Fitness, fatness and frustration - oh my!

It has done nothing much other than rain here for the last week which has really done a number on my mood (to say nothing of the hormonal roller-coaster I feel like I'm on, sorry if that's TMI). We finally saw some sun today and the rain should hopefully be finished by Saturday night - please! I haven't even felt like blogging for goodness sake! Being cooped up in the house with the family grates on the nerves at times, and today I foolishly thought I could have breakfast with friends before I went grocery shopping. That bit me on the a$$ when Jason fell asleep in the car for 20 minutes on the way home and then didn't want to nap until 4pm. Which is right when Sarah woke up. Par for the course for this week. On the bright side, William and I went to the nursery yesterday and picked up a truckful of perennials to plant, if it ever stops POURING! :-) I'm feeling the need to dig in the dirt. And also get me some church, but that's for another post.

THIS post is about running, eating, health and weight loss - and what conclusions I've come to after training for my race.

Big revelation number 1:
YOU CAN DO FAR MORE THAN YOU THINK YOU CAN DO.

When I started training for my 10k race 9 weeks ago I was able to complete a 2 mile run in about 25 minutes. On Saturday I was able to run 6.2 miles in 56:34 minutes. I finished 30 out of 86 women in my age group, and 624 out of 1207 runners total. Almost in the top half of the group. Why? Because I was commited to doing it, and I stuck with the program as it was laid out for me, even when I didn't feel like it very much. Don't ever say "oh I could never do this/that/the other" because you CAN. You just have to work up to it! I don't think I'll ever attempt a marathon, or even a half-marathon, but another 10k I probably will. I have a lot more energy now than when I started and I love being able to run with William as he tries to master riding a bike. Now that I'm done 'training', my goal is to run 4 to 6 miles 3 days a week, and add the FIRM workouts in another 2 to 3 days; I FEEL stronger and healthier even though I've come to realize:

Big revelation number 2:
YOU CAN RUN 6 MILES AND STILL NOT LOSE ANY WEIGHT.

Ok so now I'm fit, why am I still fat? (or, fatter than I'd like?) BECAUSE I'D HAVE TO RUN 10 MILES EVERY DAY TO SUPPORT MY CALORIE CONSUMPTION. It's far easier for me to exercise than it is for me to NOT put the food in my mouth. I played around with some calorie calculators today and discovered that even my daily intake goal of 1800 was still too high to lose 1lb of fat per week; my goal needs to be closer to 1650 - if I couldn't stick to 1800, how am I going to manage even less? This is where my inner fat lady gets the best of me. I love food! Take me out to eat, and I'm drawn to the seafood pasta dishes every time. Carbs are what I crave and it's going to take some serious discipline for me to break out of this rut. I think what I'm going to have to do is make up my meal/snack list for the day and post it in the kitchen, and write myself notes everywhere to remind myself that each little bite adds up. We'll see if that gets me anywhere. I think I've just gotten discouraged because I really thought that the exercise would motivate me to watch what I eat better. It's not just about the weight - it's the fact that the noshing I'm doing is not fruits & veggies & stuff that's good for me, it's chocolate and M&M's and sugar and sweets - which does nothing for my mood, my 'seat' or my teeth.

So - if I haven't bored you senseless by this time, thanks for listening, I feel better just for having gotten this all out. Here are two links I found interesting if you'd like to do some research for yourself:

Mark's Daily Apple - How Long Do I Have to Exercise Before I See Changes?


Fitwatch Calorie Deficit Calculator

Tomorrow is a new day and I'm going to try to cut back on the sugar :-) - and also I want to show you what Matt brought us back from Japan!