#FaceItFriday: Making "Me" Time & Some Backlash
/TGIF my friends!!!! I seriously look forward to Friday for many reasons - as we all do - but one of the best ones is sharing with each of you how the past week went: good, bad or ugly!
Getting back into the routine of blogging, tracking and focusing on the positive things in my life has been a godsend these past 3 weeks! My anxiety levels have reduced, my depression has been in check and I am sleeping better (and getting more of it).
While I will be working on bringing alcohol and dining out back into my plan in March, it is nice to get #Back2Basics this month.
I have been filling the time gained back from ending my run streak by blogging. This is helping my level of happiness and forcing me to carve out some "me" time daily. :) "Me" time had been seriously lacking in 2016 and it made me miserable. Refocusing on that in 2017 is already paying off dividends.
Additionally getting back into the Weight Watchers meeting as a member is another form of "me" time. I always looked forward to my WW meeting when I first joined. I made friends in the group and they became my accountability buddies. We looked forward to seeing each other each week, we cried together, we smiled together and we laughed together. When I moved back to Boston in 2012, I just started as an employee of WW and spent so much time working WW meetings I never found one for myself.
Taking the leader hat off and putting my member hat was a challenge at first, but I've adjusted. ;) Sharing, laughing, and clapping always turns my mood around. Plus I sip on a little Dunkin Donuts iced coffee too. ;)
I went into this morning's weigh-in feeling really positive, but keeping my expectations in check. I know how fickle the scale can be and that it is only one piece of this journey. I have stuck to my goal of not stepping on the scale outside of the meeting room as well. WOO!
Workouts this past week:
Friday - 45 min strength training class
Saturday - 16 miler
Sunday - 5k with my Slumbrew Happy Soles
Monday - 1750m swim
Tuesday - 90 min bike trainer
Wednesday - REST DAY
Thursday - 75 min bike trainer
Overall this past week I again focused on my daily habits app and the guidelines I set week 1:
- Tracked every bite, lick and taste. Tracking streak is at 24 days (including today)!
- Earned 6 blue dots on my WW app (which means I was within a certain number of pts of my daily points target)
- Booze Free (Today is Day 25)
- Blogged every day (Today is Day 22)
- Drank at least 100oz of water every day (Today is Day 24)
- Logged at least 10k steps (Today is Day 12)
Here is how my tracker looked by Thursday night. I used 24 of my 35 weekly points (I lost 7 weekly points due to my weight loss the week prior - womp womp). I didn't touch any of my Fitpoints. I have unsynced my Fitbit so I am only going to be accruing Fitpoints from my manually entered activities.
I think as my mileage ramps up for Marathon training I will be using my Fitpoints for my fuel. That is what I am going to try in the month of March! I think it sounds like the best plan so far!
So what happened when I hit the scale today in my weigh-in dress? Yes I brought out my old weigh-in dress and have been putting it on the past couple of weeks. I like the consistency of the action of putting it on.
I stepped on the scale and Tara said... you're down 2.6 pounds!
Total Lost: 62.8 (45.2 with WW)
Current weight: 172.2
Heaviest (recorded) weight: 235
Weight Watchers Start weight: 217.4
Goal weight: 155
Lowest weight: 150.2
Happy to be down 6.4 lbs since recommitting to Weight Watchers. I am sure a good portion of it is water weight, but that is okay. Bloat or fat - it is helping me feel leaner already. I am finding my way back to the "me" I loved being. Lean and mean baby!
I also like the messages that the WW app now provides. The WW app is truly improving with each upgrade. Thank goodness. The app was always one of my pain points with the program.
While overall the support for my journey has been positive, I have received some backlash for attempting to lose weight while marathon training. I want people to know this isn't the first time I have attempted to lose weight while training for a marathon. In 2013, I went into Boston having lost weight (with WW) and the same in 2015. During the 2015 training season, I actually lost 10 pounds and went into Boston feeling light and lean. :)
There is nothing wrong with someone attempting to losing weight while training for a marathon (or another endurance event), as long as they are refueling their body in the right way and making sure they are keeping their energy up and giving their muscles enough to recover between workouts.
Returning to Weight Watchers is helping me focus on HEALTHY ways to refuel from long runs. In 2016 while training for my ultra, I let too many poor habits return. You know those times when you go for a run and tell yourself you deserve those french fries when you know in your head the run didn't equal the amount of calories/points in those fries.
THAT is where Weight Watchers is helping me refocus. I am not changing my fuel to find the lowest one on Weight Watchers. I am continuing to use the same fuel that I know my body can digest and that I like to use. As mentioned above I am going to be playing around with how many Fitpoints I need to use to feel adequately fueled.
The plus side of WW is that you make the program what you need. You tweak the program to work on your life. You listen to YOUR body and adjust accordingly.
I will be sharing this all with you to see how it goes. But I do not stop anyone from trying to lose weight for training for a big event as long as they are doing so in a healthy and smart manner.
So I read the backlash, I understand where people are coming from and I am continuing on in a positive mindset as I navigate my journey.
Thank you all again for following along as I truly train for life! :)
