Learning about Running and Weight Loss and Stuff - March 21, 2012

I'm getting ready to head out for my daughter's IEP meeting (for pre-K! PRE-K! I can't even believe that...) and I thought I'd get some of this ramble out of my head.

First, I'm kicking ass and taking names with the Couch to 5K program. I'm about to finish week 8 and my first official 5K is this weekend. I still can't run the entire thing, but I also don't stop - I take a few seconds to catch my breath as I walk at a fast clip and then I go again. I sprint. I race with myself. I tell myself "You can stop at that mailbox. At that driveway. At the end of this song." So far, so good. Today I ran a 10:09 pace. I'm really, really proud of that.

My playlist is now sort of settling. For a while I used timed playlists created by others, but once the intervals of run/walk/run ended, I made my own. Here's what I'm running to at the moment:

1. Supa Shoppa by Blur (warmup)
2. Stars Above Us by Saint Etienne (warmup ends, run begins)
3. It's Tricky by Run DMC (and I'm off)
4. Raspberry Swirl by Tori Amos (current goal is to run without walking until the end of this song - I now can just about do it)
5. Paparazzi by Lady Gaga (even if I'm walking for a second or four, there are spots in this song that I always run through)
6. Hey Ya! by Outkast (this gives me a burst of energy and I always run through the "all right all right all right" and "shake it" parts, no matter how tired I am)
7. Baby Got Back by Sir Mixalot (I have found my energy flags here - this song is good for getting me going again, but I may need something else to replace it soon)
8. United State of Pop 2010 by DJ Earworm (a mashup of a bunch of popular songs - it begins a bit slow - I usually take a break - and as it ends, Beyonce is telling me to go faster and faster and stronger and stronger)
9. Merry by Magnapop (and when I hear this, I know I'm almost done)
10. Do You Sleep by Lisa Loeb (cool down!)
11. Crazy Town by Velocity Girl (end of cool down!)

I'm entering my second month of being a Weight Watchers Lifetime Member and it's going really well as I navigate how this new normal works. I still track almost everything I eat and still count points - I can't imagine not doing it at this stage, although I took one night off from tracking when I was out with a friend and knew I was both making decent choices and had enough points left in my weekly/activity bank to be OK. I also made sure that I got right back into tracking the next morning - that I didn't use that one night as an excuse to stop.

I went out this week to a fancy, famous-for-a-TV-connection restaurant with some out of town guests. Maybe it was that I'm a vegetarian and this restaurant focused on decidedly not so much (while having many choices on the menu for me), but it felt almost easy. The menu didn't scare me (like it did when I started WW) and I knew I would be OK.

I knew I'd go over my daily points, but I also knew what my bad habits were and decided not to fall into them. I ordered what I wanted, but I didn't order every single thing I wanted. I chose a mixed drink instead of a milkshake and I didn't get both, which is a major victory in my life, I swear. I had tastes of others' dishes but did not make sure I had ordered one thing from every menu section. I didn't get dessert. (I used to ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS get dessert, no matter how full I was. I actually don't know if this place offers dessert, but I didn't make sure I found myself some at the nearby favorite-cupcake-place-ever or an ice cream shop either.) 

What I learned from the experience was that I could go out, have a good time, even overindulge just a bit, but feel happy and satisfied and not bloated and horrible. I could go someplace special and not have to make food be part of the overall experience - the experience was the friends, the ambiance, the way the waiter acted, and yes, the flavors. But not the "MUST HAVE IT ALL MAY NEVER GET HERE AGAIN" feeling I used to know too well. The new normal. Here it is. (I also made up the points for this - probably overestimating - based on a few factual things and some guesses. But I did track it all. I held myself accountable.)

So that's where I'm at. People are noticing the change in me. I'm noticing the change in me. 

And now...off to the IEP meeting...