Three Things Thursday - A bit late...

Sorry for the late posting, my photos wouldn't attach last night, so you get a Three Things Thursday on Friday! :) 

1.  First and most exciting - my 6 year old daughter ran her first official 5k on Sunday.  She did fantastic and took first place in her age group.  And, she looked fantastic in the process (thank you sparkle skirts!).   As far as a "race recap" - it was brutally hot given the cool temps we have been having this year. Bonus, it was on a trail I use daily and there was a mile of nice shade.  Admittedly, if I hadn't been running with her I don't know that she would have done nearly as well.  She lacks internal motivation at right now, but she was beaming when she found out she won - so hopefully with time and practice she will learn to push herself.  I don't care if she is never competitive, but I want to feel like she's giving it her all!

Just starting out... hate running on grass!

She doesn't look very happy here!

A medal and an award - MUCH happier now!

2.  I completed the Flying Pig Half on May 5.  While training started out well, things started to peter out at the end.  I knew going into it that it wouldn't be a PR - I have heard about the brutal hills compared to our area and I knew I hadn't trained perfectly.  Race day was pretty warm and I started out too fast, all this meant the wheels fell off towards the end.  But, I finished and that is a success - I am working on allowing myself to be happy with slower finish times as I feel that is crucial to successfully training for the Dopey Challenge and remaining injury free.  I tried to focus on the environment, spectators, etc.  (As a side note:  my daughter ran the kids marathon as well)  Be on the lookout for another post later with more race photos and such!

Crossing the finish line of the 26th mile kids race

Funny Photo-bomb!

3.  Its no secret I have gained some weight back.  During marathon training I slowly put on between 5-10 pounds.  Then, when the marathon was over I was burnt out and mentally over running.  I gained a huge amount of weight in the month after the marathon - 15 pounds.  While I blame some of this on holiday/Christmas/family visiting, it was NOT okay.  I took a lot of time off and ate whatever I wanted.   I've added another 5-10 pounds since January.  I was spiraling out of control.  I feel like I am finally starting to get control again.  I have lost 5 or so pounds in the last week or two.  I have my good days and bad days.  But, at the end of the day I have to remember how uncomfortable I am in my skin now versus how happy I was before.  I will win this war!

A confession...

Time for a confession, I have lacked motivation the last few weeks regarding my weight loss. I haven't lost a pound in weeks and actually was starting to creep back up a bit - I weighed in Sunday at 193.8. I am not sure why it happened, but something snapped, I had a major binge day yesterday. I ate anything and everything that sounded good. I probably ate at least twice the calories I should have. And this morning, the scale made me pay for it.... *gulp* 198.8 (I am sure some of this is water weight from all the sodium)!

I have come so far, I refuse to get back over 200 pounds. It just cannot happen. So, I decided after having a splurge and eat whatever I want day yesterday I am going to get VERY serious again. I haven't been directly logging the foods I eat - I have relied more on a mental list and we all know how easy it is to cheat on those! To get myself back on track, I am going to start using livestrong.com again. I used their dailyplate feature for at least the first 6 months of my weight loss journey. It was a great way for me to keep track of not only the calories I should be eating, but also what I ate (sodium, fat, and calories) as well as my exercise. I am excited to start using it again and think that it will be extremely helpful for me.

I was late getting to bed last night - I think I went to bed just before midnight. But, I think my body realizes this is not the week to challenge me - I actually woke up before my alarm at 4:45 am. I went swimming for an hour (first time in several days I have swam over 30 minutes). The weather this week is supposed to be crazy hot and humid, so that means I need to do my runs in the morning when at all possible. So, at just after 7:00 I set out for my run. Almost immediately I could feel the effects of the humidity but I was determined to run the 3.5 miles I needed to run without stopping. It wasn't a pretty run or an easy run, but I am happy to say that I managed to successfully complete the mileage. I would LOVE to know why mother nature decided to pick this week to get hot and humid. This is the week that I have to increase my daily mileage a half mile every day. Not a big deal to most runners, but for someone like me who isn't a great runner and struggles to not push herself too hard, the humidity is killer.

I have been SUPER careful today with food. Here is the rundown:

2 starburst (post swim, pre-run -- was feeling like I needed some sugar) - 40 cals
1 Crystal Light Pure Fitness - 30 cals
1 serving chocolate mini wheats - 200 cals
1 serving skim milk - 90 calories
Salad (Romaine, broccoli, cheese, salad dressing, 4 oz ground turkey - 280 calories
1 slice of light potato bread - 35 calories
navel orange (afternoon snack) - 80 calories
4 oz Honeysuckle White Lean Ground Turkey - 130 calories
3/4 cup Potato Leek Soup - 146 calories
9 bottles of water
Total Calories: 1031
Calories Burned Exercising (per livestrong): 1287

I know this is generally too low calorie wise, I don't plan to do this on a regular basis. I find that doing this once in a while is a good shock to my system and get me motivated again. I CAN DO THIS, I will get back on track and get to 175!!!

Anyone have any helpful words of advice or motivation for someone who has fallen off the wagon?