Well, once again I have remembered this was here.  Since I have a main blog, I never use this.  But the thing is that I need a place to really whine and complain and then brag and celebrate about the fitness stuff, and my main blog gets too much traffic.  I become a massive target when I do that, so I'm going to do this here. 

I have a 1/2 marathon in November, and to prepare I am using a "learn to run 30 minutes straight" program as my transition running program from the treadmill to the outdoors.  I could probably run 30 min no problem on a treadmill, but outside?  Ha, no.  

So, this program was a really good idea of mine at this point.  I'm not suffering any real aches and pains, and I'm enjoying it.  I'm also pleased with my pace.  It's ramping up to 4 min run 1 walk x 6  for thursday and friday, which should be easily doable... It's the ones coming up next week I'm nervous about.  But the upside is that there is no pace requirement.  Just run.  15 min out, and then turn around and come back - while employing the run intervals.

And I LOVE running so early in the morning when everyone is asleep.  I scared a herd of cows, and saw a flock of geese partying... it's just... well, FUN!  I haven't thought of anything I do for fitness as fun in SO long.

 Anyway,  I'm back in gear with things, and I'm also doing the summer challenge on here.  This is my sign up, and I'm posting it for reference.  I imagine I'll be writing in here quite a bit.

It's hard to believe that June is on Monday.  Of course, it's rainy and freezing too, so that may be part of my problem.  Anyway,  here'goes!

[color=#0000FF][b]Evaluation[/b][/color]
I'm in a sort of hover-stage for some reason.  I don't seem to be making any progress at all on my weight goals, but I'm making decent progress on my running... yet at the same time I'm floating on the nutritional front. 

I'm flirting with the notion of intuitive eating, and comparing that with eating strictly clean and only having a few "cheats".  I like the idea of intuitive eating, but have to give nods to how well being uber-strict works.  Unfortunately, this sort of creates a stale-mate with me.  I believe that to really lose and be my best I need to be strict and clean, but to feel at peace with everything I need something more like intuitive eating.  This has made me into a yo-yo, which is not productive.

I've backed off the weight training to only 2 days a week (three if I'm a good girl), and upped the running because of the transitioning/outdoor plan that requires me to run between 4-6 days a week.  I'm not sure that this is a bad thing, considering how many years I have lifted 3 days (minimum) a week.  I am doing very well on the running plan, and I feel good.

Mentally, I'm coming to grips with how I want to live my life with nutrition and fitness, which is why I think there is a lot of bending back and forth going on.  I'm 34, life isn't going to begin when I get it all figured out - it's already going, and I can't spend any more time wishing I was better in order to live it.  So I'm working on finding balance, but evaluation-wise, I would say I'm at about 15-20% there, with another 80% or so to get in line.

[color=#008000][b]
Monthly Goals[/b][/color]


[b]June[/b] Continue with outdoor running, gardening/landscaping - this is actually very physical, so it works for my monthly activity goal.  Oh, and playing basketball outside with my daughter and the new hoop we just put up.  I want to be outside at least an hour a day.  That's my goal.

[b]July[/b]  Dig out my bike and go riding - just for fun, no fitness goal attached.  It's been years. I'm also going to keep my ears open for something else new to try.  Maybe kayaking?  We're also planning on going camping.  Keep up with the hour minimum outside a day.  Official 1/2 marathon training starts at the end of the month.

[b]August[/b]  solidify my marathon training nutrition and plans, so I can complete the race and actually enjoy it at the same time.  Nutrition gets a total overhaul at this point, because I don't want any room for tweaking going on - whether I finally embrace intuitive or I'm going strictly clean for the most part.

[color=#800080]
[b]Overall 3-month Goal[/b][/color]


My 3-month goal is to get to 145-150 lbs by the end of August (preferably before) because I need to be lighter for the amount of running I'm going to do.  I don't normally recommend a weight goal for anyone, but in this case I know myself really well, and what's more is that it's coming down to an issue of simple physics and mechanics.

