My apologies for a lag of updates. I switched to night shift 2 weeks ago and haven't really gotten the hang of being a productive member of society while doing so. One more week then I'm back to the daylight - hallelujah!
With my upside down schedule I've still managed to get all my runs in, some walks with Penny, new shoes and some protein powder to boot. I really feel myself continuing to change and get better with every passing day. I've more than made it a priority to get my runs in and to make sure I stay on top of my game. I've been setting PR's like it's my job - an 11:15 min/mile and a personal best 5K time of 37:48 in the rain yesterday. Let me just say - I knew I'd have to run in the rain at some point. Thunder and lightning is out of the question but just a nice summer rain is totally okay by me. I wasn't sure how I'd do but let me tell you - IT ROCKED. I loved every second of that rain and I feel literally and emotionally cleansed by that run. I felt the weight of the world wash off of me, didn't look down every 5 seconds at my watch to see how far I'd gone, had my headphones in (with my iPod in a sandwich baggie :) - can't break the thing!) and just put it on auto pilot. I looked back at my stats for the run and I literally stayed within my pace by 8 seconds to the mile the entire time. I ran so strong and am so proud of that run that I really don't know any other way to put it. I'm loving running more than I ever thought possible in my life and while I'm not "fast" and maybe I'll never break a 10 minute mile but I'm still doing more than I gave myself credit for. Of course I said "hey - I'm going to run a marathon!". But in the back of my head it was more like "I'm going to FINISH a marathon - even if I have to walk". I honestly think I may be able to run this whole stinking thing and that excites me even more. I was content on finishing and walk/running was and has been a reliable method for getting through races before. This time though, I might not even have to.
While I had hit my first weight loss plateau I am so happy to say that I've gone over the hump and weighed in the other day at 221.0 and nearly lost my jaw. I was bouncing around from 226-228 for so long and then BOOM here we go again! To date I have lost 24.6 pounds. My jeans almost literally fell off of me today! My Lane Giant jeans may have to start getting replaced soon :) I joined a "DietBet" through a facebook group where you pay $30 and have 4 weeks to lose 4% of your body weight. You have to submit a full body picture and a picture of the scale reading to start and finish. If you succeed you will get your $30 back plus all the money from the players who do not meet the goal is distributed among those who did "win". There is over $16000 in the pool right now and I am only 2.5 pounds away from hitting my goal with 2 weeks left. I'm determined to get my money back - plus some!
Still loving my new job and I feel so humbled and blessed to be caring for these little lives. There have been numerous patients I have had some outside connection with of some sort and it reminds me how small the world really is. I am everyday more and more thankful that my nieces and nephews are healthy kiddos. But, good news B North friends! I am planning a 2 day return mid-ish June after I get back from vacation. I haven't ironed out the details officially but am planning to see your smiling faces in the next few weeks.
The next point I must touch on is the fact that I am so, so proud of my baby brother, Tyler. He graduates from high school tomorrow and I am probably going to be a big mess watching him cross that stage. He has overcome so much the last few years - dealing with his epilepsy, our sick dad and getting himself in a good place and back into regular school from an online program. I wasn't sure if he'd keep up and be able to graduate with his friends which made me so sad for him but he persevered and here we are! He will be coming south to Cincinnati and go to UC in the fall. I'm sure he's glad to have his big sisters around too for Chipotle trips and weekend laundry.
I do want to remind everyone that I am still (and will continue to) fundraise for this marathon and I'd love if you could support myself and the Huntington's Disease Society of America! On the right side of the page you can find the link to see that I'm ALMOST at 50% of my goal but we've got a long way to go! Every penny helps and I cannot thank you enough for all the support to this point. Everything is tax deductible, you will get a receipt for tax purposes AND you'll make me smile and maybe run a little faster :)
www.firstgiving.com/lindsayintraining/columbusmarathon
Friday, May 24, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
Maybe I'm really not a carbo-holic?
When I initially started this blog I openly admitted to my carbo-holic tendencies and knew to be successful in my weight loss journey I was going to have to cut back. No more asking for extra bread or rice at my favorite restaurants, no more desserts to satisfy my sugary sweet tooth AND carb cravings. My love affair with carbs had to stop no matter how hard it was going to be.
As I started tracking my food with MyFitnessPal I have the capabilities of seeing my daily intake as a chart by nutrition information as well as a chart that shows my percentage of carbs/protein/fat intake. This chart has really opened my eyes to my naitivity about what I was actually eating all along. Fat. And lots and lots of it.
There are days even now that I've been "watching what I eat" where fat accounts for 40% of my diet and I'm not even eating fried foods (a few times I have had French fries but in the grand scheme of things I'm not really eating fried foods hardly ever) and my fat intake is still that high. How can that be?!
