nanako

The advanced BW workout is loathesome. But so effective! We can do it together if you like. 

As for the all-or-nothing, I read sth yesterday: "If you stuff your face for the rest of the day after slipping once, that's like when you accidentally drop your phone and then say: Oh yeah now I'm going to stamp on it till it effing breaks." 

Went a bit overboard snacking yesterday but still managed a good deficit (530 kcal). Must be careful though. It was paleo snacks - nuts and salmon. But I guess I shouldn't have nuts at all!

Feeling my abs - the planks and what I did yesterday - little though it was - seem to have an effect. Good thing. 

Nice run today - 7 miles into the woods and back. Loved it. It's really cold today and everything is covered in hoar frost. I miss winter - real winter, that is. Had to stop to catch my breath at one point (uphill for 3.5 miles) and I could see the dazzling white sun through the trees and in the shadows where I was standing everything was white and frosty - and I was steaming! Nice.

This is my third week of training for the half and I have completed all my runs bar one slow 2miler. Really happy. Going to do that one tomorrow (the badge!) anyway. 

Later

Took the husband and kids for a walk - that's another 2hours of walking logged on top of my seven miler. Overall today that's a deficit of -1325 kcals. Wow! Burning twice as much as I eat now. This will cover my deficit for the cheat day if you know what I mean.

All achey today BTW - DOMs on the shoulders and back from the chins and push ups. Tomorrow is Monday so it's my bodyweight day. Thanks god it's taper week - 12 miles this week - so I don't have to run hard on sore legs on Tuesday. 

Tuesday is my obligatory cheat day (which I switched) and I am trying to work out what to eat. Probably bread three ways or something, muaharhar.

Only two more days until I get my reindeer badge! Yay! I'll show it to you when I get it. 

Some people from my club are doing a hangover 10K but I'm not yet 100% convinced. I could be tempted if it's flat and tarmac, I really want a new 10K PB very badly. 

Later 

So my tapering week schedule says 2 miles on Monday, a 5K with the club on Tuesday, 10K on Wed, and another 5K on the Saturday. That's too much ... I want to do 12 miles on the taper not 14!So maybe just an easy two both Monday and Tuesday, and skip the Saturday, can't be asked! 

That also gives me a nice long recovery period of 5 days - brilliant. 

Although I must say I could get used to running every day (again). It does kind of keep you on your toes ... you're always recovering, always DOMs, always feeling your body and feeling really fit and your burn LOTSANDLOTS. Suits me. But I don't want to risk injury. Even the reindeer badge issue is actually really stretching it, shouldn't be doing that really. 

BTW the change of shoes did wonders for my heels really. Will do my easy 2miler in trail shoes tomorrow again. Minimal is fine but and incrase in mileage and my feet are really sore. So taking it easy is probably the best idea. 

 but when I let some of the non-primal stuff in I don't know how to say no.

 

Yeah I get the same problem. It sometimes feels it's actually easier to stick with it 100%, I think.

Did ok yesterday: 1561 Kcals eaten and a 742kcal deficit. 

Scales are up another kilo today. Maybe I should just ditch them altogether and just rely on tracking? After all there is no getting round the physics and I know I will lose when I'm eating a deficit. 

Will run a sneaky mile today towards my badge but other than that it's a rest day. 7-miler tomorrow. 

Later

Ran a slow-slow 1.9 miles and earned two new badges. Not the reindeer one though, need three more days for it. Wore my old trail shoes (non minimals) which made my knees wobble but my left ankle and heel felt good in them. 

Stopped at the bars and had a go at chins - managed 4-2-1 after weeks of abstinence, which I guess is ok. Will get a cheapo bar from Argos to install in the kitchen doorway over the holidays and do a grease-the groove-programme-thing.

Will do some planks and push ups later but don't want to do squats. My legs did feel tired today and there's a seven miler on tomorrow. 

chins 4,2,1

planks 2x1min

push ups 4,4

After 4 months (injury) my back is well again and I can do push ups without felling like my back is breaking. W00t w00t. Good news. 

Later

Swimming with the kids. Later we had shawarma at a greasy-spoon - yummie! Didn't eat any bread or chips so it's just roast chicken and cabbage -  paleo. Had a couple of handfuls of cashews so I'll be slightly over 1400, but the extra expenditure from the swimming will cancel it out. 

