Fighting the "Diet Mentality"

Okay, I am starting to get used to the new WW plan. This morning, I had the most scrumptious oatmeal EVER. It included the following: one package of instant oatmeal, 1 sliced banana (0 points now!), 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, and 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips. I heated the oatmeal up first with the banana, oats and water for about 1:30 in the microwave, and then I added the peanut butter and chocolate chips for about 30 seconds. The result--pure joy =) Plus it kept me full much longer than usual. Under the new system, this breakfast was about 7 points.

Sometimes I still get stuck in the "diet" mentality, where I feel self conscious about eating delicious things. For instance, last night I made my dad's AMAZING chinese chicken and broccoli. The meal consisted of 1 cup of brown rice (I actually bought the single serving rice so there could be no eyeballing), roughly 2 cups of broccoli and about .40 ounces of chopped chicken. It was DIVINE. But it made a huge plate of food--because of the broccoli. And I thought to myself, how can I possibly lose weight when I'm eating so much delicious food? At the same time, the logical part of my brain knows that 1 cup of brown rice and .40 ounces of chicken are not unreasonably large servings. Similiarly, my indulgent breakfast this morning wasn't really that crazy. In fact, both meals were nutritious and easily fit into my new 29 point day.

Sometimes, I think my idea (pre-WW) of dieting doesn't quite match up to the reality of living a healthy lifestyle. Look at any food blog you want--Beth's Journey to Thin, Run Eat Repeat, Kath Eats, and others--and you'll find that these incredibly healthy/ active women love eating and, more often than not, end up eating delicious, reasonably large portions of mostly healthy foods. They also exercise quite consistently. The diet mentality that some people in my family subscribe to--i.e. yogurt for breakfast, a skimpy salad for lunch, and a tiny piece of chicken for dinner--is NOT the norm amongst the food bloggers of this generation. Instead, we're creating oatmeal bowls, sweet potato fries, risotto with vegetables, homemade pizzas and chilis, corn muffins...the list goes on and on...Most of these bloggers, including myself, also strive to make activity a major part of their lives.

The bottom line is that each meal I eat now should be scrumptious and satisfying because this is not a diet--it's a lifestyle. Why shouldn't I enjoy food and feel full, even though I'm not at my goal weight? I need to shake this bizarre sense of guilt once and for all. Oatmeal with a sprinkle of chocolate chips does not make one fat. And neither does a stir fry with 2 cups of broccoli.

After all, prior to joining WW, there were days when I would eat ice cream for breakfast. But I have to say, I prefer my oatmeal+peanut butter+banana+chocolate chip combination.

Ran a 5K!

This time last year, I could never imagined that I would be able to run a 5K. But on Thanksgiving morning, bright and early, I woke up and ran 3.2 miles outside without walking. My time was 35:23 and my average mile was 11:24. Not too shabby for a first race. It really wasn't as bad as I expected and I managed to pace myself throughout the race so that I never felt too out of breath or tired.

Here's what I learned that works for me:

1. It was about 40 degrees and a little rainy so I dressed in light layers--good call.

2. I ate 1/2 a bagel with a thin smear of peanut butter about 1.5 hours before the race. That definitely helped give me more energy.

3. I got to the race EARLY. It was a madhouse at the race (4,000 people came out) so I'm glad that I managed to get there at 7:30 (a half an hour before the race).

4. I stood near the back of the pack. That helped because I wasn't with the all the fast runners and I actually managed to pass some people (rather than being passed by everyone).

5. I paced myself. I kept myself to a light, steady jog until the 3 mile mark where I went a little faster to finish the race. It felt good finishing strong.

6. I had the support of my family. My mom and sister woke up early to see me run. It was so nice of them and they were so proud of me.

7. I took a complete rest day the day before the race which helped me a lot.

8. I was already able to run for 35-40 minutes on the treadmill, so I was in pretty good shape.

Overall, it was a great experience and I'd definitely like to run more 5Ks. There's a Jingle Bell 5K in Richmond during the second week of Decemeber, so I might run that. Also, I'm seriously considering training for a 10K in the spring. I think that I can do it--I would just need to seriously train.

