Taking the Reins

Crap! Crap crap crap crap crap.

Oh, Happy Halloween.

So, I ate a gyro. I had no idea a weeny pita and shaved lamb could actually be 16.5 points. And then to top it off, their stupid little side salad which I stupidly did not order with dressing on the side was a whopping……4.5 points in dressing alone!

I’m so over today, it’s not even funny….and I’m starving.

I hate it when this happens. If it weren’t Halloween, I’d go home and go straight to bed. Anyway, that’s all I have to say. I’m a little irked with myself for not checking DWLZ before I went to eat….and for going back to my carb-obsessed, hardcore training ways. Geesh!

Crap!

OK, there, I got it out.

I am not going to stop moaning and groaning about being back on program until this insatiable hunger goes away.  My carbohydrate laden habits of this summer are leaving me totally hungry and out of points by dinnertime.  It sucks.  Like, really, really sucks. 

Hubby doesn’t help, either.  He pulls out his chicken nuggets and microwave pizzas.  “Want some?” he asks.  Um, excuse me?!  Do you want a thin wife?  Never ask me again!!! 

Perhaps today just isn’t a good day.  I made a minestrone soup in the slow cooker last night, but in my infinite brilliance I added Barilla Plus pasta at the end that soaked up all of my chicken broth.  I ended up with runny pasta with vegetables in the end.   Oops.  All I had in my cupboard was chickpeas and black beans, so I only added 1 can of chickpeas.  Again, the “soup” imposter could have used some more protein to help stave off my hunger.

I’d love to go for a swim, but I just got a skin biopsy and I’m not allowed to swim in a public pool for 2 weeks.  Ugh!!!  So tomorrow after work, I’m going to attempt to go to spin class.  Tell the hubby I have to work late so he doesn’t get all upset that he’s alone all day and I don’t want to hang out with him as soon as I get off of work.  (anyone else have this problem?  Yeah, didn’t think so)

So that is the scoop.  Still hungry.  Pissed that I don’t have any one-point snacks around.  Surrounded by bagels, granola, and Powerbar equivalents.  Desperately yearning for the day when my 22 points feels normal…..

 Here’s the daily damage:

The wagon is much harder to climb back on than I remembered.  In fact, if I hadn’t done this before, I would have called it impossible to follow Weight Watchers! 

As you may or may not know, I’ve been in training for a full season of triathlons.  We’ve recently entered the off season, and whilst I still run, bike, and swim 3-4 times a week, I’m not doing anything in excess of 1-hour, and my intensity isn’t as high.  I quite honestly was consuming 30 - 35 points a day and maintaining my weight.  I didn’t journal, I didn’t count……I just made sensible choices and ate around my workouts.  When I saw an energy bar, I forgave an extra 100 calories or so because I knew I’d work it off.

But this week?  Oh, man, it’s been tough.  I spent the week in Las Vegas on business, and my boss and coworkers went nuts on the culinary front.  We ate at Emeril’s steakhouse on day 1, Mario Battali’s place for lunch on day 2, and had another 5* evening to follow all of that.  I tried to be sensible, but I even munched on beef wellington, chocolate-covered cherries, and risotto of all shapes and sizes!!

I have since gained almost 5 lbs.  5 pound!!!!  Not only is it unacceptable, but it’s scary.  It makes me feel as though I’m losing control of my weight.  It’s been over 2 years since I weight 178 lbs, and I don’t want to go back there.  Not when I’m in the best shape of my life!  It’s cruel.

At any rate, I’m making an effort to get back on track.  Starting today, because the whole “tomorrow, I’ll start my diet” thing just doesn’t cut it for anybody.  I know that well after all these years.  So I’m definitely struggling with the reduction in my calories, for sure.  I’m staring down 5 points left for dinner and I have NO IDEA what I can possible throw together to make a fulfilling meal.  I guess I go to bed hungry tonight?  Boy, I haven’t felt like that in ages.  Insanity!

Yet I know this will pass, and eventually I will be fully engaged and back on the wagon, happily singing the praises of WW and eating my 1200-1400 calories a day like a good little follower.

Until then, just let me moan and groan.

So, the triathlon off-season is one week away and already I’ve got my eyes on getting back to my WW meetings.  Getting these last ten pounds off of my frame (should I say, pudgy midsection?!) will not only relieve some of the strain on my aching knees, but hopefully should make me a little bit faster! 

I don’t know if you all recall this, but way back in June I got off the couch and joined a triathlon training program.  I’ve since become horribly addicted, and now all I can think about are races I want to do or different ways to pick up more speed.  It’s insane.  But I left some things unfinished in my weight loss.  I have added muscle, true, but the same fat around my belly remains.  Since you can’t train for triathlons and purposely lose weight (I was feeling faint and unenergetic), the belly fat has just sort of hung around.  At one point I was okay with it, but then I got some back pain and I’m back to zero tolerance!

The off-season is a beautiful thing, as it appears triathletes don’t really rest…..they just pick different activities that may help them during the race year.  Yoga, for flexibility and a clear head.  Pilates, for building a strong core that will drive all three of your events.  Mountain biking, to work on those hills and build big quads!   And of course, weight loss — for more speed…….

So with that in mind, I’ve started to read everyones’ blogs again to get me back in the mood.  It’ll be extra tough this time around, because I’ll be going from 30 points a day back down to 22, with my exercise returning to more moderate activity, and I know what I can eat to just “maintain.”  Yet I am going to attempt to attack the off-season with discipline and try to once and for all kiss this pudge goodbye.

Next season.  Watch out!

I found a link to this Flickr photo album earlier this evening on Slowtwitch and have been dying to post it.  Basically, it shows pictures of real life women and their actual BMIs.  I think you will see that looks CAN be deceiving, and that perhaps the BMI is not the very best way for people to judge their health against.  I agree that if you are in the 30’s, it’s likely you need to lose some weight to lower your body fat, but some of the 25’s and 26’s really can be healthy, particularly for athletic women and men! 

Anyway, hope you enjoy the album as much as I did:

http://flickr.com/photos/77367764@N00/sets/72157602199008819/

And for the sake of being fair, here are my stats:

Height:  5′7″

Weight: 151.5 lbs

BMI:  23.7  (down from 27.9!)

It’s  been a stressful week.  It was there.  We were forced to stay at work over the lunch hour for a mandatory 1pm meeting.  I was starving.

 I ate a slice of pizza.

This is huge, because I have resisted pizza for quite some time now.  In fact, my last REAL pizza (because we all do our own English muffin pizzas and Lean Cuisines) was the night before my wedding.

I have to admit, this pizza was a disappointment.  For all the angst it caused me, the bloating and discomfort that followed were far worse.  Far, far worse.  Why do we eat this crap?  Why do we think it’s going to taste so damn good?  Why can’t I hold this horrible, bloated, painful feeling in my brain permanently so I can eat better in the future?

You know, there is no cure.  I just have to eat.

I will say, tonight I did one hum-dinger of a workout.  60-minute spin class at my aerobic threshold, followed instantly by 25 minutes on the treadmill.  I was hoping to run longer, but my knees started to hurt and I decided not to push it. This is technically peak week for my triathlon next weekend, so this was a must-do brick.  The bike course at Subaru is flat, so I don’t feel guilty at all for taking my exercise indoors for now.  It just gets too dark after work to plan a bike AND a run.  Thank goodness for weekends!

So there you have it.  Pizza, and a 1,000 calorie workout.  What shall I do in the off-season?!