Why I Don't Have a Calorie Target

I've written about this several times, but it's always been in a FAQ post about my weight loss. After my request for suggestions for weight loss topics, I got an email asking about how I stick to my calorie target while counting calories.

(In this post, I'm including a lot of photos of me eating things--just a forewarning that about 90% of them are ice cream! Hahaha.)

Eli and me eating fresh ice cream at a dairy farm

Here is the reader's question:

When you are counting calories, what do you do when you are hungry beyond what your calorie budget allows for a day?  How on earth do you stay within your calorie limit?  How do you manage that? I have found that when I count calories I do great for a few days, and then I just can't take the nagging hunger anymore. 

So, I'll use this post to try to go into detail about my daily calorie "limit"; it's always been hard to explain.

When in Madison, Wisconsin, eat Whoopie Pies!

When I count calories, I simply don't have a set "limit" for myself. I don't have a calorie target or even a range.

I know this sounds silly, because what's the point of counting calories if you're not aiming for a certain number?

I have found a couple of problems with setting a limit on the number of calories I eat per day:

1) If I have a maximum amount allowed, then I will eat every single bit of that amount, regardless of my hunger.

2) If I have a maximum amount allowed, then I will have to do a lot more meal planning ahead of time and I'm really bad at that. I usually just "wing it" when it comes to meals. I don't know what's going to sound good an hour from now, let alone tomorrow.

After my 10K PR (49:03!) I ordered this whole plate of tots for myself from McMenamin's!

 So how, then, does counting calories without having a limit help me to lose weight?

1) It helps me to visualize portion sizes. It's easy to pour a bowl of cereal that looks like a decent amount, only to find out that it's actually three servings and 500 calories. Add the milk, and it's a 650 calorie "light" breakfast.

I measure or weigh my food because I like to know just how much I am eating. It doesn't mean I can't have more if I want it, but just the fact that I *know* how many calories I'm consuming is enough reason to help me eat less.

My friend Laurel took my on a cupcake tour of Seattle. OMG.

2) My appetite isn't the same every day. Some days, I'm ravenous; some days I'm have no appetite at all. So it wouldn't make sense to try to eat the same number of calories every day without knowing what my appetite will be.

There are some days where I get super busy and I'm just not hungry or I don't have time to eat; on those days, I might eat less than 1,200 calories. Other days, my stomach feels like a bottomless pit and I'll eat closer to 2,500 calories. If I had a limit on those days, I would feel super hungry and just say "fuck it!" and eat everything in the pantry. 

And likewise, on the days where I just don't feel hungry, having a calorie target would still make me feel the need to eat that number, so I would eat just for the sake of eating.

Neither one of those scenarios is ideal. 

Laurel didn't stop at cupcakes. We also got ice cream!

3) I don't want to compromise special occasions. Special occasions are a fact of life. People celebrate birthdays, holidays, family get-togethers, out-of-town visits, vacations, etc. If I have a calorie limit, I would feel really stressed out that I wouldn't be able to splurge on things like everybody else. I would have to try to starve all day in order to save enough calories for a small piece of dessert or something.

On these kinds of days, I still count my calories; that number might be 3,000 or more! But I still count it. I don't obsess over how accurate it is, though. Last week, when I went out for pizza with my family, I didn't want to NOT eat pizza (the pizza place we went to is AMAZING). So I planned on having what I guessed would be about 1,000 calories worth of pizza. The pieces were cut pretty small, so I had three. Maybe those slices were 2,000 calories or maybe they were only 800. The point is, I made what I felt was a good guess and I counted them. I ate "normally" the rest of the day.

I don't always spend 1,000 calories on dinner, but on the occasion of going out with my family, it was worth it to me. If it meant my weight would be up a little, well, I know that I didn't eat enough to gain a whole pound of fat (which is 3,500 calories).

In a nutshell: On special occasion days, I just eat my usual meals and count on having a higher calorie meal as well. I also expect that my calorie total for the day will be higher than usual. And I'm cool with that.