Felt utter rubbish today - most likely hormonal causes. Weight ballooned to improbable 77.5kgs within a day - 3.5kgs more. Might ditch the scales altogether? At least I will get my prolactin results on Tuesday. Am hoping this will clear up things. 

Did my speedwork and athough I got it all muddled up I ended up running my fastest mile yet (7.41) and my fastest 5K (28.21). Quite chuffed. 

Will try and make this time official some time soon - park run at Little Stoke, probably, if I can find someone to drive me.

4 days left in the year and if I run every day I'll get the "In it for December" badge on smashrun. Would love to have it because it's got a reindeer on it. And if I don't get it now I'll have to wait another year! So much for infantile reward systems. Wonder if it's ok to run two sneaky super-slow two-milers on top of my training plan? If I take it super-slow I might get away with it and it might stabilize my mood as well. 

7 miler on Sunday to wrap up the third week of training.

Weighed myself after the run - 75kg - I mean, I ask you! Either scale broken or just insane water fluctuations.

Today is Friday but I'm shifting my cheat day to next Tuesday - New Year's Eve - because we are invited to a friend's house and I don't want to count calories there. Makes more sense too.

LATER

I did well today. Husband and kids are munching crisps, chocolate, and sausages while I am being sensible. 1400 and not hungry in the least. Still mind is continually thinking: "What else could I eat?" It feels strange to "let go" and focus on relaxation, breathing, not eating.

Left heel is hurting a little bit and I am thinking I should give it a good rub-down with a golf ball soon. 

Will work out a nicer title in time.

Trying to lose weight - ideally, 10kgs - in time for my half - which is 13 weeks away - (and in time for my birthday in April).

Starting stats:

Height 1.69 m

Weight 75kg

Waist 72.5cm

Belly 74.5cm

Chest 90cm

Hips 101.5cm

Neck 34.5cm

According to army body fat calculator I have 27%BF, ideally I'd like to lose 5%. I don't want to just recomp however - I did that last year - but that's not enough for me, I'd like to lose volume.

Rules:

- stay below 1400 kcals/day (track)

- 98% low-carb paleo (with one cup of milk a day and allowing some condiments like soy sauce, a teaspoon of honey, etc) and carbs <80g/day.

- follow half marathon training plan (3-4 runs a week - Tue, Thu, Fr, and Sun)

- do beginner bodyweight workout 3x a week (Mon, Wed, Fri morning)

- one obligatory  optional "cheat" day (Saturday) with lots of carbs and sweets

- one rest day (Saturday)

No snacking: 

- eat only at meal times: 7:45-8 am :: 1-2pm :: 6-7pm 

My hunger patterns should adapt to this within a few days.

Rewards:

- work out diet-friendly rewards for each weeks - that is a total of 13 treats over the course of the challenge!

I am using Anathemas reward system - you get paid a pound for each goal that you achieve every day - so a maximum of two pounds a day. 

This means I get a maximum of £14 to spend every week. 

Reward ideas:

• compressions socks 
• chin up bar
• new running shorts
• new technical longsleeve
• gig rowing club membership (3 weeks)
• hot air ballon membership (2 weeks)
• foam roller

EDIT: I have changed this to be more low-carb and include more strength training as I have found that this really helps my weight loss. I can only ever keep to the 1400 cals threshold if I do low-carb anyway, so why not say it. 

 

No matter how bad you may feel like something went there is always a lesson

I guess there is or there are rather. I'm quite gutted with how the challenge went. Having chosen only one goal, it should have been a cake walk but it didn't pan out.

Things that went wrong were

- eating after 7pm - Totally failed that goal. No problem doing well in the daytime - oh all the cakes I refused! But in the evenings I just kept on  eating and eating ...

- holiday eating - ok I knew that was coming and it wasn't too bad

- eating too much - this sounds daft but I used a calculator which estimated my baseline expenditure far too high - I realized I would have to lower my caloric intake much more to actually lose weight

- too many carbs - I took to eating processed soup at work - great taste, low calories but pure paleo works better for me

- eating too much after running - thinking I could outrun my fork

- getting back on track when I fell off the wagon 

- I changed my BC and got horrible sweet cravings - never had these before - Have to be more careful.

