04 Jun
TWLC3 Week 8
The winner of the May Google Doc weigh-in contest can be found at the bottom of this post!
This week the weather was finally warm enough to go out and take some 2 year pictures of T1 in this spot I’ve had my eye on for weeks (the same spot we did some of our family pictures). Here’s a picture of the two of us taken by my friend. It was hard work getting two adults and 4 kids under 5 out the door for these pictures, but definitely worth it. I’m so glad she suggested I hand the camera over to her!
Writing these posts, and thinking about what I’m going to say each week, has been really helpful for me. I find myself paying more attention to the choices I make throughout the week, and why I make them, so I can better identify the changes I need to make moving forward. This week I was fighting off the PMS monster and I found myself making excuses for bad choices because “I’m not going to lose any weight this week anyway”. What a horrible approach! I’m never going to get anywhere with an attitude like that. I know that there is a pattern to my weight loss, that I hold steady through my period and often drop a few pounds 3 days after menstruation ends, but that drop isn’t going to happen if I’m eating poorly. I’m naturally hungrier during certain parts of my cycle, and it’s fine to take in more during those times (number one rule for me is always, always, always listen to what your body is telling you (not your mouth hunger, your actual needs!)) as long as the things I’m eating are nourishing in some way.
I haven’t been updating much on the exercise side of things. Only about a month before I run my half-marathon! I ran 6 miles this weekend and so far I’ve felt grateful that I put the money down for this race already because it’s forced me to keep my training consistent, since I really want to be able to run the whole thing. On the other days I’ve been doing a marginal job doing HIIT. I’m looking forward to working with my personal trainer friend so she can work me really hard!
Best nutrition choice of the last week:
Take off those processed vegan patties and the fry sauce and there is a meal that I can eat during Whole30! Avocado, hard boiled egg, aminos (I’ll get some made from coconut), and sauteed zucchini. Is it summer squash time at the farmer’s market yet?
Worst nutrition choice of the last week:
Popcorn for dinner. What happens when I get lazy and simoultaneously want to get out of the house.
The winner of the Google Doc weigh-in contest for May is NANCY. Congrats Nancy! Email me at thatwife-gmail and I’ll send you a $15 itunes gift card.
Do you chart your weight loss? Have you seen any patterns related to your menstrual cycles?
Also:
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
ooh I keep forgetting to put my weighs in on the google doc. I’m glad you mentioned it.
I’m 5 lbs down from my start which frustrates me because I have 25 to go. I feel like my weight loss is moving at a snail’s pace. This week I plan on changing things up quite a bit (namely, less sugar and grains) to see if that helps.
Best choice of this week? Drinking lots of water when I feel hungry or bloated. Half of the time when I think I’m hungry, I’m actually thirsty.
Worst choice? Popcorn at the movies. Ugh. It made me feel awful.
1My body changes significantly during my menstrual cycle. I gain a lot of weight and my body craves meat and sweet a lot more.
I have to say - I’m excited to be doing TWLC this go around. 2 weeks ago I had my first week not on the road in almost 3 months which meant going out to dinner with friends and poor decisions - gained 2 pounds. BUT I went to the beach last week, complete with communal cooking and living on other people’s food decisions and I lost one of those pounds. I got up and ran 6 miles on the beach one of the mornings. The group and knowing that I would be held accountable for my decisions was a huge help for portion control and extra motivation to run in the rain.
I’m feeling great about losing weight while on vacation and hopeful that this summer I can get on a routine to keep losing. Thanks for the motivation and reminder to stay on track!
2I want to hear more about the half marathon. How is training going? I want to do one but I am so nervous to sign up. How do you find a plan?
Jenna Reply:
June 5th, 2012 at 10:31 am
Only one month to go! It hasn’t been that bad to train for, and I’m definitely running farther and longer than I would without the race (I make lots of excuses otherwise). I haven’t had any pain *at all* which has been amazing, and I hope that remains true for race day as well.
As far as finding a plan I just googled half marathon training plan and jumped around until I found one that I liked. Then I entered in the distances into my Google Calendar, and I set M, W, and Sa as my run days. I check my calendar the night before to make sure I leave enough time to run, and then wake up the next morning and do it. Running along Lake Shore Drive is a pretty phenomenal place to train. I’m sad to leave it behind next week.
If you feel like your body can handle it (I don’t understand running a race when you know you’re going to be crippled for a period of time afterward because your body can’t handle it!) then put down the money and start training! Make sure you give yourself 3 months if you can already run 3 miles, and I’d say closer to 5 or 6 if you aren’t running at all.
Putting down the money has been really motivating for me. There is no refund, so I’m set to show up that morning and get something out of the experience no matter what.
And remember there is no shame in walking! I think you can still say you ran a half-marathon even if you walk for part of it.
Marissa Reply:
June 5th, 2012 at 10:56 am
I couldn’t agree more with Jenna. I walked a significant portion of the two half marathons that I’ve run in the last year and I still say I ran both. 13.1 is still 13.1 no matter how you get there. Good luck to both of you as you train and race! You’re going to do wonderfully!
Sarah Reply:
June 5th, 2012 at 3:58 pm
Jenna, how long is your longest run before the race? Would you share your plan? I am curious what a beginning plan looks like.
Jenna Reply:
June 5th, 2012 at 4:02 pm
I used http://www.runnersworld.com/smartcoach/ to create it. The longest run it told me to do is 8 miles, though I might bump that up to 10 because a lot of people said it’s a good idea. I’m going to ask my personal trainer in a few weeks.