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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 22 April 2009 11:29 pm |
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Wow, it's been a while since I've logged on here. Nick, you're back! I'm so happy to see you in my diary. Thanks for checking on me. 
Hi Mynda, thanks for dropping me a note. I'm so pleased that you want to do a half marathon. There are lots of great training programs for beginners. Let me know if you'd like some advice on getting started.
So, I've been crazy busy again. School got really hard and my last homework was just confusing and frustrating. I turned it in a week late. Phooey  . Work is stressful - the bad economy is having an impact in my group, and while I'm pretty sure I won't lose my job, the emphasis on getting more done in less time is hanging over my head, and it means working on my own time to get things done.
Last month I did my first triathlon. I was hoping for a top 3 placement in my class (the Athena class is for women who weigh over 140 lbs - yep, that's still me at 161 lbs  ), but my achilles pain flared up during the run. Because I had to lean so much on my good leg, the calf muscle in the good leg cramped up hard during the bike and I had to pull over for several minutes to massage it out. I ended up with a middle of the pack finish. Still, it was such an exciting race that I'm sure I'll be doing more once I'm healed. Here's a picture of me during the bike leg. Since it was a sprint event, I stayed in my running clothes. My swimsuit is underneath for a quick transition to the swim leg.
2009 Pasadena Triathlon (Reverse Sprint - 5k run/15k bike/150m swim)
Because my achilles refuses to stay well after 2 months of pysical therapy, my doctor had me get an MRI. It turns out I have a low-grade partial tear. I'm waiting for an appointment with an orthopaedic specialist to find out what that means for me. I'm anxious about the treatment as I have my next half marathon in July. I've already cancelled the half marathon I was supposed to do this month and I don't want to cancel the next one.
Now for a report on my diet. As usual, I'm great at exercising, but a miserable failure at dieting. This explains the extremely slow weight loss. From the end of December until now I've only lost about 4 lbs. That's about -1 lb a month.  Looking over my diary it makes sense. Of those 16 weeks, 8 weeks had a net daily caloric intake of 100-300 cals over maintenance and 5 weeks were pretty close to maintenace (after exercise). So, even though I avg about 400-500 cals per day in exercise, I eat an average 1900-2000 cals.
I'm pretty sure my bad eating habits come from stress and boredom. Now that I have a slight lull in my work load, I'm hoping I can get back on track and at least get below the 161 lb threshold by the end of this week. Nah, I can do better than that. How about below 160 by the end of next week?
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CrimsonAnimus
Moderator
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Posted: 24 April 2009 04:23 am |
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Yay! Welcome back, Michelle. 
Congrats on your triathlon, and congrats x2 for doing it even though you weren't at 100%. That takes dedication. Hope your legs get better.
With all the exercise you do, have you had your body fat tested? You really should - I'm willing to be that your muscle to fat ratio is considerably higher than most women. Plus, with all the exercise you're doing, gotta have the energy! Maybe rather than eating less, you could try to adjust your carb:protein:fat ratios around a bit, and try different foods.
Good luck!
P.S. - I might have asked you this before, but is your avatar a Lego? It's cool.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 28 April 2009 09:12 pm |
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Yeah, you're right that I need to take a look at my carb:protein:fat ratios. I already know that I'm high on the carb and fat intake. My biggest flaw is a ginormous sweet tooth. Once I start, I can't stop. This past week I went through 2 bags of Keebler Fudge Sticks. 
And yes, my avatar is me as a lego. I've had a love of legos since I got my first set out of the Sears catalog when I was 8 yrs old. My cubicle is covered in legos and my family and I usually have an annual pass to Legoland.
So, I'm going to try to keep up my weekly summary again (minus the water intake since I'm doing better at that). Looks like I start out the week well, and then I peter out towards the end of the week. This has been a bad week overall.
Week's Summary (04/20/09-04/26/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- swim drills - 586 cal
- cycling - 777 cal
- Tuesday
- yoga - 291 cal
- push/pull/situps - 194 cal
- Wednesday
- spinning - 514 cal
- elliptical - 366 cal
- push/pull/situps - 147 cal
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 160 lbs
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CrimsonAnimus
Moderator
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Posted: 29 April 2009 12:00 am |
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Hey, Michelle!
It looks like you struggle more on the weekends, as do a lot of people. Perhaps you might consider joining the Weekend Challenge in the Challenges forum? It just might help.
I also noticed that you tend to eat more on the days you do not exercise, and I am the same way. I've noticed that often when I exercise, my appetite is curbed a bit. Ideally, we would eat a bit more on the days we exercise more, but alas, this isn't an ideal world, is it? 
Still, you do more exercise than what a lot of people are willing to do. Does it tire you early in the week, or do you lose motivation through other means? I'm the opposite - often, I tend to start the week out with less effort, and work a bit harder toward the end of the week, because of my weigh-in. Maybe you can find someone to look forward to at the end of the week, something you can do for yourself that makes you feel good for putting forth the effort.
Keep it up!
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 4 May 2009 11:12 pm |
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Nick, you are so right! I can't believe how I'm ignoring the obvious. I'm making the same mistakes by making excuses for not eating properly. I've been so used to eating heavily on weekends because it used to be a huge calorie burn for me with my long rides and runs. But, now that I'm injured and can't do this anymore I need to scale back my eating. I keep thinking it's only temporary and I don't need to change, but you'd think that after 3 months I'd get it by now. I've had another terrible weekend. I'm going to join the weekend support group as you suggested and hopefully they can help keep me in line and better behaved. Thanks Nick.
