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| I donned my last race shirt and ran for Boston this morning. |
I don't even know what to say. I think it has all been said. My heart is heavy and I feel numb. I'm not going to dwell too long on the tragedy that happened in Boston yesterday except to say that when I heard that an 8-year-old boy died waiting for his dad to cross the finish line, I instantly thought of Julien at the finish line of the Chilly Half Marathon this past March ringing the cow bell as I crossed. He was so happy to see me and I could see the pride in his face. Such a jubilant time for runners and spectators alike marred by senseless violence. My thoughts and prayers are with the many victims and their families.
Yesterday I did my first grocery shop for my Paleoish lifestyle. I'm not 100% Paleo, but I'd say I'm between 90 and 95 percent Paleo. I still have cream in my coffee, and natural peanut butter (before) and energy gels/gummies (during) long runs. Hubby's about 70% Paleo. He still wanted orange juice, diet pop and asked for other stuff that I didn't buy (whole wheat pasta, cold cuts). I only got the OJ and diet pop so I didn't cut him off cold turkey. He has eaten similar to me for the past year, but still had processed carbs once or twice a day. He's trying to cut down to no processed carbs and I guess I can't expect him to give up everything all at once. I'm giving him a couple more weeks, then no more crap! I'm used to eating this way minus a few things I'd have once in a while (cheese, yogurt, artificial sweeteners, sugar-free candy and sugar-free pop). I was never really attached to any of that stuff so I'm committed to eating as clean as I can.
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| My loot from yesterday. The bananas are for the hubby and boy, but everything else is fair game! |
I bought a ton of produce, fruit, eggs, lean pork, canned salmon, and natural peanut butter I got on sale for $2/750g. That was a deal. It will take me a couple of months to get through one jar since I only have it on Sundays before long runs. I already had chicken breast and extra lean ground beef in the freezer from the week before, so I am set. I also bought a honking big bag of cumin which is quickly becoming my favorite spice. I love it on carrots and on cabbage. I price matched more than half of what I bought yesterday and saved about $30. It is not expensive to eat healthy!
In my last post I talked about not wanting to get weighed in at the Pickering clinic anymore. In hindsight, none of that has to do with Dr. Stephen. I was frustrated with him, yes. But don't get me wrong, I liked him very much as my doctor. He was honest with me and didn't sugar coat anything about what my former lifestyle was doing to my health and my body I appreciated and respected him for that. I did not need to be coddled. I needed the cold hard truth in order to succeed at my lifestyle change and he delivered.
I only got weighed in at the Pickering clinic because it's on the way to Peterborough where I see a client bi-weekly. I'm closing that client at the end of April. Otherwise it would be 1.5 hours out of my way and I'd only be able to swing that on the weekend. I'm not giving up a Saturday away from the boy to get weighed in. The weekends are short enough as it is. A new clinic is opening in Toronto sometime in May, and I think I'll have my file transferred there. It's only a ten minute drive from my office and I can certainly coordinate a morning maintenance weigh-in once a month. I like the accountability that it gives me.
A reader from the Dr. Poon support page on Facebook asked me about loose skin after weight-loss. I've touched on this before in a few posts so I'll briefly describe my situation again. My weight-loss happened over a 14 month period. So about 125 pounds lost in 14 months. It was pretty consistent throughout that 14 months but it slowed right down near the end. As we know from my recent six week Phase 1 experiment, it's next to impossible for me to lose weight right now, but my body continues to change and firm up. I started running six months after I started the diet and I lost the first 60 pounds (I weighed about 230 when I started running). Prior to running I did no other form of exercise (except take the stairs at work when I was in the office which was about 2x per week).
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| This is my most recent side view belly pick from a couple of months ago. Not too bad. I'll do updated ones as soon as I'm not feeling so "bloated" (read, it's that time of month). And I'm gonna be hula hooping too! |
I am actually very surprised by the lack of loose skin I have. I have some on my upper outer thighs (saddle bags), my stomach is a touch flabby, and my boobs definitely need a good lift. I can live with all that. I know with more body strengthening (core exercises) and running, my body will continue to change and firm up. What I will need surgical intervention on is my upper arms. They are extremely flabby and no amount of weights or exercise is going to fix that now. I'll give it another year before I start looking into any kind of surgery for my upper arms. I dream of wearing sleeveless tops one day and I want to be able to wave without slapping my own face with my unsightly bat wings!
Everyone is different though. The best advice I can give anyone who is worried about excess skin during weight-loss is to get active. I am convinced that running has played a pivotal role in my body composition. I lost 100+ pounds when I was in my 20's and I can assure you that I was much more flabby and loose skinned then than I am now. Which you wouldn't think possible since I'm significantly older (by 15 years), have gone through a full-term pregnancy and had a c-section. The only differences are that I did not exercise at all the first time around, lost the weight super fast (under a year), and was on a very restrictive low calorie diet. In case you're wondering, I gained the weight back as fast as I lost it. Diet and exercise together are really important! And you need to eat good wholesome food to fuel your body for activity. No processed carbs required. I'm training for my second half marathon and I have never "carb loaded". I feel fine during my long runs. Lots of protein after strenuous activity is super important for muscle repair. So get moving! Find any activity you enjoy and just do it. A lot!
Despite the violence that happened yesterday, my dream to run Boston has not diminished. I will continue to run in races. I will continue to train hard. Running is something I am passionate about, something I am good at, and something I love. I am getting faster and stronger and nothing will knock me down or break my spirit. I will continue to run for my health and my happiness. I will continue run for the people who have lost their lives and limbs and will never run again. I will continue to run for Boston.