[color=#FF6600]
[b]Starting Stats[/b][/color]

My current stats, as of today are that I'm 172 lbs, and a retail size 10.  I'd add measurements, but my kids stole my tape measure, so I'm going to have to add that later.


[color=#825900]
[b]
Overall Plan, June
[/b][/color]

[b]
Exercise[/b]
6 days a week, continuing with the transition running plan 4 days, and weights 2-3 times a week (preferably 3).

Stretching routine every night, to help prevent injury and assist with the PF in left foot.


[b]
Nutrition[/b]
I'm going to go strict this month. I want to do one full month BFL style strict and see how I feel by July.  I'll reevaluate then.  5-6 meals (most likely 5), 40/40/20, scheduled off plan treats only.


[color=#FF0000][b]Challenges[/b][/color]

My challenges are trying to find the peace I spoke about earlier.  I cannot live my life out of tupperware prebaked portions.  I did for a while, but it seriously makes me unhappy.  But going without a plan seems to leave me feeling like I'm overexposed too... without a net. 

I believe the key to figuring this out will be to eat strict in June and see how I feel by July.  I might be just fine continuing down that path (it gets easier as you stay on track), or I may still chafe at the whole thing.  If I'm still chafing, even with doing well, I'm going to use July as my intuitive eating experiment and see how that goes.  In general, I believe a blend of the two will be where I settle, but fighting with myself over this is a huge stumbling block for me.

I would say, however, that my biggest challenge is my own self-backtalk.  I'm not nice to myself at all.  This not only is depressing, but it sabotages me.  I sink my own battleship, so to speak.  So, I need to work on this.  My life is about more than exercise and food.  Especially the food.  I'm too food focused, and I'd love to just let it go.  I'm TIRED of thinking about food - I have so many negative thoughts with it involved, that it's exhausting.  So, getting myself to shut-up internally unless I have something positive to say is a huge challenge.  I think the only way to overcome this is to confront the negative thoughts as they occur.  I'm also planning on blogging on here, in the PDB blog section, my fitness blogging stuff when I need to.  My main blog is just too dodgy for that sort of thing.

[color=#008000][b]
Non-Fitness/Health Goal[/b]
[/color]
I want to get my book rolling back on course, I want to book an art show, and I really - really! - want to get my landscape/garden working for me.

Comments

Written by causticmuse on 2009-05-27 13:08:51 You are of course welcome to vent and brag here at PDB whenever you want. Your main blog really has departed from the original fitness focus in any case, and I still can't believe the sorts of trolls you get over there sometimes. What happened to good manners?    I've been playing a bit with the intuitive eating thing this year. Alas, I did this concurrently with almost no exercise, so what I got out of it was zero net change in weight, but a shift in body composition towards the jiggly end of the spectrum.     The positive side of all this is that I now know I won't overeat even if I don't have a set menu, and that I am able to self-regulate and maintain a stable scale weight.     Now I just need to add the exercise back into the mix and get the body fat back down to my happy zone of 18-20%.     My 4 months of slacking have given me the confidence to give my higher calorie nutrition plan a shot in the early stages of my program so I have an actual chance of building some new muscle for the first time in years.

Written by SavyArt on 2009-05-28 04:51:03 I read your calorie levels you were talking about and I was surprised. I thought you were eating higher than that normally. I'm really not sure which way I'm going to go with the intuitive eating or the strict.     As far as the blog, when I talk about fitness people freak out. When I talk about my life, people freak out. So in general, I can talk about vanilla type of stuff and that's it. Yeesh. I wouldn't even have the blog anymore if it wasn't a way to sell the paintings.

Written by causticmuse on 2009-06-01 15:27:13 I haven't been going too high in calories (2400-2600) because I haven't been active enough to support those levels. I think maintain at around 1700-1800 when sedentary as I have been for the past few months.    If I'm not working out, I don't get to eat 2000-2400 calories, hehe.    Another reason to get back on the exercise wagon!

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