After years of yo-yo dieting and on again / off again exercising, I’ve learned that the hardest weight to lose, mentally, is the weight you’ve already lost and the hardest training, mentally, is getting back to a point you were already at.  So you’d think that I would never slack off, but this summer I definitely did.  And returning to the running but not being able to do what I was doing in the beginning of the summer is frustrating.  And knowing that the next 7 pounds that I lose will be weight that I lost in the spring but gained back is maddening… but I press on.  Because if I don’t now, next week/month/year, it will be even harder.

So this past week, I started up with the couch to 5K training program to train for the H.O.P.E. 5K in November.  I’m trying to retrain in a way that I will increase my speed.  Instead of doing walking/running, I’m doing slow jog/faster jog.  I got new cute pink sneakers which helped ease the frustration of decreased ability and hit the pavement.  As I was running, I thought about some of the things I learned being a new runner.  I figured I’d share them in case you decided to accept my challenge to train to run your first 5K too.  Many of these are women specific and things no one told me about so I thought it was just me… but after asking around, turns out it’s not just me.

• Good shoes are important – but so are good socks.  Seriously, one day I put on a pair of Jeff’s Under Armor socks and I can’t even explain why, but my feet felt so much better.  I finally invested in some good pairs of my own.  (Go to a sporting good store for some.)
• The pounding motion of running is hard on the bladder (especially on someone who has birthed 3 babies).  Wearing a pad for the first several weeks of your training is helpful for leaks while running.  When your run is over, sometimes getting to a bathroom quickly is very important!
• Drinking water before the run is just as important as drinking after.  When I forget to drink ahead of time, my run is a lot harder.  The tricky part is figuring out how much is enough to hydrate you without causing you to have to “go” while running.  (See point above)
• Sweating is not limited to your face and neck.  I never knew I could sweat at my “lady area”.  If you don’t shower right away, or wear a pad that you change, the wetness can cause itching.  (Sorry Jeff, if you’re reading this… I know you’d rather not think of your wife that way…)
• Vanity has no place in running – if you are going to run hard, you will sweat, get red faced, and not have perfect hair.  The most comfortable running clothes may not be the most flattering.  Modesty on the other hand is still important.  When you have a figure like mine, most people do not want to see you running in just your sports bra even though that’s what you want to do.  (This however is OK when you are using your neighbor’s treadmill in her basement.)
• The difference between walking and running for me is that I can feel my bottom “jiggle” when I run.  I’ve talked to “small bottom” runner girls and they say the same thing… so I figure it must be working that area out!
• Do not be a closet runner.  Sign up for a 5K and tell your friends.  Better yet, sign up with your friends for a 5K or most likely you’ll quit.
• Don’t compare yourself to anyone else.  Run your own run.

P.S. If you are interested in running the 5K that I talked about in last Tuesday’s post for Dawn Leach, here’s the info:   5k for HOPE application

Last spring I “ran” my very first 5K.  One of my friends had posted about running her first after training with the “Couch to 5K” training plan.  Although I was definitely way closer to the couch than I was to the 5K, I was inspired to give it a try.  I picked out a race to run and started training.

Excited about the challenge and also to hold myself accountable to actually doing it, I posted on Facebook what I was doing.  One of my friends messaged me that she would join me on the challenge and began training as well.  We sent encouraging notes to each other as we prepared.

I am so proud, and a little surprised, to say that I actually completed the challenge and ran the race.  My goal was to be able to do the whole race without walking, and I did it!  Unfortunately, my friend was unable to meet her goal.

During her training, her back started hurting and then a friend noticed that her eyes were yellow.  Visits to the doctor showed that her cancer had come back.  (A year before, she battled breast cancer and then was declared cancer free.)  This time the cancer was attacking her liver and her bones.  Last Friday, just 4 short months later, Dawn passed away.

