Weekly weigh in, mini goals in the cold and dark

First off the facts. This weeks weigh in was 208.2 for a weekly gain of 0.6 and a total loss of 35.6.

Now, I am firmly of the belief that it is possible to do everything right and still maintain or gain a small amount of weight over the course of one week. Water weight can cause fluctuations and hormones can play a roll. The real question is: did I do everything right?

No.

There's 2 main factors at play and since weight loss is fairly straight forward, the factors are pretty simple. Food and activity.

I have not been tracking my food properly. I've been tracking, sure, but it's the kind of tracking where I sit down at the end of the day and try to remember everything I had. Not so good. I could do that prior to having kids and actually remember everything. Now, some of my brain cells have melted and I forget things - meaning I have probably gone over my calorie range at least some days.

The other is activity. I have always said that I don't exercise to lose weight. I train to swim, bike, and run better. Doing so much can actually make it more difficult to lose because it introduces the balancing game of eating enough to sustain significant activity. I rarely consciously add calories due to activity.

But, I did settle into a calorie range that worked for me to lose a couple pounds a week. This worked for me at at time when I was running 4 times a week, swimming 3, and biking when I could. In the last week, I ran once, swam twice, and did a short stationary bike session. Not cool. Even if I didn't intentionally add calories due to activity, the reason that calorie range was working was due to the activity.

It's ironic. On the very week that I made plans to do a half marathon and olympic triathlon, I also practically stopped running. Seems I spent a lot of time thinking about it and not a lot doing it.

So, what's going on?

Well, I combined a busy week with cold and dark then used it as an excuse. I've lost my interest in 5am running. There isn't a speck of light in the sky, and the mercury continues to drop. Waiting for my husband to get home doesn't help. Since the time change, it's completely dark by the time he gets home as well.

That's the situation. We'll talk solution in a minute.

Let's change gears for a moment and talk about weekly goals. Last week, my goal was to get more sleep by getting to bed by 9:30. I did it every night but one. The first few days, I actually found myself exhausted, despite getting more sleep. I'm not sure if that's just a result of my body adjusting or what. Overall, it has made me feel more human though, so I'll continue to strive for more sleep.

On to this week. Given what I've identified as the challenges this week, I think my goal is pretty obvious. I'm not making it tracking though. That's just something I need to, and will do. Period. The goal is activity.

There's no reason I have to do my runs at 5 am. There's also no reason I can't come up with a different plan, and that's what I failed to do. I have multiple ways to get runs in. Either outdoors or at the local track. I can do it early morning or evening when my husband is home. I can take the kids out in the chariot and do it with them along, like I did yesterday (hard work!) I can make use of my babysitting co-op and run while I have my kids in sits.

Spud and Sweetpea hanging out before the run

With the weather changing and life being busy, it's easy to put things off, sometimes to the extent that they never happen. Without a plan for my activity, it became too easy to let it go. So, this week, the goal is to make a plan which accounts for schedule and weather. Then stick to it. Simple right?

So, here's the plan.

Yesterday: Chariot run (done!), evening swim (done!)
Tuesday: track run (done!), evening stationary bike
Wednesday: Chariot run (weather dependant) Evening swim (plus track run if chariot run doesn't happen)
Thursday: 30 day shred (in the morning if possible), evening stationary bike
Friday: Morning run (outside if it's not too slippery), evening swim
Saturday: morning long run
Sunday: Active rest day - swim lesson in the evening

I feel so much better when I am active. Having a plan sets me up to follow through. Next week, I'll see a loss that will propel me that much closer to Onederland.