At the end of January I weighed about 1kg less than I do now, which was significantly overweight, and I made the commitment to lose some serious weight. 16 weeks later, I haven't done that. I got heavier. I'm not making excuses, I've been in a dark place for a long time, but I really feel I'm coming out of that now, and feeling ready to start taking things on properly. There are things I'm doing to 'fix' myself which I don't really want to share, but needless to say, I'm currently feeling a lot more positive about the future than I have in a very long time. I'm excited to get started, making positive, healthy choices, and learning to believe strongly in my own abilities.
The headcold I previously mentioned lasted a somewhat ridiculous 3 full weeks, and then for one more week after that I was left with a mild cough that rises during exertion (and still does, now in week 5); hopefully that will pass quickly. I'm told by 'people' that it was most likely a chest infection, and I should have gone to the doctors - I basically medicated a chest infection with paracetamol, and vitamin c. Genius. *rolls eyes* I've always found it tough to ask for help, and this is what I get!! So, anyway, I'm feeling almost back at full health, and over the last couple of days I've started running again, starting from scratch. It ain't pretty. I'm really struggling to manage even a regular interval of 90 seconds run, 30 seconds walk, for a mile or two - but I can't keep sinking back into my self-recriminations and negative thinking, so I have to push through these early stages, and get back into some good habit-forming behaviours.
I've made a good start - I bought a pedometer to aim for over 10,000 steps a day to break sedentary habits, and for the last 3 weeks I've walked to work and home every day (with the exception of a couple of days sick leave), leaving the car at home. This is now starting to feel like an automatic decision I don't have to make - I leave my block of flats and turn right, to walk to work, instead of turn left, to where my car is parked, without even thinking. I have to give myself a bit of a pat on the back for that one!!!! So yet again (regular readers will roll their eyes) I feel ready for a new 'start point'. Ultimately, I can think about following any sort of training plan, but until I fix my mental fitness, everything will go much the same as ever; a few weeks of mad activity, then a mental slump, self-sabotage, stopping following any training plan, and ultimately a slide into disappointment. It's an all-too familiar tale; I create my own negativity, nobody else does, so I'm choosing not to keep doing that any more. I have to get off this cycle.
I'm excited to see what I will achieve, as I smash through barriers that have held me back for years. So, measurements taken, weight recorded, and a look at the calendar shows the Southside Six is 24 weeks away. Plucking an arbitrary, yet achievable with work, figure out of the air, I am committing to lose 20kgs by race day. I have to believe I can do it, and that's where I start. Even just writing this blog post is making me smile; regardless of those of you who think you've heard it all before, this time I'm ready to walk my talk.
Hi Sarah, I was one of the runners that said "I read your blog" when I passed your marshalling during the Fling, you promised time off my finishing time I ended up with a PB by over an hour so you efforts are effective :-)
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't mind, but I thought I'd chip in with a few of my own experiences thoughts that may just help in achieving your fitness/weight loss goals.
With the struggle with weight and health, it's a tough one, as tough as any ultra. From what I've learnt about health/fitness/diet over the last few years of getting in ultras, the primary benefit of exercise is health with a modest benefit to weight loss. While diet can have a benefit on health and weight loss/maintenance.
There are also factors that have a huge effect on weight and health that are not talked about much in the media - sleep and stress, if you don't get enough sleep and spend too much time under stress then weight is much more difficult to manage.
On the diet front, I guess there might be a chance that you might have become a bit carbohydrate intolerant over the years. If this is the case then you might be worth looking at lower carb diet. In my own quest for improved health I came across the Perfect Health Diet book, it's very heavy on the science and rather light on the menu suggestions side. It's the best book on what to eat I've read so far. Have a look at perfecthealthdiet.com. The good news is that it's perfectly healthy to eat cream, butter and steak ;-)
Meditating and napping might also be useful tools to cut down the stress levels, associated stress hormones that break the body down and elevating the growth hormones that help guide the repair process. The top elite athletes take naps so you'll be good company :-)
Walking to work for sure will be great for your health, even if you haven't seen the results in your 5k times or on the scales. The fact that you are now automatically making the decision to walk to walk is brilliant. Having a walking lunch would be another way of getting a bit more gentle movement in. I read a study a while back that suggest that standing and eating had benefits over sitting and eating, I'd guess that walking and eating would have further benefits.
The high intensity exercise like running etc. is something I wouldn't place too much emphasis on for weight loss. The distance you can currently cover won't burn too many calories. It will build strength and aerobic fitness so has value there. If getting out for a run causes stress and makes you feel overly exhausted afterwards it probably is worth cutting back the mileage on. It's perfectly OK to substitute more walking and less running that leaves you less stressed. An ideal workout will leave you relaxed and energised. Take a note of how you feel before, during and after.
