Nanako's 13x7 consistency challenge

[nanako]

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. 

[nanako]

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. 

[nanako]

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. 

[nanako]

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. 

[Everstorm]

I like your reward ideas.  It's amazing how effective even a digital badge is, isn't it?  Are you sticking to the battle log, or will you join a swc next go-round?

[nanako]

I like your reward ideas.  It's amazing how effective even a digital badge is, isn't it?  Are you sticking to the battle log, or will you join a swc next go-round?

 

Yes it's so funny! And now I've shown it to my daughter and she wants me to have it ... can't let her down!  

 

I think I'll stay with the daily log - I need the accountability and it can get a bit quiet in the forums around the 3rd or 4th week of a challenge. Also my timeframe is different ... in my head it is, 90 days - taking a week at a time ...  and after that, it's maintenance ... which is even harder ... 

What about you Phoenix, are you decided yet? Rangers? Scouts? Monks?

[Everstorm]

Hmmm...Not monks.  My efforts there have fallen flat, although it is a fun guild.  I've been thinking scouts or assassins, although rangers is a better fit (somehow does not appeal.)  I'll post where I'm going when I decide so my friends can follow. 

[nanako]

Hehe, I feel the same about the rangers although it's probably the best guild for me! Assassins are a nice bunch though. And Scouts!

 

Today was ok but I did too little exercise - only a 2-mile run and I didn't get to do the BW workout I had planned - played Settlers of Catan Junior with the kids non-stop. Will do it tomorrow. 

I used up the rest of the Christmas biscuit dough and the husbands and kids inhaled them in no time - I had only two but that was too much really! Ruined my caloric deficit, that and a small latte I had in the afternoon. Only -484kcal today. 

 

4 days down and tomorrow is my first cheat day - don't really know how I should handle this. Cheat days usually don't work well for me but I've read that they are necessary - maybe I should just do a little bit of cheating, no bingeing? 

Ah decisions! I've prepared the meal plan for tomorrow anyway. 

[Everstorm]

Deja vu...I had planned a walk and a trial BWW for today, but only managed 2 miles and was too tired to make the attempt after grocery shopping.  Good luck with your cheat day.

[nanako]

Went outside although it looked gruelling - it wasn't even so bad when we were outside though! 

My son (7y) came with me - he said he wanted to do a race so I took him. We did a slow half mile jog to Tescos and got some blueberry muffins for everybody (except me). So that was my run!

Ok I guess since there's a 10K coming up tomorrow and I don't want to tire my legs too much. 

 

I got three new badges including the reindeer one. Well chuffed. 

 

Did BBWW with husband:

• 20 rope skipping
• 20 Squats
• 5 push ups
• 10 Lunges
• 1 min plank
• 7(5) stair jumps
• 20 dumbbell rows with 10kg dumbbell

 

Now that I've run 5 days in a row, I'm tempted to run everyday again ... But, I'm afraid ... better build slowly. I can always start running every day in February. No rush. 

[Everstorm]

My 7 yr old liked the idea of racing until he had to train for one.  I think he likes swimming better.

 

Nice job on the badges.  Can you post them?

[nanako]

PB: You can see it here when you select "Kelly series" and scroll down. http://smashrun.com/jacklyn.giron/badges-to-go But that's not my profile ...

 

The cheat day went well yesterday. I didn't go overboard too much except for drinks late which is ok in my book. I gained 1.5kg since yesterday. which is hope is mainly water! 

 

BTW A very happy New Year to you all! I didn't run the Hangover 10K after all - but I'll do the parkrun on the Saturday. I'm having a rest day today - bottom still hurts from yesterday's BBWW and although I want to run I'm prescribing myself a rest day. So the next run is tomorrow - an easy 4 miler.

 

Wrapping up the first half week leading up to NYE  it's been going surprisingly well. 

 

So what are my resolutions? I love resolutions! 

