Day 91: Getting back to running is HARD

Tips on getting back into running.

–       Take it slow (I’m not very good at this) but I’ll start with the 3 miles and gradually increase it up to the 10 mile mark)

–       Journal. (Good thing I have this blog) keep track of everything. Distance, time to complete, how you felt, number of runs, etc.

–        Set weekly goal– achievable ones.  My plan is to get at least 100 miles in the month of December.
Wk. 1- 21 miles (average 3 miles daily)

Wk. 2- 28 miles (average 4 miles daily

Wk. 3- 35 miles (average 5 miles daily)

Wk. 4 – 35 miles (average 5 miles daily)

–       Routine is Key: stick to your plan. Go everyday even if it means you walk the whole way or even try a run walk interval and make a game of it.

My new manthra

 

I am completely disgusted with myself. I have all but lost the desire to go out and run. Ok maybe I have the desire; I just don’t have the will, or is it the other way round.

Anyways since the marathon, I have only been out running twice and both times not more than 3 miles.  Only twice in two weeks. …..WTF??!!!

 

Last night I was determined to get back on track. I even put out my clothes so that I could get into them immediately I got out of bed. This morning my alarm clock rang at 5.31. I mentally shouted at myself to get out of bed and go ran. I did not want to. I finally pulled myself out of bed at around 5:33 and even got as far as getting dressed. The whole time I was telling myself I how I should get back into bed, how I did not have even the tiniest bit of desire to get out. The sane part of my brain keep shouting all those positive slogans you read about “ you only regret the run you don’t take, blah….blah… blah and so on.

 

Anyway you know what I did??? I took off my running clothes and got BACK into bed. What the Bloody Hell!!!!

Yup. I went back to sleep and when I got up about 2hrs later, I was completely disgusted with myself. How could I be so weak? I know what I need to be doing but yet I can’t seem to be able to take the next step.

 

Tomorrow is the first of December and I will run everyday this month if it kills me. I have a set a goal (yes another goal no need to roll your eyes) and I am going to run all 31 days of December. Not only that, but my goal is to get 100 miles done.  No more excuses.

100 miles in December challenge

 

I am looking at different Marathon training programs that I can start on as soon as the New Year begins.  As of Jan, I will have exactly 6 months to prepare for my first marathon of the year.  I’m actually going to have a time goal for this race. I need to get it under 4 hrs. In order to do that, I need to get to goal weight 147lbs preferably lower, and I need to train like a beast. I have 6 months to lose about 20 pounds and build strong muscles for this race. I will not fail.

 

Day 90: A quickie

don’t have anything worth sharing today. Aunt flo is here and I don’t feel like doing anything. fortunately for me unlike previous times, I don’t feel like eating anything either. there is no chocolate in the house so I cant feast on that I also couldn’t be bothered to leave the house and get some.
Drank lots of mint Tea, ate lots f nuts and tried to Finish christopher Hitchens Biography “Hitch 22”

I’m also afraid to weigh in on saturday because I am severely bloated and I always gain an average of 5lbs during TOM. i know its water weight and that it will go away but its thoroughly depressing when I see the number on the scale and it usually leads to a downward spiral of me eating everything in sight. counterproductive I know. But i shall brave the scale and hope to use my brain and know that it is all water weight.

I have my running clothes set out for tomorrow morning. lets hope I actually get up and go. I haven’t had a long run since the marathon and I am hopping I can get in at least 5 miles tomorrow.
That was a longer post that I expected.
make good choices people…….at least try 😉

Day 89: My food in Pictures and running goals

 

Today I got up at 5:31 as usual and really debated whether I should get up and run. I didn’t feel like it. I told myself I would feel better after i got outside and even happier as I came back after a quick 5K. But no. stubborn old me decided that today would be a rest day.

I’m glad to say that I actually did get in some miles. I had to go to town to run some errands and it ended up being a 4 miles walk  from home and back to town. 1hr 15 minutes. not to bad.

