Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The importance of fitted clothes

This morning I wasn't really planning on going for a run.  I had a massage yesterday and had planned to take today as an extra rest day because my quads have been extra sore...especially after getting stripped again yesterday morning.  Although Mark (massage therapist) said he was going easier on me than the massage before, they were already sore to begin with.  He said he could feel my resistance so didn't strip them as hard as he wanted to.  I woke up, without provocation, at 5:45am and decided to get out of bed, get my gear on and go for a run.

I thought I was running real slow, but my pace was actually faster than my pace on Sunday.  I ran 6k and it was so quiet and peaceful during the run that I knew I made the right decision to get up. It was also snowing, and real pretty.  Although my quads are still a bit sore, I think the run actually helped them.  They should be good by tomorrow night when I run my tempo run with the half marathon clinic.  I was back home and in the shower by 7am.  I love running in the morning.  It sets the way I feel for the rest of the day.  I've decided that since I'm doing longer and faster runs with the half marathon clinic, I will run 5 days per week instead of the 6 days I was running.  That's an extra rest day per week.  With tempo running, hill repeats and later Fartlek training (speed intervals), I'll need the extra rest day.

This Thursday is my last weigh-in before I go on maintenance.  I struck a deal with Dr. Stephen a month ago that I'd follow Phase 2 for one more month before officially going on maintenance.  I know I've lost weight.  My size 12 pants are way too big for me now.  I can take off my former skinny jeans without undoing the zipper or button.  They are now my way too baggy jeans. I'm hitting Value Village this week.  I desperately need pants.  Even my size 10 pants are getting loose.  That's the thing about this diet.  I can go two months with no significant movement on the scale, then suddenly get a big drop in weight even though I'm following the diet the same as I always have.

I'm excited about my doctor's visit on Thursday.  I get a $20 store credit to the Ontario Nutrition store.  I belong to this awesome support group on Facebook for people following Dr. Poon's diet. Every month members can vote for the "member of the month".  I'm so honored that I was chosen for the month of November.  It's a great group to belong to because everyone is so understanding and helpful to one another.  It's fabulous to see how encouraging and caring everyone is.  There's a lot of positivity and emotional help that happens in this group and I'm blessed to be part of such a wonderful bunch of people.  Dr. Poon's support group ROCKS!!!!!

Last night I attended my first Christmas party.  It was a party for the youth that I work with.  It was a huge turkey dinner with all the fix'ins. The only things I could eat were the turkey and squash. And the squash was questionable because it was mashed and I'm not sure what else was in it.  I had two helpings of turkey, two small servings of squash and three bottles of water.  I didn't even look at the dessert table.  The dinner was set up buffet style and the servers were really pushing the carbs (stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas and lasagna), but I just said "no thank you".  Easy peasy.  This weekend I have two parties I'm going to on the same day.  One in the early evening, and one at night time. Both will be over flowing with food.  I'm eating before I go to both...and I'll enjoy my two glasses of wine at the later one.  Plus, there's always veggies and shrimp at the night time one, so if I feel so inclined, I'll have a snack!

If this was my monkey, I'd have fitted the coat a little better
in the waist. Makes him look boxy and bigger than he is.

I will leave you with a photo of Darwin, the Ikea monkey.  This made headline news all day yesterday and was everywhere I looked.  My workplace has a television in the lobby and I was meeting in a room just off the lobby where the TV was in my line of vision.  How embarrassing to burst into laughter right in the middle of the meeting because of the ridiculous headlines they kept flashing across CP24.  All the headlines were focused on the monkey's "posh" and "unique" style. I'm not gonna lie.  Faux or not, I'm a little jealous of that shearling coat!  This is a good lesson though.  Holding onto clothes that are too big for you, just make you look bigger than you are. Take a lesson from Darwin.  Fitted and slimming is the way to go!