Eli and I seeing "Happy Death Day"

4) Counting calories without a target makes calorie counting SIMPLE. (Remember, simple is not the same as easy.) Losing weight is never "easy", in my opinion. The simpler I keep my plan, the more likely I am to stick to it, though.

If I ate a big breakfast, for example, and I realized I already used two-thirds of my calories for the day, I would feel very anxious and overwhelmed the rest of the day, worrying about what I could eat in order to stay under X number of calories. 

Over time, just from measuring food and counting calories, I've learned the amount that my body feels pretty satisfied with (on average). That's *usually* about 1600. When I add up the averages over a period of months, I average roughly 1600 calories a day while I'm losing weight.

My brother bought a freeze-dryer, so I had him freeze dry Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia--YUM!

I think the best way to start counting calories is to actually just eat the way you always do but measure out the food first and write it down or use an app to track it. You might find that you're eating 5,000 calories a day and you don't know it. I would spend at least a week just eating your typical diet, but measuring and keeping track of the calories. Seeing those numbers might be enough to help you cut back.

Once you start learning portion sizes (due to weighing or measuring your food), you'll naturally learn where you can cut back. You'll also learn when you're eating just to eat rather than eating because you're hungry.

Maybe you'll start choosing foods that you enjoy the most and skip the foods that you don't really like. One of my "rules" is that I don't force myself to eat foods I don't like; I only eat foods that I actually enjoy. If that means eating a smaller amount of those foods, then I'm willing to do that. I'd rather have one really good, rich chocolate chip cookie than ten "just okay" ones. The calorie count will likely be lower, too!

Back when I thought turning 30 was SO OLD

I always suggest this to people who are trying calorie counting: Start with a higher number than you think you need. For example, try eating about 2,000 calories per day. Keep track of your weight and see what happens. If you lose weight, that's awesome! Continue with 2,000. If you gain weight, then cut back by a couple hundred and try again. Not everybody needs the same amount of food, so we have to experiment to see what works for us as individuals.

To answer the question about nagging hunger... 

I do get hungry. But I actually enjoy being hungry before I eat because the food tastes better. I don't like being "hangry" (so hungry that I get irritable and angry); but when my stomach feels empty and food starts sounding really good, then I know it's going to taste good.

Popsicles taste SO GOOD after a hot run!

Over a LOT of years of weight loss/gain/maintenance, I've learned that my body likes it best when I eat four times a day: 8:00, 12:00, 4:00, and 8:00. I don't always stick to that schedule! Sometimes I'll skip a meal because I'm busy, but then I'm extra hungry later and I'll eat more than usual. And I don't watch the clock to eat right at those times; it's just a guideline.

So, while I do get hungry, it's not because I'm not eating enough calories; it's because I'm choosing to space out my meals enough to where I have just the right amount of hunger before I eat again.

Midnight snack during Ragnar "From Fat to Finish Line" in the Florida Keys

If you have a nagging hunger for days, enough to make you want to quit, then you are likely not eating enough.

Hopefully this post explained my odd "no calorie target" way of calorie counting. It works for ME; just note that this may not work for other people. Some people may find that they eat non-stop when they don't have a target. If that is the case, then I would suggest to try starting with a calorie range. Aim for somewhere in the middle of the range, and that way you have a guideline.

I know this way of eating isn't for everyone. That's why I alway stress that we should each do what is best for US and our OUR bodies. Counting calories this way works best for me and it's simplest for me so that I don't quit the first time I overeat! ;)

And clearly, I love dessert--that's why almost all of my pictures involve dessert! (Also, notice how most of them are some sort of "occasion"--it's not just me sitting home in my pajamas shoveling ice cream in my mouth--although I've definitely been known to do that, too!)

Jessica and I celebrated our final marathon training run with frozen custard!

