Weigh-in Wednesday #2

A little bit rushed today but wanted to check in briefly.

Recapping:

Week 1: -1
Week 2: -1
Week 3: -3
Week 4:  0
Week 5: -1
Week 6: -1


Which puts me at 168 lbs this morning; making progress!  I have gone back to FitDay to log my daily calories - it is really the only way to get close to a specific target such as 1800 calories per day.  Too much guesswork involved unless you log it pretty obsessively.  Takes a bit of time but after a while you just pull the same stuff from history.  We all eat a lot of the same foods over and over, don't we...  I'm cooking mostly from Appetite for Reduction which has nutritional information for each recipe which helps a lot - it is a real PITA to try to figure out the nutritional analysis for recipes without it.

I seem to be winning the war with the plantar fasciitis, probably mostly because of regular icing, stretching, rolling, and lately also some calf strengthening exercises.  Important to stick with it, even when the symptoms disappear.  Note to self...

Running is going ok but will have to increase mileage when I start the actual 18-week training cycle (Hal Higdon Intermediate II) next week.  Last couple of weeks were 20 and 22 miles respectively.  Not gonna qualify for Boston with puny mileage like that... :-)

150 or Bust:  44 days down, 129 days to go.

Weigh-in Wednesday

It seems like a good idea to establish a weekly progress check, and a Wednesday is as good a day as any other...


Recapping:

Week 1: -1
Week 2: -1
Week 3: -3
Week 4:  0

So as of today I am around 170.

The good news is that the Accu-Measure fat caliper reading seems to be improving:  the average of 3 readings at the same sacro-ileac spot is down from 26 mm to 23.5 mm.

Nutritionally speaking the weekend was not the best as we spent several hours volunteering at the Conference USA Championship athletics meet at Rice University - resulting in consuming hefty restaurant portions at Jenni's Noodle House and Field of Greens, amongst others.  This coming weekend we will be in Corpus Christi for the Beach to Bay Relay where I will likely face the same kind of issues.  Will try to share some main courses with Kathleen.

Racked up a total of 42 miles last week (through Sunday) which was one of my highest for the entire year to date.  Will dial it down this week as I am worried about plantar fasciitis and also do not want to overdo it with the calf issues.

30 days into my '150 or Bust' program, 143 days to go. 

Why think big?

I am upping the ante on the weight-loss front.  I am thinking less, not more.  Small, not big. So the target is now < 150 lbs by Oct 9 2011.  21 weeks to lose 20 pounds.  Doable, with a few more miles per week and a handful of calories less per day.  October 9 happens to be the day on which the Mohawk-Hudson Marathon will be run from Schenectady to Albany NY.  If I stay healthy I will be lining up that morning to race 26.2 miles – first marathon distance since my inauspicious Boston Marathon performance in April 2009.  The BQ time for Boston (2013) when I will be able to run in the 60 to 65 age group is 3:55 but to have a decent shot at registering (faster runners are favored) I will shoot for 3:45.  All the more reason to shed the excess fat slowing me down! 

 
I am not one to keep meticulous records of miles run per day/week/month etc. but just happened to notice passing the 400 mile mark for 2011 a day or so ago.  If it weren't for one really low month (March) I likely would have been well over 500 miles but I'll take it, especially considering the various injury issues.  The running is definitely improving, was able to knock of 8 X 200 meter repeats at Rice track last night without completely imploding. On target for about 40 miles this week which is where I want to be.

155 or Bust: week 3

Finally, the scale is starting to move in the right direction!  Down nearly 3 pounds compared with a few days ago, with the needle settling under 170 pounds for the first time in months!  169.8 – yes!  You don’t have to be a nutritionist or sports physiologist to figure out why, but both disciplines played a roll.  More controlled calorie intake with a conscious effort to limit the # of calories for each meal to a specific number and significantly more calories expended on exercise.  That will do it every time!

Since last Sunday I logged about 37 miles running (mostly easy but with one speed session at Rice track on Thursday), a few more miles of walking and four one-hour sessions of upper body, abs, core and leg workouts.  Most importantly, the Accu-Measure fat caliper result (average of 3) was 26 mm at the sacro-ileac spot: that is down a significant 4 mm from last week’s reading which was at 30 mm!

Bottom line:  3 weeks into my ‘155 or bust’ program, I am down by almost 5 pounds and starting to feel a lot more positive about the prospect of a long-term good outcome.  Still a long way to go but I am encouraged and will step up the dietary control measures this week. 