The rest of my Thanksgiving holiday was pretty awesome. Thanksgiving dinner was delicious and I ate small portions of nearly everything (except the pies). I felt pretty guilt free about it since I earned some APs in the morning. And then on Saturday morning I went for a jog in my neighborhood (roughly 2.5 miles) and that was fun. I am actually starting to enjoy running. It's relaxing to jog through a quiet neighborhood and just be by myself.

Today, the plan is to adjust to my new points--WW just came out with a totally new plan that seems to emphasize fat, carbohydrates, protein, and fiber. It's kind of a pain to have to rethink all my food choices, but at the same time maybe this will help speed up my WL efforts. I get 29 points with the new plan and 49 WPs. Weird, huh. But I put in my foods that I brought to work today and I was shocked that my yogurt with canned peaches was 6 points (it was 2.5 under the new plan). On the other hand, my hamburger on an English muffin is only 8 points and it was 10 under the old plan. Does WW not want us to eat yogurt now? So strange.

Anyway, I also plan on either going to my Body Pump class or going on a run after work. Happy Monday everyone.

Taking a Break

So, after another somewhat disappointing loss this week (0.6), I have decided that I need to take a break from counting points and obsessing over every calorie. By chance, this coincides with Thanksgiving and my trip to visit my family (Wed-Sun). So, in my opinion, that's a pretty good time to ease up a little bit on the plan so that I can enjoy the family gatherings and not obsess if I have an extra glass of wine or a slice of birthday cake or pumpkin pie.

I will, however, focus on making healthy choices and exercising. I am running the 5K tomorrow and I'm a mixture of excited and nervous. I'll let you know how it goes and maybe I'll even be able to post some photos =) In the past, I've been so worried about taking breaks because I felt it would get me off course and distract me from my goal. But, this time, I have to view what I'm doing as a lifestyle change, and throughout life you occasionally need breaks. And after sobbing my heart out on the phone to both of my parents, I recognize that I have hit that wall and desperately need a break. Further, I did some research on WL plateaus and it's possible that I am not eating enough--which might be stunting my WL efforts. So a week of increased eating might do both my mood and metabolism a bit of good. Importantly, however, I am not going to cut back on my activity because I like exercise and it makes me feel good.

So wish me luck on the race tomorrow and I'll let you know how it goes. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My First 5K

I'd been thinking about doing a 5K for the past couple of weeks, and last night I signed up for one. It's called the Virginia Run Turkey Trot, and it's taking place at 8am in Centreville, VA on Thanksgiving Day.

I have mixed emotions about the race.

I am not at all sure that I'm prepared. I haven't been doing a 5k training program and have barely run outside at all. What if I collapse in a heap on mile two? Also, I have never run a race before and I'm not sure about the race preparation/ race day protocol. What should I wear? What should I eat? When should I arrive at the race? All these questions are making me feel anxious, so I'm going to do some research today and try to figure them out.

But on the other hand, I feel enormously proud of myself that I have decided to take on a huge physical challenge, especially on one of the most gluttonous days of the year. And I do feel stronger than I have in a long time. I can run for 30-40 minutes on the treadmill (usually about 3-3.5 miles) and I recently increased my weights in my Body Pump class. For the past 6 weeks, I have exercised regularly 4-5 times a week, and for the past 7 months I have exercised regularly 2-3 times a week. I am not in bad shape. I am absolutely certain that I could walk the 5K, and I think it's possible that I could run the entire thing.

But on the OTHER other hand, I am incredibly nervous about the prospect of lining up with a bunch of athletes to compete in a race. That brings back dreadful memories of high school gym class, where I would huff my way through the mile run as my other fitter classmates would run past me. I hope that I don't feel that sense of panic on Thursday.

