Cowboy's Diary

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Good Monday Morning,

This weekend went well yet again. I have been slowly trying to add some extra calories to my diet but everytime I do I feel SO guilty-lol. I ate about 1900 Friday, 1900 Saturday and 1700 Sunday. I am trying to get up to at least 2500 as this is maintenance for me with no exercise but it is a tough thing to do for me.

I did my LSD ( long slow distance) run with my running clinic group on Sunday. We ran 9K - it went well and I know I could have run farther without any problem. I am still trying to get used to running 10 minutes then walking for 1 minute as this is how they do their runs - I used to just run-lol. At the longer distances though I can see how the 1 minute break would be helpful as you can take a drink of water- tie your shoe or whatever-lol. They say that the one minute break allows the lactic acid to subsibe and the body to recoup so that the time for the first 10 minutes of the race should be the same as the time for the last 10 minutes of the race. I am not sure if this is true but I guess I will find out.

Well, that is it for today, I hope everyone has a Great Monday!!
 
Great job on keeping up the running! I kinda know what you mean about running without stopping - I found that I can run for say 20 min straight - but I found it extremely difficult to run 10 min, walk and then run for 10 min again.
 
Jennifer72 said:
Great job on keeping up the running! I kinda know what you mean about running without stopping - I found that I can run for say 20 min straight - but I found it extremely difficult to run 10 min, walk and then run for 10 min again.
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Thanks, Jennifer. Nice to see you back-lol. I am having a hard time with the run/walk although I am running with a guy in the clinic that has run 2 marathon and countless 1/2 marathons and he tells me that once you get past 10K it is better for a recreational runner to do the run/walk as it is easier on the body. I still don't know-lol but I am going to give it a shot. Thanks for stopping by!!
 
Good Tuesday Morning,

Well yesterday was my rest day with my long run on Sunday. My eating was on track and I managed to eat 2100 calories of the 2450 I am allowed for maintenance.

Tonight is 1/2 marathon clinic time and we are going to do a 5K tempo run. We are starting to get into longer distances now- which is good. Now I think things will become challenging for me. I am looking forward to it. Next week we start running hills. This past Sunday I found out where the hill training is and it looks daunting but do-able. We start with 3 hills about 400m high- eventually working up to 12 hills. I think my legs are going to be screaming-lol.

Wanted to mention the hydration pack I bought. I bought the model that has the single 500 ml bottle. It does flop around and I am not sure if I like it or not but am going to give it another try.

That is it for today. I hope you have a Great Tuesday!!
 
Good Wednesday Morning,

I had my 5K tempo run last night. It went well. The two guys I normally run with didn't show up last night so I ended up running alone. It took me about 23 minutes- which isn't too bad. I was running 5K faster before but that was before the 10 and 1's. So I had 2-1 minute walk breaks in there as well. I don't know if I am going to be able to get used to the walk breaks. I have a 3K tempo run today. I will see how that goes.

My diet has been good although I am still having a problem eating at maintenance. Yesterday was about 1700 calories. The funny thing is I am not losing or gaining weight so I feel I am eating at maintenance. I could have finally hit a plateau though as I never did hit a plateau all the time I was trying to lose the weight. I am firming up though- my stomach. love handles and man boobs are all starting to go away- thank GOD-lol!!.

We learned about the different kinds of training you have to do for a 1/2 marathon at our running clinic last night. I never did understand why you have to do hill training, tempo runs, speed training, long slow distance runs until last night, It makes sense now.

We start hill training a week from today. Everyone tells me that it is the worst and best thing about the clinic-lol. I guess it is quite the workout. We start with 3 hills and work up to 12 hills- adding a hill each week. We have 10 weeks left. I can't believe how fast the race is coming up and I hope I will be ready.

That is it for today. I hope everyone has a Great Wednesday!
 
The whole 10-1 thing sounds so counter-intuative to me. But then again I sure as heck am not any kind of running expert! Keep us posted on how that goes - whether it actually works for you or not.

Great job at maintaining so far!
 
