Steady…Steady…

For the last two days both my blood sugar (104) and weight (236.6) have held steady, but, from week to week it is going down. I haven’t documented my intake here in a couple of days, but, its been fairly consistent: banana, cereal, and blueberries with skim milk for breakfast; protein bar for mid-morning snack, vegetables and cheese for lunch; apple for snack; some kind of supper with minimized helping of carbs; cereal with skim milk for snack; handful of dried fruit/mixed nuts with skim milk for late snack.

I had a good run Sunday and accomplished my goal of running the full 5K distance, but, without pushing for any kind of speed. I just want to continue easing into more distance while, intermittently, throwing in some repeats every now and then. Once March roles around I think it will be time to start ramping up my intensity with more tempo runs at the 5K distance in the hopes of setting myself up for a PR in my first 5K of the year: the first annual Millbridge Elementary School 5K. Hopefully with the pacing help of my new Garmin Forerunner 110 watch I can do it.

Looking forward to exploring a newly discovered neighborhood not far from the house today for 2-3 miles. So glad to be running again and to have my weight moving in the right direction: steadily downward.

Seven Days Of Positive Transition

The only thing that I’m not too pleased with in the past week is that I failed to record my daily numbers and intake for the last two days. That being said, everything else has turned out just the way I hoped it would. My blood sugar readings have continued to register lower than they have in months and, after gaining back enough weight during the holidays to hit 241, I’ve turned the corner and, as of this morning, I weighed in at 236.6. I attribute this success to two main factors: 1-I’ve been pretty careful about eating a very low-sugar, low-carb diet. 2-I’ve made sure to get in a workout at least every other day this week: three runs totaling 6.9 miles and 37 laps/1,850 yards in the pool at the local Y yesterday. I will either take today off and get a longer run in tomorrow or run today.

I’m especially excited about the running workout’s now that my mother-in-law and wife made arrangements for me to get GPS Garmin Forerunner 110 watch with heart monitor chest strap as a late Christmas/early birthday present. I’ve run with it one time, so far, and absolutely love all of the data that it collects and the accuracy and detail with which it does so. At the very least, I’ll be able to regulate my pace in workouts and in races when I’m trying to improve upon my personal record. I expect, though, that it will also help me as a motivational tool. For example, if I’m running along feeling one way about how I’m running, but, glance at the watch and see that I’m not running as fast as I thought I was, I can can kick it up a notch in order make better use of what my body is actually capable of as opposed to just going with whatever effort it feels like giving on a particular day. The increased likelihood of me staying on pace means that my 5K PR’s days are numbered!

–

 

Blood sugar: 99

Weight 236.6

Tuesday, 1/24/12

Blood sugar: 105 – Weight: 239

Breakfast: three eggs, spinach, mozzarella, turkey sausage patty, ketchup, 2 tbsp fresh blueberries, black coffee

Snack: protein bar, black coffee

Lunch: stuffed green pepper (green pepper, rice, ground turkey meat mozzarella), bottled water

Snack: apple, black coffee, handful dried fruit/nut mix

Supper: 4 pieces thin-sliced Banquet turkey with gravy, 2 cups mixed vegetables, 1/2 stuffed green pepper

Snack: bowl of Special K Fruit & Yogurt mixed with Cinnamon Toast Crunch, skim milk, handful dried fruit/nut mix, glass of water, 2nd small handful of dried fruit/nut mix

—

Daily Intake Self-Assessment: 4/5

Workout: 2.45 miles in 29:52 on the hilly trail at East Rowan YMCA

2012 Goals: 2011’s Goals Revisited

I established a set of goals last summer that I felt were attainable, though, I wasn’t naive enough to think that reaching them would be easy, I didn’t really factor in a few other factors that have set me back just a bit.

I learned, over the course of the last year of running, that a 225-260 poind 35-year-old body needs to be handled with care. Ramping up the mileage all of a sudden in June and July just because school is out and I have extra time, for example, is not necesarilly a great training strategy. While I felt up to it, my joints informed me later that they weren’t.

Since then, however, I’ve acquired a good handful of advice and experience and I feel somewhat confident that I can take another stab at it in a slightly more responsible manner. I did lose just over 35 pounds in 2011, but, gained half of it back over the holidays. The silver lining is that I’m lighter than I was at this time last year.

In general, I’m keeping the same progression of goals in tact, but, just pushing the marathon part back a bit. To start out, I plan on taking part in my elementary school PTA’s first 5K on 3/23. From there I plan to run most of the same 5K’s that I ran last year (starting with the Angels Among Us 5K at Duke on 4/28), just faster. Hopefully, in the process, I’ll shed the holiday weight and continue working toward my ultimate goal of simply not being overweight anymore (under 180 would be great!).

