1500 Days to Freedom

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Mrs. 1500’s Half Marathon Update – SMALL Success Episode

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Hi there, Mrs. 1500 today.

I’m writing this a bit late (Wednesday morning) because I wanted to weigh in this morning before posting.

I’m FINALLY seeing a very small amount of success. I’ve lost the same 2-3 pounds about 17 times since I started this journey, which is very discouraging to be down, have a beer over the weekend, and then be right back where you started.

Today, I weighed in at 175.

And all this running had helped me get faster and be able to run longer, but I don’t give a frog’s fat ass about being able to run. I’m in this to lose weight. I want to be healthy for my girls, I want to set a good example for them, but I also just want to look better in my clothes and feel better about myself.

I’m running two 5K’s a week, in addition to walking/running at 100 Mile Club with the girls a few times a week.

(I’m also in an Accountability Group and my accountabilibuddies are helping me get to 10,000 steps almost every day this year. I’m averaging over that, but have missed the mark twice. It happens.)

Running Update

Someone wrote in, asking for an update. She’s a runner, and wanted to know if it’s getting any easier for me.

Not really, but I did have one good day.

In the past, when I ran, I feel like my heart was going to explode. My fitbit clocked me in at 177 beats per minute. I went on a run with Angi three weeks ago, and my heart rate only got up to 157. Even after a fast-as-we-can lap, still only 157.

Last week it was too cold to run outside, so I ran with Mr. 1500 inside. After about a mile, something changed and I no longer had a hard time breathing, I no longer felt like my heart was going to explode.

And I ran the entire time.

So now I’m chasing that good day again. I’m finished with the 5K portion of the 10K Training, and back to intervals. Run for 10 minutes, walk 1 minute – four times. This time, though, I’m staying on track with the running and following the app more closely.

Weight Loss

Now let’s get back to the weight loss.

It’s five pounds, which isn’t a big deal for most people, but it’s hugely encouraging to me.

I’ve been doing that Intermittent Fasting thing, where you condense your food intake down to 8 hours a day. Some people condense it down further, but I’m not able to.

Keto

The Keto Diet is literally everywhere. Everyone I talk to has done it and lost 10 pounds in two weeks or 15 pounds in a month. (For reference, I’ve lost five pounds in three months.)

Pinterest is FILLED with Keto recipes, Keto tips, and Keto everything else.

I’ve never been a huge bread person, and can give that up pretty easily, but sugar is my weakness and that’s a lot harder to give up. Keto is great/awful for a few reasons. It’s a very high fat diet. You’re aiming at something like 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbohydrates.

75% fat? I can do that easy! Fat is delicious.

My friend Lauren was doing the Keto diet, and of course lost 15 pounds doing it. In order to get to her 75% fat intake, she was cooking recipes called Butter Chicken (literally, chicken cooked in butter and heavy cream – so that is the great part) and making things called fat bombs, which look like peanut butter cups, and taste like peanut butter cups with no sugar. (Spoiler Alert: peanut butter cups without the sugar taste disgusting, making this the awful part.)

I’m eating avocados and eggs, cheese, cream, butter and all the things I’ve been told my whole adult life are bad for me.

I don’t have – and never have had an issue with cholesterol, which is a big downside of this diet. I was over at my friend Van’s house this weekend and she shared that once she started Keto, her cholesterol went up. I’ve got a few weeks before my annual checkup, and I’ll make sure we do a cholesterol test when I’m there.

This weekend will be a big test for me. The oldest little 1500 is having a Test Mom’s Willpower party: we’re making peanut butter cups (with sugar), giant kit kat bars (thanks Pinterest!), and dipping lots of things in chocolate. Plus a Costco cake. Oh I love a Costco cake. I’m going to be extra good from now until then so I can have a nice big piece.

(Rant: Do you know that to place an order for a Costco cake, you have to actually be in the store OR fax it in? Costco, I’m actually nowhere near your facility, so driving up there to simply place the order is ridiculous. And since this is 2019, I don’t have a fax machine, I don’t have access to a fax machine, and I had to ask about 75 friends before I found someone who DOES have a fax machine. And they don’t even have an actual fax machine, it’s an email thing. Seriously, bring yourself into the 21st Century and have an order online option./rant)

So that’s what’s been going on with me. I was sick for the beginning of the year and running was difficult. Weight loss went nowhere and I didn’t really feel like sharing my failures with you. It gives me a newfound respect for people who are sharing their financial journeys online – weight loss and financial repair are very similar.

OK, now I have to go – Angi’s here and we’re going to go run our Wednesday 5K!

