Worth the Weight?

I had a very lazy moment last night, yeah ok nothing new I guess! I knew that I needed to update this blog but I really was far too lazy to, so I asked Twitter, not expecting a response but I did, from a "twitter bezza" Dan, or @DanRunning . When I read this post this morning, I totally got it, I have made similar changes to Dan over the last few months and have seen similar results so I was quite excited to share his thoughts with all of you. So, over to Dan.....

I, like so many of you reading this, am a runner.

I run. Sometimes for fun, sometimes competing, always for good health and in my case for weight maintenance.

When I started running it was after a period of being sedentary in my work and home life. My diet wasn't great but I wasn't a walking advert for shopping at Iceland either. Running had the immediate effect of helping me lose weight. My diet didn't change but the running created a calorie deficit and I started to lose weight. Slowly at first and then progressively quicker. The same thing happened with my running too. I started slowly and injury prone, but I got progressively quicker and stronger.

Running, like all other forms of exercise, places stress on the body.

And the body is a clever thing.

When placed under repeated stress the body adapts to better deal with that stress. It's two principles known as overload and adaptation. The body gets placed under more stress than it's used to (overload) and it changes to meet the new needs (adaptation).

This kept me in good check for years. I kept the weight off and got better and more efficient at running. I assumed that I would continue to improve if I continued to run.

But here is the catch. The overload that you place the body under needs to be progressively increased. This is what causes the body to continually adapt.

It's what sees performance continue to improve, and other goals to be reached too, be they fat reduction, muscle increase, PB's etc. I found that my running performance had levelled out. I had reached a plateau and the benefits had stopped coming. My body had adapted to the stress and done no more. After all why would it, like I said, the body is a clever thing.

So after years of running I found myself in the gym. Faced with machines and weights that I hadn't seen in years, because as a runner I didn't think I needed them.

I was wrong.

Running is a full body exercise. When you've run as far and as fast as you can, you need to change your training to continue to adapt so that your performance can improve further. Cross train to reduce the stress on your knees and use compound weight exercises to build strength. Squats and lunges incorporate all the running muscles and more importantly the muscles used to support these to allow them to do their job longer and better.

Running uses the quads and hamstrings as well as calf muscles, but to keep you upright and your form good, the core muscles, hip flexors and glutes are engaged and training these using resistance techniques will see an improvement in running form and efficiency.

You don't need a gym membership. Many of us run because its (relatively) cheap. Squats and lunges can be done at home using body weight as resistance, results come within weeks, not months and unlike running the performance is more visible and quickly achieved.

It may well be that to improve your running, you need to stop running so much and grab some weights. It might just be worth it.....

Sub 30 5km.......Finally!!

Regular readers of this blog or those that follow me on twitter will know that I have been trying to get this sub 30 5km for months, well, 9 months and one day to be exact. When I crossed the line after finishing London Marathon in a not so respectable time of 6 hours and 15 minutes (I should have finished in 5 hours 30 minutes according to my training pace and had I stuck to the plan on race day) I promised myself that this was the end of plodding along and getting the distance in, it was time to do something about my weight and turn into a proper runner. Which is when I started this blog.

Well I have started what I set out to and I am halfway there, 34lbs down and 36lbs to go. I have changed my attitude to food, although this is a daily battle and I am enjoying my new outlook on life. I can see my body changing, especially over the last couple of months. My arms, shoulders and neck have slimmed down and my chest is rapidly disappearing, my legs, hips and stomach are slowly shrinking and my bum seems to be shaping up, best of all I now have a waist. 

You may have read previous posts where I have talked about breaking 30 minutes for a 5km, and how I just couldn't do it. I almost became obsessed with it and I imagine this got boring for my friends and those following me on Twitter! I felt it was something that I had to do to prove that I had changed. After my failed attempt at Long Marston 5km in November last year, I was so crushed and was close to throwing in the towel, but looking back it was just a bad run. I knew I had it in my legs, this had turned into a mental thing so I looked at it in a different way:

If you don't fail, you're not trying hard enough

I decided that I needed to get used to running at 10kph so this became my normal pace, to do this I decided to use the treadmill to get that consistency so everytime I was in the gym I did a few kms to get on track. I set myself a target by the end of 2012 to get the time but my attempts failed, again, it was in my legs but mentally I struggled. I kept trying into January but 3.5km seemed to be my limit, but I was getting closer. 