Week's Summary (04/27/09-05/03/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- swim drills - 581 cal
- cycling - 768 cal
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- spinning - 509 cal
- elliptical - 439 cal
- push/pull/situps - 194 cal
- swim intervals - 508 cal
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 160.8 lbs
Last edited on 4 May 2009 11:16 pm by mchen01
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CrimsonAnimus
Moderator
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Posted: 5 May 2009 01:33 pm |
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Yeah, when you've done something a certain way for so long, it can be really difficult to adjust.
I noticed in the challenge that your Saturday intake included a sushi buffet. Well, there are definitely less healthy foods than sushi, but buffets are purely and simply evil. Many of the buffet restaurants here have gone up in price, and it fills many people with a desire to "get their money's worth," which leads nowhere fast. I've only went out to eat a few times since I started eating healthy, but I've tried to make it about the social aspect rather than the food. Of course, the food presses on my mind, but I want to try to savor the whole experience, not just the food.
Best of luck to you. You'll get there!
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 11 May 2009 10:23 pm |
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Buffets are definitely evil, especially when they have foods that you love. And I love a lot of foods. It's a good thing that I don't go to the feeding trough type restaurant too often. But, restaurants in general are a bad thing for me. No matter how many times I tell myself to order the healthy, low-cal foods, it rarely works. For a while, I was compromising by eating only half the plate if I ordered something fattening. But, my appetite has been huge lately, and I haven't been able to stick to that strategy.
I'll be going through another adjustment period. I got Invisalign braces last week and they've messed up my eating habits. I no longer have a morning and afternoon snack to keep my appetite in control. I'm reluctant to eat because I have to take out my braces and then brush them and my teeth after I eat (yeah, I admit I don't brush after every meal so shoot me for poor dental hygiene). So, now I don't get to leisurely graze, because I have to hurry up and put my braces back on (I need to wear them about 20 hours a day).
I also got put in a big leg brace and have to use crutches for the next month. I have a partially torn achilles, and the orthopaedist said if I didn't want surgery, then I could try immobilization and see if that worked. Surgery was supposed to be a better fix with less chance of a recurring injury, but the doctor couldn't guarantee how long it would take to recover. He was looking at 2-6 months for the best possible outcome, but up to a year if there was more damage than he thought. Well, the year long recovery scared me considering how hard I've been training. Losing 6-12 months of exercise time meant I was probably going to gain all the weight I've lost and lose all the muscle I've gained. So, here I am, stuck on crutches and not able to do any leg workouts, but hoping that this alternative works and I won't lose too much fitness.
Week's Summary (05/04/09-05/10/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- swim drills - 511 cal
- cycling - 695 cal
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- spinning - 511 cal
- elliptical - 433 cal
- push/pull/situps - 195 cal
- jog - 111 cal
- Thursday
- crossfit - 438 cal
- elliptical - 579 cal
- Friday
- Saturday
- swim arms only - 383 cal
- pilates - 174 cal
- Sunday
- Weight - 162.0 lbs
This is not a very good week, and it's about average for me. I ate over 2600 calories more than my goal. The week's net calories is only about 1450 cal below maintenance. I should have lost about half a pound, but I ended up gaining 1.2 lbs. Maybe it's because it's nearly TTOM and I've been bloated with water weight... wishful thinking maybe. Hopefully, I'll see that come down over the next few days. In the meantime, I'll be working hard to keep my diet in check over the next month of limited exerecise. Sigh.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 13 May 2009 12:39 am |
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I'M FREEEEE!!!
I turned in my final project at 4am this morning and am now officially on summer vacation from school. Now, it's just work and fun, fun, fun.
Today is a happy day, because, as I suspected, I had a lot of water weight, and this morning my weight was back down to 160.4 lbs. So, there's my 1/2 lb (almost - down 0.4 from last week) loss. Yay!
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CrimsonAnimus
Moderator
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Posted: 14 May 2009 07:04 pm |
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Way to go, Michelle! Enjoy your free time - you've certainly earned it. 
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artistjohn
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 14 May 2009 11:26 pm |
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Hi Michelle
Thought I'd pop by and say hello. Skim read your diary from start to finninsh. Youv'e come a long way and the photo's are what shall we say "Improving" The last one you look like a true athlete!!
Looking at your 1/2 marathon races. I have a bit of fun and start at the back of the race and try not get overtaken. I also aim to make the first mile the slowest and increase the pace continously making the last mile my quickest. I did the 2nd London marathon back in the 80's. I also did the 1st London Triathlon way back when, 80/90's can't remember. 1/2 marathon is my max these days.
Anyway keep up the good work and thanks for the achilles support and advice. Much appreciated.
artist john
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 18 May 2009 05:52 pm |
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Thanks Nick and John!
Well, my first week on crutches has not been fun. My arms and hands are terribly sore, my hips hurt, and there's a sharp pain in my good knee sometimes. I really miss my workouts. Ugh, 3 more long weeks to go.
