Taking the Reins

I threw out a random question to my little blog circle on Blogspot yesterday, asking them how being on Weight Watchers has changed them over time.  I asked, because it dawned on me yesterday that my life has literally changed over the past year and a half since I joined WW.  I no longer walk into a restaurant, peek at the menu, and say, “oh, boy, that monte cristo with french fries looks so good I’m going to order it and hope nobody looks at me!”  Nope.  Although I would love a monte cristo, it’s just never going to happen to me…..because if it’s not in Mtngirlincali’s kitchen, then it can’t be ordered at the restaurant’s kitchen.   

My other realization is that although I sometimes treat food as a pleasure, with tastes, textures, smells, and sights to savor, these days I view my food more as fuel.  What’s going to get me through my workout without dumping me?  Which 2-point item will make me more full and give me more bang for my buck?  Does it have enough protein or fiber in it?  Never in a million years did I ever imagine that I’d begin to think so critically about what I am putting in my mouth, which is bizarre, because I was schooled to be a scientist….and eating, after all, is just one big adventure in biochemistry?!

So here’s what my friendly bloggers had to say about some of their changes since joining WW:

Journeys can’t keep fast food down anymore.

Strawgirl prefers home-cooked meals to pre-prepared meals.  That’s called “eating clean” in the bodybuilding world.  No fat on them!<G>

Superjayman doesn’t love Mickey D’s quite so much as she used to.  In fact, she can stop at just a few French Fries.  (10 calories each, btw!)

Weightbgone says that fruit tastes better now, and that junk food has begun to taste worse.

 What do you guys have to add?

Here’s my journal for the day so far.  I’m taking a day off, as I got no sleep yesterday and I don’t think my body wants to do a 3-mile run quite yet.  (Saving it for tomorrow, then swim on Wednesday, spin class/run on Thursday, rest Friday, swim Saturday, and start all over again for Sunday!)  Oh!  Forgot to mention that I fixed my “About” page and added an extra before/after photo on the photos page.  Will post “pre-triathlon” and “post-triathlon” photos when I get a chance.

Well, it’s half way through the day and I feel like I need to get my journal going before I forget anything!  I feel pretty productive for the day, though.  Coach e-mailed our workouts for the next 8 days, so I got started this morning and knocked out my pool workout.  It was fun, which surprised me!  I usually dread getting in the pool, but I felt purposeful today with my little workout in the plastic baggie at the end of the pool.  Ended up doing a timed 500 meter swim in about 10 minutes….was nice and easy and I had lots left in the tank afterwards, which is the goal of our training right now.  All in all, I’d say things are looking up.  I may not drown in the ocean after all?

 The day has been pretty good from an eating standpoint.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m able to eat more due to activity points, I’m picking better foods to get me through my workouts, or if it’s just a lucky lull in the month where I am not ravenous all the time, but right now I’m doing pretty good!  Need to eat the salad for dinner, but not so sure what kind of protein I’ll want to add to it?  If I don’t eat those activity points in the end, it certainly won’t kill me.  Anyway, no cool food finds at the store, except I do love the individually packed almonds at Trader Joe’s.  It was a little disheartening to hear that they are 5 points for the entire pack, but it’s a high quality protein and might be worth the points.

Here’s the day:

Thank you, Roni!  Just imported everything over from Blogspot, and it looks like it’s all there.  I had managed to find 3/4 of my previous blog entries through searching the Google cache, so it’s nice to get them all back “home.”

 Anyways, that’s the scoop here.  Thanks again!  Time to try avatars….

Forced down a Pria bar with a string cheese this morning before heading out for bike/run practice.  Today was our first “official” BRICK training session, where we layer one activity after another.  Started out with a fantastic inspirational story on running YOUR race (she talked about a girl recovering from a respiratory disease who started the program unable to walk up her stairs without being winded, but finished the Danskin 10 minutes ahead of her estimated “best” time), then we hit the bike trail for 30 minutes.  I think I had a good cadence going, averaging 16 mph over the entire ride and making it about 8.25 miles in the 30 minutes.  Right after that, we racked our bikes and headed back out for the run.