Now that I have nothing to look forward to (running wise) my next race is about 8 months away; I don’t feel motivated to get out and run in the mornings.  I did get out there on monday and tuesday, but its getting harder and harder to get out of bed. unlike  a few weeks ago when all i could think of was i have to go run, i have a marathon is  X days.

So I have decided to set a new goal for myself. I track my runs using NIKE+ and I am currently at 956 miles run. My goal is to get to 1000miles run by the end of this year. its only 44 miles and I have about 32 days left to do it.more than enough time because my minimum run is about 3mi. So every morning when i get the urge to just cover myself up and go back to sleep, i need to keep thinking about the 1000mi badge I will get from Nike.

As far as food is concerned, I have been prepping my stuff in advance andI am pretty much keeping my carbs at around 50g. I can’t seem to give up rice and I had some yesterday which made my carb intake at 69g. I’m glad to say I haven’t been over 100g. Its TOM this week and so i’m sure I will have a gain. I am bloated and feel the need to eat every piece of chocolate in sight.

here is what my meals have been looking like. My goal is to have a soup every night for dinner ( this week its cabbage soup. recipe here ) A salad for lunch and TVP patties and eggs for breakfast.

Now for the pictures

Breakfast.

Lunch huge salad: soybean salad, boiled egg, fried tofu,Avocado, lettuce

 

Dinner: I pretty much eat the same thing but I have this Thai heritage spice that i add to it. I have various flavors and so it feels like I’m eating something different everyday.

 

Recipes for everything here are on my blog.

go out there and run.

 

Day 88: Obese and afraid of running or going to the gym

There is a thinner, fitter you running to get out.

So today morning on my run, I saw a lady who just made my day. She was running and was about the same size I had been when I started running. I was so happy to see her. So happy that she had decided to become healthier and what better way that to keep running. I said Hi because I remember how happy I had been when a fast runner would take the time to great me in the morning, or nod their head at me like we were in some kind of secret club. I hope I see her again. I hope sometime I can talk to her and let her know that I was once there and now I am here.

 

Obese, afraid of running and going to the gym!

 

That used to be me and I’m sure a lot of other overweight people felt the same at some point in time.

The highest weight I ever weighed myself was 247(that is the only written record I can find, however I have some pictures that to me, seem like I was really pushing into the 300’s).

 

When I got to college, I joined a really expensive gym and would exercise almost everyday. My roommate did it with me and so I always had someone to go with. Once we stopped being friends (long story) I had no one to go with and my money got thrown down the drain because I was too lazy to even cancel my membership. At this point I think I had gotten down to about 190lb. I remember that the gym was probably about 1KM away and I couldn’t even run to it. I would try running and get back to walking almost immediately.

 

Once I stopped going to the gym, slowly by slowly the weight came back on. I didn’t notice it. I had no scale and no one around me ever mentioned it. (I was away from home and had no family member around who could say anything to me. Friends don’t usually want to hurt your feelings.)

A few years later a friend of mine took a picture of me and once I saw it, I almost died. Was that me? I had no neck. I was HUGE!!!! HUGE (this is where I think I might have been close to the 300’s) My body carries weight well( HA! What a joke) and so I was well proportioned but I was devastated.

 

My apartment had a gym and all the people I saw go there were skinny and fit. I could not imagine myself going in when they were all there. I used to tell myself that I would starve myself, lose some weight and then I could go to the gym. For me it always seemed that no fat people were ever at the gym. It was always the skinny girls in their short shorts and the shirtless muscle men. So my plan was to find a time that no one went. I would wait until 10PM or wake up at 4am so that I would get the gym empty. This is when I weighed myself and was about 247lbs.

 

I would use the treadmill but I wanted to go run outside so bad. I lived at a beautiful canal that had a 3-mile loop and I would see people run there in the mornings and evenings and wish I was one of them. Even at that weight, I wanted to run. I decided that I could do it early in the morning when no one could see me and hide in the darkness.