I do eat lots of healthy food, too, but I rarely take pictures of it like this--because it's not as fun as dessert. My diet doesn't consist entirely of ice cream, I promise. I also eat too many grapes ;)

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Wednesday Weigh-In : Week 36

Those jeans are size 8 and I didn't even have to do the "jeans-dance" to get into them. I pulled them up and they zipped easily. And they're super comfy! The last time I tried them on, they were very tight and not "wearable in public". I love when I can feel progress in my clothes. 

After last week's gain, I was sure to work extra hard this week. Even though I knew last week's weight wasn't a "true" weight (it had jumped up a little over a pound the day before weigh-in for no reason), I wanted to make sure that I was going to win the first month of my six-month DietBet.

Jerry and I joined a six-month DietBet that began on January 1st. He was at his heaviest in about a decade and after a very rough December, we decided to go ahead and do the Bet together. Yesterday was our first month's weigh-in.

Thankfully, we both won the first month! The six-month schedule goes like this:

Month 1: Lose 3% of your starting weight
Month 2: 6% (each month is cumulative)
Month 3: 8%
Month 4: 9%
Month 5: 10%
Month 6: 10%

So in order to win the first month, you have to lose 3% of your starting weight. To win the second month, you have to have lost 6% of your starting weight. And so on. Since our next goal is March 1st, we each need to have lost 6% of our starting weight.

My DietBet weight is higher than my Wednesday Weigh-In weights because I wear clothes for the DietBet weigh-ins and because sometimes I've already had water and/or food for the day. I consider my Wednesday Weigh-In weights my "true" weight because it's first thing in the morning and I'm naked. But for the sake of DietBet:

Starting weight: 163.4
My goals for the DietBet:
Feb 1: 158.5 (actual was 154.4)
Mar 1: 153.6
Apr 1: 150.3
May 1: 148.7
Jun 1: 147.1
Jul 1: 147.1

Doing the DietBet has actually really been helping me to stay on track. As much as I dislike the whole concept of the DietBet (and especially the fact that DietBet takes 25% of the pot!!) it has helped me. I guess I just don't want them getting my money; they're already getting over $400,000 from their share of the pot. Yes, I've complained about this several times in the same paragraph as my saying that DietBet has helped me--eye roll. I'm a hypocrite, I guess! So as long as I hit my goals, they won't be getting any of my money ;)

I've still been eating my minimum recommended daily allowance of fiber every day. Usually I'll have about 150%! Most of it comes from my Cold Almond Joy Oats that I have for lunch every day. For breakfast, I'll usually gave Grape Nuts with blueberries. I still need to work on getting more water, though; I've been drinking about 2 Liters, but I'd like to get in 4 Liters a day. It's so much harder to drink water in the winter.

Anyway, today's weigh-in was a good one! I think it's the lowest weight I've had so far (since I started losing weight in May).

So, I am down 2.4 pounds this week, bringing my total to 44.6 pounds down since I started losing weight at the end of May. I'm really happy with that! I'd hoped to be closer to 140 by the end of January, but I had a couple of months where I just didn't seem to be making any progress. I'm happy with where I'm at! I'm really excited to get back into the 140s, though ;)

I'm not sure if Jerry wants me to share his weigh-ins at this point, so I won't do that. But maybe I'll do an update after a few months. By March 1st, I have to be at 153.6 (remember, that's with my clothes on)--so I think that I'll make that goal for sure.

During the late winter/early spring, we usually don't have anything going on, so it's a good time of year to work on bettering myself (physically and mentally).

Today's random fact of the day:

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Just a "before" photo

Sadly, I do not have any transformations to post today. So, I hope you've had a happy Tuesday! And February 1st.

Here is today's "random fact of the day":

I do have a "before" photo that I hope to post as an "after" soon. I bought a couple of pieces from Facebook Marketplace today--a coffee table and shelves. I only wanted them for the wood (like how I took apart the dining room set and got a ton of really nice oak!).

These are the two pieces--it's hard to tell they are separate because they are side-by-side, so I put a red line between them (also hard to see). I took the legs off the coffee table (the one on the right) so you can just see the top.

Anyway, I've spent several hours today break them down. I have to run them through the planer tomorrow. You can see a lot of the pieces in the background that I've already cut on the table saw. 