I had offers for pace makers by @Russww (a Warwick local) and @TheIron_Bear (one of my oldest friends) and I was absolutely petrified, mainly as I didn't want to let either of them down, and I was scared of failing again. So, I decided to set a target date: 23/1/2013, I was going to run it on the treadmill and @TheIron_Bear was going to run next to me. 

The run itself went better than expected. I got halfway and was told to knock the speed up to 10.5kph but the advice was ignored, I was feeling ok but I knew that 3-4kms were going to be hard, this is usually where I give up so I wanted it out of the way, my plan was to get to 4km and then start knocking the speed up and that was what I wanted to stick to. With 800m to go I started to knock up the speed, I wasn't aware of the time but knew that I had to make up around 30 meters so I had left it a bit late. As soon as I hit 5km I checked the time: 29:52, I had just scraped it and I was ecstatic, such an amazing feeling that I now could officially call myself a proper runner! I could draw a line in the sand now from playing at it and actually doing it, and I now have that benchmark and know what I need to do to improve it.
 This is me hanging onto the treadmill for dear life after finishing!!

This is about to start getting expensive!

As if the gym memberships, PT sessions, protein powders, supplements and endless amount of kit wasn't enough to keep me on the verge of bankruptcy over the last eight months, it seems that I now have the problem that you would think would please me, believe me, it does not. Nothing in my wardrobe bloody fits me! Well, maybe not quite true, nothing in my wardrobe THAT I LIKE fits me.

I went to work this morning in an outfit that only needs one word to describe it - Disgusting! Grey trousers, which I hate with a passion as I usually wear dresses to work (kept only as they fit me, and are suitable for work) and a top that literally hung off me, this was after half an hour of literally ripping clothes out of the wardrobe, trying it on, sighing and throwing in the charity shop pile. I looked like a mess.

I shouldn't really moan about this, it is great news that I am seeing great results from my hard work, but I really like some of my old clothes and more importantly, I'm constantly broke, so buying a load of new clothes when I want to drop another 2/3 dress sizes isn't sensible. I worked out today that this must have been the reason that I have never got lower than this weight when I have lost weight in the past! I know it isn't but I am a lover of my clothes, I don't want to let them go!

The past week has been much of the same really. I've stuck to my training plan set by Oli and we now have a session booked on 14th January where he will set me a new plan for the next month. I'm continuing to get stronger, and upped the weights again today for shoulder press, I stuck to the 10kg dumbbells for the first 5 sets however I didn't find this to be as tough as it has been in recent sessions so for the last set I used the 12kg dumbbells. I'm not sure if this was a sensible idea, my from wasn't that great but it's encouraging that the 10kgs are getting a little easier. I also moved the weight up to 60kg for the last couple of sets of low row which was really tough but I managed it so all in all a good steady session, I sure feel it this morning! Ouch!!

New Year, New Me

The last 24 hours have been quite weird. Just yesterday morning I was moaning how shit I am at generally all form of exercise whether it be cardio or strength based training, however, I then took myself off to the gym as it was strength training day and all of this completely changed. I knew it would be tough over the Christmas period, so many temptations and excuses to find not to train, but that wasn't the issue, and I couldn't work out what it was. It's not unusual for me to start having these odd moments, usually when it gets towards the end of the month I know I need a PT session because I start doubting myself and the training that I am doing, thinking I'm not running fast enough, not lifting heavy enough and a particular hate of mine, training in the gym on my own, and not knowing enough about training to know what is good for me and what isn't.

When I got to the gym it was quite busy, which I wasn't expecting. I had remembered my iPod (brain like a sieve!) so I wanted to take up the opportunity to get on the treadmill and get further than the 2km at 10kph that I ran Saturday. I did, 3km in 17:58, so I was pleased with that. The strength session went well, the "weight nickers" were in force again but I managed to get the weights that I needed and a good space to do what I needed to do, the aches in my glutes and shoulders today are proof that I must have worked hard! There was a near miss where I thought I was going to throw up after my 5th set of squats but this soon wore off, either that or I just sucked it up and got on with it. I finished it off with a bit of core work then intervals on the rower. I really felt that I had worked when I came out of the gym, and worked out what the issue was, for the first time in ages I felt like I was getting THOSE looks in the gym, the ones that makes you feel that you don't belong. When I feel like this, the first thing I think is that it's because I'm fat. I need to remember that I'm being totally paranoid, I doubt anyone even noticed I was in there, let alone found the time to wonder why I was there! Plus I would like to think that what they are actually thinking is "fair play, she is working hard and doing something about it."