Tigpuppy said:
The whole 10-1 thing sounds so counter-intuative to me. But then again I sure as heck am not any kind of running expert! Keep us posted on how that goes - whether it actually works for you or not.

Great job at maintaining so far!
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Hi Tig,

Thanks. It actually works from what they tell me. The one minute walk helps to flush the lactic acid in your system so you can run farther. I will let you know once I get into the 15-20K range if it works.
 
Good Thursday Morning,

I ran another 5K tempo run yesterday ( I was only supposed to run a 3K tempo) but felt good so I added another couple of Ks. Eating was good again- about 1700 calories again. Again not enough but I am trying.

I notice with some of people that post on here or I post on their diaries that maintenance is becoming a problem to some that have reached their goal and that have been maintaining for a little while now. I know the feeling. It is so hard to eat right and exercise, all for the scale NOT to move. It can be frustrating as hell. Don't let it get to you people. Stay strong. Nobody wants to go back to the way they were and believe me that is where you will end up if you give in. I have been there a lot. I have gained and lost 10 people over my lifetime. This time FAT is NOT going to win. I don't need that piece of cake and if I do eat it - it will be a small piece nothing more.

I have been worried about getting my mind around the maintenance thing. I don't want to scare anyone but I think eating for maintenance is way harder than dieting. You eat healthy - not eating the cakes and cookies etc. that you used to eat- you exercise your ass off ( literally-lol) and you want nothing to happen- doesn't make sense. No wonder we get frustrated. I am not sure what the answer is yet. If I find one though I will definitely share. If anyone else has an idea or thought on this- let me know.

That is it for today. Have a great Thursday!!
 
Friday ---- Finally

TGIF everyone. Well yesterday was my first official day without boot camp. My wife and son and I went to my gym and we did a varied workout routine. It wasn't quite the same as having the program all laid out for you but we managed. Next week I am going to sit down and create a program for us.

Eating was good - just shy of 1700 calories. Still not enough but you know-lol. Today I am golfing in our company golf tournament so won't have time to run although this is technically my day off anyway. Tomorrow a 3K tempo run and then Sunday a 10K long slow run. I am looking forward to both.

I am taking maintenance one day at a time much like I did when I was losing weight. I don't weigh everyday but once a week. The running and other exercise I do should keep the weight off anyway and it has been but it is still a struggle some days. I am tightening up around my ab area and even my chest is tightening up. I have a weird pain in my left arm. Under my arm I can feel a tendon along the outside of my arm and it is in a loose skin area. If I happen to push on it the pain shoots up my tricep ( much like a burning). It is weird and I hope it goes away soon. I am working on tightening up my arms too - they were already failrly muscular but that area needs a little more work. Hopefully by tightening up the skin it makes the burning go away.

That is it for today. I hope everyone has a Great Friday!!
 
Good Monday Morning,

Well this weekend went okay. Did my 10K long slow distance run and didn't have any problems. I was kind of worried as I haven't run this far in training since my race in March. I wasn't sure if I could run that far again-lol. I didn't have any problems and could have run farther. We are starting to get into the unknown in my running clinic now. We are getting into distances I don't know if I can run or not. I mean I think I can but only time will tell.

Hill training starts on Wednesday this week. The other ones in the clinic tell me this is where the separation comes from the runners and the not-runners ( lol). When I ran this past Sunday we ran where the hill is that they use for hill training so I got an advanced view of it. In fact I ran up it at the end of my run. It is pretty big( about 400m) and we start with 3 hills ( so we run up it and down it 3 times) and work up to 12 hills. I am sure my legs with feel it on Thursday.

Eating was fine except for a couple of small pieces of birthday cake- we had two family birthdays this past weekend- my son ( who turned 24 - how the hell did he get so old-LOL) and my niece's as well. No change on the scale this morning so no harm done.

That is it for today. Have a great Monday!!
 