Once I get all of the "raw" wood, I can start working on Noah's shelves! And then I'll FINALLY be able to start working on the cat wall. (Here is my Pinterest board with all my cat wall inspiration, haha)

This is kind of random, but I would kind of like to do a weight loss "series" on my blog other than my Wednesday Weigh-Ins. I know I've probably written all there is to write on the subject over the years, but my blog is now 11 years old; so it's time for an update! Should I update old posts? Answer questions from readers? Write random thoughts? Other ideas?

I know that most people read my blog for weight loss stuff and I got really bored with it for a while, but now that I'm back in losing mode and I'm feeling good about it, I kind of want to revive it. I definitely don't feel like an expert--don't get me wrong--because my weight has fluctuated so much over the last decade. But I do feel like I have a lot of info I could share (or already have shared). So just let me know your thoughts if you have any!

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Racing Plans

Like I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I'm ready to sign up for a race--if only to push me to start training for *something*. An actual reason to lace up 3-4 times a week! 

My sister is the one who actually brought it up to me--she suggested that we do the Toledo Glass City Marathon Relay. I've done this race at least twice before and it's a great course.

For Jeanie's first marathon, she had a relay team set up to run along with her--so each of us took turns running a leg of her marathon next to her. I did the final leg, crossing the finish line with her, and it was awesome. She made it look so easy! (She actually wrote a guest post about her first marathon, which you can find here; she includes a lot of tips for first-timers.)

This time, there is no real special reason to do it. I just haven't run a race since 2018 and when she mentioned it, it got me thinking about it. The first thing I always tell people when they tell me they want to start running is to sign up for a race! It will be the push you need to do the work.

So, I took my own advice. If the relay with Jeanie didn't work out, I had a back-up plan (the Martian Meteor 10K (which is a race I've done several times and I really like it). However, Jeanie is still up for the relay. The relay is a five-person team, so we will have: Jeanie, me, Jerry, Audrey (who I've mentioned several times in the past), and possibly Nathan (my brother). I think it'll be super fun! And this team is one that couldn't care less about pace or our finishing time. We're all slow! (Well, except for Nathan.)

The race takes place on April 24, 2022, which is 12 weeks from now. Ordinarily, I would have written my training plan to include all 12 weeks, but since I thought Jerry and I would be running the Martian race, I thought we only had 8 weeks. So, I have two options: 1) just write up 4 extra weeks that we can do now to work on running 4 days a week before we start my Beginner's 10K Plan; or 2) start the 8-week plan now and then continue on in order to be more prepared for the relay. I'm learning toward the latter.

The distances are 3.4, 4.9, 6.6, 5.3, and 6.1 miles. So maybe I'll train up to 8 miles for my long run and then do either the 6.6 mile leg or the 6.1 mile leg. Once we know if Nathan is going to commit, we can plan out the legs and I can have a better idea.

(If you're unfamiliar, the way the relay works is that you have a team of five people who each run a particular distance (see the leg distances above) on the course. The first person starts at the starting line of the race, and then 3.4 miles in, the rest of our team will be waiting for them. That person stops and the next person starts running. And so on. Then the last person crosses the finish line.)

I really hope Nathan decides to do it--it'll be super fun with him! I can't really say that I miss racing, but I actually do miss the way it pushed me. Even when I didn't want to run, I just did it anyways because I had to in order to prepare.

It's like this DietBet Jerry and I are doing. Our first weigh-in is tomorrow, so even if I wanted to eat everything in the pantry tonight, I know I won't do it because I want to hit my weigh-in goal. I've had a really great week; even when we went out for pizza, I only had 1-1/2 slices. I'm hoping I get to see the 140s soon! Maybe by Valentine's Day.

I'll be doing almost all of my training on the treadmill for a while. Check out this snow we're supposed to get!

Nope nope nope! I'll find some good books to read and I'll do my running on the treadmill. I actually read SIX books this month! That's totally unheard of for me. (Unfortunately, I read them on the couch and not on the treadmill, but it's a start--haha.)

