Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Weight, Marathon and Me, Me, Me

Because my life was not complicated enough, I have decided to add weight loss to my list of goals over the next few months.

Let me preempt this by saying I know I am not fat. I wear a size four and my BMI is well within the "normal" range. I lost all the baby weight both times, but here is the thing: I am not where I want to be.

I had my full physical last Friday and I have put on five mysterious pounds. Now, granted I was in full period mode and also had not pumped my (very full) breasts for about seven hours, but just the same, I was horrified. Adding this to my already growing suspicion that my mid-section will never be as taut as it once was and the fact that lately a size six has felt a whole lot more comfortable than my fours and I was in search of a weight loss plan.

I started Weight Watchers last night. Immediately, I saw that I am way off in terms of what I have been eating. I want to lose about 15 pounds and even with all of the activity I do, I am still on track to keep gaining--slowly, but surely. It will be hard, no doubt. I am not a dieter. Not even close. I have always worked out so much that my weight (except in college) has been relatively stable. But I am 31 now and things are not the way I want them. And while I am not ruling out a tummy tuck (and boob job) in the future, I am starting here.

In other news, I spent about 2 weeks in training for the marathon, ran 10 miles in 1:15 (roughly a 7:10 pace) and then promptly injured myself. I am a bloody mess. On the left side, my knee aches, on the right, my calf/achilles burns. And of course, because I am me, I could not just rest. So I stepped it up while skipping running. I biked more, I spun, I took kickboxing and weight classes. And now my back hurts, too. I am not sure what all of this means for the marathon. I am a bit torn (literally). Is it smart to begin such an intense training program when I do not have the time to stretch after runs?

Within seconds of my return from my longer runs, R is tossing the kids into my arms. I need to nurse or to feed someone or Sam needs to peepee potty. Additionally, there is no single more important component to a training program than sleep--something I am not getting much of these days. Six hours, tops. I need about nine.

The amount of work this marathon will take might not be worth it at this point in my life. On the other hand, I am starting a new training blog for Fit Pregnancy and have pitched the story to other major mags and had a positive response. So... Stay tuned. I really want to do it, but I also do not want to kill myself to get there.

3 comments:

notlikeacat said...

Wow. Lots of thoughts here.
1) 5 lbs is nothing (esp. w/ period and milk-boobs). Plus you're increasing your muscle mass w/ the training and that weighs more.
2) Run away from WW and check out http://www.mypyramid.gov/mypyramidmoms/ instead (or use the non-moms mypyramid). You can input what you eat as well as inputting your workouts for a more accurate tally of your daily energy balance. WW is not really designed for active people, is it? So you're gonna look like a porker on a bender according to their formulas, even if you're barely maintaining yourself.
3) My gentle advice re: training is, maybe cut back on the cross-training (intensity) a little if you're too injured to run much. Sleep and stretching are more important. Can you ask R for 10-15 minutes after your run (like I'm one to advise on THIS topic, right??)...because the stretching is as important as the running? Good luck.
That said, maybe I'll see you at spin class tomorrow, noon?

notlikeacat said...

Oh, one other thought: the marathon is happily annual. Maybe next year is a better time to train for this.

Andromeda said...

1) I am sympathetic to the pants thing, but period + boobs = 5 pounds right there. I gain about 3 pounds every time I get my period (not to mention get kinda bloated so the pants don't fit right), and lose it promptly thereafter.

2) http://abiharper.com/ . Friend of mine. Massage therapist. Very good.