Dawn and her husband walked through this last season of her life so inspirationally.  She always had a sparkle in her eye, and around her neck, and her wrist, and her fingers (she sold Premier Jewelry).  Never one to be selfish, she decided she wanted to do something to help other patients.  Dawn and a friend dreamed and then decided to hold a 5K this fall.  In her friend’s words:

We are planning a 5k for H.O.P.E. (Helping Offset PatientExpenses).  This will be a tribute to all of the HOPE that Dawn has shown us all.  It will benefit her family this year but Dawn’s HOPE is that in future years it can reach and touch others as well (as always she is thinking of others).  Dawn began training for her first 5k last spring and this has been a wonderful project that she has been a part of.  Her latest find were fabulous pink clappers with H.O.P.E. labels for the event..

It will be held on Saturday, November 5th at 9am.  It will be at the Rustic Park in Birdsboro, PA.

For more information and for the registration flyer you can contact me directly at adriasjewelry@hotmail.com. 

Let’s make this a fabulous event for our fabulous Dawn!  Even if you aren’t a runner…we would love to have you!

P.S.  The logo will be a sunrise…because the sun rises at Dawn. 

I just checked the calendar, and November 5th is 10 weeks away from this Saturday.  The Couch to 5K training program takes 9 weeks to be ready to run a 5K.  This summer, my training really slacked and so I feel like I’m starting from the beginning again.  So come Monday, my kids are going to school and I’m going back to training.  Will you join me?

You only need 3 days per week to train.  Here’s what you do for the first week:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.  (For more info www.coolrunning.com)

If I can do it, you can too!  So, are you in?

♥Becki, imperfect runner

P.S. if you aren’t local and you are looking for a new fitness goal, I encourage you to find a race local to you and join me in training!

True Confessions: Yesterday I ate way too many mint Oreos and chocolate covered pomegranates.  My pizza dinner was void of the normal salad or veggies that should go with it.  I ate my late night snack while watching Ashley choose J.P. over Ben on the Bachelorette and absolutely was not even hungry for it.  I haven’t run or exercised in a couple of weeks.  This morning started out better… but then I found that bag of chocolate covered pomegranates again… So I feel completely unworthy to write any post that begins “Training Tuesday”.

But I’ve admitted over and over my imperfection.  And I’m not content to stay here.  I’ve confessed my gluttony and laziness to God and am begging Him to strengthen me.  This afternoon I’m going running with a friend who’s training for her first 5K.  I’m nervous b/c I haven’t run in a while, but glad to be getting back on the proverbial horse.  I’m planning a healthier dinner and then I just might try using teeth whitening strips tonight to keep me from eating.  I got the idea from another blog:

Diet Tip of the Day from “The V Spot”

And here’s my hope… next Tuesday I’ll be able to post about what a healthy week I’ve had… although I am leaving this Thursday for a girls weekend in Nashville… hmmm… is that possible?

♥Becki, imperfect eater and exerciser

Imagine if your refrigerator really stunk… for some of us that’s not that hard to imagine.

What would you do?  You could clean the outside until it shined, but most likely it would still stink.  You could open it up and scrub down the inside shelves and drawers.  That might help, but most likely the stink culprit is still inside.

While cleaning the inside and outside is important to making the fridge look nicer and possibly smell better too and to run more efficiently… if you don’t open it up, find and get rid of the rotting food that’s causing the smell, it will keep stinking.

I think of that with eating correctly and exercising.  These things are important to help us look and feel better, it helps our body to run more efficiently.  But if that’s all we focus on, then all of our training will leave us with bodies in good shape and spirits that are empty and possibly like the refrigerator stinking up the place!

The Apostle Paul agrees with this assessment in 1 Timothy 4:8,9: “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.  This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.”

So while we are pressing on in exercise and healthful eating, let us not neglect what’s even more important – pressing on in our relationship with God through prayer, reading the Bible, and worship!

♥Becki, imperfect woman (both physically and spiritually!)