I'll end with the random fact of the day:

Tomorrow is February! I can't believe it.

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Pets' Profiles

I'm going to start with the random fact of the day (mainly because the picture is square and it fits better!):

I used to eat pollution popsicles all the time when I went for my long runs in the snow--oops! (It was so much more convenient than carrying water)

This was a fun post to write! I've written a TON about my pets over the years, but I liked this way (Jerry's suggestion!) of bringing it together. Well, Jerry's suggestion was actually to make a mock-Tinder profile for the pets and I actually loved that idea. However, once I started working on it, I really wanted to make it more detailed than a typical Tinder profile (I actually had to google what one looked like, hahaha!)

Instead, I just made a little profile that kind of reads like the good old fashioned classified ads (except the pets aren't "seeking" anyone). It's just as much of their personalities as I could squeeze into a teeny tiny nutshell. (They are SO much more than what I've written here, though!)

Each one of them has such a unique personality! (Sorry for all the typos/grammar--I didn't save these as drafts as I was making them, so to fix errors would require making each one all over again.)

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HERITAGE RECIPE : Perfect Dumplings

This is another of those recipes that does not look pretty at all--but I'll spoil the ending and say that this was delicious! SO much better than it looks.

I've been wanting to make this recipe for a while because the person who submitted it happens to be my elementary school bus driver. And let me say, the fact that I came from a very small town means that the bus driver could as much of a mom or grandma as could be before and after school.

This recipe was submitted to the Rockwood, Michigan Area Historical Society by Joyce Laura in memory of Elza Raymond. I was a little confused at first while googling, because Joyce's maiden name was Raymond; and she married Raymond Laura. Once I sorted that, it made sense ;) I'm assuming that Elza was Joyce's mom.

You know how you go through life and there are certain random people tucked into the back of you mind that bring a nostalgic smile to your face when you think of them? I don't mean the people that do these spectacular well-known things, but rather the everyday people that you encounter for one reason or another.

Joyce Laura is one of those people who is tucked into the back of my mind. I honestly can't say I remember much about her! She was my school bus driver all through elementary school, and all of us kids absolutely loved her. I do remember her giving us treats once in a while (cookies or something). But she treated us like her own grandchildren (of which she had many--she was born in 1927 and when she passed away in 2016, she had 14 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

The same kids would ride the bus together every year; we all lived in the same neighborhood, played together all summer, and even though there were certain kids we didn't like, we were a sort of family in a way. And I think Joyce thought of us like that, too. She liked seeing us grow each year and she took some pictures of us in front of or inside of the bus. (She actually did have a grandson who rode the bus with us!) She made each of us feel special in our own way.

I could still tell you all of their names and I am still friends with some of them today. I asked some of my childhood friends today what they remember about her, and they all said the same thing: "She was just so NICE. Even with some of the morons on the bus, she was so NICE to everyone."

I remember one specific incident when we were pulled over by the police. Apparently, a boy named Eric, who was known for being a troublemaker, threw his hat out the window at a cop car. So we were pulled over and the cop came on the bus to talk to him. Joyce was as calm as could be; I learned later in middle school, that most bus drivers are NOT like that!

Joyce submitted this recipe in memory of Elza Raymond--because Elza was her maiden name, I'm assuming that Elza was her mother, but I can't be sure. I cannot find that simple piece of info online!

Anyway, even though this recipe is simple, I just couldn't help but make it in memory of Joyce. An elementary school bus driver that sticks in the minds of kids 35 years later is a special bus driver indeed.

As always, I am typing out the recipe here exactly as it is in the book; the "printer-friendly version" was re-written by me to include any notes or clarifications. I did not make any modifications or substitutions while preparing this recipe.

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Perfect Dumplings

1-1/4 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 well-beaten egg
1 c. milk

Mix well. Drop by spoonful into boiling liquid. Keep boiling continuously. Steam 15 minutes.