 

It was hard. I think I was still in the 220’s-230’s when I started venturing outside. At first I thought it would be dreadful. That all those fit runners would look at me and laugh and wonder what the heck I was doing running outside. I felt like everyone was judging me. That was the furthest thing from the truth. I got a lot of encouragement. Everyone would wave at me and I couldn’t believe it. One old lady one day stopped my side struggling just to lift my legs and keep moving and told me I could do it. She said that she had been overweight and with running, she was fit and whizzing past younger people. I’m sure there were those who thought ‘what is this fat girl doing?’ There are always those people.

 

But now that I know the running world a bit better, I know that runners who see newbies running are always proud of them. They encourage them because they know that at some point, they were not the best or fastest runners out there. As I lost more weight and got more courage, I started running in the light. I think this when I was 214ish (I’m 5’3 and so that is still HUGE). I loved it. The runners I met were friendly; they always waved and said good morning. I started running further and the walks in between my runs became fewer. I became a runner Damnit.

 

Lost almost 80 pounds and still going. I wish I hadn’t wasted all those days and months afraid of the gym and running where people can see me. And I hope nobody else ever does that again. So if you are on a weight loss journey, ignore what others may think. Get out there. Walk, then run. I have read stories about mean people saying nasty things to big runners and it happened to me once. I just thought ‘hey at least I am doing something.’ Go out there and run. Join a gym and get your workout on. And to those who have travelled this journey and are on the other end, make sure to take a minute and encourage someone at the start. You might just be the encouragement they need.

 

Day 87: Back to running and 2013 Races

Officially back to running. Is it too early to be planning next year’s races?????

10K done today . I did my first 5k in the morning and and it took me 40minutes. oi, my time is bad. I need to get back into the running seriously. It sucked.

This year’s poster 🙂

LEWA MARATHON: how awesome is that.

i’m dying with excitement

I have decided on my 2013 races. so far two marathon are in. they are 4 months apart and I am starting to train for it immediately. The one that is certain is the Lewa Marathon.  It is expensive and will require I travel and so I am saving for it already. according to their website, it is one of the 10 Must do marathons in the world. http://www.safaricom.co.ke/safaricommarathon/. and I can see why. it is in a game reserve and you are running with wild animals while at the same time enjoying a safari like atmosphere. If you can save up for this. its should be on your bucket list. It is a three day extravaganza in a tented reserve and you get to camp and also run.

I might do the standart chartered Nairobi marathon but i’m not sure whether to do the full or half. I also plan on getting serious about racing. I’ll sing up for as many 10K’s as I can and get my stamina and speed up. I already have a few plans i’m looking into so that I don’t go into this blindly as I did last time.

Doing relatively well on my eating and drinking water. I know I could be doing better but i’m taking it one step at a time.

till next time. Make good choices.

Day 86: Another blog award

 

I got another blog award from the lovely missmarzipan. Her blog is wonderful and if you’re not following it already, WHY?

It’s the “blog of the year 2010” Award

There are a few rules to this award.

• Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award
• Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.
• Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award – http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/ and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)
•  Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them.
• You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience.
• As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…

For this award, one has to collect a start for every time someone gives you the award. The more awards you receive, the more stars you get.  You can collect up to 6 stars.

You can also join the Facebook group. Link above and use that as a platform to get more people to view your blog.  Here is a link of all the badges you can collect http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/

Lets get- a- nominating.

Here are my nominees (it doesn’t matter if they have been nominated by other blogs because they can just add a star once I nominate them.)

miarch23

http://40fitnfab.wordpress.com

jojo303

http://guavabelly.wordpress.com

kenkiller1

http://foodrecipeshealthyliving.wordpress.com/

HealthySexyHappy

http://healthysexyhappy.wordpress.com

http://brookenotonadiet.wordpress.com

http://lovelyproject.wordpress.com/

http://project180degrees.wordpress.com/

http://lowcarbconfidential.com/

http://warmvanillasugar.com/

http://peonut.com/

http://crimsoncastleblog.wordpress.com/

http://jennovafoodblog.wordpress.com/

http://fromfattofabulous2012.wordpress.com/

That’s it for now.

make good choices today.

