Changing Course

After my post last Thursday about choices getting easier after a few good days, I did a lot of backward sliding this weekend.

This is me backward sliding. It is fun while it lasts.

Friday, I ate out a lot.  After a comedy of errors that involved getting the headlight replaced in my car, getting soaked to the bone and being an hour late to work, I felt I "deserved" another one of those delish bagels from Einstein's at school. I hadn't stopped thinking about it since I got my first one on Wednesday.  Good news, this second was not nearly as good as the first one, so I think I've broken the bagel spell.

Then for no reason at all, I decided to go to the food court at lunch to get Popeye's chicken. I had brought lunch from home, but I was just in the mood for Popeye's.  Crazy that just two days before I was so careful to avoid that fried chicken at lunch.  Then I met up with Cara, one of my favorite high schoolers, for dinner. It was really the only justified meal out of the day.

Look at us in our matching awesome shirts! We were
supposed to be going to a football game, thus the shirts,
but the game got rained out.

After spending Saturday morning inspired to get running again by hard-bodied triathletes, I was plain exhausted. So of course my guard was down when I went grocery shopping (which resulted in Halloween candy and Combos finding their way into my buggy and then I slept and read all afternoon.

Anyway, I think what this two day slide has taught me is that just as I thought on Thursday, little choices add up.  I think giving into that bagel Friday morning set me up to fail the rest of the weekend.  It's like when you're swimming laps and moving in one direction quickly, then you turn around and it's a bit harder to move forward at first because the water is all still moving in the direction you were going before you turned around. You have to fight against it. It's always easier to move in the direction you're going, rather than change course.  And it works both ways. When I'm doing well, it's a bit easier to keep that streak going. When I'm doing poorly, it's much easier to keep moving in that direction rather than changing courses.  What do you think? Was that swimming metaphor too much of a reach?  Does anyone even know what I'm talking about with the water moving in one direction?

So now it's time to change course again and get ready for another week of being successful. Do you need to change course or are you right on track?  

Triathletes are Awesome

Today I got up before the sun to volunteer at a local triathlon. I'm so glad I did.

Triathletes are amazing. They are strong, they are focused and they are really very polite.  All important things, really.

Beautiful Lake Wylie!

Let's back up a bit.  After the Heels N Wheels Duathlon in August, I was pumped up on racing. I came home desperate to find my next race.  After scouring the interwebs, I found that Rock Hill was hosting its very own Tri with an open water swim, the Tri for Abbey sprint triathlon at Ebenezer Park on Lake Wylie.

This is exciting news. It's the only tri I've seen in Rock Hill that takes advantage of the lake.  (There's one or two others that have their swim portion in the Y pool.).  However, I kind of gave up on running after the high of winning that medal wore off, so I was in no shape to compete.  Then it hit me.  I should volunteer at the race.

My body marking at the
Turtle Crawl in May

I emailed the race directors who wrote back immediately and told me to come at 6 a.m.!  When I got there, they handed me some markers and put me in charge of body marking.  If you remember from my previous races, triathletes get their bib number written on each limb.  So for almost two hours I stood there and marked every limb that stood still long enough.  It was great.  I got to talk to so many athletes and wished a lot of them good luck.

Let me tell you, 95 percent of triathletes do not look like me.  They are lean, hard-bodied and muscular.  There were a few people who were a little more squishy around the edges like myself, but not a lot.

Me at my body marking station

Just as the race was about to start, one of the organizers came over and loaded a bunch of us volunteers up in the back of a pickup.  He dropped us out on the bike course -  which was 14 miles - one by one.  We wore orange vests and had orange flags. Our job was to wave the flags at the bikers so they would know they were supposed to turn.  I was the last volunteer to be dropped off, which meant I was last turn before they made it back to the park and the bike finish.  It AMAZED me how far 14 miles seems. I can't believe I bike that far!

This was my turn. It was a left so it
was important they didn't miss it.

He dropped me off at 8 a.m., which was just as the race was getting started. I had a long time to wait before the triathletes finished the swim and made it through 13.5 miles of biking.  After I'd been there about 20 minutes it started thundering. Then it started POURING.  Buckets and buckets and buckets of rain were dumped on me, standing there all alone at my intersection with my little orange vest. I bet all of the cars that drove past thought I was crazy. (BTW if you were on Mt. Gallant near Ebenezer Park between 8-10 a.m., you might've seen me!)


