Day Six Hundred and Seven

Today wasn’t terrible, but it definitely wasn’t good either. I’m going to use the next three weeks to get back on track. My blog posts are going to be longer and more focused on a topic for each day. I’ve been out eating my running, and that stops now. So tomorrow things get back on track. I didn’t work this hard to put the weight back on. I don’t like the way I feel or look right now. I’m over it. I can’t tell you the last time I eat healthy all day. These next few days will be mainly salads and protein. I’ll have a few carbs, but I’m going to knock out the unnecessary sugar. My run today was tough one again, and I only made it four miles. My poor food choices are effecting my runs. I’m ready for a change.

Day Six Hundred and Six

I think I'm going to develop a new strategy.  It will be based around finding something positive from my day to think about and to build off of for the next day.  I tend to be negative and hard on myself and I need to be more positive.  I have to get back where I was.  I'm tired of going up, and not down.  Today was mediocre, and after successfully not having a big bucket of popcorn at the theater, I came home to eat chips and salsa (right before bed...).  I ran five miles today, which was awesome.  It was very difficult and painful.  I'm not sure why, but my legs felt like logs.  I'm thinking it's because I haven't had proper nutrition in the last few days.  Tomorrow will be different.

Day Six Hundred and Five

It was a much better day today.  It wasn't perfect, but definitely back on the right track.  I know that I can continue to improve day after day and eventually get back to where I was a few weeks ago.  My run today was terrible.  I ached the whole time.  It wasn't what I was expecting after a few days off.  I hope tomorrow's run is much better.

Day Six Hundred and Four

Just a quick late-night post. We all took the day off today. Outside of my training work, we rested. We are all trying to get well and regain our energy. I skipped my run and I am motivated to get back at it tomorrow. For now, it’s late and I need some sleep!

Day Six Hundred and Three

I’m so glad to be back home. I can’t eat like this anymore. I’m through. I seriously don’t want to eat for the next couple days. All I want to do is run and run some more. I didn’t run today, but I’m happy to share that I got my shirt and medal from the P4C5K! How awesome is it that I could join THOUSANDS of others to support and encourage Caleb, and I did it from hundreds of miles away!

Day Six Hundred and Two

It’s really late, and I’m not going to pretend that my eating was ok today. It was awful. From burgers and fries to tons of delicious Mexican food. I am ready to get back on track though. It’s time to be through with my poor habits. I’m tired of being bloated. I am still having some chest cold issues, so I didn’t run today. I’m planning to take tomorrow’s off and get back to my run on Friday!

Day Six Hundred and One

Today was a lot better. Even though I over ate, I didn’t go over as bad as I have in recent days. I have a chest cold, so I didn’t get up as early today. Instead I ran this evening. It was a nice run in eighty degree sunshine! Also, one of my friends ran with me. It’s always cool to shake it up adding a running partner. It takes the monotony out of the run. I need to shed this sore throat and chest congestion. Hopefully it’ll pass pretty quickly.

Day Six Hundred

This was not the day I wanted for my 600th day. I’m pretty sure I ate 3000+ calories. I’m really going to focus on my eating tomorrow. This has to stop! My run went well. I got a quick four miles in this morning before work. I’m feeling pretty rough, so I’m gonna get some sleep. Tomorrow will be better.

Day Five Hundred and Ninety-Nine

I can’t believe I have posted 599 posts. It’s been amazing, and I’m sor grateful for the blessing to have come this far. I know I still have so much to get better with. It’s been a whirlwind day, with a lot of unhealthy choices for food. I’m sure I had close to 2500 calories (if not more) today. Our family schedule is a little hectic right now, but I’m going to try to do better. My posts will be late this week with our schedule, but I still want to workout every day. I got a full 10K in today, and I’m beat. Tomorrow’s run will a light run. I’m not going to push it. Seeing awesome reports from today’s P4C5K. So glad I got to participate as a virtual runner yesterday!

