Friday, June 21, 2013

Welcome to summer!

Today is the first day of summer and the weather - for once - agrees with the calendar!  It is gorgeous out there!  Unlike a lot of runners who prefer running in cool and overcast conditions, I love running in the hot sun, so I'm looking forward to getting out there today.

This week has been a weird one for me.  I've been extraordinarily busy at work, but have almost caught up! I am trying to keep up with weeding the garden - I wish there was a way to make only the plants grow and not the weeds!!  Also trying - not so successfully - to keep the house clean from what the housekeepers did.

Marc and I are also trying to get some projects done - some of which have been on our "to do" lists for FAR too long.  Stupid things like getting our septic tank pumped - that is happening today.  I think I'll be outside all weekend long and that will keep my mood elevated, for sure!! 

My weight has been really low this week compared to a normal week.  That is good and bad.  It's good for a couple reasons - it helps me mentally.  Secondly, I'm preparing for a challenging couple weeks coming up. Marc and I will be going camping, and will be hiking a lot and burning calories BUT I'm sure that I will be eating way too much - the constant fresh air does that to me!

And then we are having a get together at my house for my father's side of the family.  People have started responding what they plan to bring and O.M.G. - the desserts!!!!  

Last year at this time I was THIS CLOSE to goal and was concentrating on getting down to my goal weight, so I restricted myself.  This summer I am prepared to give myself a little leeway.  

Which brings me to the bad news about my weight being down - I am HUNGRY.  I mean really hungry most of the time.  And it's not psychological.  It's aching physical hunger.  It has even disrupted my sleep which is a BAD sign.  Which means that I need to eat more.  Which means that this weight - I'm wondering if it's sustainable for me, and I'm getting to the point where I think the answer is no.  And that bothers the crap out of me.  

We'll see what happens...

5 comments:

  1. Hi Jen,

    i'm a regular reader and love following you. i am also a maintainer, and a regular halfmarathoner/cycler/lifter/yogi. just curious what your average daily calorie intake is? according to my spreadsheet my average daily intake has been about 2260/day since feb 2013. i'm also 5'1, however, i stopped losing at about 128lbs almost 3 years ago and have been maintaining between 128-130. i stopped losing at 128 because i was developing binge/purge behaviours as i was only eating 1200cals/day and exercising hard for 60 minutes +/day. i've tried to diet down to 120 or less, but i end up binging pretty much every time!

    the last couple yrs of maintenance were tough as i was ALWAYS hungry and had periodic binges. my daily intake averaged about 1,800/day until i decided to take the plunge and eat this past feb. guess what? my weight hasn't changed, and i'm not hungry anymore!! i also think about food a lot less. i still weigh and track to make sure that i'm not completely going off the deep-end, and so far so good!

    i train at least 1 hr/day and walk the dog 3x day @ 30 minutes each and spend a fair bit of time on my feet. i understand you're lighter and older than i am (i'm almost 30), but your caloric needs shouldn't be significantly different that me (maybe 20% less? you're so active though so it could be only 10 -15%).

    your training volume is crazy btw, so i hope you're eating enough to fuel your workouts and recovery.

    being hungry sucks and it made me insane. i'm much better now, much more balanced and my training is a lot more intense as a result. i recommend you check out gokaleo.com. that woman opened my eyes to what we can get away with...

    best wishes- i'll keep reading!

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    1. Thank you so much for your reply! I really appreciate it. As you probably know, I stopped counting calories about a year ago, but I remain "calorie aware". So I have been averaging about 1700-1800 calories per day, but decreased this week to 1500-1600 - doesn't sound like a lot, but I really felt it..

      I have it in my head that it is UNACCEPTABLE for me to weigh over 120, And I'm just not ready to let go of that. So the thought of increasing my calories terrifies me.

      I did check out the link you sent - I was actually shocked at how many of the criteria I come close to meeting - some moreso then others.

      You've given me a lot to think about. Thanks again for your regular readership and for taking the time to reply to this.

      Congrats on your own wonderful success!

      Jen

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  2. PS: my highest weight was about 205...

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  3. I agree, your body is sending you a signal that it needs more food. I have to say, I've been looking at some of your other posts and that eggplant pizza looks divine. I will definitely try that out sometime this week. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Let me know what you think! I've always been a carb crazy person, but I don't miss it at all! I still have not tried making a pizza crust from cauliflower, but it's on my "todo" list!

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