I got home from the gym and felt good, I had a bath, got into my pyjamas and made tea, planning an early night and a run in the morning. During the evening twitter seemed to be going completely mental and I was getting loads of messages of support and new followers from my post from Sunday, this certainly helped my New Years Eve in alone with no alcohol, instead I was high on pride from some of the messages that I was getting from people that I didn't even know telling little (well big) old me that I was inspiring them to either start their own journey or continue with theirs. An amazing feeling.

I got up this morning and took myself out for a short run, 2 miles in 20:38, this was really tough as the cold weather really took my breath away, and not being a fast runner I was really wheezing when I got back home, but the run was done so I had the rest of the day to myself. Before I went I took a quick photo of myself to compare to a photo of myself from London Marathon which I posted in my last post, when I got back I compared the two and it stumped me. I had to sit down and look again, was this really me? Had I really done this? All year when I was moaning that I couldn't see a difference it was creeping up on me, don't get me wrong I knew that I was losing but not to the extent of what I saw today:

I have to admit to having a few tears (OK a lot) seeing this and an immense amount of pride at what I had achieved. This is the first time in a long time that I have felt properly proud of myself and again the response on Twitter and Facebook has been overwhelming. New Years Day is traditionally pyjama day for me so after my run I have spent the day sorting out my diary, planning my meals and training for the rest of the week and creating an Inspiration Board:

So I guess now I will be taking a new found confidence into 2013, and with this new attitude I feel ready!

What a difference a year makes

Many times over the years I have tried to lose weight. If there was any diet out there, I have tried it. Been there, done it and got the t-shirt. They worked for a short while, but no sooner the weight had come off, it would pile back on again. I would say that I have spend hundreds of pounds over the years, on personal training sessions, hypnosis, bootcamps, weird diets, the list goes on. Getting into London Marathon was the time that I thought I would shift it, how could I not with all that running? But I piled it on during training, and I ended up looking like this:

I was looking through all my London Marathon photos the other day and to be honest I was shocked at what I saw. I know I have lost a lot of weight this year, 32lbs to be exact, but I had no idea how bad I looked! Considering the event that I was about to do, it is no surprise that I didn't achieve what I wanted to on the day, it makes me really embarrassed to see this photograph, but we have to accept these things to move on. Now I can use it as motivation to never get there again, my official before photo, well, one of the many, this is another, and it's a shocker!!

That me on the right with my wonderful sister, and was taken at my best friends engagement party 3 years ago. Now that is somewhere that I don't want to be again!

When I had completed London Marathon, I knew I desperately needed to do something about my weight, so I got in touch with the only Personal Trainer that I have really trusted and knew reasonably well, Oli Thompson at Peak Fitness in Warwick. Oli and I fought for a few months whilst I was trying to get my diet together and into a different mindset of training, but we both stuck with it and soon enough the results started coming. I think the main issue was that I had no set goal, I had toyed with the idea of attempting a 70.3 distance triathlon , more half marathons and other ridiculous challenges, so much so that I forgot the main goal, to get onto shape. I realised that I risked doing exactly the same as I did when training for London Marathon and putting on weight. Once I had accepted this and forgot all the other stuff I was able to focus on what I needed to do, how I needed to change my diet and what to focus on during training sessions.

I think the main thing that has changed over the last few months is my attitude. After my abysmal attempt at a sub30 5k you would have thought the world had ended, but a talking to from my sister Helen bought it home to me, whether I got a sub30 or not did not determine the person I had become, my attitude and determination towards the transformation that I had started determined the person that I had now become and I had to keep focused on what I wanted to achieve - losing weight. The sub30 would come, it just wasn't my day, and like Helen said, maybe speed just isn't my thing,  but endurance is.

A couple of weeks ago was Regency Runners Christmas Party, so was a chance to get dressed up, which I love to do, my false lashes can never be too long! I had a great night, and was shocked by the other runners reaction to how I looked. One girl, Michelle, who I ran with a few times during training for London Marathon and I'd not seen since didn't even recognise me, I was asked on numerous occasions where my bust had disappeared to and told I looked like everything had been sucked in and lifted up, and in a photograph taken before I left the house I almost look as if I have a jawline! I must admit that it was a great boost in confidence going to Christmas to see that all the hard work over the last 6 months had paid off.

