Summer is hard for everyone but this summer has been particularly rough on me since I’m not marathon training running my “normal” amount of miles. The torn tendon injury was a blow to me both physically and mentally. I kept moving and tried to have a good attitude but biking and swimming is not the same for the body or the mind. As a result, I’ve noticed the scale creep up higher than ever before during non-pregnancy fitness stages. I was 168 a couple weeks ago and am 166 this week. Not cool. I tend to normally float between 158 and 162. I know you are might be thinking, “that’s not that bad” but it is that bad because it doesn’t want to go away! As a maturing mother, those extra few pounds creep up and keep piling on and it is harder each and every year to fight it. This is why I haul my ass self out of bed in the middle of the night early morning to run/workout before Michael wakes up the day gets started. Today was a rough one. I didn’t want to get up…..but at least I had my BAMR shirt waiting for me! I’m totally loving this shirt and have worn it several times without even washing it. It’s a prefect fit & feel (SportTek brand).
So I hauled it up and out for 4.22 miles this morning. The pace was somewhere in the 9:20s range which is decent for “in the dark” running. I’m happy. Now to just refocus and knock out those few extra pounds.
I started Kelly’s DietBet Challenge at the beginning of August and to be honest, I thought that it would be piece of cake. I’m an AdvoCare distributor and immediately ordered a 24 Day Challenge bundle and I was ready to get started. However, I apparently didn’t “submit” the order, a mistake I have never made since I began my distributorship circa 2006, and the bundle never came. I have now received it after “reordering” last week so I’m a little late to the game, in addition to the fact that August is one of my worst months with lots of travel, celebrations and the start of school. Super overwhelming but fun month, each and every year!
Instead of busting my butt in the fitness and clean eating areas, I have instead been spending time with friends & family, drinking and eating out.
Olympic Marathon Brunch with champagne and lots of yummy food Kate, Maggie, Me, Amanda, Susan; Bottom: Sara, Kelly, & Nicole.
Boating and drinking hanging out on the water with friends: Me, Hillary & Nicki.
Amusement Parks and drinking more beer travel:
Indiana Dunes, beach play, hiking & fun with the kiddos:
So while I refuse to miss an opportunity to put my toes in the sand with the kids,
I can probably cut a few alcohol related calories, refocus on drinking my water instead of Corona Light and clean up my at home eating. While I do well eating at work where I take my fruits, veggies, lean proteins & drink lots of water, I fail miserably in the evenings. There is no need to eat a cookie, just because I give one to Michael. There is no need to eat 30 potato chips just because I give some to the kids. There is no reason to drink a beer just because it’s fun everyone else is doing it. I will do better.
I’m refocusing NOW! How about you? Summer is hard but now is the time to get back at it. I heard on the radio yesterday that 20% of American’s in EVERY state are obese. I certainly don’t believe in perfection but also know that we all need to work at it in order to be healthy, productive, positive examples for our family and children. Refocus now and tell me what you will be changing immediately in order to get back on the healthy eating train.
** Eat Well ** Amanda – TooTallFritz.com ** amanda@tootallfritz.com
TooTallFritz 
TTF…well weight gain is a normal phenom when the miles drop off in aftermath of running your marathon race, or as in your case, the injury. But your weight gain you cite does not categorize you as obese…so keep that in mind. Still…your effort to “re-focus” is a good start, cause you have to accept the gain and identify the sources for it, then make the changes you seem to be on the road to taking. And as you are well aware, you will have to balance your caloric intake against your base metabolic rate plus the energy expended in your daily activities and/or exercise.
Running is a great means to burn a lot of calories, but it is important to focus on the source the calories come from when you run. You cite mid-9’s pace, but that may or may not be the optimal speed to run to maximize fat-metabolism. The best way to get the weight down is to concentrate on low-intensity, aerobic exercise that maximizes the amount of caloric burn using fat. Pace may or may not be the best way to do it, and more useful to adjust run intensity based on Heart Rate.
A general rule of thumb is that slow, easy fat-burning pace is likely somewhere around 1.5-2.5 min slower than your maximal marathon pace. By maximal marathon pace, I mean that sub-optimal maximum speed you can run the marathon in and it is usually just at or slightly under lactate threshold and/or 80-90% maximum HR. For me the below LT marathon pace is somewhere ca 8:00 pace, so that means my slow, easy max fat-burning pace is 9:30 to 10:00. In fact when my run-training schedule indicates easy or recovery run, I will fall-back to that 9:45 – 10:00 pace explicitly to promote fat metabolism. And, the first 6-weeks of my marathon training this year for Fox Valley and Chicago marathons, all of my running was in that 10:00 – 9:30 pace range as I was “base-building”, but later on as I shifted into faster running routines, I always included some very slow runs just for this very purpose to enhance fat-metabolism, not necessarily to loose weight, but to increase the proportion of fat used in energy production even when I ran at marathon race pace.