It’s definitely been a bad few weeks eating and exercise wise.  The summer schedule has me all out of whack.  Exercising in the morning is what works best for me, but in the summer when we aren’t getting up and going right away, the morning often slips by.  And as the day gets later and later my motivation gets less and less.

I loved running on the beach, but back home I run because I need exercise, not for enjoyment.  I tried P90x.  But in all honesty, I have no desire or motivation for an hour or more workout 6 days a week.  Out of all the exercises I’ve done, running was what I liked best… but when I say best its like saying I’d rather clean the toilets than scrub the shower, I don’t like either, but I hate cleaning the toilets less than I hate cleaning the shower.

So I will stick to running, but I need motivation.  A friend invited me to run a race in October.  I think that will help.  But I need to come up with a goal to get me training.  Last time my goal was simply to finish without walking.  I was very slow but achieved my goal.  So now I’m trying to decide what a realistic time goal is?

The fastest I’ve timed myself running 3 miles was 36 minutes.  (I told you I was slow!)  So that’s a 12 minute mile.   If the race is 3 months away, would it be realistic to hope to run the 5k in 30 minutes or less?  (10 minute miles)  I’m not even sure how to go about training to improve my speed.   So, all you runners out there, I need your help!  Let me know your thoughts.

I would rather taste the chocolate ice cream now than pass on it and wait the 3 months to really see results in weight loss.  I get frustrated that the moment I start a new exercise routine I’m not a pro at it and then when the results aren’t in the mirror the next day I lose motivation.

I often hear that “Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.”  Which may be true, but when you have to wait to be thin, than whatever you are eating is what is providing the instant gratification.  We definitely are a culture that doesn’t like to wait.  We buy everything on credit – homes, cars, food, clothes.  I can watch any movie or tv show whenever I want to.  And heck, I can even go to Target now and get all the back to school deals without waiting until the end of August!

So as I’m praying to not overeat, today I need to focus on asking God to work on my patience and self-control… which just happen to be 2 of the fruit of the spirit (love, joy, peace, PATIENCE, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and SELF CONTROL).  So I’m thinking that is definitely an area that God will strengthen me in the more and more I seek him out!

Lifestyle areas that I’ve improved in: running/exercising, making healthier food choices, reading the Bible, praying.

Lifestyle area that I’m really struggling with right now: overeating!

What is it about food, even when I’m not hungry that makes it so hard to resist?  Flavor – yes definitely I love the taste of food.  If there is a brownie, pizza, onion ring, chocolate anything in front of me, I’m going to want to eat it whether I’m hungry or not.  But lately it’s also been nuts, fruit chews, fruit, veggies… anything!  It’s not a taste issue right now.  If food is there I’m eating it.

I also feel like the struggle is stronger since I’ve started being honest in my postings about eating and exercise.  I know the correct choices to make, but I’m not doing them.  I feel like Paul when he says, “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” (Romans 7:15) God tells me that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me… and Paul ends that passage with, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (:25) so I know I’ve got to earnestly start praying that God will strengthen me to resist!

I hope you are doing better with your eating than I am!  Let me know if you have a food / exercise / health struggle that you’d like me to pray for while I’m praying for myself.

I may have caught the running bug.  Earlier this year I challenged myself to run a 5k.  Using the “Couch to 5k” training program, I surprised myself and achieved my goal.  I found running to be convenient and a good workout, but I would never have said that I enjoyed running… well, not until the other day.

While at the beach, I went to the exercise room to workout.  It’s a tiny room with weight and cardio machines.  I hopped on the elliptical and after a couple of minutes, I looked around the small room at the ugly walls and at the tortured expressions on the other people working out.  I couldn’t take it.  I hopped off, and I headed outside to the beach.

I decided I’d try my first ever beach run.  I went down by the ocean to the hard sand and just started running.  I had no headphones for music, instead I listened to the sounds of the ocean.  I had no timer to keep track of time and I had no idea how far I was running.  I kept in mind that I was going to have to turn around and get back, but I was running with a sense of reckless abandon (is that the right term?).  I was pushing myself and sweating but it wasn’t torture – it felt good, even great.