I like how you stay positive. You had some cake, but you didn't flip out about it. You didn't go "oh no its over! waaah!" :) Excellent. I have decided that there will be occasions where I splurge. I have a huge extended family and I can't eat poorly every time a birthday comes up, but when my/my husband's or child's does I will have a slice of cake and ice cream, but that will be it. Just... a slice. So for my birthday I probably will just have a healthy dinner and then go out for dessert. =-).
Happy birthday to your son!
 
It's great to hear that the long run went so well! Good for you!

And that's awesome that you are maintaining your weight so well. How often do you weigh yourself? You never seem to have any fluctuations - but maybe that's just a guy thing. My hubby steps on the scale and it doesn't change much. I step on it and it can jump up and down 5 lbs in a day! I guess we women are the lucky ones that get to retain water all the time. YUCK!

Keep on keeping on! You're doing fabulous!
 
ashy said:
I like how you stay positive. You had some cake, but you didn't flip out about it. You didn't go "oh no its over! waaah!" :) Excellent. I have decided that there will be occasions where I splurge. I have a huge extended family and I can't eat poorly every time a birthday comes up, but when my/my husband's or child's does I will have a slice of cake and ice cream, but that will be it. Just... a slice. So for my birthday I probably will just have a healthy dinner and then go out for dessert. =-).
Happy birthday to your son!
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Thanks, Ashy. I am in maintenance so I can't knock myself for eating a small piece of cake. I have to live and eat as normally as I can. I know I can eat cake just not 1/2 the cake like I used to eat before-lol. Everything in moderation. I know that if I go back to my old ways I will look my old way too. Thanks for stopping by,
 
Tigpuppy said:
It's great to hear that the long run went so well! Good for you!

And that's awesome that you are maintaining your weight so well. How often do you weigh yourself? You never seem to have any fluctuations - but maybe that's just a guy thing. My hubby steps on the scale and it doesn't change much. I step on it and it can jump up and down 5 lbs in a day! I guess we women are the lucky ones that get to retain water all the time. YUCK!

Keep on keeping on! You're doing fabulous!
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Thanks, Tig. I only weigh myself on Monday mornings- just like when I was dieting. I just need to use it to check to make adjustments in my eating if they are needed. I am sure I probably go up and down 5 pounds in a day or from day to day as well but by weighing weekly and first thing in the morning at about the same time I am able to determine whether I have gained or lost. So far so good-lol. Thanks for stopping by
 
Good Thursday Morning,

Yesterday went well. No exercise as it was my rest day after my long run. Tonight is clinic night and we are going to be learning about hill running ( as we start that tomorrow) and doing a 4K tempo run.

With the increase in distances and training for this 1/2 marathon I am slowly adding more protein again to my diet. Cottage cheese ( used to hate it now I love it-lol) and greek yogurt are my main snack choices - low in calories and high in protein. It must be working because I don't feel light headed or weak when I am running so the balance must be there. I am going to continue eating the same snacks that I used to as I like them and they help me with my running-really no reason to change.

I am trying to find something else to supplement my training with. With the running they say 2 rest days but if I am running already 5 days a week I don't want to overtrain and burn myself out. My wife has started Muay Thai but the class she joined is only for women. I think I am going to add a weight training day ( like I did before boot camp finished) just to do some cross training. I know I need to and so that is on my list-lol.

Eating was good yesterday- about 1700 calories again. I find like a lot of people that I tend to eat a little more on weekends, I usually don't eat past 8 pm even now that I am on maintenance but on the weekends I may have something small after that time. Maybe some pretzels and salsa or some greek yogurt. I play it by ear and see how active I was that day and then add accordingly.

That is it for today. I hope everyone has a great Tuesday!!
 
Good Wednesday Morning,

Well at the clinic we learned about hill training. It was quite interesting to hear from the speaker. He had run a leg( I think a leg is about 30K) of the death race that went up about 11,000 feet over the course. He actually won the leg- so I guess he knows what he is talking about-lol. He said the best thing to do is not attack a hill - like a lot of people do. The idea is to conserve the energy going up and then run like hell going down-lol. Makes sense I guess.