Hill walking might also be a good thing to add in as exercise. Hill walking is pretty high intensity exercise, but if you start with modest hills and the fact that it's perfectly OK to stop and admire the view plenty of times on the way up. Views from the top are really rewarding too. You can spend hours doing exercise when hill walking without even thinking about it as exercise.
Eat well, Sleep well, Walk when and where you can. Once you get the basic ingredients of life better balanced health will flourish like a flower in spring. Best of luck.
Thanks so much for this post, and for putting the time in to write it - and I remember you from the Fling too, well done on a great PB!!
DeleteIt's difficult giving, or taking, advice regarding weightloss, as what works for one won't necessarily work for another - for me, I've learned through years of "dieting" that cutting out any food group doesn't work for me, carbs, sugar, whatever... Because I have such huge emotional ties to food and eating, the second I "can't" eat something, I start to fixate on it, and I feel miserable for the fact that I'm "punishing" myself. For me, I have to stick to a varied diet, cut down on portion sizes and cut right back on between-meals snacking, but mostly I have to work on the mental aspects of my overeating. I've lost a lot of weight twice before in the last 10 years, both times from the same way I've just said, but because I never addressed my underlying reasons for overeating, the weight all went back on (plus more). At the moment, I'm working very hard on address this now, for the first time in my life. It's tough, but hopefully it'll be very rewarding.
Your comments on activity, and sleeping, and lowering stress, are all spot on, thanks so much. x x
I understand that dieting topic is emotive, no doubt you've had plenty of "advice" over the years.
DeleteThe Perfect Health Diet isn't a weight-loss diet, it's a meant as a diet for a lifetime of good health. The core principle behind the PHD approach is making sure that food you eat provides the nutrients that your body needs and only avoiding foods that can be toxic or work against absorbing the nutrients your body needs. The balance of the macro nutrients is optimized as well, with roughly 20% from protein, 30% from carbs and 50% from healthy fats, when looking for weight-loss on the PHD diet one reduces the fats down a bit to reduce the calorie intake but the nutrients you need to function properly are kept relatively constant. Once you weight is stable you'll be able to up your fat% back to ~50%.
The main thing things I've noticed when changing my diet across to being more in keeping with the PHD principle is I eat wheat products far less, sugary foods less too and now sugary snacks actually taste unpleasant to me. I used to avoid cream, full fat milk, fat on meat etc. now I've learnt that saturated fat isn't at all unhealthy and I'm able to lap it up as it's my main source of fuel. Rather than finding foods less appealing, I'm now actually much closer to what I used to eat as kid without guilt associated with foods that are rich and tasty. I am healthier now, running better than ever, recovering faster than before and eat more of the foods my body really likes.
Sure there are a few foods that I now avoid eating so often, such as bread and pasta which used to be a daily staple. Having three children makes avoid them more difficult than it would be other-wise, but mostly I found it surprisingly easy to get over reaching for them as a quick and easy meal.
Even if you don't follow the PHD guidelines on diet the book is still jam packed full of information about how our bodies need different foods and how they react in positive and negative ways to different food stuffs. It's very scientific in it's approach, non of the usual hyperbole about being the best diet ever crap. I recommend it as it just such a good resource for understanding food and needs of the dietary human body.
What the book doesn't really delve into much is the physiological side of eating. Nutrition does have an effect on brain function so the two aren't entirely separate. Fatigue and lack of sleep are intertwined with our ability to govern our decisions of what to or not to eat too. Fatigue and how well sleep is also linked to nutrition,
In modern society think too often we get stuck in the "mind over matter" approach to willing ourselves to do something right when our urges are pushing elsewhere. More will power and more struggle isn't what is required. What is required is less urges, fix what the body really needs and things can naturally fall into place without an epic struggle.
Perhaps the hardest thing is to be quiet enough to listen our bodies needs, know how to interpret the whispers and answer them.
Sounds interesting, I might give it a look. I'm generally pretty knowledgeable about nutrition and diet (not the Dare-I-Eat-That kind) but its the psychological side that lets me down. I know generally what I "should" be eating, for various reasons I'm not doing it. I can ever hear those whispers from my body about what it wants and needs, and then ignore them. It's not as simple as trying harder to do what my body wants, it just isn't.
DeleteYour comments are pretty sensible stuff, and while your first line in this second comment is 100% correct, I am always willing to hear the advice of others; whether I follow it is another thing entirely!!! Some people are unwilling to understand the concept of what works for one person won't necessarily work for another. If there was a single cure-all solution to obesity, there wouldn't be obese people in the world... But there are always things to learn, and things to try.