Day Five Hundred and Ninety-Eight - Pray For Caleb Freeman & P4C5K

Overall my day was not what I wanted.  I ate too much pizza at dinner, but it was delicious!  I didn't have the vegetables that I know I needed to eat.  I did try my hand at making waffles from scratch this morning.  They were really good, and I even was able to come up with a successful substitute when I didn't have any vanilla extract (pancake syrup).  Tomorrow is the P4C5K (Pray for Caleb 5K) for an incredible young man who is recovering from a tragic car accident he had at the end of last year.  Caleb is a warrior, and he and his family's message through these months and his recovery has been #butGod (check out the Facebook page here).  It's been awesome just seeing the way God has been miraculously healing him (you really need to start with the first post and read all the way through).  Since I couldn't go out to OK for the 5K, I participated as a virtual runner.  Since it is supposed to storm all day tomorrow, I did my run today.  It was my fastest 5K to date!  I still can't get under 8 minutes per mile, but I'm getting close.

Day Five Hundred and Ninety-Seven

So today was really good until tonight. What was supposed to be just a few chips n salsa turned into half a bag 😳. This was completely stupid. I have to do better! Tomorrow is another day! I had a good recovery run today. I put in four miles this afternoon in some pretty nice weather. I ran it really fast, so that was cool. I’ve been listening to Jocko Willink while I run. It may not have the best that some music provides, but it has been very motivating to hear the stories of Seals and other former warriors!

Day Five Hundred and Ninety-Six - Weight in #85 - A Step Backwards

It was another weigh in today, and as has been the pattern, I have followed a good week with a bad week.  The discipline I showed last week, I did not display this week.  It is frustrating to me when I know what I can do, but I don't do it.  I meant, I still have the discipline to run nearly daily, but my eating is just not under control.  I am eating sugar and desserts that I know I don't need, and I'm just ignoring tracking some days.  I need to get back into a routine for twenty-one days so that I form the habit again with my eating.

So when I stepped onto the scale this morning, I saw the number go up rather than down.  I am back up 1.6 lbs.  This brings my total weigh loss to 149.8 lbs., with a current weight of 216.4.  I am definitely not happy about the fact that went up this past week, but I did not put for my best effort.  I will be making some adjustments, but I have a really busy week ahead and I'll be eating out more.  I'll have to be careful so I can take another step towards losing my butter half.

My day was bad.  We were out at lunch time, and I had trainings until after lunch.  I didn't even bother tracking my calories.  I did have a great run though.  I got up early and got a full 10K in.  The first three miles were a little rough, but the last three point two miles felt great!  The worst part was that it was cold.  It was only forty-five degrees when I went out, and it didn't get any warmer.  Still, any day I can run over six miles is a victory!

Day Five Hundred and Ninety-Five

Today was great.  I had a tiny amount of candy after lunch (yes, that wasn't best), but the rest of the day was perfect.  I grilled chicken and veggies tonight that Bekah had in some marinade overnight.  It was fantastic.  I love the beautiful weather, and not just because I get to grill!  The warmth of the sun when I'm out running in seventy-five degree weather is amazing.  My run started out pretty slow today, but it got better as I went.  By the time I hit the halfway point, I was feeling great.  I ran a full 10K, and plan to do the same again tomorrow.  I have a weigh in tomorrow, so we'll see if my eating this week set me back, or if I was able to drop a pound.

Day Five Hundred and Ninety-Four

My day was far from perfect. I had sugary cereal and ice cream. I really need to be more careful than this. I don’t know where I’m going to be this Thursday, I am just hoping not to be up.  Even a pound would be a victory.  My run today started out pretty difficult, but got better as it went on.  I have a long run both tomorrow and Thursday, so we'll see how that goes.

