I did it!

66kgs!!
In fact at the moment the scale reads 65!
This is good and great news. And, unfortunately I had to start watching what I was eating. I'm still far from a health nut goddess, but I think I'm a little better.
Try out foodfocus.co.uk to help you calorie count if you need to.
What I see now, though, is the only way to lose the weight is to be motivated yourself. Not rely on other gimmicks or gadgets to help.
I'm now aiming for 64kgs. I hope to be that weight by the beginning of September. I give myself much smaller goals, which are much easier to achieve. Ultimately I hope to be 62kgs. I'm nearly there. I'm really happy about that.

Losing weight IS hard work

It is now June (nearly the end of June) and the scale has been moving down very steadily, which has been great.
After three months at the gym I go to, we are able to have a review. I sat at my review, looking at the goal which had been set (lose 6kg) and the grim reality of the scale which said 68kg. In three months I had only lost 1kg!
It was at this point that the trainer asked about my diet and I answered with the same honesty I always do: It's terrible. He then reiterated what other trainers had told me, which was my diet is as important as excercise - bit somehow this time it hit home.
I have started watching what I eat. And I don't enjoy it one bit. At least this time, my resolve is there. He also changed my exercise to interval training. Something new I learned was that long distance running is designed to build stamina, which is all about retaining energy (or retaining weight). I needed to up my game so that I was burning fat and increasing my heart rate. Now my running training involves walking for one minute, then running for another minute (not jogging, running). It's quite intense, very exhausting, but seems to be helping.
I also had a look at the list of classes which are regarded as weight loss classes. Unfortunately yoga is not one of them. In fact, there was only one. A class that in memory involved an incredibly sore bottom and 45 minutes of intense pain: spinning.
So, I joined.
And I'm still going. It is painful: my muscles burn. Which, apparently is what they are supposed to do. After this change in routine four weeks ago, the scale started travelling downwards and I'm now sitting at an amazing 66kgs. Again, slow going, but losing weight has never been a fast thing for me. That is how much I weighed when I moved to England two years ago. I'm finally back at that weight again and I'm very happy. I have also lost about an inch and a half around my waist - the area where all my weight goes. My clothes fit just a little bit easier.
I have a review coming up this week again. This trainer wanted to see me after one month of exercising and had set me the goal of reaching 66kg! Much easier to achieve than the initial six kg goal in three months. But now, I actually believe that perhaps in another two months I will have lost those 6kgs. And for once I feel very positive about my health.

Jogging

Not much to write. Been gyming for four weeks now and having training session number three with my personal trainer tomorrow.
Jogging a full twenty five minutes now. It's definitely different without having the final 5K goal. Now I'm keeping up with consistent jogging as I build myself up for 3 thirty minute jogging sessions a month. I ran at the same speed I did for the 5K today, which was good. It's nice to know that I'm back at that pace.
I'm getting to the gym about four days a week. Three days running with one day adding weight training to that and then one day boxing with a trainer. I have two more sessions with the trainer. I haven't been swimming as much as I would like mainly because of a bit of a cold.
Weight is between 67 and 68 now, but it is definitely slow going. Although I feel much healthier I can't really see it yet. Feeling a bit down about that tonight.

The Gym

In order to keep running in this cold weather, I joined the gym about two weeks ago. It has been great! I'm not freezing or cold and I'm managing to keep up with training for another 5K as well as do some other exercises. My routine now includes swimming and weights and come Friday I'll have my first session with a personal trainer to do some boxing.
I started this whole project in order to lose weight and it has been the one thing that has kept eluding me. For most of the last year my weight has hovered between 68-70Kgs and in the last few months has stuck quite firmly between 69-70Kgs (This is approximately 148-150 pounds). Dieting has never been a strength of mine as I just can't say no to food of any sort, and I've found that my resolve to eat properly usually increases when exercising. Advice from my initial assessment at the gym was to ensure I eat lunch (which has been quite a mission, but I'm doing it). This came as a surprise as usually I'm told to eat less food, but I have noticed less of a run at 5pm to all the junk food, so maybe this was the reasoning. The trainer I'm working with has asked me to keep a food diary so that he can create a diet for me - now I'm very nervous about this, but it will be interesting to see what his advice is.
Anyway, the reason for my post today is that when I got on the scale this morning it read 67Kgs! A small step I know, but a weight that I haven't seen in a very long time and definite motivation to keep going.