I had set myself targets for the end of December which were to get that elusive sub30 5k, something that maybe a little ambitious and I don't think I am going to get but I still have 2 days left to try for it so I have to do as I'm told by my running mentor and run like I mean it! The second was to drop 6lb on December, again something that I am not going to make, but I'm still taking a positive from it that I am still coming out of December 2lbs lighter than I went into it, considering my usual December involves at least 6 dozen mince pies and 4 tins of Quality Street my self control over the festive period was brilliant, only cracking for dessert during Christmas dinner and 7 single Roses in the evening. I have kept my training up throughout the month, I have missed a couple of active recovery days over the month but I haven't missed a strength session, and have upped the weights that was set at the beginning of the month by Oli so I am hoping that when it comes to weigh in my muscle mass will have increased and that my body fat percentage will have gone down. The third target that I set myself for the end of December was to complete 6 full press ups, which I completed 2 sets of yesterday, hooray!

Overall I feel so much better, it's a good feeling to know that my clothes fit and I have even thrown some clothes out for being far too big. Today I not only bought a new coat, but I bought it from GAP, somewhere that I have never shopped before (mainly as they stock size 4, which I don't understand) and I didn't have to just settle for the coat that had the biggest size, I could chose from many and actually instead of needing the XL it was the L that fitted and to be fair, even though that is still a really big size, it is huge steps considering that in January I was wearing a size 18 which was too tight, and now I am comfortably wearing a size 16 and I can see my curves coming back, I have a proper waist and the relentless squats that Oli has put in my programme seem to be doing my bum some good, peachy!

I have such a long way to go on this journey so I mustn't get complacent, I have to keep focused as I go into the New Year and I know I have the support to do this with family and friends, Oli, Paul aka  @TheIron_Bear and all the lovely people that I talk to on Twitter who are going through their own journeys, it's good to know that you can lean on complete strangers for support, they never judge you, just give encouragement and I can't thank them enough. 

So, looking into the New Year and 2013, I have to set myself some targets to meet:

1. Reduce my body fat percentage to 25%
2. Enroll in Level 3 Diploma in Personal Training
3. Run a sub30 5k (I won't let this one go!)
4. Shrink to a size 12

Ok, lets go....

Obsession is commitment

During my last post I mentioned how motivated I felt after my lastpersonal training session. That was two weeks ago now, and I'm pleased to saythat my motivation hasn't slipped, in fact, I am flying through the month andam feeling in control, making good choices and following my training plan tothe letter. This is a big thing for me, as my past Decembers have involved meeating as much food as I can. I'm being serious about this, I used December asan excuse for a free for all, every day I would eat to excess, mince pie aftermince pie, Quality Street until they came out my ears, you name it I ateit...... it was ok though, after all it was Christmas. In fact I distinctlyremember troughing my way through a tin of Quality Street within the first weekof the month, then going out and buying boxes as 'refills' for the tin (mainlyso visitors were less likely to know how many I have eaten). So as you tell,this December I am a completely different person!

I have had one cheat day this month, when friends visited. Thiswas an agreed cheat meal with Oli so it was allowed and part of the plan thathe had set for me for the month, I am allowed one more, which we agreed to beChristmas Day. Now, my original plan was to wake up early on Christmas Day and face-plant into a tin of Quality Street, but after how I felt the dayafter eating pizza on my planned cheat day, and an unexpected small weightgain, I've decided not to take Christmas Day as a cheat day, instead I am going to stay disciplined and strong.

Part of the reason that I have been able to stay focused thismonth is because I have carried on with the Advent Challenge that I mentionedduring my last post. Every day we are challenged to either a physical challengesuch as 5k runs or squats and lunges continually through BBC SPOTY (very closeto giving up on that one....so tough!!) or a challenge such as drink enoughwater, book a race for next year, give yourself only 6 nights of drinking forthe rest of the month. I have to say, it has been a great motivational tool forme and a few friends and has helped me to stay on track and continue to makegood choices as regards to food and training throughout the month.@StuartAmoryPT is a great follow on Twitter, I'd recommend him to anyone as hismotivational tools are excellent.

I mentioned earlier that after my cheatmeal I gained a little weight that I can't seem get rid of, this could also bedue to the fact that it's that time of the month so I could be retaining alittle water, but still, it's been bugging me over the last few days. Manypeople wouldn't recommend weighing yourself every day,but for me it helps to keep me on track, if I miss a few days, I don't have tomake myself accountable, then I lose my focus. I have been stuck on the samenumber now for 5 days or so, and am getting frustrated. I talked this morningto my friend Paul who said I mustn't get consumed bythe number, as it's what is going on inside that matters, so muscle mass, bodyfat % etc. I get this, but my 'obsession' isn't just with the scales, it isalso with my diet, discipline with training, choices I make, surely this is howit is supposed to be to keep me focused, or just that it works this way for me.I saw a quote somewhere a few weeks ago that completely makes sense to me -"You call it an obsession, I call it commitment"

Milestones

Today has been one of those days that just keeps on giving! I can't remember the last time I have felt so motivated and focused, if ever.

