Sunday, June 23, 2013

Week 1 Update - Success!


As you can see from the pic I've had more success than I sought after this week.  My original weight loss goal for each week is 1.5 pounds.  That would get me to my racing weight in the 9 weeks that I had until the America's Finest City Half Marathon.  I'm working on the theory that my racing times have been directly affected by the extra weight I'm carrying around.

This week was both harder and easier than I thought it would be, as every time that you get back on the wagon is.  I already had all the knowledge about paleo so I wasn't making any rookie mistakes.  But there were a few days in which I gave in to temptation.  There was a bag of chips.  And a piece of french bread.  My body knows where those precious carbs are and when you try to switch from 50% of your calories from carbs to fat, your body doesn't necessarily get the message right away.

I read an article where endurance athletes are finding success on the paleo diet.  They are regularly eating almost 60% of the diet in healthy fats like olive oil and avocado.  I admire them, but they also have a trainer/nutritionist telling them what to eat.  If only the rest of us had that tool in our toolbox.  We only have our determination and motivation.

Only 8 more weeks until the AFC, and potentially a Personal Record for a San Diego race.

Things that helped me stay paleo this week:

  • Go Raw Organic Sunflower Flax Snax - These little crackers were the perfect movie theater snack when my kids and hubby wanted to go see a movie
  • EPIC bar - The Bison Bar is my favorite and it's almost a perfect meal replacement when you're on the go
  • Breakfast Hash - What do you do when you run out of bacon AND avocados and need to make breakfast?  You grab all the veggies out of your fridge, a meat (ground turkey is my fav) and eggs and make breakfast hash!
  • WATER - This can't be stressed enough.  You need to drink about 75 ounces of water a day.  It keeps you hydrated, it helps flush toxins, it makes your skin beautiful, and it keeps you from feeling hungry.
  • Quinoa - I know . . . it's not strict paleo.  But its not a grain and its not a pasta, but dang does it taste good.  The high protein of this sprouted seed justifies the "not-so-paleo" I feel.  And I can eat it when my family is having rice or pasta and I don't feel like I'm sacrificing or depriving myself.  

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Running bored: how to put that spring back into your running gait

As runners you'll eventually come to the point where running is a habit.  You no longer have to give yourself a pep talk to get out of the door and into your shoes.  But there's something else that can inhibit your progress in training: BOREDOM.  I live in a very hilly neighborhood, which is a challenge and good for training.  But every once in a while I find myself dreading my run.  Runners love to run but we also love to run in fun places.  That's why races like the RockNRoll series holds their races in exciting places like Las Vegas and Dublin, Ireland.  There's no need to shell out hundreds of dollars to find that excitement though.  While it may seem counter-intuitive to DRIVE someone to run, think of it as an investment in your training.

When you're excited to run, you're more likely to do it.  In any city there are well-established "runner" areas.  In San Diego, Mission Bay is well known for being Runner Friendly, as is Lake Murray.  I was reminded of this topic by an article on the San Diego Military Lifestyle Blog.  In the comments on that article I posted "I have loads of favorite running spots! I live in Lakeside and its not a runner friendly area, so when I need to run distance training I have to drive. I enjoy running at Lake Murray in La Mesa, in Eastlake in the community near the ARCO olympic training center, along the Silver Strand (watch out for the triathletes! They’re in full training mode!), and along Mission Beach from the Pacific Beach Pier. San Diego has some of the best running areas!"  Is it obvious that I've fought boredom in my running?  

If driving to another area to run isn't possible, consider another solution to running boredom: apps.  Running apps come in all sorts of varieties.  There are some that change the tempo of your music to match your pace, there are some that give you feedback on your pace, and then there's my favorite Zombies, Run!  There's no way you can be bored when you're listening to a well written storyline about a post-apocalyptic world in which "Runners" are relied upon for food and supply gathering.  A great list of running apps to help fight boredom can be found at Greatist.com.  

What are ways that YOU fight running boredom?


Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Back in the Saddle

If anyone has noticed that I haven't been posting very much its for two reasons.  The first is that I've been busy.  I've been a half marathon running fool, having run 5 half marathons already this year.  Two of them were two weeks apart.  I really don't want to do that anymore.  The recovery is rough.  I also "went back to school" to get a degree in PR & Marketing from Ashford University.  Also, as of May I now work for the racing group that I am an Ambassador for.  I'm the new Event Volunteer Coordinator for Wiz Marketing, Inc and I have the joy of helping to organize 5k/10k/half marathons in the SoCal area.  It's been an amazing 6 months.  My second reason for not posting (at all!) is that my Paleo has been just awful.  I am stick cooking paleo-style.  No processed oils, no legumes, and lots of whole foods.  I gave in to the temptation of grains though.  As a runner, those easy carbs are so very tempting.

I am going to attempt to show that YOU CAN GET BACK ON THE WAGON after falling very hard.  For the next 9 weeks I plan to focus on my Paleo to get back to my PR weight.  The last time I earned a Personal Record I weighed 171 pounds.  That's still considered "heavy" for my height, but I look and feel great at it.  Besides, I'm pretty sure my leg muscles consist half of that weight.  So that's about 14 pounds in 9 weeks.  Or about 1.5 pounds a week.  I can do this.  And posting here is going to keep me accountable.

Yesterday was Day 1.  And I already have optimistic results . . . . but we all know its just water weight as my fat cells dehydrate.
1.5 pounds lost after Day 1

Oh, and as you can see I got a Withings scale after my old digital scale bit the dust.  It's an amazing tool for motivation when you link it to your iphone.  It also links to my Runkeeper to track my activity and can link to many many other apps and devices.  I totally recommend a Withings scale to anyone who is interested in tracking their progress. 

If you've fallen off the Paleo wagon and managed to get back on, I would LOVE to hear about it.  I'd also love to hear the REASONS that you feel off in the first place.  The key to success is knowing what to avoid and how to stay on track.