, and feel full; like Thanksgiving dinner, for example. For a binge eater, however, it's not unusual to consume several thousand calories in a very short time span.

Binge Eating Disorder is characterized by (from the proposed DSM-V, due to be released in Spring 2013 (source)):

"Criteria include frequent overeating—at least once a week for three months— combined with lack of control, marked feelings of distress, and are associated with three or more of the following:

• eating much more rapidly than normal
• eating until feeling uncomfortably full
• eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry
• eating alone because of feeling embarrassed by how much one is eating
• feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or very guilty afterward"

 Over the past six months of staying binge-free, I've most certainly overeaten on occasion--but the difference between that and a binge is that I don't lose control. When I'm at a party, or go out to dinner, or something like that, I may eat more than usual and feel too full; but I don't feel guilty, I don't feel ashamed, and I still maintain control of when I stop eating.

I do fight urges to binge pretty frequently, but I've been working though those, and learning quite a bit in the process--which is what I'm hoping may help others, as well. Here are some of those thoughts:

1) I've recognized my binge triggers. There are certain foods that, when in my house, constantly beckon me. I may have good intentions when I buy them, and maybe I'll do okay with them in the house for a little bit, but eventually, I can't get them out of my mind. Those become a problem for me, and I know that I need to get them out of the house.

A few of these things are: Nutella, Biscoff Spread, chocolate chips (except for the mini ones), certain cereals, graham crackers, Teddy Grahams, ice cream and frozen yogurt, marshmallow fluff, and nuts (except for almonds and walnuts). There are more, but those are the biggest triggers.

I've learned that I simply cannot buy those things anymore, because I eventually WILL lose control around them. Other triggers are certain places--my parents' house, the mall, the movie theater, and drug stores are the biggest triggers And certain situations are triggers as well--being home alone at night, having a date night with Jerry, and being on vacation come to mind. Finally, there are moods that may trigger a binge--feeling anxious, stressed (particularly when my kids are fighting and loud), or worried.

As you can see, there are a LOT of triggers; but I've recognized them and acknowledged them, and now I can have a plan for those triggers...

I don't buy my food triggers. I try to avoid going alone to the places that are triggers--if I'm with someone else, I won't binge. I try to have a plan for the situations that cause binge urges--for example, if I'm going to be home alone at night, I try to come up with a project or something I can work on. I can't avoid the moods that cause binge urges, but I've come up with other ways of deal with those moods--which I'll get into below.

2) I've learned to recognize that point where snacking is coming close to transitioning to a binge. This usually happens when I eat a snack, and even though I'm not hungry, I'll go back for another snack. I'm still in control at that point, but after I eat the second snack, I might go back for more. Even though I'm tracking my food, when I start reasoning with myself in my head why it's okay to have yet another snack, I know that I need to stop NOW, before I throw control to the wind. So I've learned that when I keep going back for more and more, even if it's controlled, I need to find something else to do--type a blog post, go for a walk, knit or sew something, clean, whatever--before it turns into a binge.

3) I've learned that when I'm not satisfied with my food, I get binge urges. For example, if I am craving an English muffin with jelly and a bowl of cereal for lunch, I might start reasoning, "Well, you shouldn't have both of those, that's too many carbs" or whatever, and I choose to have eggs and cereal instead of the English muffin. Afterward, I will not feel satisfied at all, and I will go seeking more.

Now, I think about what it is that I really want, and I eat it. Even if it's not balanced, or it's too "whatever" in the eyes of everyone else, I choose what will satisfy ME--because that will stop me from binge eating.

4) Something that helps me to be more satisfied with each meal is that I eat a variety of foods within that meal. Rather than, say, a bowl of pasta with sauce for lunch, I would choose to have soup, AND toast with peanut butter, AND grapes, AND an orange. Having that variety of tastes and textures appeals to my senses more, and makes me feel very satisfied.

5) I eat treats very frequently--but I don't have leftovers. If I want ice cream, I'll go to McDonald's and get a vanilla cone and eat it on the way home. I feel totally happy with it! But if I were to buy ice cream from the grocery store and have a small portion at home, that container of ice cream would start beckoning me constantly until the whole thing was gone. I can't bake a batch of cookies at home, because I will binge on the batch--but I can go to Mrs. Fields and buy a really indulgent cookie and fit it into my plan. Once it's gone, it's gone, and I am satisfied.

I've also found a few treats that I AM okay with keeping in the house, and they don't beckon me. For example, dark chocolate Dove Promises. I eat one of those every single night with a glass of red wine, and I look forward to that all day. But for some reason, they don't beckon me from the pantry, so I'm fine with having them in the house. 

