Happy New Year!
I know y'all have been wondering where I've been.... ok, probably not. But I'm going to tell you anyway. I've been on my couch. (Well, not just the couch but you know what I mean.) Throwing a pity party. Yup. Sad. I know.
What Led Me to Fall Off
FRUSTRATION
It all really start around the mid to end of July and after my final weigh in for my family weight loss competition. The scale hadn't moved in about a month and that was very frustrating. I tried to remain positive by focusing on my pace and not the scale. That tactic seemed to work as long as I was running.
NUTRITION
My nutrition started to slip as I was not tracking my food on MyFitnessPal. I had also stopped wearing my BodyMedia, taking pictures of what I ate, and updating my blog. Without tracking these things, I started giving in a little bit more to my cravings.
INJURY
In early August I started to experience some pain in my foot when I was running. I ignored it for a couple of days because it wasn't all that bad, but then on one of my runs it was a pretty severe pain and I actually had to walk home. I was completely bummed and knew I needed to take some time off.
TIME OFF
This time off came around my birthday where I took a trip to Cedar Point with a bunch of my girl friends. I was out of town not worrying about what I ate or drank. Girls just want to have fun, right?
HELLO COUCH POTATO
So a combination of all of these things lead me back to my former habits. I was making poor choices when it came to eating. Like, ordering carry out almost every night or going out with my friends for dinner and a drink. These poor choices made me lethargic, which led to making another choice not to cook and to eat out, which led me to feel lethargic again. You see where I'm going.
What I Learned
TRACKING
Although some do not see the point of doing it, tracking in anyway is helpful to keeping you on track. It's easy to mindlessly eat thousands of calories in one meal. I'm not saying you can never have pizza or your favorite take out anymore, but that needs to be a rarity. In most cases, the fast food you buy is going to be more expensive than a meal at home and three times or more your meal allotment.
ACCOUNTABILITY
I know this may sound silly but my blog was kind of my accountability. Posting what I was eating and doing daily helped me stay on track. I may only have a handful of readers but the feeling of posting my activities and eats for the "world to see" made me eat healthier. Notice that when I started slipping, so did my posts. Because lets be honest, no one is going to cheer me on when I'm eating pizza or take out for the fifth time that week. And doing so is just embarrassing.
LISTENING TO YOUR BODY
It is very important to listen to your body when it comes to injuries. Your body requires rest to recover and repair. In my case, having a foot injury did put me out of running for a time (I'm still not sure that my foot is 100% better, but I think its getting there) but it was not a good reason to stop all activity. I should have continued with lower impact cardio (either bike or elliptical if my foot could take it) and I could still certainly lift weights, work on my core, or even do some floor exercises for legs. The truth is: I used my injury as an excuse to be lazy. There you have it.
Getting Back on Track
Even though it is a new year, I don't do resolutions. I prefer goals. I have a goal list and continue to add and modify it. My goal for this year is to do good in school, PR a mini-marathon, and reach my goal weight. I'm going to use these goals to get back on track. To get back to being healthy. Before I start any training, I need to get to the Dr. and be sure that there is not an issue with the foot. Stay tuned - I'll have more coming for you!