Day Five Hundred and Ninety-Three

Today wasn’t perfect, but it was much better than my past few days. I had way too much leftover ribs from our men’s cookout. Rarely can I honestly say that I enjoyed leftover ribs anywhere close to how good they were when they were fresh, but these ribs were amazing even reheated in the oven. I ate a late breakfast, and then accidentally skipped lunch after my run. So while miy calories were pretty low, they all came at one meal (dinner). My run today felt great. I put in six miles, and even though it was windy and cool, it was a really good run!

Day Five Hundred and Ninety-Two

So let’s just say that today was something I’m beyond disappointed about. The past three days have been back to old habits. Time to break them. No candy, no desserts, and no junk foods for the rest of the week. I can’t keep having these good days and bad. The reason is simple. On days that I run it’s ok, but then there’s days like today when I don’t run. It just doesn’t work. It’s takes me backwards. I did spend a lot of time with Bekah and the kids (who are all either sick or recovering from a cold/sore throat). We had a Bible story devotion here at home since we couldn’t make church, and then relaxed the rest of the day. It was truly a Lazy Sunday.

Day Five Hundred and Ninety-One

I did a terrible job tracking today. Honestly, I really didn’t try at all. My breakfast wasn’t awful, but it was good either. I had McDonald’s, and could have eaten a lot less than I did. It was around 1000 calories, but it was a brunch. I didn’t have anything for lunch because it was eaten at almost eleven this morning. Then came my dinner. We had a cookout for our men’s ministry at church. There was so much good meat! Ribs and smoked chicken! I was very glad that I ran before I went (although the cookies alone probably negated my run 😳). I did get a quick five miles in this afternoon. It wasn’t my fastest time, but it wasn’t too slow. I just took it easy on the first couple of miles. Then when my legs get loose, I went ahead and sped up. Now to get my butt in gear for the rest of this week!

Day Five Hundred and Ninety

It wasn't an awful day, but it wasn't my best either.  Too much popcorn and ice cream tonight.  Back on the no desert kick tomorrow.  We had some severe weather here that is over now.  We are all safe, but I didn't take time to get my tracker finalized.  Thankfully I got a quick 3.2 miles in right as the rain started.  I got wet, but it didn't stop my run.  It was a quick 5K, and I am so glad I was able to get it in today.

Day Five Hundred and Eighty-Nine - Weigh in #84 - Glad to Be Back on Track

I really don't know what had caused me to lose my disciplined mindset for the past four months.  Maybe it had something to do with an arrogant attitude.  I think I was telling myself that as long as I was running, I could eat whatever I wanted, and however much I felt like eating.  Obviously that wasn't correct, and I put on weight (especially bloating) like crazy.  It's amazing how one week of healthier eating and having discipline has led to me being back on track.  Let's see how my weigh in this week went.

After not weighing last week because I was out of town, I gave myself one week to get back on track.  I know I had gone up even more from the 217 lbs. I weighed at my last weigh in.  Just how much higher, I'm really not entirely sure.  I know I ate like a king last week, so I'm sure it was at least 220 lbs. (which a lot of it was bloating).  When I stepped onto the scale this morning, I was really excited to see my result.  I was down another 2.2 lbs. since my last weigh in.  This brought my total weight loss to 151.4 lbs., with a current weight of 214.8 lbs.  I was thrilled to see how a week of eating a lot more carefully has paid off.  I am finding my discipline again, and I know that I am back on the path that I had veered off of.  I think I can finish this journey in the next ten to twelve weeks.  I'm back on track, and I'm losing my butter half.

My calories today were a little more than I prefer, and it's because I allowed myself to have chips.  I rarely have chips, and I haven't done a good job of counting them out ahead of time.  When I do it that way, my calories are always perfect.  I need a better focus next time.  Preparing and counting ahead of time is a huge part of discipline.  My run was great today.  I got another full 10K in, which is huge because it is supposed to rain tomorrow and I'm not sure if I'll get to run.  The run felt great, and my time wasn't bad either!  Best of all is the perfect weather I have had the past two days.  It's been gorgeous out!