Vegan ~ day 8 complete

Well, wow. I'm thrilled and more than a little surprised at the immediate improvements in how I feel (joints aren't achy, sinuses aren't clogged, head doesn't hurt). I'd been forcing myself to eat animal protein despite having to gag it down. It did nothing positive for my longstanding eating issues. Instead, I'd find myself feeling numb while I ate, and consequently eating too much, too wrong, and too often. Beginning Friday, September 16, I've eliminated dairy, meat, seafood, poultry, etc. My diet consists of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans, potatoes, and soy or rice milk when cooking. I'm eating an estimated 1200 calories per day (tracking on myfitnesspal.com) and this morning I was 5.4 lbs lighter than when I began. I should mention that last week was a serious PMS week and yet I'm not bloated. That alone is worth it! I do find myself forgetting that everyone in the house isn't eating exactly as I am, and I struggle to find animal protein choices for them at the last minute. Fortunately, they love salmon and I've got plenty frozen that can be baked easily.

Snow??

I'm in Denver for business for part of this week. There's snow. It's pretty. 'Nuff said.

No complaints about Denver - the people are great and we're in a swanky-ish hotel. I'm making healthy eating choices and the gym here rocks. But I just read SUAR's post about her daughter and now I'm missing my kiddos even more than normal. We spoke on the phone tonight but that's never really a good substitute for a hug & a kiss goodnight. I miss the little turkeys, even if I do enjoy sleeping in a bed without Nicholas' foot in my face or my abdomen.

So I've been thinking it probably seems weird that my blog is still titled See Judi Run when I had such a hiatus from the sport. Here's the scoop on why: March 29 (yes I know the date because it was our 7th wedding anniversary and we were hosting a cookout), I returned from a run behind our house on the trail by the bayou. My wonderful trusty yellow lab, Emma, was with me and she got excited and took off -- literally off the trail -- and instead of dropping the leash I thought it would be fun to sprint the last few hundred feet. We were *that* close to home. Only I didn't make it because my left foot went into a 6" deep hole and my body kept moving with the 90lb lab. yeah, ouch.

I sent the kids to find Joel while I sat there looking at my rapidly swelling foot. Eventually it was discovered he was out inviting people over to the cookout (it was impromptu) so I hobbled back home. Then I proceeded to spend 6 hours on my feet cooking and hosting and generally hanging out with friends who wanted to help us celebrate not killing or divorcing each other.

It was a good time. It wasn't good for my foot.

The very next day I took the CLP exam, which required parking 6 blocks from the university building and hopping on one foot since the unsightly purple swollen foot that wouldn't fit into any shoe but a Croc wasn't enough to convince the security gal to let me park in one of the 10 unoccupied handicapped spots available. No biggie.

Next day I went to doc's and after x-ray after x-ray and mri (I think?) it was determined I had torn ligaments. I was told I couldn't run for 6 mths. Depression set in and I ATE.

As it turned out, that 6 mths turned into almost 2 yrs. It was 6 mths before I could wear flat shoes for more than an hour or two. Then when I went shopping for flats, I found out they were all ugly. More depression = MORE EATING

I went out a time or three with the gals from the Big Red running group at KatyFit (L.O.V.E. them!) but I couldn't complete the shortest of distances at the slowest of paces without having my foot swell and hurt for days. More depression = MUCH MORE EATING

So here I am now. B.I.G. I don't recognize myself but I'm doing something about it and change is ongoing. I've hired an executive wellness coach (David Greenwalt) I'm eating right. I'm accountable and leveraged (I'm going to lose a lot of something this year and it can be LBs or $$$)

I'm also beginning to run again but it's like I've never done it before. I'm a complete novice except that I remember what it felt like for my body to cover 14 miles (training run/walk but I finished damn it!) It's still frustrating but I'm doing it.

The Run Less, Run Faster plan for beginners training for a 5k seemed like a wise decision so I'm following it. The 3/2 plan (I think) is my best chance to avoid re-injuring the foot. So far, so good -- no pain while running or afterwards. And instead of having a swollen unrecognizable object at the end of my left leg the next morning, I see a foot that's had all the excess fluid pounded out of it. Soon, very soon, I expect to see muscles in my feet again. I miss them.

So that's my story. That's why I call myself a runner even though I don't vaguely resemble one at the moment. On the inside - the me that only I see - I'm a runner. Not a fast one, but I'm there and I'm going to continue to be one long past the point of anyone looking at me and recognizing my kick ass runner's legs.