6) I quit worrying about what "everyone else" says is the right diet--"don't eat too many carbs", "eat tons of protein", "don't eat processed foods", "eat vegetables with every meal", "don't eat anything with corn syrup", etc, etc, etc. Sure, I would love to eat an "ideal" diet--but that's not realistic for me, and it would surely lead to a binge (as it has dozens of times in the past).

I do what works for ME--I eat the healthy foods that I enjoy, and skip the ones I don't. If certain processed foods help me to stay in control of my binge eating, then I have made peace with eating them (Fiber One bars, for example, help curb a chocolate craving--they're very processed, but I don't care, because they help keep me from binge eating). I know that eating a Fiber One bar is much better than a binge of pizza, ice cream, and Oreos (a common binge for me in the past).

7) I work for my "big" indulgences. I can fit a McD's ice cream cone into my daily diet without problem. But some treats are very caloric, and I have to work for them! So on my long run days, I'll get something that I've really been craving. Lately, it's been a cookie sandwich from Mrs. Fields--it's 23 PointsPlus, which is a LOT to spend on one small item. So when I run 12 miles, I've earned it--and I eat it, savoring every bite, and I don't feel one bit guilty for it.

Sometimes during the week, when I feel a binge urge, I make a mental note that I can have something really indulgent on Friday--my long run day--and it helps me to make it through the week.

8) I've learned that I used to use one little sentence to give up control and binge in the past--and that sentence was, "Just this once, and then I'll get on track for good." I used to tell myself that ALL the time. If I had Nutella in the house, for example, I would say, "I'll just eat it all now and get it out of the house, then I'll never buy it again and I'll get back on track tomorrow."

THAT IS A LIE. I know that now. I've learned that if I try to reason with myself over a food item, then I have to get rid of it, or it will inevitably lead to a binge. That happened to me recently with a jar of Nutella. I thought I could stay in control with it, and have it around. But one day, I found myself taking more and more spoonfuls (counting the PP's, and still maintaining control), and soon I thought, "I should just eat the rest now, and then it will be gone. I won't have to think about it anymore." As soon as I found myself saying those words, I realized that I was dangerously close to a binge. I allowed myself to take one more spoonful, and before I ate that spoonful, I put dish soap in the rest of the jar and threw it away. And I knew that I couldn't buy it again.

9) I eat all of my weekly PointsPlus and all of my activity PointsPlus, which makes Weight Watchers work for ME. If I tried to eat just my target PP every day, I would have quit and binged a long time ago. Having those extra PP gives me leniency to be able to eat treats and things that make eating enjoyable for me.

10) I've built a routine, and having a routine has helped tremendously with staying binge-free. I eat breakfast at around 7:00, lunch at around 11:00, snack at 2 or 3:00, dinner at 4:00, snack at 6 or 7:00 and my wine/chocolate at 8:00. Sometimes, just knowing that I'm going to have my next meal or snack soon helps me to make it through a binge urge. I tell myself, "I just have to make it another hour--what can I do for an hour?" and I might go for a walk, or read blogs, or clean out a closet, or something like that.

I've found that if I stray from my routine too much, I start getting binge urges. For example, if I'm out running errands in the morning and don't get home until 12:30, I'm STARVING for lunch by then. So it's hard not to shovel in food as soon as I get home, and the rest of the day feels "off" for me.

11) I have a go-to snack for when I'm not hungry, but I just feel like snacking. For me, this happens to be grapes. I adore grapes, and they are 0 PointsPlus. I eat them every day, at least once or twice a day. I think having this go-to snack helps me to stay on plan when I'm feeling binge-y.

12) Tea has been a lifesaver. I like to make a big mug of hot tea after breakfast and again in the afternoon. It just kind of reminds me that I've already eaten, so I know I'm not hungry, and there is no need for me to think about eating at the moment. Sipping the tea makes it last for a while, and the dessert teas that I bought from David's Tea are amazing!

Wow, I didn't realize this was going to turn into such a long post! Everyone struggling with binge eating obviously needs to find things that work for them, but these things have helped me to get through the past six months of staying binge-free. The longer I go without a binge, the more I learn about myself, and the more confident I get that I can maintain this weight loss!

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Pizza Friday

This morning, I woke up early again, so I was reading a book in bed. At 6:00, I could hear my kids talking to each other, so I hollered for them to come into my room. We all snuggled under the covers in my bed, and we turned on a show called Too Cute! about kittens. It was seriously "too cute" and we spent an hour laughing at how adorable the kittens were.

At 7:00, I got them ready for school, and then I got ready to run. Friday=long run. I had been looking forward to a warm day today, thinking that the high temp was going to be close to 60. But when I checked again this morning, it said the high was 41. Bummer.