1. 3/23/11 – Millbridge Elementary PTA 5K, China Grove, NC

2. 4/28/11 – Angels Among Us 5K at Duke University, Durham, NC

3. 5/5/11 – Down & Dirty Mud Run, South Rowan YMCA, Landis, NC

4. 5K For Cowden, Cleveland, NC – Date TBD

5. 6/8/11 – China Grove Main Street 5K Challenge, China Grove, NC

 

SUMMER 2012:

-Kelly LaBare 5K, Binghamton, NY (possibly)

-Warrior Dash/Tough Mudder or similar obstacle event (possibly)

-Boilermaker 15K, Ithaca, NY (possibly)

 

FALL 2012/WINTER 2013:

-Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure 5K, Charlotte, NC

-10K

-Winter Flight 8K, Salisbury, NC

 

SPRING 2013:

-Angels Among Us 5K at Duke University, Durham, NC

-10K

-Half-Marathon

 

FALL 2013:

-Marathon

 

Monday, 1/23/12

Blood sugar: 101       Weight: 239

Breakfast: bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch, skim milk, fresh blueberries, black coffee

Snacks: fiber bar, protein bar

Lunch: Mexican dish (mushrooms, cheese, spinach, beans, flour tortillas), chips, salsa, Diet Pepsi

Snack: nut/fruit bar, black coffee

Supper: turkey hot dog, horseradish sauce, mixed vegetables, beverage

Snacks: Activia Light blueberry yogurt, bowl of Special K Fruit & Yogurt, 2 tsp blueberries, handful nuts/dried fruit mix, glass of skim milk

—

Intake self-assessment for the day: 3/5 – Tempted to consider this a four, but, I know I really overdid it with my lunch today.

Sunday, 1/22/12

Blood sugar: ? – can’t remember…will have to check what the meter said for Sunday’s reading later and edit this post 😉

Daily Intake: Breakfast – high fiber bar, 2 Eggo blueberry waffles, Morning Star veggie egg/cheese/sausage biscuit, small cup of Activia Blueberry yogurt, black coffee; Morning snack – bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, skim milk, banana;

[The next day…]

….and thats about as far as I got with THAT post. Sitting here trying to remember what I ate yesterday isn’t so easy. I know there was a stuffed-green pepper for supper with a side salad and that there was probably a fiber bar and some dried-frult/nut mix. Diet Dr. Pepper, black coffee, etc., etc. All in all I would probably rate yesterday’s intake with a 3/5. Average. Could’ve been better or worse. The positive, though, was the 2.4 miles I ran at the park through the mud. It wasn’t a record time, but, I was going for a slightly longer distance at a steady rate as I try to gently nudge my way into a solid workout routine. With the run and the 1,950 yard swim I did the day before, I’m going to give my body the day off today. Maybe I can focus my attention on a really sound diet for one day. What? Go out for Mexican at lunch with co-workers? Sure!

Return From Halfway Gone

9/11/11 marked my lowest weight of 2011. Nearly 260 pounds was the number on New Year’s day 2011, but, nine months later I had lost over 30 pounds from a combination of motivation provided by a diabetes diagnosis, a new running habit, and a much more strategic approach to what I’m eating. Unfortunately, though, my success started to disappear as fall turned into winter and holiday treats abounded more and more around every corner. I did, somewhat, kind-of, ok-maybe-not-very-much, maintain a minimal, if not sporadic, running routine, but, the change in diet was too much to handle. I was back up to 241 before I knew it. So, now I’m doing my best to engage a full U-turn and get going in the right direction again. I’m at least a week in to reestablishing a consistent running routine and I pushed myself, after not having swam since November, to surviving 39 laps in the pool. The last couple of days have also marked a much more careful approach to what I’m putting in my body: maintaining solid discipline against candy of any type (which happens to be all around you every day when one works in an elementary school), taking steps toward minimizing carb-laden foods, and engaging in a stricter level of sugar-restriction.

Now, for another step: reestablishing the recording of my daily intake and daily numbers. I know it helped me before (thanks Gerry!) and I could use its help now. So, without further ado…

—

Blood Sugar – 113; Weight – n/a

Daily Intake – Breakfast: 2 eggs w/ tomato, 2 slices of turkey bacon, 1/3 cup blueberries, 1/3 cup Almond Delight cereal, black coffee – Late morning snack: bowl of Almond Delight cereal w/ skim milk – Post-swim lunch: 32 oz bottle of Powerade Zero, bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch w/ skim milk – Afternoon snack: cup of no sugar added lowfat ice cream, black coffee – Supper: 3 slices of deep dish pizza (onions, garlic, mushrooms), tossed salad, 12 oz. Diet Coke – Evening Snack: bowl of cinnamon Life cereal, skim milk

Daily Intake Assessment: I think I’ll start assessing my daily intake at day’s end using a 0-5 scale with 0 being an extremely irresponsible day of eating and 5 being a strictly on-target day of eating and drinking slections for the day. A 3 will indicate an average day that could be better and could be worse. Using this scale, I would rate today as a 2. It would’ve been at least a 3, and more likely a 4, if I hadn’t had so much cereal today, in combination with the three pieces of deep-dish pizza. I should’ve stopped at two. I expect my blood sugar count to be higher than I’d like in the morning. Hopefully I can keep it in check a little bit better tomorrow.