Yes, I did actually drop a full pound this week, according to the Weight Watchers scale. According to my scale at home, I didn’t lose shit, but who am I to argue?
Last week, my leader told me to cut two Points from my daily allotment, in hopes of jolting me out of this damned plateau. I’m not sure if the lack of two Points per day actually made any physical difference, but it made me rethink my meals and snacks. Granted, I still didn’t tally my Points on Saturday (sushi, Indian, and Korean food all in one day!), but I was much more conscientious during the rest of the week. I’ve been eating 24 Points per day for so many months that I think I just needed to throw a wrench in the works, to mix things up a little.
I’ve also started running. I’ve been thinking about it for literally years now, and only Sunday did I get out and do it. —Well, to be fair, I did do some running back in Spring 2007, but it was short-lived. See, back then, I drove out to Wildwood Metropark to do my running, while today I’m just running out my front door and around my ‘hood.
I’ve realized why I never wanted to go running before, and it had nothing (or very little) to do with any sort of physical pain or discomfort. It all boiled down to self-image: I felt like everybody would be staring at me as I ran past. Recently, I’ve come to the realization that no one really cares — and I don’t mean that in a negative way. I’ve crossed paths with joggers and runners on the trail and downtown, and it’s not like I look every one of them up and down or anything. Actually, when the heftier ladies jog past, I’m usually impressed that they’re out there, kicking that ass. I’m not judging them. And, hopefully, neither will my neighbors judge me as I jog past on Sunday mornings and Tuesday/Thursday evenings.
My iPod playlist still needs some tweaking, but I’ve discovered that Mint Car by The Cure is just about perfect. Now, if I can build a playlist around that tempo and upbeat vibe (that’s one of very few upbeat Cure songs, to be sure), I’ll be good to go.
The short loop that I’ve been jogging is 1.3 miles, and I’ve only been going around it once. I think I’m going to try to build up to jogging the whole thing without any walk breaks before I switch up my route. I may change my mind, though; we’ll see.
My legs are sore, my back muscles are sore, and my throat still burns just a little… but I still feel fantastic. And I actually enjoy running. I really hope I can keep this going.
Hey…you go Diana!! Both my doctor in Toledo and here had tried to get me on a walking program ( 10,000 steps per day) and it never really took. Tom’s recently been diagnosed with type II diabetes ( just meds and diet and exercise no shots) and we have changed our eating habits. We live 2 blocks from a 100 acre city park. We walk the perimeter once or sometimes twice a day now. ( 1 1/2 miles around once) I have lost 16 lbs in just over 2 months…so between the portion cutback and watching what we eat (Tom has to count carbs) and actually moving off the couch, we are slimming down. There are old, young, slim, fat in the park biking, walking,roller blading,skate boarding, jogging..it’s great! Just get up and move!! It took me a long time to figure that out too….but I feel great.
Hurray! Keep running. I’ve found (the hard way) that it’s better to run small a lot rather than to run big a few times a week. Just keep going; find a running partner for a jog or two, toss a wrench in the gears every once in a while, but run as often as possible. The sore will go away, and the felling just gets better!
The plan for now is to stick with a short outing three times a week. Once the soreness goes away, I’m still debating whether I’ll increase the frequency or the length of my outings. I’m guessing I’ll end up running before dinner every weeknight — I know I really wanted to today, but had to hold myself back so I wouldn’t overdo it. Although I suppose another walk wouldn’t have been out of the question…