49 weeks till IRONMAN - the big secret

So this week I got serious about my weight goal - this has been a hard one for me - - - -but I had a lucky break this week when Linda, my lifestyle nurse,  said to me ....." you like a challenge right?" Do I like a challenge - who are you talking to?  I just signed up for an IRONMAN for heaven sakes!  "Just do this for 1 week"  Oh, I can do anything for 1 week - probably 2 weeks actually!  " I promise you will lose weight"  Nice!  "This is not extreme"  OK  "This is healthy"

OK - I am in - you actually had me at "you like a challenge don't you??"

So here is my meal plan this last week

Breakfast: grain, protein, fat, fruit 

Morning snack : vegetable and fruit

Lunch: protein, grain, 2 vegetables

Afternoon snack: dairy, fruit, vegetable

Dinner: Protein, 2 vegetables

Evening Snack: (optional) 100 calories of anything you want - but if you lose control (eat more than 100 calories) it becomes a danger food - you can't have again that for the rest of the week.

Notes:

grain must be whole grain

balance 3 healthy fats into each day

no potatoes

no bananas ( WHAT? - it's only for 1 week she keeps telling me!)

no refined foods

be careful with soft nuts, it is too easy to eat too many

Remember:  Willpower is the lack of hunger

After  1 day, relieved I made it one day, after 2 days, I felt good, more in control. . . . After 3 days I noticed that I woke up in the morning with energy ( NICE!)  After 4 days, I wanted to step on the scale to see if there was any progress, but scared to death that if I stood on and didn't see any progress, I would be mad 'cause I am working SO hard . . .  so I didn't step on. . . just kept at it!
So after 1 week, I lost 3lbs and I survived my craving time of the month!!  Yeah!  Now to keep it steady and keep it off.  2 more pounds to reach my November goal of a 5lb weight loss.....I have been rollercoastering with my weight for the last 7 months (hard to believe it has been that long!)
I decided to do this menu plan for 1 more week, cause Linda said that I can....and it is not really very different from my last plan. . . .  then I will return to my regular lifestyle menu plan that I have been doing for the last 4 years!  I can't believe it has been that long...... oh how life has changed in only 4 years.....

Here are a couple of pictures to remind me of where I have come from - and where I am going.....

Great Wall of China - November 2006
3 months before starting the lifestyles program

Waterton - April 2011
2 months after liver surgery

The big secret in life is that

there is no big secret.

Whatever your goal, you can

get there if you're willing to work.

- Oprah Winfrey

Missoula StayBridge Suites - September 2008
1st time @ Garden City Triathlon 

I went for a run with Megan (my ironman training partner) on Friday . . . and it was good - I was really nervous about it.  Why you ask?  Because this is the garbage that I was letting into my head....."she is a runner, and maybe she will see that I am a fraud, and can't run, so I really can't do this, and shouldn't have signed up, and who am I kidding?"

Ya, I still have those thoughts.....  sad hey...... I have a bunch of mental work to do too.....

See you in a month Megan - we will do it again - I loved that I ran 10k - with a bit more walking than I would like to do, but it was the first time I ran that distance since before my surgery.....it has been MONTHS (feels like years, but I know that it hasn't been THAT long).  It felt great.  Really great.  

You were born for this day 

the time is here and the time is now.

You will be an Ironman

50 weeks till IRONMAN - use up all your weak

So In Cardston, Alberta, Canada (my hometown) today (November 19, 2011) It was cold and snowy ---and I wondered if I should cancel my 'run like a mother' running group. . . I decided to NOT cancel - knowing full well that I might be the only one show up today (with my daughter of course, because she is crazier about running than me - believe it or not!) 

Why did I need to run today in the cold and snow - why not just run on the treadmill?