Pretty good running this week:  37 miles as noted with two fairly long 7 mile  efforts with Kathleen who is also doing a lot better.  Both of us have some incipient issues with plantar fasciitis; so far regular foot rolling and occasional icing is keeping it at bay.  The calves are about 90 per cent.  Lesson learnt:  once you run on Vibrams exclusively, don’t take too long a break from them because the calf muscle clearly will shorten up again when wearing regular shoes.  And most importantly, don’t try to get back to running in the Vibrams too quickly, particularly in a very hilly environment. 

Measuring progress

I am now 2 weeks into my '155 or bust' program, and I honestly have not made much progress.  On the positive side, I am tracking my calories for most meals (things tend to fall apart by dinner-time...), I am running or at least walk-running 5 or 6 days a week, and I have halted any additional weight gain.  Also working out with a trainer regularly, 3 times last week and once already (on Monday) this week.  So things are happening and my abs, back and shoulders are definitely getting stronger.  I just need to shed a considerable amount of subcutaneous fat for any kind of muscle definition to show up. 

The scale can be deceiving.  It appears that my weight fluctuates by several pounds on a daily basis, depending on the time of the day, degree of hydration, and so on.  So just to add another 'wrinkle' to the mix, I am dragging out my nearly forgotten Accu-Measure set of fat calipers, which trainers use to measure body fat.  So as of this morning, before I set off on what will hopefully be a 6-mile effort, the depressing reality is that my skinfold measurement at the supra-iliac (about an inch up from the hipbone) is just under 30mm.  This is on the high side of 'average' which means that I am about 2 veggie burgers and fries away from being 'over fat'.  Quel horreur!

Weight today:  172
1 mile walk, 1 mile easy run with Daisy, 5 miles EZ along the Bayou
Very little residual pain in the calves. 

Finally on the right calorie track

It took a while but my weight is down by a little more than a pound, and I seem to have the daily calorie tracking process (on a 'per meal' basis) going again.  1800 calories are actually quite a lot, even spread out over 24 hours - provided you don't count the lemondrop martini. Clearly I still have a problem confining the adult beverages to 'weekends only'...  It is all about motivation, I am led to believe.  What is my motivation?  Duh, to lose weight.  Or maybe to run faster.  By losing some weight.  Can't the process be the motivation? I suppose not. You have to have a goal.  Ok then, mine is to weigh 155 lbs or less by the end of October this year.  So that I can run fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  There's motivation for you!!

Anyway I have resumed working out with a personal trainer two to three times per week, Monday, Wednesday & Friday - the third session being dependent on my schedule which can sometimes get a bit hectic on a Friday.  My trainer Amy is superb:  very encouraging with lots of positive reinforcement, a method which was sorely lacking in my younger years.  We learned and progressed mostly out of fear or necessity:  do this - or else.  Let's face it, it is much nicer having someone praise you for doing 20 push-ups than fearing a negative outcome if you fail.

Took a rest day yesterday (it is all part of Sally Edwards' program not to get injured or over-trained) and did a good 40 minute run this morning, including 2 miles in Zone 4 (140 to 158bpm). Will be joining Kathleen tonight at Rice University for a parents function from 6:00 to 7:30 - we will probably get a bite at Jenni's Noodle House afterward.  Better yet, I should prepare the Pesto Soup with Gnocchi from Post Punk Kitchen so that we can come straight home and have something that's good and good for you...

Tweaking the weight loss program

Clearly my weight-loss program is not working - yet. After almost a week of 'dieting' I am still pretty much exactly where I was at the start, stuck at 173 lbs. I am going to have to be a lot more diligent with portion sizes for one thing.  A couple or so restaurant meals also bedeviled last week's effots (veggie burger & fries at Beck's, vegan BBQ sandwich & fries at Field of Greens).  It is no mystery what needs to be omitted from those orders.  On the positive side I am not gaining weight, and my exercise/running program is gathering steam.  Did another 5 miles this morning (with 30 minutes in Zone 3) for a total of nearly 15 miles over just three days; the best I've done since before the start of the Africa trip in March.

Tedious as it sometimes can be, I am going to have to start counting calories again.  For steady weight loss my maximum daily calorie count should be around 1800 total (400 for breakfast, 200 for a mid-morning snack, 450 at lunch, 200 for late afternoon snack, 450 at dinner and 100 for a snack one hour before going to bed).  This is based on a program which a nutritionist designed for me last year.  However, by the time I received the program I had already lost the weight I wanted to lose. Hopefully it will do the trick this time!