I stepped outside, and it was cold! I thought I'd better dress warmer (it was only 28 degrees this morning), but once I went back in my bedroom, I changed my mind and decided to just run on the treadmill. I was really wanting to watch some more Sons of Anarchy, and 12 miles gave me at least two episodes' worth!

I ran and watched the last two episodes of the first season, and both were really good--definitely helped me enjoy the run a little more. I went at a good speed (6.9 mph for the majority of it, and the last mile was 7-8.0 mph). I finished in 1:42, about 5 minutes before the finale ended. Perfect timing!

I was SO disappointed when I saw the calories burned, though--887?! Last week, when I ran outside at an 8:44/mi pace, I burned 1,115; and the week before, I did 12 miles on the treadmill in 1:45 and burned 979. I ran faster today, but burned less calories for some reason. When I ran outside last week, it was really windy and my heart rate was up a lot higher, so that makes sense. Anyway, I'm just bitching--it is what it is!

Oddly, I was craving a salad for lunch. I say "oddly", because I hardly EVER eat salad. I just don't like it. But today, I wanted one, and it was delicious!

Spring mix with Trader Joe's oriental-something-or-other dressing, Craisins, fried rice noodles, and chicken. After lunch, I wanted to go to Mrs. Fields to spend all my activity PointsPlus earned from my run. I got the same thing as last week--a chocolate chip cookie sandwich.

It was SO good. I ran for almost two hours for that thing, and it was gone in 10 minutes. Haha, it was worth it though.

I was feeling full and a little sluggish after eating the cookie, so I asked Jerry if he wanted to go for a walk with me before the kids got home from school. We just did a two-mile walk, and it was nice get to chat (uninterrupted) with him. When we walked by the lake, we stopped for a picture...

I even did a goofy pose, because after posting the pics of me in the shirts I bought, I realized that I look the same in ALL the pictures of myself. Oh, and yes, I was freezing. Like I said, I was expecting spring temps today, and I didn't think about it being so cold, so I didn't wear a jacket. With the breeze coming off of the lake, it was definitely chilly.

For a long time, we used to do "Pizza Friday"--order or make pizza every Friday evening--and the kids loved it. We stopped doing somewhere along the line, and Noah asked if we could start doing it again. So I promised that today, we would get pizza and watch a movie together tonight. I feel like I'm blowing through all my weekly/activity PointsPlus way too fast, but I'll just have to tone it down for the rest of the week.

I haven't had restaurant pizza in a LONG time--at least six months--so I had no idea how many PointsPlus were in it. I ate two slices, and I estimated (for the pizza we got) it was 6 PP per slice.

Tomorrow is another free movie day at the theater, so we're going to go see Hotel Transylvania!

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Some recent favorites

I woke up at 2:00 this morning, feeling wide awake--ridiculous. But I finally managed to fall back asleep until a decent hour to get out of bed, at 5:30. I don't like to get up even that early, because my kids sleep as lightly as I do, and they're always awake within minutes of my getting out of bed. But since I was up, I decided to get my run done on the treadmill before getting the kids ready for school.

I only had four miles on the schedule, so I hopped on the treadmill and watched another episode of Sons of Anarchy while I ran.

Since the episodes are about 45 minutes long, I just slowed to a walk to finish out the episode. When I was done, got the boys ready for school. The morning passed by really quickly that way! Next time I'm lying in bed feeling wide awake, I may just end up getting up and running.

I got ready to go out to lunch with Jessica, and headed to Kroger to meet her. From there, I drove to La Pita. It was a fun lunch! Last year at this time, we would go to La Pita just about every week while we were marathon training--I can't believe it's been a year already. Today, we were laughing about how terrible we are for each other, because we both love to eat--so after our long runs, we'd go to La Pita or Whole Foods for baked goods ;)  No wonder I gained so much weight then.

I got my usual at La Pita (I've actually never ordered anything else)--lunch portion chicken kabob, rice pilaf, hummus, garlic sauce, pita bread, and salad. I estimated what I ate to be 18 PointsPlus. Not bad at all for some really yummy food!

It's been a while since I've posted a "things I've been loving lately" list, so I figured I'd do that today. These are all things I've been mentioning lately, so they won't come as a surprise, I'm sure, but here goes...

1) Frozen grapes. I've been obsessed with grapes for a long time now, but I just recently started freezing them. I love that they take longer to eat, so I don't have to eat so much; also, I don't feel like I have to eat them all before they go bad (not that it's ever been a problem before...).

