But 5.3 at a decent pace of 9.56 minutes per mile. I was surprised at my pace because it’s been a while since I’ve run because I’ve been obsessively working in the garden. I guess yard work is good for maintaining endurance. You know what else it’s good for? Weight loss.
I’ve been trying so hard to get under 130 pounds for years. Years, I say. No luck. In December I even topped over 140. Honestly, kind of way over 140. Shut it. I’ve run upteen marathons, have been lifting weights and watching what I eat. Yet nothing. Nothing has worked. Not a thing. I’m a freak. But give me a shovel and a sledge hammer and set me loose in the garden for 12 hours a day and I end up at 128. Who knew it would take 3 weeks of digging and rock breaking? I’m exhausted but I’m so stoked that I’m volunteering myself for slave landscaping labor so I don’t gain it back. Because the second I even think about training for a marathon I’ll gain ten pounds. I’m sick like that.
Oh well, the running workouts have resumed. I have a trail run scheduled for Thursday afternoon and an 11-12 mile run scheduled for Saturday morning. Go me, I’m just determined to gain that weight back. But maybe I’ll just start on the vineyard AND run at the same time. Just maybe that would work. And some leg torture. I kind of miss the videos.
I am so tired right now, I have no desire to even get out of my office chair to brush my teeth and go to bed.
This time I’ve made the photos a little bigger and added a description if needed. I also tried to put them in order. Please note, I did not always eat everything on my plate – nor did I have tortillas or chips with my fajitas. (I had to make that little disclaimer.) I think I ate too many berries with yogurt or low fat cottage cheese – It saved me, though, when I needed something sweet. I also did not lose or gain any weight. Which sucks, royally. But I am not deterred, next week I’m following the spartan diet with smaller portion sizes. How do you think I did?
I went out for my 20-mile run yesterday and only ran 8. This whole week I’ve had pain in my left foot – in the EXACT spot where I had a stress fracture before, and I’m a little freaked out about it. My philosophy has been that if I don’t post about it and ignore the situation completely, then my foot will magically get better. When I went to the doctor before and was diagnosed with a stress fracture, his response was “stay off it for six weeks”. I’m not at a point right now where I want to do that because I AM running a marathon in three weeks. So I guess I’ll keep pretending that I’ll magically get better. Is it better to run a marathon under-trained or with an injured foot? Woe is me.
But on to other things, this is the week I eat like a Spartan and become strong, thin and kind to all things big and small. So, just what do Spartans eat? Whole grains, veggies, a little fruit, low-fat dairy, lean protein and lots of coffee. I know for a fact that Spartans consume huge amounts of coffee, I don’t make these things up but we’ve all got to play by the rules.
I’ve started off my Spartan week with some yogurt, a handful of granola and a few almonds – plus a huge cup of coffee. Who am I to upset the Gods? If you’d like to join me in Spartan week, just take a picture of every meal and snack, or write it down, and post it next Monday, that way we can all be a loving and caring Spartan family together.
Oh, and FYI – this week of Januaryathon looked like this: Runner Susan = 21 miles and LOSER Amy = NOT 21 miles.
Hello. My name is Susan, and I’m a carboholic. It’s been 2 hours, 3 minutes and 49 seconds since my last bowl of pasta.
Yeah, I got some changes to make. I’m working on a new and improved diet nutrition plan, doing some grocery shopping and next week I’m going to take pictures of my food again.
Of course, the biggest change is going to be not having pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The next big change will be not eating out 4 or 5 times a week. Michael and I don’t travel a lot or take elaborate vacations; our entertainment is dining out and drinking wine.
And speaking of adult beverages, I drink about 4 or 5 glasses of red wine a week. That’s an easy fix; I’ll have 1 or 2 on date night only. And diet coke? Done. Gone. But the coffee? No way! No one is touching my coffee. I’d promise seriously naughty things to the person who kidnapped my coffee.
I also need to learn how to cook protein things other than chicken breast. I get so tired of chicken. Chickens are gross. Any animal that can live with its head cut off doesn’t deserve my constant digestion. Give me a slab of bacon over a chicken breast any day. How does sushi rank on healthy food scale? We are leaving for some delicious raw fish very soon, and I’d like to know that some tasty food could remain in my diet.
I saw this on Dooce today and it pretty much sums up how I feel about food. You could randomly substitute ranch dressing, chocolate syrup or cheese in place of bacon – it’s all the same thing!
On New Year’s Eve I was lying on the couch watching BBC’s You are What You Eat, because that’s what losers do on New Year’s Eve, and I decided to take a picture of everything I ate for one week. Here’s my food from January 1 – 6. It’s everything I put in my mouth with the exception of the water I drank. Also, it’s in no particular order. Fire away, tell me what you think. (that last blurry thing is halibut over pasta)
Yes, I spoke too soon. How can I amaze myself when I can’t even get my self out the door to run in this weather? It is warming up to 50 today, so it should be perfect right after lunch. That’s my plan.
My other plan seems to be eating everything I can get my hands on. I haven’t stopped being hungry since the marathon. I must get his under control because I need to lose ten pounds before February 17th. I can’t believe I ran a marathon looking like I swallowed a buffalo.
The whole nutrition thing is so tricky. I need a plan that will work with the whole family. My sister is following the RAVE diet, RAVE stands for: no refined foods, no animal foods, no vegetable oils, no exceptions & exercise.
This plan sounds good, but I don’t know if it’s a plan the entire family follow. Especially the no oil part, we love our olive oil in this house. And Michael is a big meat eater, and loves any opportunity to slap some raw meat on an open flame.
Emotionally, I’m really drawn to the idea of not eating animals. Preparing a whole turkey this year was tough. And I could live without the guts stuffed in a bag and then re-stuffed back into the turkey. Seriously, who eats guts? I like my meat cut up into little pieces and placed under plastic wrap so it has no resemblance of an animal. And the books I’ve read on how animals are treated and slaughtered is very sad. So I choose not to think about it while I consume my steak.
Intellectually, the books I’ve read such as the Paleo Diet, which suggests a diet similar to that of our Stone Age ancestors which is high in lean protein with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables makes so much sense to me. Our bodies are primarily made up of protein and water, we need those to survive. I’m also a big evolutionist. But to get a healthy animal you’d pretty much have to raise it in the backyard and slaughter it yourself.
I don’t know. What’s a girl to do? There are so many options. Of course portion control is a part of it losing weight, but I want a plan that is healthy as well. Perhaps all this writing is just a way to avoid running again. Anyone know of a get rid of your back fat diet?
It’s a shame our bodies are not made of chocolate cake. Life would be so easy then.