Later that night as we were driving, I made Jeff see how far I had run.  (When I turned around, I remembered what hotel I was at.)  Turns out it was 1.5 miles so I ran 3 miles.  (Best 5k I’ve ever run!) So now I just need to find a place around home that makes running that enjoyable.

Have you found some type of exercise that you enjoy like that?

… oh, I forgot to mention that we were driving back from having Tony Luke’s cheesesteaks for dinner – so good, and gelato for dessert – yum.  Earned or sabotage… hmmm?

My sister-in-law made a bold proclamation over Facebook: she is starting P90X.  My husband has the dvd’s and I’ve watched him do them.  He was in pretty good shape to begin with and he would be dripping in sweat when he finished (and leave his disgustingly wet clothes on the top of the hamper).  I definitely was impressed but never considered joining him.  Too intimidating! 

But when my sister-in-law made that proclamation, I began to wonder if I’m selling myself short.  Could I actually do it too?  So with her as inspiration, and my husband as a workout partner, I decided to give it a try.  So last night we did the first workout. 

It was not pretty!  I’ve decided that those types of videos should also show an out of shape person doing it for the first time, so the rest of us out of shape newbies wouldn’t feel like such a loser and want to give up!  But I pressed on.  I had to take lots of breaks between banana rolls, boat and bow poses and planks.  I was dripping with sweat, but I finished it.  And today when I woke up sore, I was glad I did it.

The one thing I’ve found with any type of exercise is that I might make excuses not to, I might procrastinate like crazy, I might come up with something else to do instead, but after I actually do it, I never regret it.

I’m planning on attempting the second workout tonight, but I’ll be honest, I’m not sure beyond that.  My hair’s not the type that needs to be washed everyday, and is a pain to dry/straighten it.  If I stuck to the P90X training plan, I’d definitely have to wash it every day after every sweat dripping workout!  I know that sounds like a lame excuse – but it is what it is… and I’ll boldly make this proclamation, that if I don’t do P90X, I will replace it with something else!

Is there something you are too intimidated to try?  Maybe you’re just selling yourself short and should go for it.

Pretty much my whole life I’ve been overweight.  I could blame it on genetics, after all a lot of people in my family have been overweight.  But the fact is that I’m overweight because I eat too much.  I eat when I’m bored, I eat when I’m happy, I eat when I’m uncomfortable, I eat because food is there, if I’m not eating I’m often thinking about what I’m going to eat next.  I have replaced my hunger for God with a hunger for food.

I know these things.   I’ve confessed these things.  I’ve battled these things.  I’ve had some victories.  But as I type this, I’m still considered obese.  A year ago I decided to embrace my imperfection and not worry about my weight.  Really I think I was just giving myself a license to eat what I wanted when I wanted.  That resulted in me reaching my highest weight ever.  I decided I didn’t want to stay that way.

I knew I was not going to magically wake up one day in a skinny person’s body with a skinny person’s mentality.  I needed to fight this battle.   I have not yet obtained and maintained a healthy weight.  But I press on…

“Not that I already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”

I have no intention to write or share with you a weight loss or exercise plan.  I know how God has asked me to eat and be active today, but He hasn’t told me beyond that.  On Tuesdays, what I’m calling “Training Tuesdays” I’ll share my imperfections, my battles, my losses and my victories.  My desire is that if you share those imperfections with me, you’ll know you are not alone.  That perhaps some wisdom I’m learning in my journey will be exactly what you need to hear at exactly the right time.  (Ok… maybe my deepest desire is that one day soon I’ll be able to say that I am now at a healthy weight and wearing some really cute size 6 skinny jeans with knee high boots – hopefully they’ll still be in fashion!  Hey, I’ve already admitted I’m imperfect, so I might as well be completely honest.)