2) Cinnamon Roasted Almonds. These are from Wal-Mart, but I'm sure any brand will do. These are sweet and crunchy, and very satisfying for a snack. Usually 1/2 ounce is satisfying enough, which surprises me. Usually, I can eat nuts by the bucketful, but if I take my time with these, I'm happy with 1/2-1 ounce.

3) My ActiveLink. No surprise here! I've been earning so many activity PointsPlus with it, which is perfect, because I love to eat ;) 

4) The White Chocolate Macadamia Nut CLIF Bars. I've always liked CLIF bars, but never really LOVED them until trying this flavor. It's so good!

5) Sons of Anarchy. I'm only on the first season, but I'm glad that there are several seasons to keep me occupied on the treadmill for a while!

source

6) David's Tea. I'm SO glad that Ellen introduced me to this tea, because it puts all other teas I've tried to shame. I've even unsubscribed from Teavana's e-mails, because the only tea I'll be ordering now is from David's. They have amazing dessert teas that taste exactly like what they are described as--I adore the Red Velvet Cake, and the Toasted Marshmallow. Oh, and the Movie Night. Let's just say all of them. I love all of them!

7) This nifty little gizmo by Nordic Ware that I use to cook my eggs. I eat eggs almost every single day for lunch--a whole egg, plus 3 T. egg whites, plus a slice of cheese and 2 Tbsp. of crumbled bacon. I used to make it omelet-style until I found this little cooker at Wal-Mart for a few bucks and picked it up on a whim. You use this to cook eggs in the microwave. I know that people make scrambled eggs in mugs all time, a la Hungry Girl, but cleaning the mug afterward was a bitch! The egg was always stuck on there really good.

You don't even have to spray this little thing with cooking spray. You just scramble the egg right inside it--then I add my bacon, and nuke it for 1 minute. I flip it over and put it back in for 15 seconds. It turns out to be a big, puffy egg pillow, the perfect size of an English muffin, if you make a sandwich out of it (I like to eat it by itself, topped with cheese, and with an English muffin on the side). It doesn't stick to the container, and clean-up is super easy. I can prep and cook my eggs faster than my English muffin gets done toasting!

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Moment of truth weigh-in

This morning was the moment of truth! ;)  I ate quite a bit more than normal all week, because I was earning so many activity PointsPlus. I've always eaten ALL of my available PP--my daily allowance, plus my weekly PP, plus my activity. But I usually manually count my activity PP based on calories burned during my runs.

Anyway, all of that said, I was pretty happy when I got on the scale this morning:

I was 131 last week, so I actually lost a pound this week! Of course, that could just be a normal fluctuation to my normal weight, but regardless, I think it's safe to say that eating the extra food didn't make me gain anything.

Just how much extra did I eat? Here is the breakdown of how many PP I ate per day (for reference, my daily target is 32):

Wed- 48
Thu- 37
Fri- 59
Sat- 52
Sun- 44
Mon- 54
Tue- 40

I had my 32 daily PP + my 49 weekly + the 61 activity PP I'd earned.

The horizontal gray line shows my daily goal line for activity--I went way over on most days.

I was so shocked to see how many activity PP I'd earned during the week! Normally, I would have counted this week at about 27 PP, because I was only counting my runs--not any typical daily stuff that I do. The ActiveLink counts ALL activity.

Anyway, I'm very happy with how this week turned out, so I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing, and hopefully continue to maintain my weight while eating this much!

Quite a few people have asked me lately whether I recommend eating all available PP. I really can't speak for anyone but myself, because everybody is different. But when Weight Watchers developed the program, they counted those extra PP in there for a reason--and I think they should be included!

From the beginning, I've always eaten ALL of my available PP--my daily, weekly, and activity PP. And I consistently lost the weight when I was in losing mode, and now I've been maintaining really well since I've added the maintenance PP to my daily target.

Of course, we all want to be able to eat as much as possible and still lose weight/maintain our weight--but we won't know what that number is until we experiment with it. I think we should start out by eating ALL of the available PP, and if we're gaining from that, then think about cutting back a little.

If I tried to cut them out, and eat just my daily target, there is no way I would have lasted this long on program. I use those extra PP to fit my favorite treats into my diet, which keep me happy!

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I went to the Salvation Army today, because I was in desperate need of some long-sleeved shirts that weren't hoodies. I love hoodies, but I really wanted to get some pull-over tops for a change. I spent a long time in there--the place is HUGE and has so many rows of clothes, it's completely overwhelming. I wished they'd organize them by size instead of color, because that would have been much faster.

When I got home, I washed everything and then tried it on for Jerry to take some pics :)  I bought probably 15 tops, but here are a few of my favorites:

Hahaha, it looks like I used the exact same picture of me and just photoshopped the clothes in and out. Apparently, I always stand exactly the same for photos.