Join the 10s who have signed up already!

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*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.

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Comments

  1. Keep up the great work! I hate running, but I’ve also convinced myself swimming is too much hassle. I’ve got to figure something out as I can’t keep sititng in this office chair eating sugary snacks all day. You’re very inspirational!

  2. Kismet or what? Marksdailyapple.com just had a post today about Keto and cholesterol It’s a great site for all things diet and exercise. Keep up the good work!!

    • Thanks Jeff! I’ll check out that site. I don’t think Keto is the solution forever, but so many people have had success in the short term, I can’t help but think it can be a great kickstart.

  3. Great post! Boy do I relate to the “losing the same 2-3 pounds 17 times” despite massive effort, and I’ll bet that lots of others do too, so thanks for sharing, And truly, the scale might not be moving a whole lot because you’re gaining muscle – sooner or later that will crank up your metabolism and the weight will come off!
    Looking forward to more updates and sending good wishes from BOCO (over near Haystack Mountain).

    • I really hope it’s that gaining muscle thing. I doubt it, because I’ve seen myself naked. But I’m feeling better about the way I look just from these 5 pounds, so maybe…

  4. I literally just baked a pound of bacon, so the: “75% fat? I can do that easy! Fat is delicious.” statement made my day. Unfortunately, I am also a chocoholic….(love sugar, especially of the dark variety)…

    Congrats….keep up the good work. Your hard work will pay off. Nobody ever drowned in sweat.

    And great job to you and the Mr. for the 100K month. I’m jealous but even more motivated….
    JRobi recently posted…Weekly Retrospective ….My Profile

  5. Yay Mrs. 1500, and thanks for the update! I too can relate to traveling the same weight terrain again and again. But the feeling of building fitness and just feeling stronger, better in my body with more movement, is motivating. Plus friends (the ones who say C’mon, we’re doing this, yes I know you want to go home and sit on the couch with chocolate and wine but too bad, let’s go to yoga! 😛) And motivational posts for the long term. I so often have a hard time getting out the door to go running but about 20 minutes in, I feel so much better. Thank you for sharing your story with us! Enjoy the cake with no guilt and hang in there!

  6. that heart rate drop is a really big deal regarding fitness. i use that maximum and the time it takes to recover below 140 as indicators. i lost about 5 pounds too and have noticed a couple of wine-free days equals about a pound less. keep it up and be patient and consistent.
    freddy smidlap recently posted…’90’s Chat Room MemoriesMy Profile

    • “Be patient” That’s not how I roll. There is a commercial on TV with a rather large man at the gym. He weighs himself, runs around in a little circle, then goes and weighs himself again, obviously expecting results instantly. That’s me. (Sigh)

  7. You may not be losing the weight as quickly as you want because you are eating too many calories. Maria & Craig Emmerich in their book KETO talk about using fat as a lever. What they mean is that you set your grams of carbs (20 grams to maybe as much as 50 grams), then determine your protein needs (they specify multiplying your lean body mass times 0.8) and then meet the remainder of your energy/calorie needs by eating the rest of your calories as fat. If you want to lose weight you reduce the amount of grams of fat that you eat so that your body gets more of its energy needs from body fat. On the other hand, if you don’t want to lose weight you increase your fat intake so that your body doesn’t need to burn your body fat. I highly recommend their book KETO. Maria Emmerich also has a lot of wonderful keto cookbooks.

    • Thanks for this suggestion. I’ll definitely check out this book. It doesn’t feel like I’m eating too many calories. I track them and it seems like I’m doing ok, coming in pretty close to what MyFitnessPal suggests. I have to say I am not STARVING with this KETO thing right now. Every once in a while I feel empty, so I have a couple of nut thin crackers and that helps take away the empty feeling. I think it’s just getting used to the no carb diet. (I aim for no carbs, then whatever slips in ads up to about 20-30 grams)

  8. I’ve been following your half-marathon posts since they started and you continuously seem unhappy. A half is a great goal and I totally believe you can make it happen. However, you are constantly talking about how much you hate the journey (running). Your attitude toward the activity has a large impact on how much you enjoy doing it. If running ain’t yo’ thang, there are so many other options. I found a local cycling group to keep me active and I’ve met the greatest people through it. Hot yoga, lifting moderate weights, boxing classes, hiking, swimming… the opportunities are endless and not all cost money. Finding something you love to do will make it so much easier to do your workouts and actually enjoy them. Consider adjusting your mindset and finding something that works for you. These are my two cents. Keep after it!

