I have mixed feelings about this past week. On the positive side, I was able to have a great rebound in terms of my ankle. I was back running on the street again come Monday, which was amazing to me given that the sprain had occurred on Saturday. I ran my fastest mile since I graduated from high school yesterday, at an 8:54. Like my other recent times, nothing incredible, but still a number that I have pride in as it shows that I am progressing.
The negatives of this week really came out when I decided to step on the scale, though. When I initially weighed myself on Monday, the scale read 271 pounds, which is not a number that makes me personally happy, but I had a lot of optimism that I was going to be able to bring that down. I almost wish that I had only weighed in on Monday, because I ended up weighing myself again on Wednesday night and that really threw me off. In three days, my scale was reporting that I had gained about 15 pounds. Let’s just say that I just could not get myself out of my own head, and it kind of put me in a funk for the rest of the night and the next morning.
The next morning, instead of trying to lift myself back up, I slipped even further. I abandoned my fast for the day and ended up going to a convenience store and getting a bunch of unhealthy foods for breakfast. Even as I was buying the food, I knew that I was making a mistake. After I had finished it, I felt like shit for the entire morning and afternoon of that day. When I had woken up that morning, my mindset was that all bets were off and that I was going to return to my old bad habits because they were comfortable to me, and if I didn’t have any grandiose expectations of myself, then I wouldn’t end up letting myself down when I wasn’t making progress.
Around the end of the workday though, I was able to come to my senses and talk myself out of that way of thinking. My new thought process was this: anything is better than going back.
I just want to take a minute to take stock of the habits that I have been building just over the past week. Number one, I have been intermittent fasting and only allowing myself to eat from 12:00 to 8:00. Number two, I have been getting at least a mile in each day, and one day even went to two miles. Number three, I have been (mostly) sticking to my goal of consuming 80% whole foods to 20% processed foods. When I think about these habits, none of them scream ‘unhealthy’ to me. The real unhealthy decision would be if I were to revert to my old ways, having two breakfast sandwiches and a bagel for breakfast, an incredibly high-calorie chipotle burrito for lunch, and some take out option for dinner.
Even if I put on weight in the first couple weeks or even months of adopting this new routine, there is no disputing the fact that it is healthier as compared to my old lifestyle. Eventually, I know that the weight will start to go away, but in the meantime, I need to keep my eyes on the prize and stay consistent with my habits.
I also want to point out that my scale could have been reading those numbers for any number of reasons. My scale could be unbalanced or broken; it could be a reflection of my body’s normal weight fluctuation, or it could be that my body is a little shocked by all of the changes and is trying to hold on to / store some fat because it might think that we are strapped for food. I have also heavily increased my protein intake, and I read that any unused protein that your body has at the end of a given period is stored as extra body fat, so that could be something that I pay some attention to as well.
The point of all of that is to reiterate that just because I ran into a wall, doesn’t mean I can’t break it down if I continue to hammer away at it. The only thing that will stop me from tearing these walls down is if I pack up my tools and call it a day.
Today was a bit of a recovery for me. I still maintained my eating window of 12:00 – 8:00, but I had a Chipotle burrito for lunch. Other than that burrito though, I only had some carrots and hummus today. Unfortunately, I worked almost twelve hours today and didn’t have the energy to throw myself into the dark and cold for a run nor did I have the energy to haul myself to the gym.
Tomorrow is going to be a clean slate for me, and I am going to get back on track. I will be going to the grocery store and meal prepping tomorrow as well as implementing a new exercise plan.
Here is the new plan that I am going to be implementing:
Sunday: Long Run (3+ Miles)
Monday: Upper Body Workout
Tuesday: Speed Workout
Wednesday: Lower Body Workout
Thursday: Short Run (1 – 2 Miles)
Friday: Full Body Workout
Saturday: Short Run (1 – 2 Miles)
I feel as though I have been putting too much attention on running itself throughout the past week and would like to start implementing the gym into my training plan a bit more in ways besides cardio.
I’m happy that I was ultimately able to talk myself out of giving up, because that means that I care about and want this change in my life. I just need to be able to stick with it and roll with the punches when they come. +
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