Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Working on the plan

Even my horoscope is supporting me in this:

On Monday, May 10:
It's an excellent time to take stock of your health. You may want to check in with the doctor, start a food diary or just commit yourself to a more positive course of action. All should go well.
On Tuesday, May 11:
Exercise is on your mind in one way or another -- maybe it's just all the new spring runners or gym-goers prodding you, or maybe it's something deeper. In any case, better health is yours if you want it.
So that's kind of nice, yeah?

I pulled my bodybugg stats last night to start getting an idea of the calories I burn and therefore the calorie goal I would need to set in order to lose, say, a pound a week.  The average calories burned for the past month was around 2,380.  That sounded pretty good and right about where I thought I was, until I realized that in those 30 days would be the marathon and a couple of long runs which I would expect might skew things a tad.  I also took a few days off from wearing the bodybugg in there as well. 

But I need a place to start from, and this is as good a place as any.  Plus an 1,800 calorie goal doesn't freak me out, not like a 1,500 calorie goal would.  I can always adjust it as necessary, with the help of the bodybugg and, you know, the scale.

I had a bit of a last sushi hurrah last night.  My fabulous friend the Radioactive Girl suggested I get a raging case of depression to help with my weight loss goals, but that won't work for me.  I usually eat more when I'm depressed, seeking that "If I can't be happy, at least I can be happy in my mouth" kind of moment.  Which sounds way dirtier than I meant it to be (which was, not at all).  What can I say, the RG is a bad influence on me.  And I'm okay with that.

Anyhow, back to the sushi.  I've always found it difficult, and majorly depressing, to face the fact that these changes will be for the rest of my life.  I know they will be, and I accept that, but I'd rather it be a secret from my brain.  Otherwise I get depressed and then I eat, and you see where this is going, right?  So I try to phrase it more in terms of "Hey, it's only for four months!  I can do that!"  (And it may even be only for three months, I keep forgetting to check how long this next training program is.)  I also know that it's not the last time I'm going to have sushi in the next four months, because snerk I'm a realist and I loves da sushi.  But it will be the last time for the next four months that I get sushi takeout.  As I tend to go just a smidge overboard (get it?  sushi - overboard?  aren't I so funny?) with the sushi.  Urp.

Which reminds me.  Have you heard of this paleo diet?  A friend of mine is doing it, so I looked up a bit of info on it.  It sounds a lot like the blood type diet for blood type O, which I am.  If you find me bleeding to death, feel free to take all my blood as I am the universal donor and if I'm bleeding to death I won't be needing my blood any longer.  I wondered how what is in essence a high protein diet would work for runners; I found that there is a "paleo diet for athletes" book so I ordered it through the library.  Guess we'll see. 

I also just had my last iced shortbread cookie for the next four months.  Pretty sure that falls under a hunter-gatherer diet, right?

Among other changes I will be making for the next four months, diet-wise, are no fast food except for Taco Bell after the gym; eating breakfast at breakfast time; taking my daily vitamins; more fruits and veggies; and more fish.  Tater tots and fish sticks should probably go by the wayside there too.  I will attempt to limit my diet soda intake to two a day, but realistically I know that won't be very possible between now and July 1, our second biggest work deadline.  This is probably my last weekend of not working until then, except for the four day weekend I'm taking to go visit my best friend Lisa for her 40th birthday next month.  And looking at the upcoming calendar, I may put in a few hours this weekend as it is. 

I'll be summing up the next four month plan in an upcoming post, but for now that's what I got.  What do you think?

Cheers,
the CilleyGirl

5 comments:

  1. I am new to your blog and a new runner! Congrats on all your races! I am excited for my first!

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  2. My sister used to work with trainers that followed and preached about the paleo diet. She stopped going to them because...well...they were ridiculously out of shape an unhealthy. Hard for her to want to take advice from them when they didn't follow their own.

    That was just a random though... :) NOT a reflection on the paleo diet. I look forward to reading your review of the book.

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  3. I feel the same way sometimes :) Have a great weekend!!!

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  4. Whatever you decide to do you can do it because, hell, if you can train for and run a marathon you can do anything!

    If I may make an unsolicited suggestion about "dieting" from my experience is that you don't look at it as "oh, it's only for a few months" because that mindset sets weight loss up to be a temporary thing. No foods should ever be off limits to you otherwise you end up craving them and feeling like you have failed. I used to do that and would feel like "well the whole thing is shot since I had the cheeseburger might as well eat more." Lately, I realized that one cheeseburger is Ok and doesn't derail my weight loss. Cheesburgers (or sushi) are enjoyable parts of life and can be mixed in in moderation. The idea of cutting down on fast food and eating more fruits and veggies are really good ideas though. I feel so much better since I adopted those habits a few months ago.

    I am a huge beliver in Weight Watchers because there aren't any weird rules to follow. No gimmicks, no banned foods, just tools to help you navigate the real world and make a real lifestyle change. It is the only things that has worked for me. I can still have a cookie most days and lose weight and not feel like I have broken some dieting code.

    Whatever you decide to do you will do great at it.

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