    • I can imagine maintenance would be hard. I was on Nutrisystem a few years ago and lost a good amount of weight, but the combination of moving, rehabbing a house, learning I love a good chocolate stout and getting a job where I sit all day long packed all the lost pounds back on. This time, once I lose them, they’ll be gone for good.

  10. I hate running too!!

    As a guy I found that after bouncing between the same weight range for like a decade and then trying some very different variables out since this summer that I’m seeing the best results from:

    1. A variation of intermittent fasting, that’s low’ish carb, but not quite keto. And then 1-3 cheat meals a week (will cut down leading up to summer) with an optional monthly cheat day.
    2. Weight lifting and doing big compound movements to help burn fat by building muscle (which raises your RMR so you’re burning more calories running the systems of your body 24/7)
    3. And occassional HIIT training via the treadmill, which I don’t hate, what I hated about running is the long distances with the main results being able to run farther and regularly hurting my ankles/knees, none of that with HIIT and I’m able to keep up with my 5 y/o boy.

    Keep at it and looking forward to more updates!

    • I do need to hit the gym for the weights. Adding to that is my crippling tennis elbow, which makes gripping them impossible. Like, I’d drop them. So I’m looking at the machines they have at the gym and cobbling together a good workout that way.

      • I’m regularly injuring myself and tweaking what I do, so I have an idea of what you’re going through.

        I had/have wrist, knee, hip and a bunch of other issues and Googled and YouTubed (not sure if that’s a verb yet, but it should be) ways to strengthen or stretch them, or find alternative exercises.

        You could try lifting straps (I think I’ve also seen gloves with hooks) to minimize how much you have to rely on grip strength and/or aggravate your elbow, or something fancier that I’m not aware of).

        If your gym has a pool I’ve heard water weights are pretty decent and might be a stepping stone to improving strength before going full-on, or might be enough to hit your goals.

  11. I used to hate running. Then, my wife started doing it, and coaxed me into it, and now I love it and look forward to it 3-4 times per week.

    I hope you end up overcoming the dislike.

    What is motivating you to limit your caloric intake to just an eight hour period? I’ve always heard that when you deprive your body of calories for long periods of time, your body will naturally slow down its metabolism as a defense mechanism so that it can conserve calories. This can be counterproductive to weight loss, because when you start eating again, your body will burn those calories off at a slow rate.

    If you’re hungry, you should listen to your body and eat. The problem most of us have is that we consume more than we actually need. Maybe if you eat the same amount in a day you’re eating now, but spread it out over a longer time frame, you’d see different results.
    Money Beagle recently posted…10 Ways We Plan To Get Rid Of Clutter FastMy Profile

  12. Almost no one uses fax machines anymore, and I had the same problem. Found an easy solution though. Any UPS Store will fax whatever you need to whatever number you need. Very convenient, given that they are all over the place around here. Hopefully you have one not too far away.

  13. You are doing awesome. You may not be getting the results you hoped for as quick as you’d like them, but the fact that you keep at it and haven’t given up places you way ahead the majority of the pack! Give yourself some credit!

    Everyone is different and every body responds different to food. I attempted the intermittent fasting thing once because of all the positive effects on the liver, but I couldn’t do it. I was tired and cranky and just not a nice person. I did some research and found that women, in general, respond different to fasting than men because of our hormonal differences. Women are created to provide life and nurture life and when our bodies don’t get calories for an extended amount of time, we go into survival mode and start to store energy (aka….get fat). Again, everyone is different and I know women who LOVE fasting and it works great for them. Have you ever tried slimming down your portions and eating more often? I am the type that is pretty much ALWAYS eating. However, because it’s snack size stuff of crunching on veggies, it isn’t calorie dense. I eat every couple of hours but I never really feel starving and I also never really feel stuffed (minus those pizza and beer days – but sometimes, it’s just worth it!) I’m not sure if this would be satisfying or work for you, but perhaps an option to try.

    Keep at it. As long as you don’t quit, you’ll eventually find what works for you and all the hard work and frustration will suddenly seem like not such a big deal. 🙂
    Nearly Fit Mom recently posted…Who are We Trying to Impress with Gifts?My Profile

  14. Hey Mrs. 1500, great job here on losing a few pounds! All diets promise you weight loss. This one goes a step further claiming it can cure illness. You might want to reconsider the Veeramachaneni Diet Plan from India with similarities to the Keto Diet. It’s the new hype!

    Thanks for the motivation and for sharing your experience!
    Sandra Bleest recently posted…Veeramachaneni Diet Plan – The Complete GuideMy Profile