Last year my resolution was to up my 5k time to 9min/mile and I almost got there (9:07). This year I want to

 

• improve my 5K time by another minute (~8 min/mile - that's the 60% age grading bracket for me)
• eat <1400kcal for 6 days a week, and nothing after 7pm, for 16 weeks
• make better use of half an hour of my time every day like so:

• play piano for 5 minutes every day 

• draw something for 5 minutes every day

• use 20 minutes of browsing time for cleaning every night*

 

The last goal involves getting lots of new audio books and listening to them while cleaning. I actually quite enjoy cleaning when I can listen to something interesting. Never was my kitchen cleaner than when I'd gotten "Running with the Kenyans" from the library.

 

I'll go upstairs and fold some washing away now I guess.

[Everstorm]

Ooh!  I really like your "make better use of half an hour everyday" goal.  Your resolutions as a whole seem really good goals.  Good luck 2014!

 

P.s.  I like the badges.  Really fun.

[nanako]

Good morning! Taper week is on - I'm still on leave, until Monday - and I've just finished my 4 miles slow. Hard going! Usually I have trouble keeping the pace slow but today it was different, I only just managed 10.25 "moving pace". That said my Garmin messed up in the Gorge and had me swim through the river and back. So much for accuracy.

 

Weightloss-wise I am bang on plan, day 6 and I've lost a kilo - two pounds and a bit. It doesn't really feel like I've lost it though, as my weight has been fluctuating so much lately. I need to believe in what I'm doing. However, I think I'll only be truly happy when I hit 70kg, that's where I was last summer (for a day) before I stopped eating paleo. Dang. And that's at least 4 weeks away!

 

How can it be so difficult to be patient!  It's not even that hard. But I so want my instant reward now ... I guess that's just the way we are wired. 

Anyway that's why I chose the daily battle log rather than a challenge. 

 

Later

Argh, I messed up today - I went out for a loooong day outside with the kids and didn't take any protein snacks - so was eating bread soon after leaving the house. Not too bad but have to be stricter with myself! A day or two I do well and then I slip ... I guess it's better than nothing - a 500cal deficit is better than no deficit, right? But I really want a 700-800 deficit. Have to stick to strict paleo to achieve that (or go hungry but that's not happening is it? ) 

It's strength day tomorrow, park run on Saturday. 

[nanako]

BBWW with the husband:

 

20 squats

3 push ups

12 lunges

1 min plank

20 db rows with 10Kg

30 jumping jack

 

all times two

 

might go down to the park later with the kids.

 

Later

 

Weighed myself and am under 74! So it is working after all. Stats look good: for that last week, my goal calories would be 1288/day, and I averaged at 1331. So I'm on track (for a 500cal deficit /day that is) and I'm losing. Hah. Of course this could be optimized ... but what the heck. If I can pull this off for the next 15 weeks, I'll be happy.

[nanako]

No parkrun this morning - I woke up late and only just remembered my bike has a puncture, so I wouldn't make it in time ... Never mind. Will do 4 miles today or tomorrow, depending on the weather.

In other great news, the scale is going down, down, down! It's working, hurray! Down a couple of hundred grams - 73.7 or something, I guess.  

 

School and work starts again next week, so it will be more of a challenge to keep up the work - fitting in runs and workouts, eating right ... I've got two easy runs scheduled for Tuesday and Friday - two 2 milers, so I could easily do them in the morning. Thursday is speed work with the club. 

Food wise I found it's easiest to eat the same meals over again, so I'll stick to one for the week - microwaved beef and veg, not too exciting but who cares. 

I'll make some soups for the evenings as I just can't stand salads in winter. 

 

I'm excited the weight loss thing is actually working. Now it's just consistency - I have been known to slack off after ten days, so I'll just try and focus on this one.

I'm reading a lot about reward and motivation for my job at this moment, it's funny how those things work. 

[Everstorm]

Nice work on the weight loss!  Good luck keeping it going.  You can do it!

[nanako]

It's day 8 and time for Week one wrap-up.