Anyway, eventually the first biker came tearing up the course in the pouring rain. I was wearing my glasses and it was almost impossible to see, but I got him to turn like he was supposed to do.  Then it was maybe 10 minutes before the next biker came. That first guy had a mega lead!  After that it was pretty fast and furious.  I would wave my flag and shout encouragement like, "Keep it up!" or "Looking good!" or a combination: "Keep up the good work!" as they whizzed by me.  Many of them thanked me for volunteering and/or cheering! (So polite)

Me in my vest with my flag.
Before the rain.

It eventually stopped raining and then I was just soaked. I couldn't even wipe of my glasses because every piece of me was wet. (which makes the second time in two days that has been the case.) Eventually, I heard on the walkie that we were just waiting on biker 37.  They would name each intersection he cleared and I could follow his path in my mind and cheer silently for him.  He was extremely far behind all of the other bikers, like maybe 30 minutes behind anyone else.  I started to worry about him. I wondered if he was extremely old.  Eventually, I saw him coming up the road and realized he was a 12-year-old kid! I was so impressed and started cheering wildly for him.

Anyway, I apologize for the length of this blog about a race that I wasn't even in, but I am so glad I got the chance to work it. Volunteers have meant a lot to me at the races I have done, and I wanted a chance to help other athletes. It's actually a pretty sweet gig. I got a free race t-shirt, got to enjoy the race day atmosphere and the inspiration of triathletes and didn't have to worry about all of the stress of racing.  Though nothing quite beats the satisfaction of crossing that finish line. Guess I've got to get back to running again, huh?

Excitement at 6 a.m.!

Tomorrow morning, I'm getting up at 5 a.m.

To volunteer at a race.

I am so stoked.

And you are going to hear all about it sometime Saturday afternoon.


Have a wonderful Friday!

Today Was Easier

Tiny choices add up.  Here's how I've come to realize this.

Each time I start out anew for what I hope to be a lifetime of healthy living, it is hard.  The first few days I don't know if I can make it. I can't remember how I've done this for two years. I want to eat nothing but donuts, candy and Moe's.  (can we say sugar addiction?)When I try to stand up to these cravings, I get upset. I feel deprived. I feel sorry for myself. I feel sad about the foods I'm giving up.  It is a perilous few days. 

In the last six months I have had too many of these diet reboots to count.  Sometimes I don't make it past the first day or two, sometimes I last a few weeks  This week I've noticed that the more often I say "Yes" to a healthy lifestyle by choosing not to eat out or choosing to push myself hard in my workouts (or really, even do my workouts) or choosing to snack wisely, the easier it gets.  

The first couple of days this week were bad. They may have sounded great on the blog, because I've focused on my victories, but they were hard.  I thought about giving up several times a day.  

Do you know what kept me going? The uncomfortable feeling I've been having lately when I sit down and my stomach bunches up.  I've referred to it a couple of times on the blog as a spare tire around my stomach. It makes me angry and it helps me remember that I don't have to be like this. I don't have to give up. I've stuck with it before, and I can do it again.

Somehow, just knowing that I've made it through four days makes me feel stronger.  It makes me better equipped to say no when temptation comes around. I can stick with this!

So, if you're wanting to get in shape or lose weight, but you're frustrated because it is so hard to start.  Just know that if you persevere, it gets easier.  Not easy, but easier. 

I'm off to Turbo for the second time this week!  

Dilemmas of the Forgetful

Today I slept in a little late because of the gentle rainfall outside. A consequence of my lie-in was not having extra time to adjust to being awake before leaving for work and, thus, promptly forgetting my lunch.

Of course I did not realize I had forgotten my lunch until I turned on my computer at work and turned to go put my lunch in the fridge like I do every single morning. It simply was not in my bag like it should've been.

So already, on my third day of being good, I'm faced with a dilemma:
A) Do I chuck it all and go out to eat?
B) Do I use my lunch hour to drive home, see my dog and eat the homemade lunch I was supposed to eat today while skipping my only chance for a workout today?
C) Do I grab a quick take-out lunch from the school food court, eat it at my desk, and still get in a good workout?

In this choose your own adventure scenario, I went with option C.  While our food court is not known for healthy options, the thought of driving all the way home for lunch (it's like 7 minutes EACH WAY!) was too much.  And after last night's small victory, I wasn't ready to chuck it all quite yet.

So I set out for the food court in the campus center, home to delicious fried chicken, cheesey pizza, big burgers and Chinese food.  Not exactly a paragon of health. Also they have a bunch of candy at the cash register, which I usually fall prey to.

When I walked in though, instead of going to the full food court, I went to the tiny Einstein's bagel that is off to the side thinking I'd get a sandwich. This made it so I didn't even feast my eyes on the more unhealthy stuff or the candy.  First victory.

