Fabulous Fall Finish

Here I am again, ready to kick off another personal fitness challenge for myself. I haven’t held myself accountable on a weekly basis here on my blog since I finished up my Hammer and Chisel challenge in March. I’ve missed the accountability as I’ve trained and trained and trained for 3 completed half marathons and 1 intense relay race. With the running season coming to an end in the late fall, and with a decent list of serious races ahead of me, I thought it was high time I get back to weekly stats and reporting.

Training for distance running has never been a good weight loss plan for me. I went into the spring season not wanting to lose any weight but wanting to maintain where I was. I should have known better. I’d been there before, the spring training wasn’t my first rodeo. When you run serious distance, you’re hungry all the time and feel like you’ve earned the calories.

You haven’t.

I have gained an official 5.0 pounds since March 2nd which is when I was ramping up training for my first half of the year. I’ve also put on body fat to the tune of 1.7 percentage points (22.9% in March versus 24.6%). Honestly, weighing in this morning was not as depressing as I thought it would be, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t depressing. I enjoyed my 21-23% body fat range and my 145 pound top threshold.

So, it’s time to get serious again.

I’m working out like crazy and am doing a decent mix of cardio and strength training. I truly think that the weight and body fat gain is all diet. Sure, when I was doing H&C for 8 weeks the weights were more intense and not as repetitious, but I’ve kept up a respectable strength training schedule and should have been able to stay in the upper 23%’s. And when you do the calculations, it’s clear. At 144.8 pounds and 22.9% body fat, I had 33.16 pounds of fat on my body and at 149.8 pounds and 24.6% body fat, I now have 36.85 pounds of fat on my body. There are 3.7 pounds of my 5 pound gain right there. 😉

I’m going to keep on keeping on with the running – no need to change-up that training plan that produces serious results (like my personal best finish time and a better-than-expected finish with altitude)! I am adding 1 or 2 barre classes each week and want to complete 3-4 strength sessions each week (includes barre). I will do ab work 4-5 days a week. I know that this sounds a little wishy-washy, but I don’t want to back myself into a corner. I’m pretty committed to my running training plan and rarely miss a scheduled run, and that’s pressure enough.

Where things are changing and getting serious is in the nutrition department. I don’t do shakes, cleanses, resets, etc. I don’t believe in those things because their effects are just temporary and it’s not a good way to eat. I believe in eating real food. What I need to get through my head is that even a single serving of chips, pizza once a week, tacos multiple days a week… that’s not real food either. Real food is clean, lean, and good for you. I’m also going to drink more water… I need to drink more water. I stopped buying Diet Pepsi for the house (if you know me IRL, you know I have a serious problem/addiction to Diet Pepsi and fountain Diet Coke) but I need to tell my husband to stop buying it for me (he’s so good to me!).

I think I’m going to call myself out on the “bad” food each week. I think I’ll list all the “bad” food I’ve had.. that should be a great reality check. Of course I’ll log everything in MFP, because that’s what I do. 😉

So here is how it will work:

My “workout week” will start on Thursday and end on Wednesdays
I will weigh in and measure body fat on Thursday mornings and report weekly here on this page
I’ll try to post progress photos every 2-3 weeks
I will follow my 6-Week Half Marathon Training schedule
I will do strength training 3-4 days a week
I will focus on abdominal work 4-5 days a week
I will list the “bad” food I eat each week

Goals for the Next 12 Weeks:

Finish on 11/02/2016 with a body weight loss of 7 pounds or more
I am targeting a loss of 2.0% or more of body fat as reported on my handheld body fat monitor
I want to see major changes in my physique since I’ve been there before and know I can look a lot better
Complete 6+ hours a week of dedicated exercise
Run 4 times a week at minimum
Stay within daily net calorie goal of 1390 calories at least 6 days a week

Starting Statistics on 08/11/2016

Weight: 149.8 pounds
Body Fat %: 24.6% with the handheld
BMI:

Starting Measurements:

Natural Waist: 28 inches
Belly Button: 33 inches
Hips: 37 inches
Chest: 34.5 inches
Leg (Left): 19 inches

The Workout Plan:

I’ve tweaked this for two weeks now to ensure it’s doable (I hid week 1 in the graphic to save space). I’m going to report on this “ramp week 1” since I checked stats at the beginning of that week and how that week ends up may cause me to modify my goals/targets.