Week's Summary (05/11/09-05/17/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 160.2 lbs
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 1 June 2009 08:45 pm |
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Yikes, it's been a couple weeks and I haven't been watching my calories that much. I've been sick and have a cough that just won't go away. But, I have good news to report and that is that I've finally reached a size 8  . Yay - I'm no longer a double digit size! Going from a tight size 16 to a size 8 in one year is acceptable and I'm happy with my progress so far. I wish I could have lost it faster, but as long as I continue to go down I guess I'll be satisfied.
So, I spent the weekend cleaning out my closet of more oversized clothes. I got rid of 3 garbage bags worth of clothes. I kept a lot of my size 12 work clothes though. They're loose and baggy, but they don't fall off my hips so they're wearable. I just don't have the funds to buy a whole new set of expensive work clothes right now. I can wait until the Thanksgiving/Christmas sales to get some. I actually considered buying a tankini type swimsuit. I'd love to have a bikini, but the big brown 8 inch scar on my abs is not attractive .
8 more days on crutches. Whew! I can't wait to start my workouts again, even if it's mostly walking and easy cycling.
I'm also going to try a new calorie cycling schedule that I read on BFFM. I'm going to go for a moderate diet to start. If I don't lose weight, I'll try decreasing the calories. It's going to be 3 days of 1700 cal and a 4th day at 2000 cal. This week didn't go too well. I probably shouldn't have started my big calorie day on Monday since it's not my usual schedule. It's going to take a little time to adjust from my old schedule to my new one.
Week's Summary (05/25/09-05/31/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 158.2 lbs
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artistjohn
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 1 June 2009 10:14 pm |
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Hi Michelle
Question if you don't mind. I had right achilles pain which cleared up. Then for no reason over weekend I developed pain in left achilles and now stiff calf.
From your experiences have you any ideas. I have read that this is all caused by problem elsewhere ie lower back or tight hip etc. Of which I have both.
I am resting now and will cycle and swim.
How is you recovery going?
John
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 12 June 2009 08:04 pm |
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Since there's been a change, I can now answer your question John.
I'm off the crutches - YAY!!!
I'm still in a walking boot - BOOOOO!!!!!
Diet was sucking for a while, but I'm better now. I was totally PMSing and eating everything I saw, especially chocolate. I feel so uncontrollable during these times. The cravings are so strong that I can't sleep at night. It doesn't matter if I eat something else to fill me up. Even full, I can't reduce the cravings. I will eat past a stomach ache and I hate that. Maybe it's better to just satisfy the craving instead of letting it get so bad that I overeat like a starving person. I think I was averaging about 2400 cal/day for a week. Luckily, I didn't gain much. I'm back down to a manageable 1600 cal/day.
The exercise progress is mixed. I've really improved on the swimming and can now do an 1800 yd (a tiny bit over a mile) freestyle non-stop. I think it took me about 35-40 minutes which is not too bad considering I was doing a pull only with the buoy. I didn't time it because I was supposed to only do 1000 yd so the mile was totally unintentional. It just felt so good to be doing something after 2 weeks of being sick. I did do a timed 500yd pull on Monday, but I was a little tired and sore. I averaged 2:14/100 yds - yes, very slow. But, now I have my first benchmark for measuring improvement. My goal for swimming will be to get that average down to 1:45 by the end of the year.
On the other end of my body, I can tell my leg muscles have suffered from the crutches. The first few days my calf and shin in the bad leg has been cramping to the point that I was unable to sleep. It's getting a little better though, and I've been walking a little more. I'm going to try walking on the treadmill later today.
My next race is happening in less than 7 weeks. I plan on doing it. I definitely won't be able to run the whole thing. My plan is not to race, but just finish. Why is it so important? Well, it's really stupid, but it's the third race of a series of 3. Finishing the series gets me a special medal. But mostly, it's because I planned the whole series with my husband and a group of friends and we're all traveling to San Francisco to finish it together. I don't think I can handle sitting on the sidelines, watching everybody have such a good time without me. I know that's an immature reason, but when you've planned something a year in advance and are so close to finishing, it's really tough to be the only one who doesn't complete it. So, I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.
Last edited on 12 June 2009 08:06 pm by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 15 June 2009 11:23 pm |
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I skipped a week of reporting just because I was having such a horrible week. I was sick so no exercise and being on cortisone and TTOM at the same time made my appetite skyrocket. I'm back to normal this week so here we go:
Monday was bad and Tuesday was a little over, but not horrible. The rest of the week was great and I stayed within my goal and ate mostly healthy foods.
Since I'm off the crutches I started testing what I could do in the way of exercise. My doctor refused to discuss exercise with me until he the next office visit. I guess I'm not willing to wait that long. I can tell I'm not ready to start walking without the boot yet. I tried swimming without the pull buoy and found that the top of my foot at the ankle was very stiff - a result of not being able to flex my foot for so long. My achilles felt great though. I had no problem on the stationary bike as I rode with the boot. I can tell I've lost a lot of cardio and strength in my legs. Whereas a 2 hour ride would have been no problem before the injury, I could barely manage 30 minutes my first try. The second try though, I was able to go 45 minutes so there's hope that I'll be able to gain back the cardio quickly.
Week's Summary (06/08/09-06/14/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- stationary bike pace - 252 cal
- Saturday
- Sunday
- stationary bike endurance - 501 cal
- Weight - 159.0 lbs
I was hoping to get back to my double workout per day schedule by including some treadmill walking, but it looks like that was too ambitious. The goal now is to up the cardio and leg strength with the stationary bike but staying with the boot. I'll be building strength with a modified yoga - limiting the balance poses on my bad leg. The swimming will continue without the pull buoy but no kicking drills. If I feel stronger later in the week I will test some running/walking on the treadmill again.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 17 June 2009 09:22 pm |
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(Past) Time for updated measurements:
Last measurements were done February 10, so these are 4 months later.