 

 

Day 85: Weigh-inw

A day early I know but I have been resisting all week and I just couldn’t this morning. I really needed to see weather the changes i made this week paid off or not. They did and big time.

Last weigh-in Nov 20= 174.8
Todays weigh-in Nov 24= 168.6
Lbs to mini goal = 8.7
Days left to mini goal 36

That’s a loss of 6.2 pounds in a little under a week. that is NUTS!!! Do i think this kind of drop will continue? NO. I know that my body is just dealing with the shock of having minimal carbs especially after all the cake, bread, rice, chapati and whatnots I have been eating over the previous two weeks. I’m am sure that this next week the loss will slow down and get down to a more realistic rate. I am hopping for at least a 2lb loss each week if I keep with the program.

Next week, i hope to maintain what i have been doing this week.

• Keep my carbs between 50-100g-
• Drink 3-4 liters of water everyday (needless to say i have been in the loo every 30 minutes)
• Start running every morning (only did that once this week)
• Prep my food in advance (soup already in the fridge, salads for lunch and nuts as a snack
• maintain my caloric intake between 1400-1700

weekends are usually the hardest for me because I tend to indulge. my plan is to make sure that if i indulge in something high carb, i have to make sacrifices somewhere else. I have also come to the realization that its almost impossible to give up rice, and not the good kind but that delicious white basmati with great aroma. I cook it for my mum and cant resist eating it with her.  everything else seems easy to resist except that. I think I will give in to it but no more than 1cup and only twice a week or less. i just need to stop everyone from cooking it.

I think I will weigh myself again on monday to see what damage indulging over the weekend can do. maybe that way i will learn a lesson and control myself.

Day 84: Breakfast and recipes

I think I’m getting better with watching my carbs. I’m still averaging about 60-70g of carbs and I think I am comfortable with that.  As I lose weight, I plan on getting that up to 100 by incorporating more legumes and whole grains into my diet.

I prepped myself for the week and made a few things.

1^st I made a pumpkin curry soup I always make. Recipe here. Made about 10 cups and is in the fridge ready to be reheated.

Butternut squash curry soup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2^nd, I also made some Vegetable protein Patties. Recipe here. These are a staple in my fridge and I use them mostly for breakfast.

 

TVP “sausage” patty

3^rd, another staple in my fridge is pan-fried tofu. I make it simple with salt and pepper and sometimes curry. I add this to salads and soups to add protein and make the meal more filling.
Recipe
Ingredients: a block of tofu, salt and pepper

Procedure: Cut the block into about ten slices. Sprinkle salt and pepper to both sides. (Feel free to add any spices that you might like. Good options included ginger and soy sauce). Put some oil on a non-stick pan and fry each side until brown.

 

4^th , I made some soybean salad. Soybean is great because of all the beans; it has low net carbs and plenty of protein. One cup of mature yellow soybean is about 298 calories, 17.1g of carbs/10g of fiber (net carbs per cup is only 7gJ and 28.6g of protein= WIN

2 cups mature yellow soybean

Chopped veggies

mix with spices and cider vinegar

Viola! ready to eat

 

 

 

 

Recipe

Ingredients: 2 cups boiled mature soybean, a large cucumber, a small purple onion, a small bell pepper, one medium tomato and some cilantro (optional), salt and pepper, cumin and apple cider vinegar.

Procedure: chop all the veggies. Mix in a bowl with your soybean. Add salt, pepper, cumin, and 2tbs of apple cider vinegar. Mix and ready to eat. Makes about 8 servings. A serving is a 1/4cup.