My Notes:

This recipe is super straight-forward. The only thing I wasn't sure about was the steaming. Steaming usually involves covering the pot to hold in the steam. So, here is how I read into it: I dropped the dumplings in as the liquid boiled continuously. Once all the dumplings were dropped in, I covered the pot and lowered the temp to medium, and let them steam for 15 minutes.

It says to cook in liquid, so I imagine you could use whatever liquid you like. I made them in French onion soup (just the powdered mix with water). 

These were definitely NOT pretty. The batter looked very thin when I was ready to drop it into the soup. Still, I took about a teaspoon or a little more at a time and dropped it in. I could see they were coming apart when they hit the boiling water. Look how bad they looked in the pot! (I probably should have used a wider pot as well.)

This was after steaming

I imagine that I was probably supposed to drop bigger spoonfuls. Or maybe if I lower the water to a simmer rather than a boil. I know they would stick better with more flour (a thicker dough) but I didn't want to alter the recipe at all. There are several things I could adjust a little to keep them from coming apart.

HOWEVER... despite how not-pretty this recipe is, it was absolutely delicious!! The onion broth was a great choice. And while my favorite part was the large dumplings, the smaller pieces really thickened up the broth. Next time, I think I'll try lowering the water to a simmer and trying everything else the same. If that doesn't work, I'll make bigger spoonfuls. As a last resort, I'll add more flour. Really, the flavor and texture of these dumplings is truly "perfect"!

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Friday Night Photos

Happy Friday! This weekend feels like it snuck up on me--the week went by so fast. I had a very uneventful week, so I actually don't have many photos today.

We went out to dinner tonight, and I think it's the first time I went to a restaurant since Eli's birthday LAST year--so a little over a year ago! My parents wanted to take us out for pizza, so we met up with them, Nathan and his girlfriend Alex, Brian, Becky, Luke, and Riley. 

The only photo I took was when Brian was showing Luke and Riley the "rubber knife" trick (when you hold it gently between your fingers and move it up and down and looks like it's wavy--like it's made of rubber). They were super impressed with the magic, hahaha.

This morning, I was barely awake when I did the Wordle of the day (it wasn't even 5:00 AM). Imagine my shock when I guessed the word on the SECOND TRY! (If you don't know what Wordle is, I wrote about it here.) That will likely never happen again, but I was pretty excited!

I usually am terrible at word games--I've always hated Scrabble and I was terrible when I tried playing Words with Friends. But I'm pretty good at this one! I started playing 12 days ago, so it hasn't been a super long time, but I'm impressed with my stats ;)  Jerry used to kick my ass at Words with Friends, but he actually quit doing the Wordle because he was pretty bad at it.

Speaking of games with Jerry (he took this pic), we decided to go through our card and dice games to play them and see what we want to keep and what we want to get rid of. We have a lot of games we don't ever play and they're just taking up space. This was a Monopoly card game. It was just okay--we'll probably try it a couple more times before deciding whether to keep it.

I made an impulsive buy at Petsmart when I was buying supplies for Duck when he was sick--it's this stupid fabric bag that has some really loud, crinkly material on one side. Chick really loves playing inside of bags (paper or plastic, he doesn't care) and I thought he'd love it. It ended up being much smaller than I thought and it also wouldn't stay open--so none of the cats touched it. I was going to throw it away when I had the idea (again, this was before 5:00 in the morning! haha) to cut the rim off of a gallon-size bucket and hot glue it around the opening of the bag. That way, the cats can actually go inside the bag poke their heads inside the bag.

Like I said, it was an impulse buy. Chick is more than happy when I give him paper grocery bags to play in. I don't know if I'll keep this, but I figured it was worth trying!

Speaking of Chick... he scared me half to death when I found him on this shelf! I've been reorganizing and moving things around, so I have this shelf in my bathroom temporarily--it's directly across from the toilet--and when I went to the bathroom, I was totally oblivious to the fact that I was directly eye-level with Chick. Hahaha! I would not have been surprised if I'd found Phoebe or Estelle there, but Chick took me off guard.