Current (Starting, Last)
Neck: 14" (15.5", 14.25")
Chest: 33" (37.5", 35")
Waist: 32.5" (39.5", 33.75")
Hips: 39.5" (44.5", 40.25")
Left Calf: 13.75" (16", 15")
Right Calf: 14.5" (16", 15.25")
Left Thigh: 23" (26", 24")
Right Thigh: 23" (26", 24.25")
Left Upper Arm: 11.5" (13.5", 11.75")
Right Upper Arm: 11.5" (13.5", 11.75")
Left Wrist: 6" (6.25", 6")
Right Wrist: 6" (6.5", 6.25")
Weight: 159.0 lbs (200 lbs, 163.0 lbs)
Body Fat: 27%
Only a 4 lb loss, but a total of 8.5 inches gone. It's still a bummer that I'm continuing my 1lb/month loss, but it helps to know my size is decreasing faster than my weight.
There is no reason as to where the fat comes off. Sometimes the majority comes from the waist, sometimes the thighs, sometimes the arms. This time it was the chest. My biggest loss was at the chest (2 inches) - no wonder my bras won't stay down. Of course, the bra fit is also due to weight loss in the bosom area, but I refuse to measure that since it's just too depressing.
Another big, but unwanted, loss was in my left calf. I lost a half inch more in the left calf than I did in the right calf. I'm sure this is due to being in the walking boot and crutches. But, it's only been 5 weeks. I can't believe I lost that much muscle in so short a time. I'm sure I'll get the muscle back, I just need to work harder. Gotta keep looking at the bright side of things.
Since I started, I've lost 7 inches from my waist and 5 inches from my hips. I'm slowly going from buddha back to a woman, and that's something I can smile at.
Last edited on 17 June 2009 09:30 pm by mchen01
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MichelleP
Senior Member
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Posted: 22 June 2009 01:12 pm |
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Hi Michelle,
I'm another Michelle on here and I was reading through some of your last diary entries. You're doing great and have lost a lot of inches. Keep it up. One pound a month really is something to cheer about. Most importantly the inches you've lost tell more than the scale weight. I struggle with the scale weight not going down as fast as I want at times too. But when I have that issue I can always go to the tape measure and see bigger losses than the scale.
I hear ya about losing inches in the chest/breasts. I have been losing a lot in that area and it is depressing. I wanted to keep my breast size but like you said you can't control where the fat comes from. I have plenty of fat on my thighs and arms that my body needs to dig into before it takes anymore from my chest. It is depressing but I figure that I'd rather be thin with smaller breasts than be fat with bigger breasts. But still it does kind of bite.
Keep up the good work.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 22 June 2009 06:41 pm |
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Hi Michelle,
Thanks for the note, you had me laughing. Yes, I'd rather be thin with small breasts too. Still, it's time to go back to padded, underwire bras.
Week's Summary (06/15/09-06/21/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- yoga - 286 cal
- stationary bike - 189 cal
- walk/jog - 168 cal
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- yoga - 286 cal
- walk/jog - 190 cal
- Friday
- stationary bike easy - 505 cal
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 159.0 lbs
So, this weekend was really bad with a trip to Las Vegas. I wanted to control myself, but I just couldn't do it. I have no idea how much I ate, just that it was a lot and all of it bad. I estimated on the high side in my food log to be safe.
I also didn't get a chance to exercise. The trip is mostly to keep my mom company since we go twice a year to put flowers on her husband's grave. She gets a little sad so, I stay up late with her to keep her company. During the day, we take the kids around to have fun. We went ice skating and to the m&m museum, but I was stuck on the sidelines with my foot still in the boot. After driving 6 hours on Sunday, I was too exhausted to make it to the gym and ended up sleeping 12 hours.
I have started working out on the treadmill as I ease myself out of the boot. I've been spending about a third of my day without the boot and decided to give myself a short jog/walk. I was able to jog for 6 minutes at a 12 minute pace at one minute intervals. It's not a lot, but I was very pleased that I could do this much without any pain. I was also able to ride the stationary bike for 60 minutes, so my cardio is building back up as well. My very ambitious plan is to be able to ride 3 hours and walk/run for 2 hours in the next 4 weeks. My next half marathon is in 5 weeks and I want my body to be ready to at least finish the race, and that means spending time building cardio on the bike and taking some pounding on the road. I'm aiming for a 13 min/mile pace since the time limit is a 13:40 min/mile pace. So far, my current pace is approximately 15 min/mile, but I'm hoping for major improvements this week as I spend less time with the boot on.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 22 July 2009 06:50 pm |
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My absenteeism is showing again. And, the weight has consquently gone up. I've gone from 158.2 back up to 163.2, a gain of 5 lbs. Ugh! I hope it doesn't take me another 5 months to lose it. I'm hopiing most of it was maybe a physiological response to the reduced activity for 2.5 months instead of the monster appetite I had from being so bored and bummed out.