The race!

I have done about two training sessions since my last post and this morning I did the run! I did it! And I ran the whole way!!

I completed the 5K in 36 minutes and I am completely proud of myself.

The training I did in my last session really did cause my knees to suffer. We went away the weekend following that and due to the pain I didn't run at all. We did a few very long walks, though, which I felt was adequate enough exercise as it was gentle on my legs and well over 4 miles of walking.

In the last week I took the advice of more experienced runners and did one more long session of 30 minutes (15 minutes running, one minute walking, 15 minutes running) which I did with ease. I did that on Tuesday and then didn't do any more running until today. I did walk (I started walking to and from work on Thursday and Friday) which is about 3 miles in total.

But the big day blew me away!! Firstly, it was incredibly well organized and although there were about 17 000 other ladies running, I really didn't notice it that much at all. The best advice I was given for the race was to keep to my own pace. This is hard at the beginning as so many people start off quite fast and I felt like I was being over taken by all 17 000 runners, but I kept telling myself that if I want to run the entire distance I need to go slowly and at my own pace. I also had my IPOD with me playing music that keeps me going.

The nicest thing about the race was all the cheering. It really makes a difference when there are people on the side-lines encouraging you on. It also helped that there were sign posts marking every kilometre. I averaged about 7 minutes per kilometre (which impressed me) and I kept a very steady pace through out. The route itself was on gravel and very flat compared to the runs I do at home. I think the flatness of the route, the cheering on the side of the road and the energy of all the other runners around me really helped to keep me going. I'm incredibly proud to have achieved this and I am looking forward to the next one because now I know that I can do it!

As a beginner, this is my advice:

• follow the training guides. Even if it seems like you are doing too little, don't add more. The people who planned those guides really do know what they are talking about.
• Stretch. Before and after. Especially if you have previous injuries.
• Don't increase your running the week before the race. Slow it down. Even if it doesn't seem logical, it works. My body was able to do more than it has ever done today and I think it's because it had time to build up strength before the race.
• If your legs or knees hurt, don't run. Let them recover properly.
• Sign up for a 5K! It's the most amazing feeling to complete it and I think it has been a total inspiration for me to continue.
• Get support. My husband has rubbed calves, taken photos, listened to me moan, moan moan......and still encouraged me to keep going. Encouragement helps.

My only disappointment through this was that I have lost absolutely no weight (The two kilos I lost at the beginning hurried right back on). I think I do need to start eating better to help lose the weight I need to lose. I may also not have been running solidly enough to lose anything. Hopefully as I continue I'll start losing the weight I need to lose.

training 16

drumroll please.........today I enjoyed my run.......I can't quite believe I'm writing those words, but that was my feeling as I was running today. More than that, when the 30 minute mark arrived I found myself wanting to run a little bit more - wanting to run!!! Wow.
I walked quite a distance before my run today to a wood nearby my house which has a field behind it. The field was grassy and flat but the wood had a few challenging dips to it. I ran fifteen minutes and then walked two minutes and then I ran another 15 minutes after that. So, it was a 32 minutes session today!
THe only tough part was when I started walking home again. For the first time in any session I began to feel a familiar pain behind my left knee. Including my walk before and after the run I was one my feet for about 50 minutes, so perhaps it was just too much time on the road. THat's a pity because the run on the field was such a pleasure compared to my usual hilly sidewalk running.
I don't know how far I ran, but that's ok. I feel quite wonderful that I managed what I did. I'm quite confident that I'll be able to do 5kms but also pretty sure that I'll have to have a bit of a walk in between running.
I got home and did some good stretches and I'm still stretching before my run. I don't think I'll stop that as I'm too aware of getting injured again.
Only 4 more training sessions until the race!

Training 15

Run 12 minutes, walk 3 minutes repeated twice. It sounds so easy - especially after trying to run twenty minutes a few days ago. But it's not. I did do it and I also rotated my route (so that I had more down hill runs than up hill). My calves are less sore after the run, which is a really nice feeling.
I do need to start bringing water with me when I run as I'm noticing that my lips are getting dry very quickly. I also had a bit of pain in my stomach, which I think may have been because I had breakfast this morning.
I'd like to see myself to the same routine this Wednesday but without feeling like I'm struggling to complete it.