Can we say Jello?  Yikes– it’s a weird feeling trying to run when you come straight off a bike!  Forgot all about that.  Anyway, I was stronger today and managed to run a 10-minute mile for my first BRICK session.  Ran a mile and a half in 15 minutes and 30 seconds, so now I have something to work on improving.  Coach seemed pretty happy with me, as I still had something left in the tank and today I wasn’t trying to be better than anybody else. 

Immediately after the exercise, I downed a recovery bar.  Mostly straight carbohydrates, lower in protein, and totally ignored the caloric content.  1/2 hour after exercise, you need to replace the glycogen stores, so I listened and ate.  Just got home and made myself some nice egg white burritos to chase the carbs with protein, so hopefully that’ll stick with me for the rest of the day.  (It better– I’m high on points right now!)

Here’s the day so far.  Fingers crossed I make it through the evening:

Took another day off from exercising today to give my poor ol’ legs a bit of a break in between coaching sessions.  Between yesterday’s run and tomorrow’s bike/run, they need all the help they can get in the recovery department.  Was contemplating a swim, but I am fighting some kind of bug and think that rest is just what the doctor ordered today.

Nothing new and exciting in the world of Mtngirlincali’s culinary adventures.  In fact, it’s looking much the same as it always does!  Am waiting for DH to get home so we can grill up some chicken breasts and then watch some sort of movie.  Then sleep, and time for practice!!  (I’m addicted to training — it’s pretty sad that it’s the part of the week I now look forward to the most) 

Can’t say that I have much to add over here, though. Tri training is a blast and I’m finding that my body is feeling better and better as the weeks go on. I was afraid that my knee would act up over all of this — and it still might — but it is responding very well to all the exercise. I took some “before” pictures on Wednesday, and I think I will take them every 2 weeks or so in the same embarassing outfit so that I can use them for comparison purposes. My hubby took them and laughed the whole time, saying it looked like a mug shot with sports bra and spandex!! He’s so supportive! Anyway, I’m a little afraid to post them at this point. I think I might black out my head. You know, in case they get circulated around the internet and I plan to run for office one day. We shall see…..if I am phenomenally successful in changing my body over the next 10 weeks, then perhaps I’ll feel better about posting my photos on the internet. I know this, though. My size 6 shorts are tight, and this is not a good thing!

Got some great news yesterday about my husband. He has an interview for an airline, finally! If he gets the job, he’ll be in training during my high school reunion AND triathlon. Go figure…..he misses both triathlons I’ve done. Buy hey, I’ll take it! I contacted my good friend from high school and we are going together– I’m his designated driver. He is gay and not wanting to tell the world about his new boyfriend, and my hubby will be in training (hopefully– fingers crossed and good thoughts, please!) — perfect combo. Hubby is now totally comfortable with us driving down there together. Ha! And my parents have decided to fly out for the triathlon, so I am jazzed. Last time, my mom arrived just after I crossed the finish line, so aside from internet results and writing all over my legs, there was no actual “proof” that I really did the race. I want to be seen this time around! Plus, it’s such a cool venue. Have I ever posted the link? Well, here it is:

http://www.pacificcoasttriathlon.com/

So, there it is in all its glory. The scenery is just to-die for. So hopefully I won’t die.

Well, that’s all there is, until I report the eating on Weightwatchen.

I think I ran more today than I ever have in my life!  Woohoo!  Did a 3.5 mile track workout with my fellow Divas today, learning how to use our heart rate monitors and attempting to figure out our max heart rate.  I learned that I’m a wee bit faster than I originally thought, but I lack the general endurance to go along with the speed.  I got yelled at for trying to keep up with the Olympic triathletes and the 2 girls training for a marathon in 2 weeks.  But I was pretty much ahead of most of the other women, which was great!  1/4 mile in roughly 1:52….I hit that pace 4 times.  My aerobic pace was 1:43 for the 1/4 mile.  But trust me, my race pace will probably be 2:20 or 2:30!!  I was shocked at how much better it felt to run on the track versus the pavement.  I felt the stress on the shins, but my knees are thanking me right now.  What a difference.