But, I'm almost back to normal now. The boot has been off for a month and I've increased my running greatly, using the run/walk method to give my body time to adjust. My last run/walk was 10 miles at 12:00 min/mile. It was a very easy pace and will easily see me through this weekend's half marathon in... beautiful San Francisco! Yay - I'm so excited! I get to run across the Golden Gate Bridge! I'm thinking of carrying a camera for the whole event since I'm not going to be able to race it.
I've got 2 more weeks of restrained activity - easy run/walk on the treadmill only and easy rides on the stationary bike. I have to stay on flat surfaces, so the treadmill and stationary bike work for me. After that, I'll be increasing my time on the road and reducing the walk.
I wish I could say that the diet has been going as well as the exercise. I am eating healthy foods for the most part, but I'm also indulging in sweets more often than I should. Instead of my allowed 1-2 cheat days a week, It's been more like 4 cheat days a week. One week even had 6 cheat days!  I've been abusing my tracking system. Sure I've been tracking what I eat, but I haven't been setting my daily limits. It's time for me to kick myself hard and get back to the plan.
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Hisgal
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 22 July 2009 08:13 pm |
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| Why can't this be easy..................and permanent?
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MichelleP
Senior Member
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Posted: 23 July 2009 01:42 am |
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Hi Michelle,
I think we all get off track from time to time. Just pick yourself up and get going again. I'm rooting for you girl!
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 4 August 2009 06:42 pm |
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Hisgal wrote: Why can't this be easy..................and permanent?
Thanks for the support Pat and Michelle!
Yeah, why is this so hard?! I'm back from vacation and found that I'd gained 5 lbs in one week!! How is that possible?! I even ran a half marathon, plus 2 more days of running 4 and 3 miles while on vacation. Yes, I ate foods that were a "little" rich and heavy in fats, but with all the walking and sightseeing (5-8 miles a day), I thought it would be ok - I guess I thought wrong, way wrong. I almost cried when I saw the scale back up to 170 lbs.
So, I'm back on track and have lost 3.8 lbs in the past 4 days - whew! That's the biggest fluctuation in weight I have seen yet. I'm still very disappointed with myself at having gained back so much weight when I had just reached normal weight status.
My goal is to lose at least 3 more lbs by next Friday, when I go the the Navy Ball with my hubby. I need him to have a nice memory of me before he takes off to Afghanistan.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 12 August 2009 07:38 am |
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No fooling around this time. I'm so mad that I gained back 7 lbs since reaching a normal weight of 158. No more being a bonehead with all my excuses for not eating right - I'm done with vacation and my achilles is on the mend. I've been increasing my exercise and am back to counting calories everyday. My goal is to lose 16 lbs by the end of the year - final weight of 149 lbs.
I'm changing my week's summary by counting net calories in place of food intake. The reason is explained below.
Week's Summary (08/03/09-08/09/09):
- Net
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- swim - 221 cal
- run - 373 cal
- Tuesday
- weights - 226 cal
- run - 392 cal
- Wednesday
- swim - 354 cal
- bike - 308 cal
- Thursday
- yoga - 299 cal
- run - 446 cal
- Friday
- Saturday
- bike - 545 cal
- run - 101 cal
- Sunday
- Weight - 165.4 lbs
I have a new calorie cycling goal. I'll be working on net calories this time - stupid me, I just found out I've been doing it wrong all this time. I notice that when my net calories are too low I inevitably overeat the next day. Hopefully, getting the right amount of overall intake will keep me from binging. The plan is to do a 4 day cycle with 3 days at a net of 1260-1360 cal and 1 day at 1500-1600 cal. I'm also adding back the base calories I would have burned without exercising so that I'm not double dipping on calories burned. I'm crossing my fingers that I've finally got it right this time.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 18 August 2009 05:33 pm |
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This week was bad exercise-wise, and as a result my diet was screwed up too. I ran out of steam on Friday and wasn't able to complete my full workout. The exhaustion lasted through Saturday and Sunday. I think the lack of sleep caught up with me. Work had been so busy with a sudden deadline having me scrambling to complete my usual work plus some. This is why I rarely take vacation - I always get so much #%@&! when I get back.
The achilles is still not at 100% I get small twinges of pain towards the end of my runs. I have to keep reminding myself to be patient.
Week's Summary (08/10/09-08/16/09):
- Net
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- swim - 200 cal
- run - 400 cal
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- run - 447 cal
- strength - 298 cal
- Thursday
- yoga - 296 cal
- run - 675 cal
- stairs - 122 cal
- Friday
- bike - 466 cal
- swim - 149 cal
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 164.4 lbs
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 24 August 2009 11:36 pm |
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This week was a challenge to try and balance my time and energy between work, studying and training for my next marathon. I'm also feeling a little down about the slow progress in my achilles recovery and my weight gain. Still trying to practice patience with the achilles and am considering cancelling the current marathon and trying for another one a month later.
As for the diet, I finally bought a food scale ($5.99) so that I'll be better at estimating the foods I've been eating. Last night my mom and I got almost everything out of the refrigerator to measure and see how far off I've been. For the most part I've been off about 1 oz., which adds up to a lot when it's 100 calories in that ounce. I'm still going to have trouble when we go out to eat, but except for those 2-3 times a month, I'll have a pretty good grasp on calories otherwise.
Oh, and don't look at Sunday - it's totally embarrassing!