 Today is my friend Jessica's birthday, so I asked her if she'd want to go have lunch at La Pita tomorrow--she loves La Pita as much as I do. I'm SO looking forward to it!

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Lots of activity

I've gotten in a LOT of extra activity this week! Tuesdays are the last day of my Weight Watchers week, so tomorrow it will be interesting to look at the extra activity PointsPlus I earned this week, and how it affected my weight. Yesterday, I got in a ton of walking.

I ran intervals on the treadmill in the morning--I did four 1/2-mile repeats at a 6:58/mi pace. I despise doing intervals! I really wanted to skip them and just run a few miles instead, but that's what I did last week, so speed work was overdue.

I watched Sons of Anarchy while I ran, and then I actually walked 1/4 mile in between each repeat... usually I just hop off the treadmill and rest for 90 seconds or so. After my intervals were done, I wanted to finish out the episode of SoA, so I just walked for a while until it was over, getting in another two miles.

Then in the afternoon, the kids were at school and Jerry was sleeping, so I decided to go for a walk after lunch. I dressed really warm because it was freezing outside, and set out for a two-mile (ish) walk. I brought my iPod to listen to a podcast, and just strolled around the neighborhood and through my parents' neighborhood.

There is a spot on the nuclear power plant property where you can always see deer, and now the deer have become pretty tame from people feeding them all the time. There is a small gap in the gate where people toss food inside, and the deer are always there, eating.

I've seen as many as 14 deer there at once. Sometimes people just pull up and park there, and watch the deer eat. I don't really find them that interesting ;)

I continued the walk along Lake Erie, and the lake was gorgeous! The ice went out pretty far from the shore...

I stopped there for a couple of minutes to take a few pictures and then made my way home. I thought I'd probably been gone a half-hour or so, but I was gone for 45 minutes!

After the kids got home from school, and we ate dinner, they were asking if we could walk around the neighborhood again. I was tired, but of course I said yes--I love that they enjoy going for walks. We stopped by the liquor store again, and I decided that if they had Cadbury Cream Eggs, I was going to buy one. They didn't have any... bummer. I took this picture of Jerry and me on our way back home:

He was jealous that the kids and I all had character hats, so he wore one of Eli's.

By the time I went to bed, I'd actually earned 8 activity PP for the day! Normally, I would have given myself just two--for the intervals. I love wearing this ActiveLink! I'm constantly looking for ways to add more activity.

Today, I just had three miles on the schedule, so I did the treadmill. I wanted to watch another episode of Sons of Anarchy ;) I cranked out the three miles...

...and then I walked for a mile so that I could watch the rest of the SoA episode.

The kids were off school today for a teacher in-service day, so I made the kids read books for an hour. I sat with Eli and helped him (he desperately wants to be able to read by himself, but since he misreads a lot of the words in chapter books, he doesn't comprehend what he's reading). Then I read a book for a while, because the kids were asking how come they have to read if I never do--oops!

I like to read, but I have to be extremely interested in the book, otherwise I lose interest really quickly. Also, I'm a slow reader. So it's rare that I actually get through an entire book. But I'm going to make it a point to read while the kids are reading, at least.

This afternoon, I was feeling really snacky even though I wasn't hungry; so I decided to go for a walk. I've read that tip a billion times, and always think, "Yeah, yeah--just go for a walk when you feel like eating--whatever." But it works! I made a big mug of Buttered Rum tea and took that with me while I walked around the neighborhood (about a mile).

I have to say, all the extra activity has me feeling really exhausted at the end of each day. It's nice! And I haven't felt bored at all, because I'm always looking for ways to move. I'm sure it will grow old after a while, but for now I'll embrace it ;)

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Motivational Monday #5

Even though I made a big mistake on my Motivational Monday Facebook post this morning, I caught it quickly, and Motivational Monday was still a success. Reading about your successes never fails to motivate me!

Stephanie challenged herself to a mud run called "Zombie Escape", which involved a lot of obstacles. She was particularly worried about climbing over the wall, because she'd had a lot of doubt about her upper body strength. But she did it--twice!

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Brittney stepped out of her comfort zone and decided to run a small town 5K race--by herself. Not only did she finish, she was the second place female!

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Jennifer didn't let any obstacle stop her from training for and completing her goal to walk a half-marathon. Her race report was SO inspiring--definitely check it out, especially if you're just starting out and feeling like you can't do it.

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Erin checked a huge item off of her bucket list--completing a half-marathon! She ran/walked the Disney World Princess Half-Marathon, and here she is showing off her well-earned bling:

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After a 120 pound weight loss, Steph challenged herself to the extreme--doing the Goofy Challenge at Disney! If you're not familiar, it's a half-marathon on Saturday and a full marathon the very next day. 

