May recap - Goals

After the doctors appointment, I was told no running for two weeks. Alas, my goal of running 1000 miles seems unreachable with this injury taking too long to heal. 

My bible reading goal is on track. I will finish the entire bible by the end of the year. 

I've revisited my favorite, whipped cream and ice cream. Halo Top is 60 calories for half a cup and 6 grams of protein. It is awesome! 

I'm jumping back on the losing weight bandwagon. I weighed in at 148.6 and I just can't stay there. My clothes are too tight. Fortunately, I'll be starting a new job this month. There will be lots more walking. I also have two weeks of training out of state. 

That will probably be a problem for my weight loss goals. I'll weigh in on Friday and I'm shooting for 148.  Progress will be reported m, if not on the blog, definitely on instacrack. Follow me @ esthernorine. 

Stuff and things: running edition

I'm super proud to say that last year I ran a total of 800 miles. Woot woot!

Why aren't screen shots in focus? Weird right?

This year, I want to run 1000 miles. I have yet to figure out how to put that into my Nike app. 

Not possible perhaps?

I lost a lot of my speed since I took a break from running to go out of the country. 

This was the treadmill run, where someone touched finish on my treadmill when I wasn't finished. Boo!

Oh my goodness, this run I was out of breath the entire time! I was talking and I was running faster than normal. 

This run was bananas because it was snowing. It got to a point where running was not a good idea. So we walked and made it back with no injury. Winning!

So half marathon training is ramping up but there's a new class at the gym. Do I take the class and skip one run a week?

I am thinking about it. On the nutrition front, I will no longer enjoy the free breakfast on Wednesdays at work. Small steps being taken here. I'm considering veggies and eggs instead of oatmeal. I need all the protein and oatmeal can't provide that. 

Weight loss Wednesday

Warning: I will be complaining in this post. Proceed with caution. 

In the last 3 weeks, the scale has been climbing steadily. My clothes fit about the same. I have not been good at nutrition and I know that I need to work on it. 

I have been so good at my workouts. Why can't the scale be friendly?

I am running more for the half marathon training. In my experience, that's not enough to move the scale. 

I keep eating foods that aren't good enough. For example, I had a cinnamon roll for breakfast today. My weakness is free food and it is the bain of my existence. I think the rest of the day will be nutritionally sound. I don't know if I put enough into my goals. 

Weigh in Wednesday

I made it to body pump and afterwards walked 1.5 miles. Then I weighed in at 145.2, which means I lost 0.2 pounds, which also means I'm essentially maintaining. I am kicking my butt into gear and I expect to say good bye to one pound. 

Other things I'm saying good bye to include, dairy. Not all dairy because some things are made with it but no more yogurt at breakfast and no more weekly shake. Sigh. 

I'm also going to cut back on beer. 

I'll be saving the good beer for Saturday only and the one post run beer on Thursday. I'll be drinking liquor and light beer Friday and Sunday. This plan should help me rein in the calories and lose weight. 

I clearly don't have a problem with hitting the gym. It's my lack of nutrition that causing me to gain weight. When will I learn that I must always be on top of nutrition? At this point, the answer is probably never. 

The struggle is real.

So I've gained back the 10 pounds that I was trying to lose but didn't lose all the way. Let's use real numbers here since that last sentence may not actually make sense. 

I had gotten to 145 and got it down to 137 and now I'm back at 145. I can't deal with 145 because that's too close to 150. People who are 5' 2" do not look healthy in the 150s. Sigh. 

Now to focus on nutrition because my workouts are just helping me to maintain and not lose. 

I've been posting my food (and my cats) on Instagram as a form of accountability. There's some great weight watcher accounts that I follow and maybe if I'm photographing my food prior to eating I'll do better. 

I'm considering banning dairy again. I love the 18 grams of protein in my Greek yogurt. Maybe dairy isn't my friend though. So this blog will continue to be another source of (frustration) accountability towards my goal of losing weight. Maybe I can get into the shorts before summer is over. 

A letter...

...to the 140s.

Dear 140s,

We have seen each other far too many times to count. I'm looking forward to saying goodbye and I hope its the last time I see you. However, I lose my focus and you have been too easy to return. I will continue my training and tweaking nutrition until you are gone. The struggle between us is real but I will prevail in the end.

Sincerely,

E

*I'm only halfway serious in this post and I'm linking up with the weigh in wednesday girls in spirit. It's too busy for blogging activities at work.

Weigh in Wednesday

 

I thought it would be a good idea to link up with my friends Erin at She's a big star and Heather at Pretty Strong Medicine. Last week I weighed in and managed to maintain my weight. I wanted a loss but I wasn't too upset. This week, I weighed in and lost exactly one pound. Yay!