Week's Summary (08/17/09-08/23/09):
- Net
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- swim - 298 cal
- run - 447 cal
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- yoga - 296 cal
- bike - 521 cal
- stairs - 168 cal
- Friday
- run - 761 cal
- strength - 298 cal
- Saturday
- bike - 783 cal
- run - 168 cal
- Sunday
- Weight - 164.2 lbs
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 25 August 2009 09:51 pm |
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It's been almost a year since my last wellness test, and the lovely thing about having this diary is that I can retrieve that entry and compare with this years test.
2009 Wellness Test Results:
- Total Cholesterol - 142
- HDL - 60
- Triglycerides - 58
- LDL - 71
- Glucose (non-fasting) - 92
- Blood Pressure - 154/89
- BMI - 26.2
- Body Fat% - 32.9
- Weight - 167.5
2008 Wellness Test Results:
- Total Cholesterol - 128
- HDL - 48
- Triglycerides - 67
- LDL - 66
- Glucose (non-fasting) - 78
- Blood Pressure - 139/80
- BMI - 27.4
- Body Fat% - 32.5
- Weight - 175
Cholesterol - Looks really good. I've rasied my HDL (good cholesterol) to an ideal level. I guess eating 1/3 avocado 5 days/week and nuts 2/week has helped.
Glucose - Normal, even by fasting standards. This year I broke the fast by having coffee with chocolate coffee-mate. Last year, I drank fruit juice but then did a 4 mile run. Next time, I'm going to try running right before the test again, but with fasting as well.
Blood Pressure - High both times, but really high this time. Asthma is definitely a contributor as August & September are difficult months for me. This is when I start back on the Flovent and have to start using the rescue inhalar more often. Even now, I'm experiencing a little shortness of breath and pressure in my lungs. When I checked my blood pressure several months ago, it was 117/60. I think I'm ok.
BMI & Body Fat - WTF!! How can I have a lower BMI but a higher body fat?!? Does it really mean that I've made so little progress on the fat loss? This makes me want to cry!!
My first reaction was to totally deny these numbers as a mistake. Now that I've calmed down a little, I'm trying to think how this could've happened. When I'm honest with myself, I admit that my fat intake is always high (usually 30-40% of my daily intake). So, even though I exercise a lot, I'm probably sabotaging my progress with my poor diet.
Well, this has been a shocker and an eye opener for me. I'm a little depressed, but glad I had some sense knocked into me about deluding myself that I can eat whatever I want. I'm going to do some heavy rethinking about my food intake and try to plan better meals (so much for thinking a salad a day would be good enough). It's going to be very hard, and I don't know how I'm going to be able to do this. I'm not a good dieter. I'm going to go cry into my salad now.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 1 September 2009 01:05 am |
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Did pretty well this weekend. A few days were over my goal, but not by much. Besides I had one day that was pretty low since I had burned a lot on my run, but just couldn't eat enough to replace it.
It's been a pretty exciting week for me. I finally decided to give ocean swimming a try after practicing in a pool for the past year. I've been a bit of a scaredy cat about swimming and hadn't even been in the pool for 20 years let alone the ocean. I ordered and received my wetsuit in the mail on Thursday. So, I left work early on Friday to head to the beach. The surf was really rough, but I just couldn't wait to try out the new wetsuit. Turns out I really should have waited for the water to calm down. I got rolled by a couple of large waves and ended up tearing my wetsuit and losing my swim cap. It was really scary as I couldn't tell which way was up. But, I was able to keep my cool and wait for the wave to pass over before I fought my way to the surface. The tear is not bad and I should be able to fix it with some glue.
The next day I did a practice triathlon with my triathlon class. It was great because I got some help from a volunteer triathlete on how to get through those waves, which were still a little rough but not as bad as the day before. She held my hand to give me courage and help me dive at the right time. I finally got it right at the third try. Yay! I finished 3rd overall in my class after beating a bunch of people out of transition and passing 2 others on the bike (there were 20 people at the race).
Week's Summary (08/24/09-08/30/09):
- Net
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- swim - 261 cal
- run - 413 cal
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- bike - 423 cal
- swim - 130 cal
- Saturday
- swim - 148 cal
- bike - 309 cal
- run - 278 cal
- Sunday
- Weight - 163.6 lbs
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 8 September 2009 07:09 pm |
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It could have been a great week if I had gotten myself out of bed early enough to do my Thursday and Friday workouts. When changes happen in my schedule, I need to make myself flex my workouts around those changes. The best time would be mornings, because I'm usually exhausted by evening.
It was a busy week at work with two presentations, one of which I had to prepare on my own time. Lots of last minute priorities kept me late, and trying to get personal errands done before the hubby deployed ate up all other free time. By Thursday, I just wanted to sleep.
Sunday's half marathon went very well in most respects. It was supposed to be a low priority race - more like a training run than a race. But, my hubby pushed the pace, wanting to beat the sun before it burned through the marine layer and started to get too hot. So, I kept up with him, getting a PR but ending up too sore to workout the next day. I'll post a fuller report with pictures later.
Week's Summary (08/31/09-09/06/09):
- Net
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- swim - 297 cal
- run - 396 cal
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- run - 792 cal
- bike - 520 cal
- swim - 297 cal
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 163.2 lbs
- Avg Net - 1418 cal
Last edited on 8 September 2009 10:11 pm by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 14 September 2009 10:52 pm |
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It's been an good week on the diet, but a bad week on exercise. I feel tired and a little on the depressed side. Hubby is leaving this Friday and I've been wanting to spend as much time with him as possible, so I've been skipping my trips to the gym. It feels like it becomes harder to say goodbye at each new deployment. I will miss him dreadfully.