 

My breakfast is kind of a staple. I eat the same thing everyday for a week and then switch it up to kill the boredom.
This week it has been 2TVP patties, half an avocado, 1/4cup of soybean salad and an egg. Total calories are about 532 cals (I include the oil used to fry the egg) and a net carb of 11g.

breakfast of champions. 532 cals 11g of carbohydrates

i Have neglected my exercise but i did go for a walk on tuesday and thursday. my body just wont let me run yet. or maybe thats the excuse i am using for being a bit lazy this week. next week I start my 10K daily challenge. I have been getting in all my water and have resisted getting on the scale.

 

Day 83: stocking a Low-carb Vegetarian Kitchen

Photo credit. Livestron

The problem with being vegetarian is that your diet becomes very high in carbs. It’s all about the pasta, the rice, the bread, and the beans etc.

It’s hard to be a low carb veggie but its not impossible. I’ve been scouring the interwebs looking for a variety of things to eat to make sure my diet doesn’t become too monotonous.

One thing I have learnt throughout my weight loss journey is that planning is key. I need to have a fully stocked Kitchen. I need to plan my meals in advance and have them cooked. Whenever I don’t have anything prepared, the first thing I reach out for is always carbs.

So step number one is to stock your kitchen.

Here is a list of what I think makes a great low carb kitchen.

 

High protein “meats” such as Tofu and Seitan also textured vegetable protein (TVP) can be used to make patties, chilli and soups as a replacement for minced meats.

Cauliflower will be your replacement for rice and potatoes

Soy, soy, soy,- nothing is better for a low carb vegetarian than soy in all its forms. It is high in protein and low in carbs.

 

The Bean question: Lots of vegetarians know that their major source of protein is beans. This is true but the problem is that most beans are really high in carbs.  So if you are on a weight loss journey, I think it is better to stay away from the beans until you get to your goal. If you cannot completely eradicate the beans from your diet, ½ a cup should be your daily limit. ½ cup of kidney beans is about 20g of carbs. If you can fit this in your diet, go for it. As you progress along your journey, start slowly incorporating legumes back into your diet.

For me, I plan on having lentils and chickpeas in my diet. I make lots of lentil soup and chickpea/swishchard soup that is very high in fiber and therefore the netcarb is really low.

 

 

The greens

-Low on glycemic index- (do not spike up sugar levels and production of insulin. Insulin turns all teh sugar in your blood stream into fat and stores this. we want to avoid this as much as possible) spinach, zucchini,Green beans, mushrooms, broccoli, romaine lettuce, cucumber, chard, kale and any green leafy vegetables you can find.

These veggies are out carrots, beets, potatoes.

The fiber question: the great thing about fiber is that it doesn’t count in your carb total. So if you can get food high in fiber, you can get away with eating the carbs.

 

Fruits

Most fruits have lots of carbs because of the high sugar content. The rule of thumb I follow is to stay away from tropical fruits. These include bananas, papaya and pineapples . these are good to go

–       Avocado,

–       Berries( blue/ black/ straw, rasp, cran)

–       Cantaloupe

–       And peaches

Nuts and seeds

–       Almonds

–       Walnuts

–       Sesame seeds

–       Pumpkin seeds

–       Sunflower seeds

–       pine nuts

–       Pecans etc.

Legumes

–       Soy

–       Lentils

–       Black eye Peas

–       Kidney beans

(Limit these for a lower carb diet)

Dairy

–       eggs

–       Cheese

–       Low carb yoghurt

Fats

–       Olive oil

–       Coconut Oil

–       Avocado

–       Almond

 

The list is not exhaustive and there many other  low carb vegetables out there.

Next, i’ll try put together a list of what i will be cooking and share some recipes.

doesn’t that look yummy

 

 

Day 81 part Deux: what does one do after a marathon

In my case, eat everything in sight and gain 4 pounds in a week.

