Investment

Oh! I meant to mention that I bought myself some new running duds today. This means I will continue to run, right? I bought a pair of shorts - tight kind that hits just above the knee, and a couple of tops at Target. Then I went to Scheels and tried on other tops and the salesgirl had me try on real running shorts. She was a tiny thing of all of 22 years (guessing) and pointed me towards these swooshy-materialed shorts. They are much shorter than I would ever wear, normally. But they are so light weight and I am so hot when running these days! The other thing about these shorts is that there is a pair of underwear built right into them. I'm not kidding! After a lot of hesitancy, I bought them. They make me very nervous.... underwear built in? really short length? I have worry thoughts of wedgies and chaffing. I'll let you know what I think after I try them out on the road.

Vacationing

Well, I would say that I have been semi-successful on vacation in terms of lifestyle changes. I allowed a bit of fried food (appetizers) but followed with broiled fish for dinner. I allowed some chocolate, but then had grilled chicken with veggies for a meal later. I had a strawberry margarita - and it was damn yummy! I have done some swimming, some walking, but no real purpose-drive exercise since Sunday morning. I will run tomorrow morning. I'm supposed to weigh in tomorrow morning. We'll see if I make it in to work to do so. I'm kinda scared....

Paranoia

My sister Sahm has been tearing up the terrain lately with her running. I have been feeling good about my accomplishments until she pops up with, "Hey, I ran ten miles today!" Good for you. No, really, good for her - it IS good for her and I would be super proud and wearing a tee shirt that read, "Can you believe I ran 10 miles today?" if it were actually me who had run that far. It's just that it makes my three mile runs seem like a warm up when they are really hard for me, thus making me feel like a jackass wimp.

She works out five days per week, and hour or more at a time, and sometimes goes for extra walks, 20 mile bike rides or lifts weights on top of all of that. That's some serious dedication to exercise. And she will admit that she gets kind of panicky and paranoid if she has to miss a workout or if she eats something fattening. It makes me shake my head at that skinny girl.

EXCEPT that now I am starting to get like that to a degree. We went out for dinner this evening and I ordered the grilled chicken entree with steamed veggies as the side and got a small side salad on my trip through the salad bar (no thank you, noodle salad and cherry fluff: add those to my medal collection). Very healthy! Yay me! Go healthy lifestyle! The entree arrived and was a chicken breast topped with tomato slices, bacon and provolone with chipotle sauce on it. I was prepared for the tomato (healthy), bacon and cheese (one slice each - I can handle that), but not the sauce automatically on the chicken. I thought that would be on the side. I had a moment of panic! I can't get that stuff off of there! What kind of calories am I ingesting? Is this one of those times where I thought I ordered a healthy meal and instead I ordered a gluttonous dish masquerading as a healthy thing?! Crap!! I ate half of it as-is, and the sauce had quite a little kick to it. I stopped and stared at the second half - still hungry but not trusting that dish. I took the toppings off and ate the chicken with as little sauce on it as possible.

Looking back, perhaps I have lost it a little bit and need to learn to live a little in this new lifestyle? That's just it, though. I don't know! I'm still learning the ropes here, and do not trust my own judgment when it comes to these things. I went for a walk and felt a little bit better.

See? Paranoid. I'll shake my head at myself now.

Vacation Looming

It's vacation time! yay!! I love vacation - mostly because it means I am not working. We do not have much planned for vacation this year, which is fine by me. Usually vacation is a food-fest. So, I am going to work on that "lifestyle change" thing I'm going for by having it be an activity fest or a relaxation fest or an anything-but-food fest.

One week until the 5K, and I'm pretty sure the terrain is hilly. Damn. Oh well, too late to back out now. I'm going to run some hills tomorrow - the measly ones I can find around here.

I may also go and do some shopping on my vacation. I am wearing a belt with some pants and that means it is nearly time to get rid of them in favor of smaller clothing. Hooray!!

I Like Mine Better

I went for a run this morning and did not have a lot of energy despite it being absolutely PERFECT weather - cool and clear and low humidity. I went at least 2.5 miles today but did not do the 3 mile route.

I got home and decided to weigh myself on my scale at home because I haven't done that in a while. Besides, I like torture. And.... I like my scale much better than the one at work. Then again, perhaps if I weighed at work in the nude, right after I ran in the morning I would weigh the same. My scale said 146.4. Still not the number that I want to see, but below the 150s. Still gunning for any scale to say anywhere near that number "130-something"...

Well, ok...

This week's weigh-in says I lost three pounds. I should be really happy about that, right? Well, I'm not. I really wanted it to be 3.5 or 4 to make up for last week's nothing. Besides, if I had lost 3.5 to 4, I would be back in the 140s, and now I have to still be in the 150s - gross. I really want the scale to say 130s kind of numbers, and that seems so darn far away and unattainable at this rate.

There is a major psychological difference between the 140s and the 150s and it has to do with the fact that I work in a medical office. We have medical scales aplenty here, and they are that scary kind where you slide the weights back and forth... you know what I'm saying. Anyway, there are top sliders and bottom sliders, and the bottom one goes from 50, to 100 to 150 to 200... and I want that thing on 100, NOT 150!!!

I will not give up. I will keep on running. I will keep saying "no" to dessert and yes to vegetables. I will look at adding some weights for toning in my arms and do my pushups and planks at night. I will see the 140s next week, by hook or by crook!!!

Medal 2... Anticipation

I present myself with yet another medal or two in the face of delicious desserts. Last night I passed on cake by Tina Marie, and this is wedding cake kind of stuff which is more moist and fabulous than I can describe. The night before that I passed on DQ ice cream cake.

I have been running/jogging - ran 3 miles yesterday and did one mile today but in intervals with sprints thrown in there for a change of training. I even bought a running magazine with training tips, so apparently I am getting serious about this. I signed up for the 5K in a week and a half.

Tomorrow is weigh-in. Everyone cross your fingers.... you'll hear the scream if the result is zero again.