1. Tracking my food. This was, I think, one of the biggest fears I have had to face. To date I have tracked every bite that has entered by mouth for the last 32 days in My Fitness Pal. This is a record for me. Even when I did Weight Watchers several years ago I always took a day (sometimes more) off each week where I didn't track. And you know what? It hasn't been that bad. I tend to eat a lot of the same things during the week so that makes it easy. Eating out still stresses me a little bit so I try to look at the menu ahead of time and pre-plan. This helps me from panicking and it makes sure I don't 30 minutes trying to figure out what I want to eat. Still working on my anxiety there. Now when I say it hasn't been that bad, I would be lying if I didn't admit that there have been a few low moments. Thankfully most of them have just been panic over what to order at a non-chain restaurant where I can find no nutrition info online. The lowest moment - and it was LOW - I hurled a half eaten sandwich across the kitchen. Then cried because I didn't know how many calories I should enter for the little bit I had eaten. (I'm claiming PMS. Just go with it.) Thankfully after the fact both Kipper and I were able to laugh at how ridiculous it was because at the moment neither of us were laughing.
2. Eating enough. I mentioned before that Kipper thought I wasn't eating enough. Through tracking my calories it became clear that on days I worked out I wasn't getting close to enough calories in. One week I had a 5,000 calorie deficit. Two weeks ago I finally went and had a Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) test done. The test gives you some fascinating results and information. The biggest for me was that for my age, weight and sex I actually have a very fast metabolism. And shocker, I wasn't eating enough! To lose weight I should be eating between 2000-2400 calories a day!! Panic set in when I started to apply this information, but I have stuck with it. Some days I feel like I have had to force myself to eat a snack to get to the right calorie point by mid-day. With that said my body is adjusting and now reminds me when I miss my mid-morning snack. If you are trying to lose weight and feel stuck, I highly suggest you have a RMR test done. 3. Hiring a coach. When Kipper started training for his Ironman 70.3 he hired a coach. He has been dropping hints for sometime that we should look into a coach for me. And while I agreed I would do that if I ever did another full marathon, I wasn't interested in taking on an additional monthly cost that comes with hiring a coach until then. After a little coaxing I agreed to meet with Monica, one of the coaches at Trident. A week later I was an official member of Trident and was getting planned workouts. When I got my first week's schedule I panicked a bit. I sent Kipper a text, simply saying "Shit just got real!!" His response? "Welcome to Trident!" Fast forward three weeks and I am thankful I took the plunge. I can already tell a difference in my running. Plus the accountability to my coach (and my checkbook) has been huge. Kipper played his cards really well in getting me here. He knows I am cheap and a people pleaser. Therefore he knew if I did this it would be a potential game changer for me. Well played Mr. Martin, well played.
4. Seeing results. To make things more exciting I am seeing results. I can already tell a difference in so many ways: my running times/recovery, the way my clothes (and shoes!) fit, the way I feel and even on the scale. While I am trying to not focus on the scale, learning be healthy about the number it shows is a huge part of this journey. The first two weeks I lost a few pounds but nothing significant, but in the two weeks following my RMR test I have lost nearly 9 pounds! (see why I said you need to do it!!!) I am down a total of 13 pounds in the last month but most of all I feel great. Including my bum ankle, which is awesome! I have my first race of 2015 this weekend - Hot Chocolate 15k. While I am not pumped about driving to Dallas early on a Saturday morning, I am super excited to see how it goes. Good or bad there will be chocolate and that is enough for me. 4. The downfall. If you know me, you know I am NOT a domestic goddess when it comes to laundry and dishes. Mr. Martin on the other hand is a tad OCD about them. The amount of water bottles and work out clothes that I washed leading up to Kipper's first Ironman 70.3 nearly drove me to the nut house. Well he is training for another 70.3 and add in my workout gear, water bottles and containers from meal prep you can only imagine. I have officially come to terms with the fact we will never be caught up and he will always OCD over the unwashed/unfolded/un put away workout clothes and water bottles. If that is the biggest downfall I can totally live with that!
Moving forward I know that there will plateaus and rough patches, maybe even setbacks. You don't overcome years of unhealthy thinking and habits in a single month. But I am going to keep pushing myself out of my comfort zone and digging deep to prove to myself just how crazy that old me really was.
In the coming months I want to challenge you. Pick something in your life that you want to work on or try. Pick something that scares the crap out of you. Maybe something you have dreamed about but have put off more times that you can recall. Then make a promise to yourself to start facing your fears and see what happens. Find a friend or a mentor who can support you and hold you accountable. Be open with others about your goals. And take it one step at a time. I am not saying it won't be scary. It will be hard and at times uncomfortable. After the last 3 years what I can say without a doubt is if you commit to yourself, it will be is amazing and life changing.
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