Well, it was mostly a mental battle that I had this morning with myself. I used the strategy of having all my clothes layed out the night before, so I was ready physically, but emotionally, I kept thinking "it's too cold", "you don't have to prove anything to anyone" - ahhh but I have to prove to myself that when I think it is too _____________(insert excuse here), that I will do it anyways. . . and so today - I did! Was it worth it? Completely! It was actually an absolutely beautiful morning - my facebook status today was this:

It was a beautiful crisp morning with NO wind, the sun just coming up and the quiet crunch of the snow beneath my runners ( with new spikes for safety - which worked AWESOME by the way) wore 4 layers on top, 2 layers on hands, 2 layers on legs, toe socks regular runners( no vibrams today!) - and my bank robber touque - I was quite a sight I am sure with my icy eyelashes- but I had a marvelous time @ 'Run like a Mother'. Oh Canada - I have no idea what the temperature was - but my running garb worked for the weather today... sorry you missed the moment today....

Nobody Else's Footsteps Lead Exactly Where You're Going
- Author Unknown

I love quotes that are not necessarily meant for running but totally hit the spot. Even though you may be running the same race, on the same day, to the SAME finish line, YOUR experience will not be the same as anyone else.

Watch this short clip and listen for my favorite quote of all time. . . . . I am sure that it will be one that I will need to pull out and use many a day in the next year as I use up all my weak getting ready to be strong for my IRONMAN!

Maybe strong is just what you have left 

when you've used up all your weak!

- Saucony clip "What is strong"

51 weeks till IRONMAN - For Real

THIS IS REAL.

I really am signed up and paid (once you've paid there is no turning back) for Florida Ironman 2012.

What should I be feeling?
My mom asked how I was feeling this week, and I told her I had lots of feelings. . . ranging from excitement, fear, unsurity, fateful, tired, thrilled, hopeful etc etc. . . but most of all - I feel ready to 'get at it'.  Truly - I want to get a plan and get after it.  Attack it with all that I have (with a few naps interspersed of course).

I realized my cycle to cope with stress on the day that I signed up for Ironman.  I was nervous, and I wanted to eat, but I was fasting (as it was Fast Sunday) so I couldn't do that, then I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't do that either, wanted to go for a run, but couldn't really do that either, so I started cleaning (vacuuming, tidying and vacuuming)  which was good because we were having family over for dinner later that day and the house needed it . . . . interesting coping skills..... eat, sleep, run, clean. . . I need to remember to skip to #3 and #4 as often as possible. . . . .

Here is a picture of me the moment we registered for Ironman on November 6, 2011

Am I getting in????   So excited!

Oh dear now I really have to do this!  AAAAHHHGGG!

My simple and reachable (I hope) Ironman goals this month are :

1.  Read "Going Long" 

       - by, Joe Friel & Gordon Byrn

2.  Choose a coach

3.  Lose 5lbs

4.  Stay focused

5.  Make a plan and follow it

6.  Remember I am good at this part

7.  I can and will do this

In a year, I want a video like this one. . . . . but with different music, and my name instead of hers, and pictures of me - doing my Ironman - with a smile on my face..... the time on the time clock would be fine with me too....anything under 17 hours - I will be HAPPY!

There are a few good quotes in this video but the one I need to remember this week - why I am doing this - is the following:

An IRONMAN is not made in 140.6 miles. . . 

an IRONMAN is forged through countless early morning wake-ups, gallons of sweat. . .

hundreds of miles of focus, and many months of self discipline. . . 

like steel, an IRONMAN enters the fire, is softened and beat down, shaped and molded. . .

and in the end is solid and strong. . . 

Today, I will be an IRONMAN

52 weeks till IRONMAN - What 'GOT' me. . . . .

"Happiness is essentially a state of going somewhere wholeheartedly, one-directionally, without regret or reservation." - W.H. Sheldon

Here I go - on my journey to figure out "who I am", or maybe it is my journey of 'happiness' - either way, this is the video that hooked me. . . . and with a little push from Megan (my new training partner), Duane (#1 cheerleader and support crew), and a great big push from my very own ironman spirit

Florida Ironman here I come. . . .