The cycle continues. I weighed in yesterday and I am now back into the 170’s at a weight of 174.8 up form last week’s 170.8

I really thought I was out of the 170’s. I am vowing to myself that after I lose the next 5 pounds, I will never be in the 70’s again.  Weigh-ins will be Sunday as usual.

 

When I was reading about prepping for a race, one of the articles I read said that one should not be on a weight loss journey and think they can train for a marathon. Losing weight should be on the back burner until your race is done. I scoffed at the idea I tell ya. Scoffed. I learned the hard way.

I also think I gave myself an excuse to eat anything in sight because I told myself I needed the energy. So it was carbs, carbs and more carbs. Right now I am paying for it. I decided that I need some big goals to get me back on my weight loss track so I can get closer to my goal.

 

After Marathon goals

–159.9 by December 31^st
that means I have about a month and ten days to lose about 15lbs- that is a lot of weight to lose. I need to lose about 3 pounds every week, which is a hard task. I need the challenge in my face in order to get back into the game mentally.

 

-Log everyday and keep cals to 1500 and carbs<50
I have neglected logging my food into MFP for the past couple of weeks. Starting yesterday, I have religiously logged everything I have eaten and I plan on doing it until the end of this challenge

 

-Try out new lowcarb recipes and blog them:
I’m going back to a low carb diet. I felt that it was impossible with the race looming in front of me and went back to eating a lot of rice and bread. I do better on a low carb diet. The fact that I eat lots of healthy fats and proteins means I am full longer and do not feel as hungry. I will challenge myself to stay away from bread or any flour product until the end of the year. I might have a little bit of rice here and there but very rarely and never more than half a cup. Also I want to keep my carbs at <50 net.

 

-Run/walk at least 10KM a day
Starting the week of 11/26.  This is because I think I should rest this week to recover. I still have my Nike challenge of getting to 2500Km run to get to the Purple level. Everyone knows how obsessed I am with NIKE. At some point, I need to look for a marathon I can run next year and get an actual plan that I can follow and maybe even read some books.

 

-2 Minute plank challenge everyday
I have an app that reminds me daily when to do my plank. I have been ignoring it but plan on starting slowly until I can get to the 2-minute mark without a problem.

 

-Do ab workout daily
I used to do this religiously and my tummy had really shrunk. I have neglected it the past couple of months and it’s starting to show.

 

-Get back in the game mentally- NO CHEATING

This is harder than it looks. I started my low carb yesterday and already started cheating. I grabbed a banana only to realize that I did not need the 30g of crabs and I wasn’t really hungry. I just saw a banana and thought I needed to eat it. I got in about 75g of carbs, which isn’t bad. I will freak out if I get over 100

 

– Come up with weekly menu- a different one for each week
being low carb and vegetarian is pretty hard. It can become pretty boring and the temptation to eat pasta and rice can take over. I will scour the web to find new and interesting things to make every week. Recipes coming soon and also a guide to low carb vegetarianism.

 

-Drink lotsa water

I know this is essential to weight loss and a healthy being in general. I have a 700ml-drinking bottle and my goal is to drink a minimum of 5 of those every day. That is about 14 glasses everyday

 

 

A lot of people don’t really buy into the low carb way of life. For some, they eat low carb until they reach their goal and immediately after they introduce the carbs back in, they start gaining the weight back. I think this happens to those who go really low on their carbs and live on nothing but meats. I also think that without a lifestyle of exercise, low carb is bound to fail. I hope to avoid this pit falls.

I will be carb cycling which means keeping my levels at <50 for 3 days followed by a high carb day (eat my weight in carbs e.g. 174g for me). This cycle continues and it helps maintain levels of sugar and not have you burn out or crave carbs because you will have a day to indulge a little.

 

After I get to goal, I will introduce back beans and legumes but still strive for low carb by limiting my flour products, and pasta to special occasions. I hope I can make this a permanent lifestyle