For me, this time round, I'm approaching it through the head first, and as I say, this is not something I want to go into in public. :-) Believe me, though, it's more important for me to be working on this at the moment than a focus on eating and/or exercising.
That said, exercise is also important for me, I'm trying to make sure I get into active habits as I find that being active gives me a good sense of well-being. I know it reads like I hate running, and generally, while I'm doing it, I often do - but I feel better afterwards for having ran, and I know that it's getting my heart rate up and burning calories too, so I will stick with it. Building up the amount of walking I do in a day is something I should have done ages ago, I think it will have a huge difference in the scheme of things. I'm also incorporating some weight lifting, and swimming, to make sure i build an active lifestyle, with habits I can maintain.
Emotive is an understatement. ;-) x x
I used to think I knew how to eat sensibly, but on reading the PHD book was surprised to find out that some of the often quoted "healthy" things to eat aren't at all healthy in the quantities we eat. The toxity of vegetable oils and wheat based foods being the big eye opener as much as the fact that saturated fat isn't actually an unhealthy fat. My relationship with food has changed quite dramatically, which is why I have become a bit of PHD evangelist.
DeleteOn the will power side, but actually written in the context of running, Steve Magnes wrote a great blog post on how fatigue, will power and decision making are all intertwined.
http://www.scienceofrunning.com/2014/05/the-psychology-of-mental-toughness.html
What I picked up from this is that will power isn't this immutable force, but something that ebbs and flows. If you understand the dynamics of it then you can do a better job of managing decisions.
The topic of fatigue, will power and general health topic is also discussed in a book on napping I'm currently reading : "Take a Nap" by Sara Mednick, http://saramednick.com/htmls/book/about.htm
I mention these as these might all be tools that you can leverage to make easier to handle various challenges that come your way. For myself I'm trying to learn what I can from these sources so I can get myself from Milngavie to Fort WIlliam in one piece and enjoy the journey. While it seems a wholly different goal to your own, the basic ingredients are the same - improving mental, emotional and physical health so one can keep progressing and enjoying life.
As for approach head first. Planning a hair cut? :-)
Will check out the links, ta. Not sure I like the use of the word toxicity when it comes to food groups that many, many people eat regularly without any health problems or issues. I fully see there are some people for whom eating certain types of foods is bad. Isn't it being a bit emotive to say some everyday foods are "toxic"? Meh, each to their own - I'll check out the info, always helps to have other viewpoints, especially if backed up by trustworthy study.
DeleteYou've found what works for you, and that's absolutely brilliant - I had a read of your Fling blog this morning, and clearly what you're doing is working wonders!!! An impressive run. I'm still in the process of finding what works for me, I'm thinking there's a middle ground to be found, but fix the head stuff first and food intake will naturally follow.
I also have a goal to get from Milngavie to Fort William in one piece next month, and enjoy it, but I'll be in a vehicle, and have a runner's Diva Demands to deal with en route. ;-) Really looking forward to it - hopefully get to meet you at some point! (More than the Fling, which doesn't count, haha.)
The PHD book is heavily researched, if you do get the book expect lots of discussion about scientific studies. Identifying wheat as a problem is highlighted in the large scale China study where there is strong correlation between wheat intake and heart disease, a good article on this study can be found at:
Deleterawfoodsos.com/2010/09/02/the-china-study-wheat-and-heart-disease-oh-my/
Omega-6 polyunstaturated fats are healthy in small quantities when balanced by Omega-3 oils, but become toxic at higher intakes. An example of the harm omega 6 polyunstaturated fat is less healthy than saturated fat is highlight by a heart study done in Sydney that substituted saturated fats with polyunstaturated fats found that rather than improving health mortality actually increased:
www.bmj.com/press-releases/2013/02/04/study-raises-questions-about-dietary-fats-and-heart-disease-guidance
This is just the tip of the iceberg w.r.t evidence that dietary advice in the media and even the NHS can be misguided.
What general advice that is sound is eating lots of home cooked or raw vegetables.. Fruit especially non citrus fruit like apples/pears/berries are also extremely healthful.
If you are able to optimize your diet then you should find you are generally more healthy, I'd suggest making sure your get balance of the diet right so it provides the nutrients your body need is more important than cutting calories, at least until you feel ready to start cutting back on calories.
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Supporting ultra runners is no easy task, especially if you are going all the way - so kudos for volunteering. Should mean that I'll pass you and the rest of your team by a few times before the field spreads out. Hopefully I'll be in good cheer, if not, feel free to find amusement in my self inflicted woes!
fantastic advice Robert!
ReplyDeleteHave you tried storking???
ReplyDeleteAnon storker
Hahaha, now there's a thought.... :-)
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