This morning I woke up and weighed in. This is not my official weigh in, that was later on this morning before a PT session with Oli at Peak Fitness, but it gives me an indication of what I have lost. So, according to my scales, since my weigh in the day before London Marathon, I have lost 30lbs! I was curious to see what this has done to my BMI. So after a quick search on the internet I had worked it out to be 29.8, which meant I was no longer in the obese category! Aces! I'm not usually a fan of the BMI scale, but I found that this time, it really proved to me that what I am achieving is pretty amazing, I'm getting results, one step at a time.

Generally I have had a mixed few weeks, after the Impetigo incident where I was on house arrest for a week  and generally feeling sorry for myself at my temporary  deformed appearance, I had my bad run during a race (see last post) and then a week away where I found it very difficult to stay focused on eating clean (all with a horrible routine that Oli had set me 3 times a week!!). One thing I have found easy is picking myself back up and getting back on it again, which leads me to the conclusion that routine is really important to me; it enables me to stay focused.

Coming up to the beginning of December I was as usual offered an advent calendar by my Dad, and sensibly declined. This simple yearly tradition always end in exactly the same way, tearing the whole thing open on the 1st December and filling a bowl with all 24 chocolates, then polishing them off in about 15 minutes before hiding the wrapping at the bottom of the bin! Not this year though!!

I follow a guy on twitter @StuartAmoryPT and had noticed that he was setting an Advent Challenge so thought I would give it a go, so not only was I getting smugatronic from no chocolate but I was motivating myself towards Christmas which I know is going to be a huge challenge for me. The Advent challenge started with a 5k run on Saturday, which I did, not a fantastic time, but negative splits and consistency, something that I haven't had for some time! Sunday was a dietary challenge, no sweets, chocolate or cake which I found quite easy, so stuck a strength session in for good measure. Today's challenge is to complete the hashtag #bytheendof2012, after a lot of thinking a decided on the sub30 5k that is bugging me, 5 man press ups and 6lb weight loss. So today I have made myself accountable, and have 4 weeks, eeek! I'm looking forward to the next 21 days’ worth of challenges!

As I mentioned earlier today was PT day, we started with the usual weigh in, Oli's scales weigh slightly heavier than mine which meant according to these measurements my BMI is still over 30, but not by much, and as I said earlier, I don't usually take this measurement into account anyway. My own personal target this month was to get below 40% body fat, and I did just that with a reading of 38.7%, so I was well happy.

My muscle mass has gone down slightly but as Oli said I have had good results despite the ups and downs that I have had this month, so it's all positive. We also chatted about my diet over the next month, basically more of the same, and we have agreed on two cheat days, this Friday coming as  I have friends round in the evening, and Christmas Day.

I was a little apprehensive of what exercises Oli had in store for me today, seeing as though I had hated last month’s so much and threw my toys out my pram during every single set in every session! As I was warming up he got a few bits and pieces ready as he explained that he would be switching things up for the next month.

This month I was to concentrate on upping the weight, dropping the repetitions to 8, upping the sets to 6 and increasing rest time to 2 minutes. He did say that I might find this a little boring but I already liked the sound of it as heavy weights are my favourite. During the exercises Oli was taking the weights off me and replacing them with heavier weights, apparently I was making the exercises look far too easy! So once we had got the weights right, this was the programme that was agreed for the next month:

10 minutes cycle warm up, followed by:

• Squats, bum to ankles, 8kg dumbbells x 8
• Shoulder press, 9kg dumbbells x 8
• Repeat x 6
• Lunges, 8kg dumbbells x 8 each leg
• Lat pull down, 45kg x 8
• Repeat x 6
• 250m sprint row x 4, aim to beat previous time each time

This programme is to be completed 3 times a week, and Oli has also asked me to include active rest a couple of days a week, and I can continue to run with Regency Runners once a week, but no more than 3 miles.

We also had a little chat about my obsession with getting this sub30 for a 5k, Oli reminded me that this was not what I was training for, and to do so could risk me losing muscle so for the time being, this can go on the back burner. We talked about my own personal target of getting down to 25% body fat, and he is confident that I will get there in good time for the summer.  I skipped out of there really looking forward to the month ahead, and ready to tackle Christmas head on!

So I'll end with a photo, left is me in August, and the right is me this morning. It appears I'm losing my boobs!! (Hooray!) and my hips seem to be shaping up nicely