- also from the latter the water retention got even worse - 2kg change within one day are not unusual  which is insanely frustrating

- dealing with stress by eating/alcohol - never a good idea

So these are the things I will change. My new challenge will be stricter:

- paleo with only one cup of milk every morning

- not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES eat after 7pm

- stay under 1400 calories

- eat the same 2-3 meals every day - it sounds disgusting but it's a Tim Ferris tip which works really well

- only one designated non-moveable cheat day per week

- only weigh myself once every 4 weeks? Or twice every day to monitor the water weight changes

- find rewards for myself to treat myself - I love Anathemas idea

- lower my wild expectations and focus on consistency instead

So much for the bad things.

A good thing was that I actually started dieting. I committed to it. I lost 2kgs (although the water fluctuations are insane) and some inches. I lost one or two dress sizes. Weight is at 74kgs. Waist is down to 72.5cm, tummy at 74.5cm. That's down 1.5cms at the waist and 2 at the tummy since I started. Not as good as it was in the middle of the challenge but better than at the start.

The second really good thing is that I started running again for real and without getting sick or injured. I started a new half marathon training plan and largely kept to it. This put the fun back in running and I enjoy being so much faster than I used to be. Last time when we did hill reps with the club I was only the second-slowest - I stayed back with one beginner to look after her and felt I could go faster if I wanted - that hasn't happened before. Same when I did my 10K on Sunday - I could actually do a tough hilly and muddy 8K and then put in another hill sprint and two loops around the block to make the full 10K and I still wasn't completely drained.  

Overall I think can be content with what I achieved over the course of this year. I took up running again for real, improved my min/mile by 1.5-2 minutes, got healthier, lost over 10cms off my tum (even though I gained 2kgs - so I kind of classically recomp'ed) which is great for reducing heart attack risk, and learned how to do chin-ups. Also I tackled my emotional issues, and found that beer/yeast/processed bread causes the rages that have troubled me so much.

One thing I realized was that for me, six weeks are too long for a challenge. Seriously. I can do two or three weeks but I need some kind of reward after that or I lose track. 

I'm starting my new challenge today because I can't wait and I want to tackle this thing now. Wish me luck. 

Still, it's pretty good considering the sandy terrain, right?

Thanks - I guess it's ok but I was in better nick in August.

Sad to face it but I guess this is what happens if you lose focus. 

But maybe I shouldn't be too harsh on myself. Official time says another 5 secs less and  I beat a girl from my club who is 10 years younger and she's usually a bit faster than me.

Hey rebels, I did the race but there was no way I could beat my PB!  

It was 4 miles on the sand (of the 6.25) and almost all of it was against the wind. Perfect conditions apart from that. So I finished at 1:02:24 - that's a minute worse than my August PB - but I actually managed to shave a second off my pace - it's just that the August race was a bit shorter than 10K. So there's improvement but not as much improvement as I'd have liked to see. A bit gutted! 

Well, I'll see if I can do another 10K one soon and rock that one. I got a nice shirt though and the fancy dress outfits were awesome. I'll link some pictures as soon as they're on.

I cannot eat after 7, or I'll just stuff my face.

That's the bottom line from a long and detailed analysis of my eating behaviour.

'Nuff said. I could go on and on about how i crave carbs more when it's dark, or while watching the telly, or when I've had a drink or two, but the solution for all of this is a 7pm kitchen curfew and I have been neglecting this rule, and that's why I haven't been losing weight over the past two weeks, period. 

I've come a long way though. First I didn't want to lose weight, because I didn't want to face the problem. It took me almost a year to come out of denial. Now I'm ready, and I know that I will need to reduce my caloric intake a lot more than I have. I had a hard time saying good-bye to all those treats but now it's time to face the facts and move on.

Right now, I have a trousers problem. I buy my jeans on ebay for a few quid because I still have about 10 pairs that I cannot wear anymore because they're too tight. I can just about squeeze into one of them now but can hardly fit my toe into others. Anyway I have two pairs of jeans (GAP 28") that fit where one has holes and the other has a missing button. Ebay has run out of GAP 27" jeans at this point. I refuse to buy another pair of 28" because I am positive that the 27" will fit me.I have bought a 26" one but there is no way I can fit into them. So either, I will have to lose weight much more quickly, or I will be pant-less in the near future. 

It's definitely worth looking into I think - I've seen massive improvement in my mood, concentration, sleep, anger issues and motivation since I started cutting out wheat and sugars which cause big fluctuations in blood sugar. So I can recommend it, whatever the underlying problems are. And it's completely reversible, if I go back to eating crap for a few days, I wake up in the middle of the night with nighmares, I stress more, I am angry and short tempered ... you get the picture. 