Monday & another confession

It's a crazy busy day for me as I leave for Denver tonight. I'm still enjoying Run Like a Mother and I'm reading Run Less, Run Faster (not only reading it but following the new runner - get ready for a 5k program). See, although I have done one half-marathon and used to run pretty regularly, I tore ligaments in my foot 2 yrs ago (or is it 3 now) and I've only recently been able to wear heels again, much less run for any sustainable distance or with any consistency.

During the course of being laid up and in flats, I ate my way through the depression that enveloped me and here I am now, trying to lose the poundage and acclimate myself to running again. The very positive good news is..... drumroll please there is NO pain or swelling in said foot when I run.

Sure, I don't run far and I don't run fast but I'm reinventing myself as a runner. This is the year of "new Judi runner chick" rather than "old Judi sits on her ass and is bummed she can't run" model.

Life is good.

Confession: I almost NEVER remember to log my runs at btt and hence my gadget thingie is ridiculously pitiful. There you have it.

Confession # 1 (More to come!)

I almost forgot! Someone reminded me that confession is good for the soul, so let's see how many days I can come up with something to share that's not too out there.

Today's confession ---- I love Nelly's Just a Dream, but really it's Nelly I love.

There, I said it out loud, or in print.

The scale is finally moving but not quickly. I'm okay with that. See, I'm not feeling deprived. I'm not obsessing over food / exercise. And my goal is to lose 60 lbs this year, having lost the first 5 during December. I feel like I'm off to a good start. I'm 5 lbs away from my goal for Feb 1, and I'm confident I'll get there. Also, there's no feeling of "omg - how am I ever going to lose THAT MUCH WEIGHT in this short a time???" Yeah, I've felt that before. There's nothing like a little pressure to send me straight to the chips & salsa bowl!

On to things that are much more fun than the scale..... I had dinner with 2 wonderful friends / former colleagues last night. Lia was in from London and Vero and she had the one night available to see us (busy woman!!) so we all met at Escalantes Town & Country location. Our server was so helpful and friendly, the food was delish (shrimp & veggie fajitas, ff black beans, no rice), and of course the company just couldn't have been better. I don't get out enough for just girlfriend time. I think I'll try for more of that this year. I have wonderful friends and I am always energized after spending time with them - why would I deprive myself ??

Speaking of depriving myself, I'm foregoing my usual morning snack of grilled chicken & veggies or fruit for a new protein bar. Since I'm traveling next week (Denver here I come!) I wanted to test run one of these things before I break it out mid-meeting. Holy f*ck, no one told me it was going to taste like vomit!! Lest ye think I went in blind, I did read the reviews - this is the one that's supposed to taste better than the others. If nothing else, this will teach me not to treat each fueling opportunity as a celebration of food, which is probably what led to my needing to lose 60lbs in the first place. Just think, I used to complain about having to eat chicken more than once a day (it's not my fave food either).

Work beckons... I love my job. Happy running, everyone! I'll be on the treadmill tonight - life is good.

Today I was a victim of the iPhone alarm clock bug. Either that or when I turned off the alarm yesterday morning (since I woke up early), I forgot to reset it. Probably the latter....

I had a great workout last night on the spin bike, and an equally challenging UBWO w/ the Cathe DVD "High Reps" yesterday morning. On the agenda for tonight is 45 minutes spinning and 45 minutes swimming. Still LOVING that I insisted we have the pool heated.

Yesterday's coaching call was helpful. In my planning for next week's business trip, there was one key area I overlooked and Coach was able to point it out to me. Thank God. Otherwise I'd have been in "oh shit!" mode and it all could have gone to hell in a heartbeat. I'm feeling moderately confident about the plan; I think I just need a couple of instances of successful execution in order to feel more confident. I don't trust myself yet. How weird is that?

I d/l'd and began Run Like a Mother, the book last night. I'm enjoying the little bit I read so far.

Crazy work day today -- will post more later.

Exercising with intention -- good grief, but I gave new meaning to the phrase last night! 90 minutes of hard spinning - it felt sooooooo good!!

Today I was .4 lbs off from making my weekly weight goal but I am on track to meet next Monday's goal without exception.

This morning's exercise was the upper body workout from Cathe's High Reps DVD. 40 killer minutes. Tonight I plan on more spinning. I am surprised (pleasantly!) about how good it felt.

Happy running / spinning / living to you all!