Also my protein intake is generally in my recommended range of about 15% of my diet. I feel that is too low and have been taking steps to improve that by eating more Greek yogurt (Chobani flips are my new favorite breakfast/morning snack item) and peanut butter. I figure adding protein to a meal where it often gets neglected will help. Also with all my running I'd rather increase my muscle mass than destroy it all by avoiding protein - even if it's not purposefully done. We do eat more red meat than we probably should and while that certainly works protein wise it's not helping that far intake that I'm unhappy with.
Yes, I understand "good" versus "bad" fats and while I'd guess I'm probably 50/50 on those for my intake I really need to watch the saturated fats. I'm all for lovely skin, nails and hair from including fats in my diet but I'd really rather have those AND not feel like I'm un-doing all the hard work I've put in so far.
Last week I promised an update on the change in diet and if it helped as far as losing weight went and I'm happy to say I saw some positive results! I worked on my fat intake and did increase my protein and I weighed in this week at 224.0 making my total weight loss up to 21.6 pounds! I crossed the 20 pound mark and then some. Mini-goal #2 accomplished. Next up: hit the 2-teens. I'm feeling good about this one!
Another milestone was crossed this week as I had the best run of any in the last 6 weeks during my 4.5 miler Saturday morning. I kept a good, comfortable pace and finished strong. I logged just over 16 miles for the week which is also a personal high for me. This week I have a weird schedule and am going to see TAYLOR SWIFT in Columbus Wednesday night so I'm fitting in my 4 runs however I can. Today I did a morning 2 miles and am planning 3 miles for this evening, one for tomorrow afternoon and my long run for Thursday. However I have to do it, I will. I'm very proud of myself for not missing any scheduled runs during the 6 weeks of training so far (minus my injury week).
I'm still really enjoying the new job and am happy to be celebrating my second official Nurse's Week! I can't believe I've been a registered nurse for two years this month and feel blessed to be doing what I love and getting paid at the same time! Happy Nurse's Week to all those who I work and have worked with, my step-mom Jody and all the incredible people who help take care of my dad on a daily basis. You are all the best and are appreciated!
As I started tracking my food with MyFitnessPal I have the capabilities of seeing my daily intake as a chart by nutrition information as well as a chart that shows my percentage of carbs/protein/fat intake. This chart has really opened my eyes to my naitivity about what I was actually eating all along. Fat. And lots and lots of it.
There are days even now that I've been "watching what I eat" where fat accounts for 40% of my diet and I'm not even eating fried foods (a few times I have had French fries but in the grand scheme of things I'm not really eating fried foods hardly ever) and my fat intake is still that high. How can that be?!
Also my protein intake is generally in my recommended range of about 15% of my diet. I feel that is too low and have been taking steps to improve that by eating more Greek yogurt (Chobani flips are my new favorite breakfast/morning snack item) and peanut butter. I figure adding protein to a meal where it often gets neglected will help. Also with all my running I'd rather increase my muscle mass than destroy it all by avoiding protein - even if it's not purposefully done. We do eat more red meat than we probably should and while that certainly works protein wise it's not helping that far intake that I'm unhappy with.
Yes, I understand "good" versus "bad" fats and while I'd guess I'm probably 50/50 on those for my intake I really need to watch the saturated fats. I'm all for lovely skin, nails and hair from including fats in my diet but I'd really rather have those AND not feel like I'm un-doing all the hard work I've put in so far.
Last week I promised an update on the change in diet and if it helped as far as losing weight went and I'm happy to say I saw some positive results! I worked on my fat intake and did increase my protein and I weighed in this week at 224.0 making my total weight loss up to 21.6 pounds! I crossed the 20 pound mark and then some. Mini-goal #2 accomplished. Next up: hit the 2-teens. I'm feeling good about this one!
Another milestone was crossed this week as I had the best run of any in the last 6 weeks during my 4.5 miler Saturday morning. I kept a good, comfortable pace and finished strong. I logged just over 16 miles for the week which is also a personal high for me. This week I have a weird schedule and am going to see TAYLOR SWIFT in Columbus Wednesday night so I'm fitting in my 4 runs however I can. Today I did a morning 2 miles and am planning 3 miles for this evening, one for tomorrow afternoon and my long run for Thursday. However I have to do it, I will. I'm very proud of myself for not missing any scheduled runs during the 6 weeks of training so far (minus my injury week).
I'm still really enjoying the new job and am happy to be celebrating my second official Nurse's Week! I can't believe I've been a registered nurse for two years this month and feel blessed to be doing what I love and getting paid at the same time! Happy Nurse's Week to all those who I work and have worked with, my step-mom Jody and all the incredible people who help take care of my dad on a daily basis. You are all the best and are appreciated!
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