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Despite the cold and the wind, Megan ran a 5K with a 9:52/mi pace!

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After a 56-pound weight loss, Carie finished her first half-marathon in 2:10:12! She ran it as part of a virtual event for breast cancer awareness. 

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Jessica was mid-way through half-marathon training when she learned that she had bone spurs on her knee, and she was forced to give up running. Rather than throwing a pity party, she biked 20 miles for the first time ever!

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Julie completed a distance PR--7 miles for the first time ever! She's also lost an amazing 60 pounds (I'm going to save her before/after pics for another post--they're great!)

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Jamie ran her first full marathon on Sunday! She completed the Phoenix Marathon despite the heat, at a torturous (to me, anyway) 77 degrees. 

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 After an injury kept her from running for a month, Elisha ran five miles--and she felt so good that she just jumped right into her pool afterward!

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Linda and her husband completed a 3-mile trail run, complete with rolling hills and forest debris!

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Lorenda was able to fit into her size 10 skirt for the first time in years!

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Joanna ran the Pancake Day 5K, taking more than 8 minutes off of last year's time! She's also down 42 pounds from counting calories and running. Her team was team "SuperFit" :)

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Here is a small snippet from Facebook of what everyone has been up to this week:

If you have something you'd like to share, feel free to check out the Facebook post here.

I also want to say a huge congratulations to Meredith, my Ragnar teammate. She completed her first marathon on Saturday--the Phoenix Marathon! (She tried talking me into it months ago, and I said no way--Arizona is HOT. She proceeded to assure me that it would be really nice out this time of year. Ha! It was in the high 70's. It would have been fun to be a spectator, though!)

And finally, I want to congratulate my sister, Jeanie--she reached Lifetime status at Weight Watchers! She did that after going on a week-long cruise, too. Very impressive!

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As I mentioned, I'm going to try to put together a special edition of Motivational Monday made up of before and after photos, so if you have before/after photos you'd like to share, feel free to e-mail them to me. My e-mail address is SlimKatie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. And yes, that e-mail address is correct ;)  Sorry for screwing that up on Facebook earlier! Please send them with the subject "BA Photos". I'm not sure exactly when I'll do this post yet, so it may be a few weeks.

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Purple thong

Boy, was it cold this morning! Once again, I debated between the treadmill and outside for my run. Since the time/distance goes by so much faster outside, I opted to brave the cold.

"RealFeel" of 10 degrees? Bring it on! I've run in colder temps than that before.

I did a four-mile out-and-back run of my route that has now become my "usual" route. There's a man that walks that route the same time that I'm out running, and he's always going the opposite direction I am. I've started looking forward to seeing him and exchanging a "Good morning!" with him. He's older--maybe 60's? But he never lets the cold or the wind stop him from his walk. He's the only person I've ever come across while running on that road.

Oh, I forgot to share a funny story a few days ago! On Sunday, I cleaned out some of my dresser drawers. I got rid of old underwear that was either too big or had holes or whatever, as well as a couple of bras (fairly new, but too big--the last five pounds I lost most definitely came from my cup size). And a few tank tops. I just threw everything in the trash (I'm pretty sure nobody wants donated underwear).

The garbage truck came on Monday. Then on Tuesday, when I ran outside, I saw something purple on the ground at the end of the driveway. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was a purple thong that I had thrown away! That alone was embarrassing enough, but when I went to pick it up and throw it away (again), it was stuck to the ground, embedded in the ice. I tried so hard to pull it out, but it wouldn't budge.

It was there all day Tuesday, and I cringed every time I saw it. On Wednesday, the ice had melted enough to let me pull it out and throw it away.

All of this brings me to today, when I was out running. I saw another purple something, but this was over a mile from my house. When I got up next to it, I saw that it was a purple tank top that I'd thrown away. Further still, I saw a black and white tank of mine. All this stuff must have fallen out of the garbage truck. Next time I'm going to put it all in a bag before tossing it!

Anyway, today's run was another windy one. The only part where the wind worked in my favor was the last mile--and I somehow managed to run my fastest mile to date!

I ran the fourth mile in 7:36! My previous fastest mile was 7:54. The tail wind really helped me out today, though--without it, I don't know if I could have run it that fast ;)

On second thought, maybe it was the ugly hat I wore...

My mom invited us over to her house for a turkey dinner today. I'm not a huge fan of turkey dinner (except for sweet potato casserole--I could live off of that!), and I was really in the mood for leftover lentil chili. So I brought some lentil chili with me, and then shredded up a few ounces of turkey to throw into the chili. It was so good, and very filling!