Week's Summary (09/07/09-09/13/09):
- Net
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- run - 606 cal
- bike - 461 cal
- Thursday
- Friday
- lawn bowling - 146 cal
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 162.2 lbs
- Avg Net - 1263 cal
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 23 September 2009 12:27 am |
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This past Sunday was my second sprint triathlon. This one was the normal format, not reverse and the swim was in the ocean. The anticipation of the swim had me at a very high anxiety level, but I concentrated on visualizing the race from start to transitions to end. It kept me focused and helped calm me down a bit. Turns out the swim wasn't as scary as I thought it would be and it ended sooner than expected. I did get bumped and kicked through the start, but with all the excitement and the adrenalin rush, I hardly noticed it was happening. I ended up finishing with a time about 3 minutes faster than my goal time, so I'm pretty happy overall. I just with my Pookie had been there to cheer me on.
Anyway, I ate terribly this past week and didn't record very diligently. So, I know I'm missing some foods that I've forgotten about since eating them and finally recording it 4 days later. That and the lack of exercise meant a weight gain this week, but I knew that was going to happen. It was planned that I get to indulge this week to relieve some of the stress. Now that we're settling down to our deployment routine, I'm going to work harder than ever. The weight absolutely must come off in order for me to make my goal of qualifying for Boston. If I could just please, please, please remember this goal when the urge to overeat hits me. It's so easy to commit when my stomach is full and so hard to stay commited when the cravings come.
Week's Summary (09/14/09-09/20/09):
- Net
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 163.0 lbs
- Avg Net - 1465 cal
Last edited on 23 September 2009 12:34 am by mchen01
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oneday
New Member
| Joined: | 11 August 2009 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 77 |
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Posted: 23 September 2009 01:52 pm |
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Hi Michelle,
I would sometimes wish my hubby would go out on a deployment b/c I have this alter-ego superwoman attitude while he is gone! I get so much done, it is almost like a frantic energy to pass the time till he gets home. I did some of my best weight loss during those times. I hope you stay sane and meet your goals...there is nothing better than seeing his eyebrows shoot up when he gets home to a hot happy lady!
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 23 September 2009 03:28 pm |
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Hi Oneday!
You are so right! I am much better behaved and work harder when he's away. I think it's like you say - to keep busy so the time will go by faster. Thanks for the reminder and the support. It's very much appreciated.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 28 September 2009 06:01 pm |
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I did pretty well on the diet this week, and best of all, I lost 3 lbs this week. I haven't seen a number that big in almost a year - yay! Exercise has been so so though. I've been feeling very tired, and my right heel has been bother me from the plantar fasciitis. Also, I still contend with weak achilles in both ankles. After doing two races in September, I think I might have stressed these injuries a little too much. I've slowed things down and am trying alternative exercises to let things heal more and recover a little better.
Week's Summary (09/21/09-09/27/09):
- Net
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- bike - 561 cal
- ellitpical - 311 cal
- Tuesday
- spinning - 441 cal
- yoga - 236 cal
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- elliptical - 315 cal
- yoga - 236 cal
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 160.0 lbs
- Avg Net - 1527 cal
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 7 October 2009 09:10 pm |
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This has been a rough week emotionally. We lost one of our beloved dogs - my mom's Cavalier who watched over her while she grieved over the loss of her husband. His illness was sudden and unexpected, and even though we caught the problem early, his condition deteriorated rapidly and we decided to end his suffering. He was a special dog and we will miss him greatly. So, with the sadness of his passing and watching my mom grieve afresh, I have actually lost my appetite. I tried to make up calories with dense foods that were bad for me, but I didn't care - I needed the comfort. I expect to recover my diet either later this week or next week as I've also been sick with a stomach bug that was followed quickly by a head cold. Grrrr! Of course, when it rains it pours, and I also have to repair the floor of one of our bathrooms which flooded over the weekend. At least it gives me an excuse to get rid of the carpet sooner rather than later. Who puts carpet in an upstairs bathroom over a wood subfloor?!? That's just dumb!
This week's accounting may be off, as I failed to record during the tough days, but I think I'm pretty close.
Week's Summary (09/28/09-10/04/09):
- Net
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- row - 171 cal
- bike - 483 cal
- ellitpical - 306 cal
- Tuesday
- spinning - 434 cal
- yoga - 232 cal
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 158.6 lbs
- Avg Net - 1099 cal
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 12 October 2009 05:17 am |
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This cold is alingering. It's settled in my chest so no exercise for me. I'm drinking tons of tea to ease the cough and it seems to be helping. At least the cough is productive.
The calories were a little low on some days, but everything seemed to average out ok. Besides being tired from the cold, I feel ok. So, I may not be able to do my usual workouts, but I was able to get outside for a nice walk in the sunshine and work on repairing the bathroom.
The bathroom floor has been completely stripped of carpet and old linoleum, gouges and holes have been patched, 2 coats of Kilz and 2 coats of polyurethane to waterproof the wood subfloor have been applied. I just need to do one more coat of polyurethane tomorrow morning and wait 3 days for it to cure, then I can put down some vinyl tile and caulk and the kids will have their bathroom back. That ought to hold it together until we can afford the badly needed renovation.
