Back to Normal

After last week’s post-Disney gain, I was determined to make good choices all the next week to make sure I could get back to my “normal” weight.

Not that 114.8 is a terrible weight–that’s still almost 40 pounds lighter than I was last year at this time!  I wasn’t feeling fat by any means, but I just wanted to get back into the 113 range, because that was the new goal weight I set for myself after nearly eight months of regular running.

The nice thing about having tracked every day at Disney was that there was no “getting back into the habit” when I returned.  I had never stopped the habit, so there was no question about tracking my food everyday, beginning when I woke up Monday morning.  I just kept doing what I’d been doing all along, and actually, it was easier to do it once I got home, because I was eating more “normal” foods that were much more “cut and dried” when it came to points values.

Now, that doesn’t mean I didn’t have challenges.  I know I’m not the only one who has to overcome the “holiday luncheon” hurdles in the month of December.  It seems that there is a reason to eat lunch out Every. Single. Day. lately.  The week after we got back from Disney, I had luncheons on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday!  To get me through, I ate a lot of salad that week for lunch. 😛  I do like salad, though, and I was able to find “different” salads two of the three days to help keep me interested.

On Saturday December15th, I woke up with a new goal in mind.  I have a friend from my sons’ school who started running in August.  When she first started out, she and I texted back and forth quite a bit, where she would ask me questions about my running experience and I would give her advice based on what I knew or what I had read (mostly on blogs, lol!).  I did my best to encourage her and keep her motivated.  Well, lo and behold, four months later, she now runs eight miles a day, three days a week! *thud*  And of course, she looks fantastic, having lost (I think) 40 pounds in that time.

I’m obviously very happy for my friend, but I can’t lie–my competitive streak has just been eating away at me, because here she is running for half as many months as me, but she already runs farther than my farthest run (7 miles)–and she does it three days a week! 😛 When I realized that December 15th was my 8-month anniversary since my first time ever running (April 15th), I decided it was meant to be for me to run 8 miles that day.  So that morning I drove to my favorite Metropark and set out for an eight mile run.

It was definitely a chilly winter morning, and when I arrived, I realized I had forgotten my gloves. Grr. I decided to brave it without them, though, figuring my hands would surely warm up if I was running 8 miles!

The trip out wasn’t too bad.  I ran the length of the park, and then, for the first time, I actually ran out of the park and into the “real world.” 😉  It was fun to run where I had never run before (I do love to discover new places!).  I saw a few other runners, which always makes me feel cool. (Hey, there runner guy!  You’re awesome! Yep, I’m running, too.  Yes, that totally makes us both awesome! See ya, runner guy.)

I even took a phone call during my run–and did not stop! Since my phone was in my armband holder, I believe that should earn me extra bonus points (which I believe should be good towards brownies or other chocolate items).  And, it was a phone call from DS#2’s team manager about his hockey game that afternoon, so not only did I earn bonus points for chocolate, I think I earned an extra “hockey mom” badge at the same time. 😉

That all sounds well and good and like I’m a super star, but then…I got to the railroad tracks, which was exactly 4 miles in, and turned around.  That’s when things started to get less than picture-perfect.  On the way back I started getting really tired.  I could’ve totally curled up and taken a nap on the asphalt.  Plus, my lack of gloves was really starting to cause me issues.  I’d brought along a hand held water bottle, which turned out to be a brilliant idea, but it didn’t allow my right fingers and especially my right thumb to touch each other, so my fingers couldn’t keep each other warm, and they were starting to get really cold.  I tried to switch hands back and forth, but it was really uncomfortable in my left hand for some reason, so I just suffered with my right.

When I got back into the park and made the turn toward the south, that was when the wind hit me.  Duh! I had been going with the wind on the way out, and it came back to bite me in the butt for sure.  When I hit the curve coming back from the woods to the open fields, the wind coming off the lake nearly killed me for the last mile. By that time, my gloveless fingers were NUMB.  I focused all my energy on getting back to the car, and although it was a tough last half-mile, I did finally make it!

I couldn’t even punch the keypad code on the car with my right hand, my fingers were so numb.  I used my knuckles to get in my car and then thawed my hands out enough to go back out and take this picture with my phone.

I then hopped back in the car and spent the rest of the day at two hockey games.  That was two and a half more hours running back and forth down the length of the glass taking pictures! I was one tired girl when the day was done. 😉

The following Monday, I woke up, ran another three miles on the treadmill, and then I hopped on the scale for the moment of truth.

Hooray! I felt really good getting back to the 113 range.  I wanted to be at my goal weight leading up to the holidays, because I love holiday food, and God knows it’s hard to lose weight when there are so many delightful temptations surrounding you!

Speaking of the holidays, I have decided to take a break from posting for a short time.  I have been really, really busy with all the holiday prep, and I’m ready for a little quality time with my family.  Besides Christmas itself, which includes lots of church services as well as family get-togethers, the boys and I have plans to do a “mom and sons’ day” after the holiday, where we’ll see a movie, go to their favorite restaurant, and a few other things that mom has up her sleeve. 🙂

I don’t know how long I’ll be “offline,” but know that I will be back. 🙂 In the meantime, thank you for reading, and I hope you have a truly wonderful holiday!  Merry Christmas!!

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

–Isiah 9:6