I just took some measurements and they're really good.

 

Height 1.69 m

Weight 75kg -> 73.7kg

Waist 72.5cm ->71cm

Belly 74.5cm ->74cm

Chest 90cm ->88cm

Hips 101.5cm -> 99cm

Neck 34.5cm ->33.5cm

BF 27% -> 26%

 

Really happy, especially with the waist! Little problems aside, I totally rocked this first week and I think I deserve my reward. I think I'll get a new slong sleev in the sale. W00t!  

[Everstorm]

Woot!

[nanako]

I caved yesterday - it was "cheat day" after all - and had some cheesy toast - yumm!

Today, I did my 4 miler - I started off a bit faster than I should have. Pleased that I can now sustain around 9.30 for a longer run. 

Went up to Ashton Court and came face to face with a very large young deer. I had to slow down and avert my eyes as not to make him nervous, he was looking after his herd and taking his job seriously.  

 

EDIT Oh yes I should say that I almost vomited after running up the hill at 12.30 pace. More training needed.

 

Later

I completed the fourth week of my 16-week half marathon training plan today - as of now, I've only missed one 2 mile easy run - so I completed 92%. 

[18ck]

Good work!

Hello, I'm just catching up on this, and I like the half hour of productivity goal very much. As with every challenge I've looked at lately, I have terrible running envy while reading about your half M training but hey...

As for fluctuating weight, all I can suggest (if you're not doing it already) is picking a set time of the day/week. I weigh myself after my long run when I am "empty" (no food, sweated out, etc). It's a bit optimistic, in the sense that it's the lightest I will be all week, but it has the advantage that I'm *consistently* hungry and dehydrated, so I always have a sense of whether or not I am going in the right direction, week to week. Usually not.

[nanako]

Good work!

Hello, I'm just catching up on this, and I like the half hour of productivity goal very much. As with every challenge I've looked at lately, I have terrible running envy while reading about your half M training but hey...

As for fluctuating weight, all I can suggest (if you're not doing it already) is picking a set time of the day/week. I weigh myself after my long run when I am "empty" (no food, sweated out, etc). It's a bit optimistic, in the sense that it's the lightest I will be all week, but it has the advantage that I'm *consistently* hungry and dehydrated, so I always have a sense of whether or not I am going in the right direction, week to week. Usually not.

 

Aw, poor thing - running envy ....

If only you knew! Work's started again and I cannot drag myself out to do a short slow 2miler even. Must do it tomorrow!

 

The fluctuations been much better since I went low-carb - I ended up weighing myself more than once a day and taking the daily minimum, which worked. If I achieve my goal I will post my very funny weight curve as a cautionary tale for others.

 

Yesterday was ok, I had a piece of 3-Kings-cake (mmmh cake!) and still managed a defict. Today was 'orrible - I'd skipped breakfast and took white fish with veg for lunch - beginner's mistake, WAY too little fat - so by 2pm I had consumed around 400 calories and was starving. What was worse is that I stopped being hungry and was getting more and more tired and depressed. Back at home now stuffing my face with lentils and bacon, whole new lease on life. 

[Everstorm]

I have to make an effort to eat enough fat when cutting carbs, too.  Sometimes, I eat a big spoon of almond butter just to catch up.

[nanako]

I have to make an effort to eat enough fat when cutting carbs, too.  Sometimes, I eat a big spoon of almond butter just to catch up.

 

I wish I could have almond butter in the house, but it's useless. I always end up with a jar that's empty the same day and a huge guilty conscience. 

 

Anyway I managed to do my run yesterday but had three slices of bread later. With the run and everything, I managed a good deficit but that's not the paleo way ... anyway not too bad. Learn from mistakes.

[Everstorm]

A friend of mine is the same way about nut butters.  I have never been tempted beyond 2 spoons, though, so I think I am ok.

 

I think it's really hard to stay low carb with a running habit.  I know it was much harder for me when I was running.