I ended up eating a lot today, but quite frankly I’m not too upset about it.  I was woozy after some of the running and could have stood some carbohydrate goo or something, so I knew I hadn’t overeaten.  Coach isn’t a huge fan of dieting while training.  In fact, we aren’t in it to lose weight– we are in it to be athletes and achieve fitness.  So part of me has to get over the fact that Goo has 100 calories and recognize that as an athlete, I need the glucose to pick me up.  How I’m going to get over this mindset is beyond me!!!  My fellow WWer informed me that she’s been so tired that she is upping her activity points to see if it makes a difference.  She’s on 18 pts a day, and I just don’t know how she survives on that.  I’m like, “eat ‘em, girl!” 

Here’s my beast of a day:

Well, I survived the 4th of July, but not without some poor food choices. We hit Johnny Carino’s for our celebratory afternoon, and as some of you familiar with Johnny Carino’s may know, it is not the friendliest place on the planet for a WW dieter. I ate 1/2 of the bread that they started with, noshed on all the chicken from our “Italian Nachos” (and ate 2 or 3 chips), then devoured my angel hair pasta with artichokes and parmesan. (It was tossed in olive oil, not in a butter sauce or anything) Suffice it to say that I am 100% certain this devoured any and all flex points I may have had left. Weighing in this morning at 152.5, I’m just a tad bit grumpy with myself.

I’m still stewing over my lost bike, too! I’m staring down a couple hundred more dollars for race entry and a triathlon suit, so I really don’t want to drop more on a brand new bike…..ugh!

Tonight is track practice. We’re having a heart rate training clinic first with a couple Polar-sponsored Ironman triathletes (rock on!), followed by a 3 mile workout that’ll experiment with our new heart rate monitors. If anyone is interested in one, I scored one for $30 at Performance Bikes yesterday. On sale from $60, so I was pretty excited. It’s much easier to use than Polar, but I hear it might get some interference from cell nodes. Hey, for $30, I can live with that. I think heart rate training is pretty neat. I read something in Self magazine (I think, or Shape?) that said that women who did interval training (bursts of exertion followed by lower level exercise) lost 3 times as much weight as those who exercised for longer periods of time at sustainable rates. I’ve only ever done this in spin classes back in Colorado, so not sure I can say it personally works….but something to look into nonetheless.

Well, here’s hoping today gives me more strength to deny garlic bread and chocolate.

So, I’m officially back over on Wordpress now and back to the world of the Weightwatchen blogs. I have to say, all the new blogs are a little much to handle right now. It was pretty convenient that all my favorite blogs found eachother over here on Blogspot (well, Jynell was linked in as well!), and I’m definitely going to miss it. I think I’ll still continue to post over here and maintain my archive here. If there’s anything too non-weight loss that I feel the need to write about, I won’t feel guilty about writing here on Blogspot. (On Weightwatchen, I feel obligated to keep it to food)

Anyway, will stick around, but just wanted to give the heads up that my daily menus are back over on wordpress….still Taking the Reins, just not all the way up on the “Most Active” list.

Those people on Craigslist are all vultures, I swear.  I found the perfect road bike today and e-mailed the girl within an hour of the listing.  We tentatively set up a time tomorrow morning for me to see it, since I was working today and I wanted my hubby to come with…..but when I just called for directions, she told me someone had already come and bought it out from under me!  Argh!!!!!  What am I supposed to do– Paypal them in advance to reserve the bike?!  I could scream.  Had my heart set on this darn bike and bragged to everyone in the office all day long.  Think of all the time I’d be saving off my 12 mile bike ride if I switched from the mountain bike to the road bike?!  It’s just that kind of day.

Have 8 points left on the table and am absolutely ravenous.  Didn’t really eat a proper lunch because it was a shorter work day and had conference calls all day, so I’m an unsatisfied customer.  Have a swim workout I can do today if I want to, or I can call it my day off.  Am thinking I may go swim, as I have a lot of angry “I didn’t get the bike and will never get one” emotion that I must get rid of.  To top it all off, just the thought of the crowds at the beach for the 4th of July makes me all cranky and angry.  I hate being hungry and disappointed!