The second key to the “slow-fat-burn” running pace is duration. Little gained in terms of fat-burn in short-duration runs less than 45-min. You want to max fat-burn you run (or bike or swim) for at least 1-hour duration at low-aerobic intensity. If you can extend to 1.5 hours, even greater results. It is not necessarily distance here, but prolonged duration of exercise at a low-intensity that cellular metabolism relies heavily on using free fatty acids as opposed to glycogen.
I am not sure what that “sweet” fat-burn HR zone/pace is for you, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were 10:00 to as much as 11:00 pace for you. The only downside is it just takes longer to do the number of miles your schedule dictates, or just run whatever distance at the real slow pace, but at least do 1 to 1.5 hours. Once you do this slow routine for a while and build a good low-aerobic base, then inserting some faster run routines on other days will further accentuate fat weight loss since the body’s metabolic rate is escalated for far longer duration in aftermath of higher intensity runs, and a lot of that caloric burn comes from fat post-workout.
Not sure of your feelings on supplements, but you can also try Raspberry Ketones – much of what I have read (with some science to back it up) indicates RK enhance or promote fat metabolism.
Good luck as you refocus here. Hopefully some of the above is of use to you. You know how to find me if you want to know more or additional guidance.
Time is an issue for me. I only have an hour in the mornings. And my foot is still an issue. I can’t run more than an hour on my foot the way that it is there. It’s far from healed.
I have been biking and doing limited swimming. I get longer duration on the bike so that’s good but overall, I usually have a very small window for workouts.
How are your injuries now that you are back to training full time?
Right there with you! Eating out, drinking, grab and go meals…sometimes are just harder than others, but for me it is always hard.
At least you got out and moved this morning. That makes all of the difference! Keep it up!
I thing “moving” is the only thing that saves me. I wish I had better “on the go” options that would also fit in with what my family considers good “on the go” options. I seem to be the odd man out on that front and usually lose the battle.
I struggle with night time eating. Even though I lost a ton of weight I think I would be 10lbs lighter right now if I just went to bed at 10:00. I am a bit of a nightowl, hence why I don’t exercise in the mornings.
Take it from a guy that has lost a lot of weight and researched a lot that 80-90% of weight loss is diet. You have to limit calories. If you do that everything else takes care of itself. Don’t worry about fat-burning pace of running or anything like that. Just eat at a deficit in calories and the weight will come off.
If you want more detail info about calorie amounts and stuff like that read this post from bodybuilding.com. Really anyone wanting to lose weight should read this. Out of all the fitness people around I find that bodybuilders are the most knowledgeable about weight whether gaining or losing. They really know their stuff. Really it comes down to this. If you are trying to lose weight and aren’t succeeding either eat less or move more.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981
Thanks for the info! I know what to do, its just easier said than done for me. And body builders have an “iron” will. They don’t have any margin of error in order to cut ALL the fat on their body. They absolutlely amaze me with their dedication to lifestyle and fitness.
I love those guys. I used to hang out on their forums some. They would just not hear anyone that complained/cried that they weren’t losing weight. Very much an attitude of if you do this then that will happen. No excuses mentality. You are right though everyone now has the info they need or can easily get it on the net. It is just a matter of will power and choices. It sucks, but we have to decide what is most important to us.
My general philosophy on losing weight now is find what works for you. It may be different for other people. Some need 6 small meals and some need 1 meal. It is all the same amount of calories and nutrients that we need. Just like some of us workout/run in the mornings and others dread that idea and won’t do it until the evening. Just get a plan and stick to the plan. I know you know all this and will have no problem conquering this small little blip.
+1 For the adult beverages from Cedar Point! It’s been 30+ years since I have been there. 😦
You should go back! It was super fun, and yes, they still serve beer in several spots throughout the park. Super fun, although a bit rougher on the body than I’d like to admit. 🙂
One of these days I’ll gather the family up and head back out there. How were the new rides?
Hope you and the family have a great weekend!!!
All the rides are awesome. I love Millenium Force but the Maverick, the newest, was a little aggressive for me. New for 2013: The Gate Keeper!
School just started back today for my kiddo, so it’s a natural booze eliminator for me b/c I have to go to bed early or I won’t get up in time to get her there. SO, my re-focus is to NOT buy a box of wine when I go to the grocery store tomorrow! haha~