Week's Summary (10/05/09-10/11/09):
- Net
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 157.6 lbs
- Avg Net - 1226 cal
157.6 is a new low for me! I just need to lose 8.6 more pounds to get to 149, my goal for end of 2009. I've only got one more year left to try to qualify for the Boston Marathon so I need to lose as much weight as possible as soon as possible.
Last edited on 12 October 2009 05:36 am by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 12 October 2009 07:33 am |
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Well, it's a little late, but here's my Long Beach Triathlon race report. I had a blast and wish I could have fit in one more triathlon before the end of the year. Racing has been a great motivator to help me lose weight and stay on track. I love the adrenaline rush and enjoy seeing my improvement every year. I may still be a little on the chunky side and definitely no spring chicken, but I beat a lot of people skinnier and younger than me and that for me is showing results better than any mirror or scale could do.
The swim in the ocean wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, but it still took me a while to get over psyching myself out for the swim. The fear kept me from going all out, but I did the best I could maintaining a good stroke. I also hung in the back of the group at the start and found that was not a good idea. People who did not start swimming right away were blocking my way and I had a hard time trying to get around them. There are a few bruises on my arms and legs from where people kicked and elbowed me. Actually, I hardly felt being hit by the people around me. The adrenaline was so high I had very little awareness other than concentrating on the course and trying to stay on it. The water was stinky from the red tide, but the temperature was great and it seemed that the swim went faster than I thought it would. Oh, and side note on the swim, I need to remember to take off the goggle and swim cap before they take a picture of me - I look like a total dork!
Transition from swim to bike included about a 200 meter run through really soft sand. Running on soft sand did not feel good on my achilles or arches of my feet - ouch! The run up to transition seemed to take forever and I ran out of steam to continue the run. Getting out of my wetsuit was a little tough, but everything else about transition went smoothly. I definitely could do it a little faster since I noticed other faster times were about 30 seconds faster than mine.
The bike went pretty well, except I dropped my water bottle like a knucklehead - sorry to all the cyclists behind me. Getting off to go retrieve it cost me about a minute or two. We got a little crowded at the turnarounds, but most everyone was courteous and handled it safely. Trying to pass on a bike is a lot more tough than running. So many people, especially those very new to the sport, were reluctant to stay to the right even when they were slow and not passing anyone. There were two hills going over a bridge which we repeated once. I wish I had a faster time for this part of the race, but I think I did well riding smart and leaving enough energy to continue with a good run.
My legs were wobbly at the start of the run and I was already breathing hard coming out of transition. It feels really weird to start a run already winded, but I kept telling myself to just keep moving because everyone else is also feeling bad. I was worried at the start of the run and really didn't think I could get through it, but as I started passing people, I thought maybe I could keep going by just passing one more person. It worked! I was doing well, alternately passing and getting passed, but feeling good that I was making progress and not keeling over. I did catch a woman whom I thought I could pass, but she did a great job fending me off. I tried making a move on her at the start of the third mile, but as soon as I passed her she kicked in hard. She only got about 15 feet ahead of me before she slowed down again so I thought I could catch her again. Unfortunately, she had more leftover than I did, and she surged ahead of me with about a third of a mile left to go. Still, I did better on the run than I thought I would, especially since I haven't raced a distance smaller than a half marathon in a couple years. I was hoping for a 9-9:30/mile pace, but actually averaged 8:55/mile.
Overall, I beat my goal time of 1:28:00 by several minutes, so I'm pretty pleased overall. :-)
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, THE Chris McCormack was at the race! I didn't see him in person which is a big bummer, but I ran in a race that had Chris McCormack, world champion triathlete, in it. That's so cool!
Total time: 1:25:07
Swim (0.5 mile): 18:09 - 2:04/100 yds
T1: 2:27
Bike (11 miles): 36:51 - 17.91 mph
Run (3 miles): 27:41 (includes T2 time) - 8:55/mile
Age group place: 15 out of 41
Gender place: 72 out of 317
Overal place: 390 out of 947
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MichelleP
Senior Member
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Posted: 13 October 2009 11:57 am |
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| Great job on the triathalon Michelle! I admire your strength and tenacity and you inspire me. You are so very close to your weight loss goals. You will get there very soon. Congrats!
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 19 October 2009 06:19 pm |
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Thanks Michelle!
I was on a great losing streak for a while there, but it figures that I couldn't last that long. While I did lose a teensy amount of weight this week, I could have definitely done better. I was a total P-I-G this weekend and will pay for it next week on the scales. The only thing I can do is to stick hard and fast to my diet and exercise this week.
Week's Summary (10/12/09-10/18/09):
- Net
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- bike - 427 cal
- run - 330 cal
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 157.4 lbs
- Avg Net - 1488 cal
*TMI Alert* My stomach hurts really bad. I'm not sure if it's from all the coughing and air that I've swallowed, or if it's because I'm super constipated. When I look at all the food I've eaten over the weekend, I'm hoping it's constipation. It would be great if I could easily shed a couple of pounds by just, well, you know. I really need to get back to drinking more water. I got into a bad habit while I was sick when it hurt to swallow water with my sore throat. I also need to stop drinking coffee everyday and just get some good sleep. So, goals for this following week is to get 64 oz. of water a day and sleep at least 7.5 hours a night (in addition to the usual dieting and exercise).
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