This is kind of strange, but going to my parents' house is a binge-trigger for me. They always have lots of junk food (my dad eats tons of candy and cake and cookies... that's where I got my sweet tooth!). So just walking into their kitchen, my mind starts going over everything I can eat.

I managed to stay in control today, thankfully. I kept eyeballing the package of Oreos on the counter, so I finally put them in a drawer so they'd stop tempting me. My mom made carrot cake for dessert, and I passed on that. I know I could have just calculated the PP for it and eaten it, but doing that probably would have just fed my binge-trigger. It's like I have to be extra careful when I go over there.

While I was running today, I was listening to the Half Size Me podcast, and Heather was talking about getting control over binge eating. I started to think about all the little things I've learned in being binge-free, and I came up with a few things that are worth noting. I think I'll write a post about it, and maybe someone else can benefit from it as well!

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Morning with my boys

I wanted to sleep in so badly this morning, but I'm just used to being up early (6:00) and I was wide awake, so I just got up. Since Saturday is a rest day, I didn't have to run this morning, but I wanted to get in a little activity on my ActiveLink. I actually convinced my kids to go for a walk at 8:00 this morning, in the freezing cold!

We dressed warm, but I still wasn't expecting it to be quite as cold as it was. When I run, I start to get warmed up pretty quickly, but walking didn't really help. We planned to go all the way around out neighborhood (one mile), but we decided to take a shorter route because it was so cold.

I had plans of taking the kids to the movies, so we walked to the liquor store and I let them pick out candy to bring to the movies, then we walked home. It started snowing pretty hard on the way home, and we even tried catching snowflakes on our tongues (it's harder than I thought).

We stopped for a picture on the way home. When we got back to the house, both of the boys said they liked going for a walk, and wanted to go again after the movies. I told them I'd walk with them anytime! I was really surprised that they enjoyed it--they usually complain about stuff like that.

The movie theater was showing Wreck It Ralph for free, so we went to the 10:00 show. Kids are free, and adults are only $1--a great deal! But naturally, the boys wanted to spend their money on food there, so they got "kid's packs", which was a small box of popcorn, fruit snacks, and a drink. I brought a little baggie of almonds with me to have if I was hungry, and I was glad I brought it, because I was starving when the movie started.

During the movie, I volunteered to go get the kids a refill on their drink--with the intention of getting in some extra activity from all the stairs, because we were sitting at the very top row. The movie was just okay, in my opinion, but the kids loved it.

When we got home, we went over to my mom's house so I could help her upload some pictures. Then we came home and I made lentil chili for dinner. I haven't made this in a while, because I'd kind of forgotten about it, but it's SO good. And it's only 4 PointsPlus per cup! I had a cup and a half, and topped with fat free cheese and sour cream, and the whole bowl was only 8 PP.

I'm going to make that more often, because leftovers make a good lunch, too. Here is the recipe.

I've been eating more than usual this week, because my ActiveLink is giving me more activity points than I normally would have counted. So I'm going to try and eat ALL of them this week just to see what happens with my weight. I've been having a little extra peanut butter on my oatmeal, a little extra wine at night, and an extra snack in the afternoon, usually a Clif bar.

I don't think I'm going to get in all of my activity today for my ActiveLink challenge. It's really hard to be that active! I really have sat down much all day (just at the movies), but I'm only at 70% of my target right now. I don't know how people do it without doing some sort of aerobic activity for at least 30-40 minutes. I do like having that challenge, though, because I'm always looking for ways to get in a little movement (like going down the stairs for refills at the movies--normally, I don't do refills, because I don't want to leave my seat!)

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A true run for cookies

Early this week, someone tagged me in a photo on Instagram (for the life of me, I can't find it now--I tried!) It was a photo of a cookie sandwich (two cookies with buttercream frosting sandwiched in-between), and she said that she had saved up 20 PP all week to eat that cookie.

I love that people think of me when they eat well-earned cookies! ;)  Anyway, it looked SO good, and I decided right then and there that I was going to get a cookie sandwich after my long run this week. Yes, I could have just used my weekly PointsPlus to get it on any old day, but for some reason, indulgences like that taste so much better after I've worked hard for them.

I thought about that cookie all week, and that is the only reason I was looking forward to my long run today. It's actually kind of pathetic how much food motivates me, hahaha. Anyway, I had it in my mind to run 12 miles. I don't know why I've been picking 12 lately for a long run.