Anyway, here’s the day so far.  Will update later:

I didn’t swim.  I ate so much I felt sick and then I went right to sleep on the couch.  Bleh.  But I’ve got it all out of my system now, so I suppose that’s a good thing.  Just downing water and trying to forget about the day.   Tomorrow will hopefully be better!

And hopefully better than ever….. Well, okay, I just wanted to use the cliched saying. I’m just going to be me, and whether that’s better than ever or not is entirely subjective.

Anyway, I’ve already updated my Blogspot blog, but I’m going to import it over here and see how that goes. Am hoping I’ll get this site all souped up and back to its former glory over the next few days, but I must take baby steps. I lose blog motivation quickly, especially when it comes to tables!!

At any rate, will now attempt to import posts. Wish me luck!

After a wonderful month of May culminating in the 140’s, I’m now right back up there at 152.5. WTF?!!! I was 150 lbs when I started the triathlon training a little less than 2 weeks ago, and I haven’t had many huge splurges that would undo all the exercise. In fact, I’ve tracked my cardio on Sparkpeople and I’ve burned over 8000 calories in the past 2 weeks. I CERTAINLY have not consumed that many in addition to my 1100-1300 I eat on a daily basis, that’s for sure. It is so frustrating when you work so hard and the scale goes up. I know everyone says muscle weighs more than fat, but now I’m back up over my goal weight (151.5), and there is no reason for that, even if I do have a ton of muscle.

Aside from continuing to hydrate and attempt to eat well, I am at a loss for what to do to see the scale inch down to where I want it. I should probably follow my own advice and wait and see how things go with the training, continue eating responsibly, and let things work out on their own. Grrr….my body is a brat!

Today, we were assigned to run a set distance by trying intervals….3 minutes of running followed by 1 minute of walking. I set my total distance to 3 miles — triathlon distance — and went for it after the sun started to go down. It was amazing. I wasn’t tired at all for most of it!! And the good part is my knee isn’t killing me too much, either. At any rate, I ended up finishing the 3 miles in 33 minutes. Hey, I can live with an 11 minute mile, especially considering the fact that it took me 38 minutes in my last tri to do the same distance. We have a full track workout on Thursday, so we shall see what Coach has to say about all of this. I’m psyched, though. There’s hope for me yet!

Here’s the damage for the day:

I hate it! I mean, I owe it my life and all, but could it seriously try to NOT burn me?

We had swim practice bright and early this morning in Newport Beach. I say bright and early, but we didn’t hit the pool until 10am so I guess that’s not quite early. At any rate, Coach kicked our rears and we did lots of stroke drills and then intervals that left me sucking wind and thinking I’d drown. The good news is I reached my maximum heart rate 3 times in a row, so now I know how that feels. I was also in the fast lane, so it helps to know I’m one of the better swimmers. Bad news, of course, was the sun. Put on Coppertone 50 Sport, which is supposedly waterproof, but apparently I was wrong. I’m a little burned on my back and neck, and I’m totally PO’ed about it because I made a conscious effort to not get burned. Aside from wearing full body armor, I don’t know what else to do?!!

Met another WW member at our swim practice this morning. We started out with a naturopathic Dr. lecturing us on nutrition. Here are the take home messages from this session:
1. Eat within 1 hour of waking up, no matter what.
2. Don’t do coffee on an empty stomach.
3. If you eat carbs, accompany the carbs with 8 grams of protein. This will prevent the highs and lows associated with eating them.
4. If I want to work out twice in one day, I must down carbs immediately following the first session to replenish glycogen.

So, that was slightly helpful. I believe I’m on the right track with WW and eating activity points. She did say that I’ll need to get over the weight gain thing, as I’m breaking down the fat and replacing that area with muscle, which is more dense and hence weighs more…. I have to say, I do notice my arms getting pretty nice and toned from all the swimming. If only the abs would follow suit. The plank, anyone?

Will try the table again for today. What a disaster it is. Still at the bottom of my post, but I’m over it right now.