But on the OTHER OTHER other hand, I am volunteering to do this race--it's not a mandatory gym activity. And even if I come in last, I will feel proud of myself for doing a 5K.

But on the OTHER OTHER OTHER other hand, I really hope I don't come in last.

Cleaning and Laundry

Last weekend was unusually productive for me. I cleaned the house, did my laundry, and cooked all my meals. In less pleasant news, my brother Nick got hit by a car while bike riding yesterday. He is okay, thank goodness, despite a concussion and a bunch of bruises.

Moving on, I went to the Farmer's market with a friend on Saturdy afternoon, I went to the gym on Friday night and Sunday morning, I did mountains of laundry on Saturday, and I cleaned my house on Sunday. Not too exciting, but it is pretty nice to have clean clothes and a clean (for now) house.

Now, I love having cats. They snuggle with me all the time and they constantly keep me amused with their wacky behavior. BUT...they have a terrible time with the litter box. For some reason, they delight in spreading litter all over the house. It drove me crazy that yesterday, just as soon as I had finished mopping all the floors, Leo went into the clean litter box to investigate and then got it all over the clean floors. Grrr....He's lucky he's cute.

Here's Leo, with my formerly pudgy arm (the photo was taken about a year ago)




And here's his sister Fanny



Anyway, my weekend was pretty good, health wise, because I managed to only use about 13 WPs, which is really good for me, since I have 22 remaining WPs. I also earned some APs. So, all in all, a good weekend for weight loss. Hopefully this translates to the scale, haha, although you never can tell ;). As for Thanksgiving day, my meeting is cancelled so I'm going to weigh in a day early on Wednesday morning. I haven't decided whether I'm going to count points on Thanksgiving or whether I'm just going to allot my 35 WPs to the day. The only problem with doing that is that I LIKE having spare WPs to use throughout the week, especially when I work out. So, I'll have to think about that. I also am thinking about going for a run or even doing a 5k on Thanksgiving so that I can eat more on the big day =) Does anyone know of any 5ks on Thanksgiving in either the Richmond area or the DC area?

Anyway, I gotta get back to work. Happy Monday everyone!

I spoke too soon...

Little drama queen that I am, I freaked out before my actual weigh in.

I actually lost 0.8.

Yup, I feel a bit sheepish right now. But oh, how I hate those weigh-in jitters. Happy Thursday everyone.

Weigh In Jitters

There was a time, not too long ago, where I'd go to my weigh-ins expecting a loss. Sure, I'd agonize over whether it'd be a 3.5 pound loss or a 1.2 pound loss, but still I expected a loss.

Sadly, those times are gone. For the past few months, I've gone to WIs without knowing what to expect. Maybe I'd see a big loss, but more than likely I'd see a small loss or a small gain--even when I worked out a lot and followed the plan. Today is no exception--I ate within my DPs and WPs and exercised 5 times (two Body Pump classes and three cardio sessions) yet I'm not guaranteed a loss. In fact, the scale at the gym has me up a pound. Now, the rational side of my brain KNOWS that I will not gain weight if I stick to the plan and exercise consistently. But the other side is freaking out and starting to imagine that my body has secretly been invaded by a monster that is determined to hold onto every last ounce of weight. And it won't let up until I weigh 400 pounds and have to join the circus and end up marrying a dwarf named Bubba and...

Okay, I digress. But seriously, is it so hard for my 180ish pound body to get rid of these excess 30 pounds? Why is that so difficult? I sweat, I plan my meals, I get in most of my GHGs (good health guidelines), and does the scale budge?

Sometimes...when it's in a good mood.

The rational part of me is telling me that (1) I've lost a heck of a lot of weight so far and I should be pleased with my loss, (2) If I continue living healthy, I will lose the weight, and (3) I look and feel amazing now, so why not focus on that?

But of course, I am anxious to lose this last 30 pounds and finally be at a healthy weight...for the first time since I was 13. I guess all things come in good time.

I'll let you know what the verdict is. I'm just hoping that I don't cry (again!) at my WW meeting.