An early weigh-in for accountability

I was off work for two weeks, and towards the end of the first week I started... eating. At first, it was 'holiday mode' - the odd bit of cake here, slice of pizza there - but then it turned into doing 'something' every day which involved eating. A trip to the café for coffee and cake turned into two full fat lattes, and two bits of cake - somewhere in the region of 900 kcals just there, and then I went home for lunch! Lunch the next day with a friend, a plate of nachos piled high with melted cheese, and a generous serving of beef and chorizo chilli - which I washed down with a pint of lager. Dinner the next day with friends was a pub meal with chicken, chips, where I also took a couple of bbq ribs and fried onion rings from one of my friends, AND had already had garlic bread starter, AND ordered dessert... That rolled over into the weekend, where I ordered pizza delivery, I ate loads of icecream, and so on. Then Monday - I'd bought cakes and biscuits to bring into the office, one of those 'expected' things after being off for a fortnight, but as the day went on, I partook of the goodies more myself than anyone else in the room! I worked out later I'd munched my way through about 1000 kcals of treats, on top of my lunch and healthy snacks I'd brought in. I got chips on the way home. Then I repeated it all again yesterday (Tuesday). Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I made poor decisions.

I have never once said my way of eating this year was to deny myself, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with going for coffee and cake, or dinner with friends - but what I should have been doing is making better decisions. So, in the café - if I'm having a bit of cake, then stick to low calorie drinks, such as tea, or filter coffee with a splash of milk, rather than the full fut lattes (plural). Or in the pub for dinner - have (and enjoy!) whatever meal I want, don't take extras, and make a decision on whether I really need a starter and dessert? - and so on.

Anyway. The point is, last night I had a bit of a moment, and got frustrated. This morning, I weighed in a day early - and the scales show a 6.4lb weight gain in the last 6 days. Sigh. Now I know some of those lbs are water weight, from extra salt etc. and some of those lbs are just the extra food working its way through my digestive system, but gaining 3kgs in a single week is a hell of a lot no matter how you dress it up. It's been a proper wake-up call, and today is about getting back on track, clearing my mind, drawing a line in the sand, and just cracking on with what I've been doing the first 6 months of the year. I know I can, No excuses.

I've been doing pretty well sticking with my running training - I'm seeing improvements, and it's motivating me to continue. Saturday afternoon I went out for a 5km run, and accidentally knocked out my second ever fastest 5km run! I say accidentally, because I was working hard but I wasn't pushing myself to the limits, or going flat out. It's pretty gratifying to see. I'm getting a little faster, but the main difference is building up my consistency, and working on using different paces, having my heart rate at different levels, and so on...  Admittedly, I "treated" myself to a chocolate icecream lolly afterwards, which was a wee bit unnecessary, but it was a good run nonetheless. I'd planned on running parkrun in the morning, but was put off by torrential rain when I got up - so I ran later in the day, proving to myself that I can make the right decisions too. ;-) I can rearrange plans when things go awry, and it's important I remain focussed on my goals.

Yesterday's run was a progressive intervals session, which went surprisingly well (thought I was definitely a sweaty Queen of the Lobster-faced People when I finished!!) - and this morning I ran a few steady miles in drizzly rain. I've completely cracked the mental "need" to walk during a run, now I can just plod along at a slow running pace... It's fascinating, I have no idea what changed, or how, but it seems all the work I'm doing this year on my self-esteem and confidence is breaking down the walls I'd been building up for years. Hopefully I'll get to the gym later tonight, and start doing some upper body work again, and strengthen my core - I need to harness the positivity and motivation I'm having with exercise, and use it on my eating too. Onwards and upwards: I've got this. x