Why do I do this...

Why? To be better...

1. I promised (only a few people will know what this means, and if you don't, you will).
2. I am better than this.

Personal Bests

Santa Race November 25, 2012
5k 30:51 min/sec 6:11 pace per km

Boxing Day 10 Miler December 26, 2012
16.09 k 1:42:22 hr/min/sec 6:23 pace per km


Road 2 Hope Half Marathon November 4, 2012
21.1k 2:16:41 hr/min/sec 6:27 pace per km

Road 2 Hope Marathon November 5, 2011
5k 34:18 min/sec 6:52 pace per km



Around the Bay March 25, 2012
5k 32:07 min/sec 6:26 pace per km


Burlington Runners Good Friday 5k April 6, 2012
5k 31:22 min/sec 6:22 pace per km
(Garmin Race Time 5k 31:12 min/sec 6:14 pace per km)



Imperial Glass 4/8K Grey Cup Run November 26th, 2011
4K 26:55 min/sec 6:44 pace per km






Non Race Personal Bests

2.4km 13:19 min/sec 5:31 pace per km
July 17, 2012

5k 28:13 min/sec 5:40 pace per km
Nov 15, 2012

10k 1:02:25 hour/min/sec 6:15 pace Aug/29/2012

Challenge Start: July 18, 2011
Start Weight: 286 lbs
Current Weight: 208 lbs as at November 11, 2012
Total lost: 78 lbs
Goal Weight: 197
Last Cigarette: June, 2011

Thursday, March 29, 2012

A Little This and a Little That

Been awhile since my last post! Its been an extremely busy two to three weeks but I think a lot of success has been involved in it too!!

So what feels like yesterday is now almost three weeks ago which was a weeks holiday for me before I started a new job. The reason I bring this up is for two reasons....food and exercise.

Let's start with food because I think this is a huge sign of being able to cope with my decision to be more healthy. The reason I say this is when I was away I was able to eat healthy and still enjoy myself. The best part is for two days I ate out for all meals and I was able to make good choices. You must be asking how I know this? Easy...I LOST WEIGHT ON HOLIDAYS!!!

Next is maintaining exercise while on holidays. Yes while at the hotel I actually used the gym, and did not miss a workout. Why, because it is that important!

Lastly during my holidays I was able to incorporate activity as a mode of celebration rather than food which is something I have thought about a lot lately. All celebrations involve food and I do not think they have too. Why not a walk? A favorite game? Not easy but my point is food does not have to be the focal point of celebration as it has in the past for me, and hopefully now with this breakthrough I can keep it going!!

Next challenge is the new job and what might have been a typical response in the past? Yes stress..stress then leads to shortcuts such as comfort food, bad sleep habits, poor nutrition and discontinuation of exercise due to being overwhelmed and tired. I am proud to say none of these things have happened and I can safely say I have been under a lot of stress but have made a huge point of reminding myself that my old lifestyle will not get me through it any easier. The new job has actually been easier to get through because of food, water and exercise. It just takes commitment, and right now I am proud to say, most days I have it!!

Over the last two weeks I have also stopped tracking my calories to measure my ability to live normal. I am pleased to also say, right now I am coping and I think I will periodically check again to make sure I am where I want to be but I think my routine of food is in order. It definitely needs to be checked if you make big changes to your diet but I know its still working as I am still losing weight.

This month and I am close to 6 pounds lost for March. That is more than a pound a week, so I am more than pleased with this!

During this time I have also started to see a Chiropractor for the glute that popped back four weeks ago. Interestingly she feels that the tightness in my hamstrings is due to my glutes not firing. I am getting deep tissue massages from her and I can already say after two weeks I am getting more range of motion in my hamstrings.

I am hoping this is the key to improve my running as I felt stalled or on the verge of injury. My quads were getting bigger and bigger but I did not feel any real power improvements in my legs and it seems this is a side effect of the glutes not firing as they should. Most interesting our bodies are!!

This bring me to the Around the Bay 5k on Sunday March 25. My legs felt ok but I had hoped to break 31 min for the 5k but unfortunately it was not in the cards this time (official chip time 32:07). It definitely has made me aware I must do some hill training when my glute is fully healed as the small hills in the race are what ate me up. Overall it was an awesome day around awesome people and friends. I could have not asked for a better day. Here is a picture of the finish line inside Copps Coliseum.

Once things settle down, I will definitely post more details about food and current exercise.

5 comments:

  1. AWESOME GUNNY! you rock!!! Stay the course my friend, you inspire!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You do rock. You've made real changes in your life. This isn't some quick fix thing - you've found the secret to making it work for you and WANTING it to work. So proud to know you :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is absolutely fantastic! Keep up this amazing job and you'll get wherever you want to go!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow - that is a lot of progress and a lot of positive action. That 5K time is nothing to sneeze at. I hope I can do as well this weekend, but I will probably be closer to 35 minutes.

    You are making amazing choices, eating well and exercising on your holiday. I'll be doing the same thing when we have our two weeks in Jamaica. The resorts have amazing gyms, and it makes me feel better to work out on vacation.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for your comment, I feel the same way about quitting! I've made it a couple of months at a time before, and no one who hasn't smoked or quit understands, but there is that moment when it 'clicks' and you just know that this is the right time. I'm thinking it's going to happen soon, and to be honest I like crossfit more than smoking (crazy!) so the second my results start slowing down I can say for a fact that I'll be willing to give it another go. Hopefully it clicks sooner rather than later, though!
    I thought i'd already commented on this post but I guess I haven't. Congrats on your 5k, wether you hit your goal or not that is an AWESOME time and I'd say is definitely in the 'athlete' range. It's pretty cool that you're taking the steps to try and change from the 'weight loss' lifestyle to the 'regular living' one. It's a huge accomplishment to make it to that stage!
    I've been trying to take food out of my social life as well. For my fiances birthday I got him an individual slice of cheesecake (he's fit.. he can have it, lol) but not a whole one, just a treat for him. Then, instead of a meal, we tried rock climbing which was actually pretty darned fun. I'm glad you wrote about this, hopefully you've inspired some other people to take this route because it's a great idea!

    ReplyDelete