 

I will be in Antigua in 30 days and I would like to lose 3 or 4 more pounds. I'm not going to hold my breath though. I can't wait to enjoy a nice vacation. I'm trying to figure out my nutrition plan while I'm there. I think I will have to focus on the protein and not worry about the calories. This may be ambitious but I hope to run 3 miles every day. I will have another half marathon to run at the end of April. I'll want to keep the mileage coming.

Half marathon training update and Cafe Evoke

Today, I finished a very cold 5 miles with my friends, Deirdre and Rachel. It wasn't too windy but the temperature was around 20 degrees. I bundled up in tons of layers because it was so cold. 

Me and Rachel after we got inside. 

We went to Cafe Evoke in Edmond Oklahoma. The warm drinks and breakfast burritos hit the spot. 

Hot chocolate. 

They got my name wrong but I'm used to it. 

Breakfast burrito. 

The waffles look good and I may have to get that next time. 

I've been working on nutrition because the same 10 pounds came back. Uninvited of course. I'm in a different place in my weight loss journey. I'm training for another half marathon and I know nutrition will help get me there. I also need some strength training. This should help me speed up and have good form. 

I didn't take a photo because it was dark last night but the kitties have been cold and cuddling closer. 

Weigh in Wednesday

  I'm down to weighing about once a month and I did weigh in yesterday at 140.6. That's high for me but at the same time, my clothes are fitting the same. The scale has me nervous since its at the beginning of the holiday season. In light of this, I am taking a good look at my nutrition by logging it into myfitnesspal. I do think there's some corners I can cut. I think the biggest downfall for me is the weekends. Now that we have our house and we can walk to a bunch of awesome bars, I am drinking too many calories. I'm trying to decide how to better manage that, without quitting of course.  

  Here's my current training schedule for the next half marathon November 23rd: Sunday:Rest Monday:Body Pump and playing the piano (piano practice burns some calories and I like to count it) Tuesday:Run 4 easy miles in the morning and Yoga at night Wednesday:Body Pump and playing the piano Thursday:Run a total of 6 or 7 miles broken up into 2 runs morning and night Friday:Elliptical for 60 minutes Saturday:The long run and this week its 8 miles  

  Sorry for the random photos but I can't stand a post that has no pictures.

My experience with maintaining weight loss

If you're following me on Instagram, twitter, or facebook, you might have noticed that I'm not in Oklahoma right now (HALLELUJAH!!!) 

I wanted to share my thoughts about maintaining weight loss. Losing weight and keeping it off is a journey that never ends. I have learned over the years that I must always be vigilant. I wouldn't describe myself as a yo-yo dieter but I would say that I thought losing weight was a one time deal. I'd lose it and be done. Without watching my nutrition, the pounds came back time and again. 

This year, I have focused my time on my nutrition and I haven't seen those pesky 10 pounds come back. Vacation has been a time when I usually pack some pounds. I'm planning on doing things a little differently on this trip. I'll be using myfitnesspal to track my calories. I have learned that the only way to lose weight and keep it off is to count calories.

Wish me luck on this adventure! I hope to report back next week.

Top ten tips

I have compiled my top ten tips for losing weight or maintening weight. I have learned over the years that losing weight is the combination of many little lifestyle changes and maintenance is keeping those lifestyle changes. If you have a lot of weight to lose, it will take time. Be patient. The proper amount of weight to lose is one pound a week.

1: Walk every day for at least 30 minutes.

2: Eat breakfast.

3: Do not drink calories. Stick to water, unsweetened iced tea, black coffee, crystal light, or diet soda pop.

4: Sleep. Its important to have adequate sleep.

5: Eat healthy snacks, like fruits and vegetables.

6: Do not eat late at night. Those are the calories that your body turns into fat while you sleep.

7: Think positive and keep focused on your goal.

8: Its ok to have a treat but keep the portions small.

9: Count your calories using Myfitnesspal or some other tool. (Its so much easier to lose weight when you keep track of what you're eating and how much.)

10: Focus on good nutrition instead of a fad diet. A balanced approach will make creating new habits much easier. Paleo, vegan, vegetarian, south beach, low carb, and so on only work temporarily because it's too hard to keep up.

Out of this list, the top three are to walk every day, don't drink calories and count your calories. Weight loss is very individual and if you have other tips that have worked for you, I'd love to hear about it. I am very passionate about losing weight, eating healthy and living a balanced healthy lifestyle. I love to learn  and be more knowledgable.