Weight

Ugg, I have been dreading today's weigh in all week.  A few weeks ago after my return from summer vacationing, I decided I wanted to make the final push & solidly get into the 150's.  After giving my body & mind a rest & letting it adjust to this new normal I am ready.  Why do I want to loose more weight?  Shouldn't someone who has lost 120lbs +/- given the time of the month day be good with that?  Well, honestly, no, not me.  I want to be better, I am trying to get to my best self & specifically I want to run better. One of my running goals is to get faster, well who doesn't have that goal you ask? However I am a slow runner naturally & I have let myself run slow for a year & it's time to put on the pepper. I want to get into the 10 min mile range & I would like to do it safely without putting too much stress on my body.  Running at a lighter weight is easier then running at a heavier weight, you simply have less mass to move.

Back to that weigh in, I knew not much had changed.  By now I know my body pretty well & I can tell when I am up & when I am down.  I've maintained a steady 160-165lbs for a year now give or take a few pounds up or down & while that may seem like a large number for a gal who is 5'3" - let us not forget where she started at:
 

 I think this would be at my heaviest - May of 2008 at home in ND. This is well above my 2009 documented high weight of 282lbs, if I had to guess I was pushing all of 290-295lbs & I had no idea.

While I know that loosing 120 lbs (I don't count what I don't know over the 282lbs from my pre loosing weight physical) is a major accomplishment, I also know that I can do more - I can tell from my body that there is more to go. While I feel great in every marker of health I still fall into the overweight category.  Who stops at overweight?  Not this Type A lady, that's for sure.

 Weight loss transition photos - Oct of 2009 - Oct of 2010. Starting weight 252lbs ending weight 165lbs.  I lost approx 87lbs in 12 months.

So, how am I going to do this?  I lost the majority of the weight loss by following a food plan, counting calories & working out with a trainer as well as on my own.  I am going back to counting calories & will be sticking to 1200-1300 calories daily but am giving myself the option to go up to 1500 calories if an event comes up.  I am going to sneak in a few extra cardio sessions a week in the evening & I am going to try to get at least 5000 steps a day on my pedometer.  Hopefully by the end of November I will be in those 150's & if not I will keep moving running in that direction.

Weekend Plans

Yesterday evening at the pool at our complex this little exchange went down:

Me: So Ran were you serious about getting out of town this weekend?
Ran: I what?
Me: You said we should go do something out of town this weekend.
Ran: I did? Really? What would we do
Me: I thought Great Wolf Lodge would be fun, we've never gone & Jack would think we are pretty cool.  Plus the room comes with 4 water park passes (really selling it here) so Uncle Will could come with us.
Ran: How much? (See right to the point)
Me: Well don't forget we get a discount on the room rate & we can start riding the water slides before we check in & all day on Sunday up until they close.  Deep breathe, speak the number.
Ran: OK yeah lets do it.

This morning - confirmed he really wanted to actually spend $$ & booked the room.  Apparently there is a 72hr cancellation policy so there is no backing out now.

Now I just have a pesky TRX workout in the morning Saturday.  Sunday I am looking forward to my 3 miles somewhere new.  I wonder where it is safe to run outside there...

Coming Back

I'll admit it, this hip injury has me down.  I am just back to running a full 5K distance & starting over from square one is not easy physically & mentally.  I keep doubting myself, I feel my hips get tight & I get scared, I worry I am going to hurt myself more, I wonder if I should push harder or ease up.  Lately I've been taking the ease up route & well that's not doing much for the mental game. 

I'm practicing being nicer to myself.  I think on my long run this Sunday I will not wear a watch.  I am going to go by how I feel & try to pick it up when I can & ease off if I need to.  We'll see how it goes.