Then I saw the salads and they looked really good. And then I ORDERED one. Friends, I almost never pay money for a salad. They are ridiculously expensive at most restaurants and often don't fill me up.  This one was ridiculously expensive, but it looked really good and had a nice big slab of grilled chicken, so I got it. Second victory.

Then I thought that since I was being so good with the salad and because I was super hungry because forgetting my lunch means I forgot my snacks as well, I decided to splurge for a bagel and cream cheese.  I thought this was a reasonable addition to my lunch until I got back to my office and practically swallowed the bagel whole. It was the BEST thing I have maybe ever tasted.  It was warm and chewy and smothered in cream cheese. I'm sure it was way too many calories. But I scarfed it down without looking back and didn't even remember that I was going to photograph my lunch for the blog until after that delish bagel was gone.  Not a victory, but the best thing about my day thus far. Now, almost 6 hours later, I still catch myself day dreaming about it.

Then on the way out of the student center I fell for a student club bake sale for breast cancer and got two cookies for 50 cents. What a deal!  And I supported students and breast cancer research at the same time!

I had a great afternoon workout, so I think this was the best solution even with the bagel and cookies downfall.  And for the record, I don't regret them one bit. It was the most amazing bagel of my life and the cookies weren't bad either.

Trying Again with Turbo

Today I went to my first TurboKick class in MONTHS.  If you're a long time reader of this blog, you may recall that Turbo (as it's known for short) is a high-intensity, highly choreographed (i.e. danc-y) kickboxing class at the WU that I LOVE.

Somehow, between the race training and the summer work schedule I got away from my regular Turbo classes.  I'm not sure how long it's been, but the last time I went was definitely before I got my hair cut.  Dem curls were bouncing everywhere tonight!

Anyway, I was super nervous about being able to hack it.  Turbo is so much fun, but it is a killer workout and I'm out of Turbo-shape.

I'm so glad I went.  I was able to hang in there the whole hour, a semi-high level of energy. BTW, this is what I look like after Turbo. It looks like I just got out of a swimming pool. I hope you can see that.

The whole time I was working out in front of this large mirror, I was continually thinking one of three things:
1) My body did not look like this the last time I Turboed.
2) All of this jumping and kicking would be so much easier without the spare tire around my middle.
3) What fast food joint should I stop at to get dinner on my way home tonight?

Because of course, if I'm feeling bad about the weight I've gained, the BEST solution is to eat out and thus make the situation worse, right?

WRONG.

And ladies and gentlemen, I don't know how I did it, but I made it home without stopping to get dinner at a fast food restaurant!  I think it was because I had worked out so hard I just didn't feel like eating right then.  So I went home, showered and ate the meal I had planned to eat at home.  Yay for small victories!

PS Sorry for the excessive capitalization.  I'm feeling very expressive tonight.

Courage to Try Again

Yesterday, my friend Stephanie Hardy posted this as her Facebook status:

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, 'I'll try again tomorrow.'"

It seemed apropos for the day I'm starting, yet again, to try to maintain healthy eating. It's a little scary to start again, especially when I have tried so many times - and failed many times. There's that voice that always tells me I can't succeed. That this effort will be just like last week's effort and the week before that.

But the little voice of courage speaks too. The only thing that counts is to which you choose to listen.

Today's major victories:

1) Ate breakfast at home.

2) Ate the lunch I brought and got in a great workout at lunch.

These are two major areas I've been struggling with lately.  I'm always at my weakest when I wake up (I'm just not a morning person), and often if I give in to temptation at breakfast, I end up giving in all day long.  

About lunch - I don't know what's been wrong with me at lunch lately, but for most of the summer it has been a struggle to find my motivation to get my lunch time workout in. Yes, it is a lot of work to change into gym clothes, work out hard and get cleaned up and back to work within an hour. So it's just been easier to skip it. Again, I'm lazy.  Plus, it's tastier to skip it and go out to eat instead.

Today's trials:

 1) We had some communal M&Ms at work that I, of course, could not help partaking in. Admittedly, I was the one who brought them in last week to share with the group because they were WU colors (also known as the fall mix).  Luckily, they sit on someone else's desk so I have to get up, walk over there and be watched as I scoop a tiny handful out.  And I only work half a day in that office, so I escaped their siren call at lunch time.

2) I'm eating dinner out tonight with friends, but it is at McAlister's, so I should be able to order responsibly.

At the end of the day, I'd say it was a pretty good Monday.  Not the best I've ever been, but so far from the worst.

How'd you guys do today?