Hill training tonight. We are going to run 3-400m hills in our river valley. Should be interesting and I am actually looking forward to it. Over the next 9 weeks we add a hill a week until we hit 12 hills- Whew!!

I officially signed up for my run on my birthday. I was putting it off - I don't know why- self doubt I guess. I figured that I could do the training and see if I could run that far and then sign up last minute. With how the clinic is going so far I actually think finally that I can and will run the whole thing. I am still running way faster than most of the people in the clinic so my conditioning must be pretty good. I even gave my running partner a workout on Sunday and last night. I wanted to push and see what he is made of. I could have run faster but he seemed to be panting beside me so I eased up. Remember he has run numerous 1/2 marathons and 2 marathons- I haven't run anything over 10K. So I am feeling pretty good right now. We will see at the end of the race-LOL.

Eating was fine again - 1700 calories. I can't seem to eat more than that but I am going to continue to try.

That is it for today. I hope everyone has a Great Wednesday!
 
Congratulations!! just as you end your journey i am beginning mine, im a bit apprehensive to be honest!

Im scared i cant do it and then i have to be like this all my life, im scared of loosing the weight because i can no longer use it as my excuse for things, im scared that loosing the weight wont live up to my expectations and my life wont get better, im scared that i'll fail, im scared of having loose skin and looking horrible im scared of looking just as ugly as i do now when im thin.

But i'll do it and as i do, i'll use your story as inspiration to overcome my fears.

If you want to see what i look like and hear me sing (lol!) my youtube is youtube.com/hollysturgeon
 
holly1986 said:
Congratulations!! just as you end your journey i am beginning mine, im a bit apprehensive to be honest!

Im scared i cant do it and then i have to be like this all my life, im scared of loosing the weight because i can no longer use it as my excuse for things, im scared that loosing the weight wont live up to my expectations and my life wont get better, im scared that i'll fail, im scared of having loose skin and looking horrible im scared of looking just as ugly as i do now when im thin.

But i'll do it and as i do, i'll use your story as inspiration to overcome my fears.

If you want to see what i look like and hear me sing (lol!) my youtube is youtube.com/hollysturgeon
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Hi Holly,

You are a beautiful young woman. Don't be apprehensive. You can do this!! Believe me when I say I have been where you are. The journey can be long and hard but when you make it- it is so worth it. All the things that you are scared about so was I. A couple of things to remember- one is your weight shouldn't define you- in other words losing weight won't make your life better in all aspects. You are who you are- heavy or thin. It will help you feel better and look better for sure.

Don't be scared to fail. If you are scared to fail you will never try. Failing is just not succeeding that one time. It is all about getting back up and trying again. I am not sure how old you are or what your weight is but don't worry about the loose skin. I have some at almost 50 years old and believe it or not it is tightening up on its own. To tell you the truth I would rather be at the weight I am now ( 175) with loose skin than at the weigh I was (320) with tight skin-lol.

Your youtube video is awesome. Good for you!!

You can do this!! You have come to the right place- there is lots of support and information here. If you want I will be here to cheer you on!! Go Holly Go!!
 
Congratulations for having met your weight loss goals. No matter how long ago that was! If you are maintaining it that is awesome. And good luck on your run. That is something I aspire to as well. I want to do a triathlon before my next baby! I better get to it I guess!
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Aw thank you!! lol made me smile there! Youve came so far and i feel like looking ahead is so scary because ive got so long to go!! lol but like you said fearing failure stops you from trying and i wont let that happen im determined for health reasons (Hypoglycemia) and i want to be the same as my sisters (both thin lol)

Im 24 years old, i weigh 266lbs and want to be 186lbs (then i will re-evaluate at that point) im 5,8 aswell eeekk sounds scary just saying it! i have 80lbs to loose and i know its not going to be easy but thanks to people like you, it will be made a whole lot easier.

Haha thank you i need a lot of work with the whole singing thing but its definitely something i know i can get better at ive done it before i just got out of vocal shape ! lol

Thank you again, and congrats on your progress!
x
 
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