I got in a conversation about fruit snacks (yes, fruit snacks) yesterday and I was reminded of the very first fruit snacks I ate. My grandma used to buy them and keep them in her cupboard; when we went to her house, she would ask us if we wanted a "treat" and she'd give us a package of these. THESE were the best fruit snacks--the texture was super dense (like fruit leather) and they were shaped like beans. They were in these little pouches that were paper on the outside with a foil interior. The ad made me super nostalgic! 

I could not. stop. laughing. at this meme! Read it out loud and it's even better.

I've been forgetting to include the "random fact" calendar pages, so here are the last couple of days':

The one about the Dum Dums is super interesting! I always thought the mystery flavor was just one of the regular flavors, except you didn't know which one you were getting. I never have Dum Dums, but now I am going to try the Mystery Flavor the next chance I have.

Finally, here is a video. When we were at dinner tonight, I was telling my parents about the Progressive commercials about "un-becoming your parents". I usually mute ads when I'm watching a show, but I LOVE these ones and I actually watch them! This video is a mash of all of them, so it's kind of long--but if you're looking for a few minutes of entertainment, look no further. This is so funny!

And that's all I have. Hopefully this week will be a little more exciting--have a great weekend! xo

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A Simple Beginners' 10K Training Plan

I mentioned signing up for a race in the next few months for the sole purpose of that sense of discipline that comes with following a training plan. Knowing that I have to train for a race is what will make me do it when I just don't want to run.

I was looking at 10K races because 1) It's always been my favorite race distance; 2) I think it's a good distance to work toward over the next few months, and 3) I don't really have a desire to run farther than 10K at this point. My body has gotten all sorts of messed up in the last few years and I think running is great, but I don't want to push it.

I was shocked when I went to my training plans page and saw that I don't have a beginner's 10K plan! I highly recommend my "Your Best 10K" training plan when you are going for a personal record; but that is meant for seasoned runners with lots of training under their belts. Right now, I am back to being a beginner for the most part.

For the purpose of this plan, I'm defining a "beginner" as someone who can run--no matter how slowly--about three miles without stopping (or with just a couple of short walk breaks). It would be great for someone who just completed the Couch to 5K plan and is looking to train for a 10K. So it's not a "Couch to 10K" plan, but a plan to get you from running about 3 miles to running 6.2 miles over a period of 8 weeks.

(If you are a true non-runner that wants to look train for a 10K, I would start with one of my beginner 5K plans; then, when you are able to run 5K, switch over to this plan.)

I wanted this to be very beginner-friendly; if you only want to run three days a week instead of four, then just skip Thursdays' runs. If you hate speed work, then just turn that into an easy three-miler. If you'd rather do run/walking, then go for it!

I also kept this extremely simple as far as numbers go--no heart rate training and no worrying about the "80/20" rule here. It's still very balanced and is heavy on the "easy" running.

There are three days for easy runs and just one day of simple speed work. The speed work alternates each week between intervals and tempo runs. There are four effort levels:

E - Easy (a pace that is barely faster than a walk; you should be able to have a conversation with a friend at this pace).

T - Tempo (this should feel "comfortably hard" where you could only say 1-2 words at a time; you should feel like you want to slow down, but you know for sure you could finish it). 

H - Hard (this is where you can run as hard as you want--the highest effort you choose to put in).

W - Walk (walk as quickly or as slowly as you like; the walking is in between the hard intervals, so I like to run the hard part as fast as I can and then I walk this part very slowly to recover).

Here is a glimpse at the first couple of weeks:

All of that said, here is the printer-friendly plan! 

It should be very straight-forward, but let me know if you have questions. I *think* I've chosen a race for Jerry and I to do (if we don't end up doing the relay with my siblings) so this is what we'll follow. Since we'll likely be doing a lot of treadmill running, I wanted to make this as simple as possible (running by feel instead of heart rate and keeping it very beginner-friendly).

