January Review and February Plans

First thing’s first, the weigh in. When I started this blog, I stepped on the scale and read 271 lbs. Over the past month I have lost a good amount of weight, going all the way down to 260.5 at one point. My final weigh in for this month was 262 lbs, which is a nine-pound difference.

Overall, this was a positive month. I feel as though I kept up with my 80/20 principle with most things – I feel like I fasted for 80% of my days. I got at least some form of structured exercise on a wide majority of days this month, and while my food intake was not perfect for this month, it is a hell of a lot better than it was before. I think the worst things I had in terms of food this month was homemade hot pockets (diced tomatoes, turkey bacon, and shredded cheese on a tortilla, toasted), pizza one night, and the occasional bite of ice cream when I would visit my girlfriend. Other than that, I have been pretty solid. I think on a scale of 10, I would rate this month a solid 7. That being said, I am going to be doing a couple of things differently in February.

While I am proud of the progress that I made in January, I think I need to reevaluate my methods and the way that I am thinking about this process. My goals have shifted from ‘losing weight’ or ‘running fast’ to a more general ‘be healthy’ approach. This obviously relates to food and exercise, but it also comes down to allowing myself to rest and caring for myself when I am injured or need to recover.

My overarching goal for this year is still to break twenty. I want to be able to run both faster and further than I ever have. In order to do that however, I need to take stock of what my body is telling me and rest when it is appropriate. I have not been super focused on rest, as early in this journey I sprained my ankle and essentially ignored it when it came to exercises – I was back to running two days later. On top of that ankle sprain, I have been experiencing god awful shin splints all month, and I am starting to feel pain in the back of my other ankle (which from what I have read is a sign of tendonitis).

If I want to be able to run faster, I need to be able to run, and in order to be able to run I need to keep my body in top shape. For at least the first two weeks of February, I am not going to be doing any running. I am going to be entirely focused on stretching, icing, and healing my legs. I’ve tried to run a couple of times since the 5K and, save for a random 10K, I have barely been able to go over a mile. After this first 5K, I really wanted to start upping the mileage so that I could work on my breathing and endurance, but I just can’t do that if my shins are going to be hurting like this.

I will still be going to the gym and doing other forms of cardio like walking and biking, but I think the hard impact of running is a bit too much for right now and since I’m not immediately training for anything, I think it’s appropriate to take this time to recover. I don’t think this will slow down my goal, as losing weight/gaining muscle will still make me a faster runner. I believe that pushing through pain is viable sometimes but I have tried pushing through this for about a month now and I don’t see it getting any better until I address it.