Good luck on getting under an hour on the 10k on Sunday!

 

"I rolled down the hill like a Christmas pudding" is quite the running style

Thank you! I so hope this is going to be it. Still the sand bit - it's 5K out on the sand afaik - makes it very much possible that it'll take me longer again this time ...

Let's see! 

Right now I am enjoying the perks of being on a new training plan. I tick off the days - even the rest days - happily, my legs aren't heavy yet from the miles, and easy runs are easy as they come. If only this could last! 

But I know this time I stand a good chance of actually keeping at it because: 

1) I've actually started in time - I've got 16 weeks! - and

2) I am now at a level where I actually have an aim to be proud of. I am such a snob: training for a sub-30 5K, a sub-hour 10K, sub2.30-half was hard but not rewarding. I kept thinking: "Aaaw, it's not fair, I'll never get faster anyway ... why train at all when I cannot improve moar ... " and so on. I felt bad talking to people about my running because I knew my times were bad and I didn't feel proud of them. Now, I'm at a stage where I can become a middle-of-the-pack runner and that would be awesome. I can even improve from there and become somebody who is actually good at running - imagine that! 

Following my first easy run I spent more time on the interwebs and reassessed my goal times and training plan. It was quite clear from the Thursday run that my 'easy' pace is now 10:30, not 10:55 and my tempo pace is nearer 8:55-9:00 (always assuming that the "average moving pace" - with no road crossings and traffic lights - from my Garmin is what counts). So this nifty calculator put me really close to the 2-hour mark - that would be so exciting! 

Everybody has different goals and I may have said once or twice that I just cannot be asked to run a marathon. I like my toenails the way they are and I am not too fond of putting myself in pain. But the 60% age grading bracket has a magic glow for me ... and I think even if I just continue training as before it is easily within reach over the course of the next year. And that's the great thing. It doesn't really take superhuman effort, just consistency. 

So this is my new goal.

Hills are great. I live in Somerset and there's mud and hills galore. 

A bit lame, I did only one this week - my race is on the flat and so was my speedwork on Tuesday. But I did sprint up that one.

I think you are having a typical case of side-goal side-tracking. Really rocking the push up goal - that is something. don't you think?

How's the marathon training coming on, are you on a plan already or are you pre-training?

I still haven't been able to save the monies for gig rowing nor hot air ballooning.

Instead had to splash out £94 to get my bike serviced.  :/

Will ask husband, he should be able to sort this as a Christmas present for me.  

Wow, single leg squats! 

Snow sounds nice at this time of year, I hope we get some! 

Thanks PB!

Today I realized I had just 16 weeks left until my next half!

Perfect timing to start a proper new plan - I was really unhappy with my time last September and would like to move much further towards the 2h mark. At my fitness level, "under 2:15" is a reasonable goal but secretly in my heart I really want to go faster. Under 2h would be too much to ask and it's a trail half on top of that, so I will aim for 2:10. 

Then I spent half the afternoon reading all the plans on the interweb but it was  Runners World SmartCoach that convinced me. What I really want to do is not change my routine too much and SmartCoach says to do a longish run on Sunday, plus some speedwork one day and an easy run another. 

I'd done some speedwork on Tuesday and am doing a 10K on Sunday, so I could fit in an easy run today. 2 miles slow! That's down to the park and up again! Brilliant!

I went out with a target pace of 10:55 and felt like a champ - long time since I've last been running that slow!  I rolled down the hill like a Christmas pudding. 

First I thought I could never go that slow, then I was afraid because I couldn;t see my pace in the dark and I thought, what if I'm going too slow? But then I ended up with a reasonable 10.35 average. 

Oh the frustration!

I did so well with my speed session on Tuesday and then yesterday I made cottage pie and gobbled up the whole tray!

How am I ever-ever-ever going to lose weight?

Leafed through my challenge and saw that I'd been doing reasonably well before I went out that Saturday. After that, everything fell apart.That should teach me! 

Anyway it's ten days to go and I can still lose a couple of pounds or three - I guess - if I'm diligent. 

I'm doing alright during the day, I never cheat, I never have bread or chocolate, it's just the nighttime snacks that get me - I just eat too much of the "allowed" foodstuffs. 

My 10K is on Sunday - that should be my chance to stay under an hour for the first time - I hope! Though part of it is on sand ... which is really draining. Anyway I'll give it my best. Onward! 