If all goes well, Jerry and I will be running a race together soon--the last time we did that was in 2015! We trained for a half-marathon in 2018, but had to cancel at the last minute. So I'm looking forward to this :)

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Wednesday Weigh-In : Week 35

I LOVE this super comfy shirt and I've missed wearing it. It has a little spaceship on it and it says, "I NEED MY SPACE"--perfect for introverted me ;)  I'm loving being able to wear clothes I haven't worn in a long time.

Duck was (as always) trying to get my attention while I was taking my token Wednesday Weigh-In mirror selfie. It's so funny how he KNOWS when I'm going to be doing something that keeps my attention away from him for a moment, and he can't stand it. When I ignore him winding himself around my ankles or reaching up my leg, he then jumps up on the counter right next to me and stares me down...

When I turn away from him, he starts reaching his paw out to grab onto my phone, which is right next to him while I'm trying to take the picture. (I get many blurry photos this way, haha). He is just always determined to hold my attention.

It's hilarious how all the cats are attracted to my bathroom when I'm in there. It's like they think I'm throwing a party and they're all invited. Even Phoebe will join in sometimes. But Duck is the very pesty one!

Anyway, after last week's 3+ pound loss, I wasn't expecting a big weight loss today, but I was bummed to see a somewhat significant gain...

I was at 154.8, which is up 1.2 pounds from last week's 153.6. I'm actually not worried about it, though; I was at 153 and 153.2 all week long, and then after eating a fairly large volume of food yesterday, I'm not surprised to see the scale is up a bit. I'm sure that it'll be back down in a day or two. When I eat a larger volume of food (even if it's the same number of calories as a typical day) I tend to retain water. It's just something I've noticed after weighing myself almost daily for years.

My body definitely feels best when I eat lower volume, higher-calorie foods! Yesterday, my stomach felt like a bottomless pit--I was ravenous all day, so I grazed from the time I woke up until the time I went to bed, pretty much.

Something I've been doing this month that I've really liked is eating foods that are higher in fiber. I had no idea how little fiber I was getting until I started paying attention to it this month. (One of my "new year's goals" is to eat more fiber. The recommended daily intake is 25 grams for women.)

I still only want to eat foods I love and not force myself to eat foods I don't, so the changes haven't been drastic. Also, I don't want to eat the "fake fiber" foods just for the sake of getting in fiber. I want to just eat more of the the high-fiber things I already eat anyway--like beans, lentils, berries, oats, peas, bran cereal, etc.

I've been eating Asian pears ever since my mom found some at Costco (they are high in fiber). I've also been making my Cold Almond Joy Oats every day for lunch (it's SO good!) and that has 11 grams of fiber (45% of the daily recommended intake).

I'm sure you've heard of "overnight oats" recipes, but I never make them because I always forget to do it ahead of time. Instead, I use chia seeds to thicken the whole thing in about 15 minutes (and they add a lot of fiber!). (Here is a post where I listed 10 of my favorite cold oats recipes. They all have a ton of fiber!)

This is how I make the Cold Almond Joy Oats:

40 grams dry old fashioned oats
13 grams chia seeds
8 grams brown sugar (or pure maple syrup--I've used each and can't tell the difference)
8 grams shredded coconut
10 grams mini chocolate chips
5 grams of cocoa powder
4 fluid ounces of whole milk
A few drops of coconut extract
A few drops of almond extract

Put everything into a mason jar and shake it up well. Then set it in the fridge for at least 15 minutes (I've left it in there for 24 hours before, though, and it was still really good). The chia seeds will have thickened everything.

(It has 373 calories; for those of you that count macros, it has 13 grams of protein, 50 grams of carbs, and 16 grams of fat.)

I don't know if eating the RDI of fiber every day is actually doing anything for my body, but I like to imagine that it's good for my digestive system if nothing else. I've been feeling really good!

February 1st is when Jerry and I have to do our first month's weigh-in for our six-month DietBet. He's 0.4 pounds from his goal right now and I've already passed mine. So I think we'll do fine :)

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