I debated whether I should do the treadmill again, so I could watch Sons of Anarchy; or if I should run outside. Running outside is always preferable--it's better practice for racing, I feel like it's harder so I get a better workout, and it's not nearly as boring. So, despite the fact that Jax was calling me to watch SoA, I decided to run outside. The temperature was great for running, there was no slush or snow or rain, or anything like that, so I had no other excuses.

As soon as I headed out, I realized, "Oh--it's pretty windy outside!" But I felt like I was running at a decent pace (my Garmin was under my sleeve, so I couldn't see my pace without some effort). A few miles in, I felt like I was running too fast--I was getting tired, so I figured I'd better slow down. But first, I checked out my pace to see how fast I was actually going.

9:10/mile. What the heck?! I hardly ever see miles in the 9's anymore. And I felt like I was running so hard. The wind was ridiculous, and even though I was putting in a lot of effort, I felt like I was running in place at times. I wanted to get my overall average pace below 9:00/mi, so I pushed harder. After a couple minutes, I looked down again--9:03.

Then it was a challenge to get my pace under 9:00. But it seemed like no matter how hard I ran, the pace wouldn't drop below 9:01. I was so tempted to turn around early and make it a shorter run today, but I kept thinking of that damn cookie sandwich!

After running out for five miles, I made a right turn and the wind was now coming sideways instead of right in my face. That helped a little. I ran one more mile and turned around to head home. It was a relief to have a tail wind for most of the run home! You can definitely see from my mile splits when I had a head wind and when I had a tail wind:

I'm just hoping that I have a nice, calm day when I run my half-marathon next month. I was so glad to be done:

See the little white spots on my headband? Those are ice crystals from where my sweat froze! I compared this run to last week's 12 miles on the treadmill, and saw that I finished four seconds faster today than on the treadmill, but my heart rate was much higher today. Usually, for a long run outside, my heart rate is about 145. Today it was 157, which shows how hard this run was today.

As soon as I went in the house, before I showered or anything, I wanted to see how many Activity PP I earned from my run. I plugged the ActiveLink in, and was shocked at what I saw:

I'd earned 19 PP and it wasn't even 10:00 in the morning! I think I actually did a happy dance when I saw that. Surely those 19 PP would cover my cookie sandwich, right?

First, I showered and then headed to Weight Watchers before going to Mrs. Fields. Hahaha, two opposite ends of the weight loss spectrum, no doubt. I was terrified to go into Weight Watchers--the last time I went in there was when I left really upset at being treated rudely by the receptionists.

I kept praying that there would be different receptionists there today--normally, I go on Thursdays, so I figured going on Friday, maybe I wouldn't have to deal with it. I walked in, and the ONLY two people in there were the two receptionists that I had an issue with a couple of weeks ago. From the moment I walked in, however, they were super nice and friendly. I don't know if they read my blog, or maybe they were just having bad days all the other times I saw them, but they were super nice today.

Also, when I weighed in, I didn't get any comment on my weight--which I was grateful for. Later, I looked at it and saw that my WW weight was down over 4 pounds from two weeks ago. Whoops! I forgot to rehydrate after my run today before weighing in, so I'll probably be up next time. Anyway, I got my weekly materials, and a new code for the e-tools, and was on my way. I'm going to plan on going to my meeting on Thursday, and hopefully I have the same (good) experience.

Next, I stopped at the mall and went straight to Mrs. Fields. I already knew what I wanted--a chocolate chip cookie sandwich--and went home after that. I was so tempted to start eating it in the car, but I wanted to sit down at home and really enjoy it, so I tried to have a little patience ;)

I also needed to calculate the PointsPlus in it before eating any of it. It was roughly the size of my palm, and I figured it probably wouldn't even add up to the 19 PP that I'd earned. I took the top off, and weighed just the cookie (63 grams). Then I weighed the other cookie with all the frosting on it (114 grams). Since there were two cookies, that meant there were 126 grams of cookie, and 51 grams of frosting.

The WW website lists a Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookie as being 48 grams in weight for 6 PP. Since my cookies were 126 grams, I was having 16 PP worth of cookie. Then I looked up butter cream frosting, and the 51 grams of that came to 7 PP. So 16+7=23 PP for the cookie sandwich.

I was surprised it was so high! I know cookies and frosting are pure junk food, but it honestly wasn't ginormous. Regardless, I'd earned every bite of that cookie, so I savored it. It was heavenly! And I didn't feel any guilt for spending that many PP on junk, because I worked really hard for it.

It was pretty rich, and after eating the whole thing, I felt a little nauseous. Not horribly, but I probably should have split it in half and ate half of it after dinner or something. I can't believe I used to eat two of those (at least) when I was obese. And I honestly didn't even enjoy them as much as I did this one. It's funny how that works!

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