@shortstuff true dat, although I think there's still this feeling, at the back of my mind, that I'm still only 18. I'll get over it, I expect...

It has been a very mixed bag so far. I am failing miserably on some things and kicking ass on others. Mrs 18ck says I have lost weight. I don't see it myself but I guess I'll find out when I weigh myself next.

Same here, although I feel a lot more mature now. About 28 really. I felt 18 when I was 28.

Lost weight eh? Oh the excitement! Do weigh yourself and let us know (!!!)

@Nanako the mojo didn't last long, but it came back again. Maybe it will be a fleeting mojo, coming then all too soon fading, like the good bit in Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Of course this is all due to the lack of vodka. Don't even try and tell me you've had some, because I know you haven't. *tutting*

Nailed this - did a nice hour long speed session with the club - speed play, intervals, indian running, and a relay race to boot.

Those legs will be sore tomorrow!

Back on track with a nice hour long speed session at the club.

Diet better, at least calorie-wise.

There have been carbs (*munches large quantities of homemade organic (!) chicken and mushroom pie*).

Bad: I was going to say - one whole week lost due to eating chocolates - but it was actually more like 2 or 3 days.

Still: not ideal.

Good: got place in the Christmas Cracker 10K! Very motivated to make this a PB.  

Yesterday was a dead loss too - enjoyable, but not exactly nerdfitnessesque. I was at work all day, sitting awkwardly, eating badly, then went into Soho to see Greg Proops record his podcast and, in the spirit of the occasion, had a vodka flavoured vodka beverage with vodka in it.

Today I had a bad eye (nothing to do with the vodka drink, which went in my mouth, mostly) and had to stay at home feebly waiting for the socialised medicine to make me well again with delicious eyedrops. Really, America, if that website ever starts working, you should really try health care. I give it two thumbs up!

Anyway, this evening I have done a lot better. I did 5k rowing on the ergo in 20 min and one and a half seconds. Gah! Is list missed my target! Then I went home and did a minute of wall handstand and 145 pushups in 5 sets. I felt like the British Badassador to Badassistan. And with these Ferrero.. I mean, with these raw cashew nuts, I am really... Oh, you probably don't have that advert where you are, so never mind.

All in all, I feel like it has been a pretty good day. I should really try and cram in some Portuguese but I have a book to finish and I could do with an early night so it might not be a straight A day after all.

Seems like you had to hit bottom vodka to get your mojo back!

Well done, Badassador.

Running grandmothers = awesome. Still I have to say it always disturbs my little world a bit when I meet a person my age who is a grandparent. Although if you think about it, actually the parental age structure today is probably the weird thing, not the other way round.

Fell off the wagon for a full three days after the dancing on Saturday. That's what those hangovers do to you! They make you go out to the chip shop and gobble up your children's jam tarts. This is why good people don't go out to dance!

Will make an effort to get back on track today. Husband seems motivated to go paleo again, that usually makes things easier.

More pictures:

When I started my workout, the ergo was level with the one next to it, and as you can see, 20 minutes later, it had shifted back by about 6 or 7 feet. This had been happening a lot lately, and I think it's because I'm trying to get as much oomph into the finish (the last bit of the stroke) as I can, and while this is excellent badassadorship, because it means I'm using a lot of power, it's pretty bad technique in a real race because it would spoil the run of the boat in the water.

Post - workout dinner: pork shoulder fried with Apple and garlic, served with sweet potato and runner beans*. I always feel like paleoboy when I eat this kind of thing. I guess to be a proper paleo meal I would have to substitute lard in place of the apple and fry the whole thing in stegosaurus oil (aka, crude oil) but apart from that, it's not bad.

RAAAAAAH! Says Harry.

RAAAAAAH! Say the dinosaurs

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Hmmmm I wantz this. 

Good work showing off in the gym! Try not to run into anybody!  

Teehee, no. But there is an expression I am very fond of, "Ich freu mir nen Keks", which translates roughly to being tickled pink, but literally means that you're getting a biscuit because you're very happy about something, making the biscuit appear out of thin air really.  

Went for that run and by cheating shamelessly (I stopped to pant, cough, spit disgustingly and catch my breath - twice! - and hit the pause button on my watch) I managed the, quote unquote, fastest 3K ever according to my smashrun stats, at 9.06 minute/miles. Very pleased with myself. I even managed to stay under 9 for the first mile, although that was largely downhill. Getting better.