A recap– I actively struggled with my weight from the age of 15 (when I was 95 pounds and some “helpful” woman “kindly” told me if I kept eating the way I did, I would get fat. I immediately went on a diet and immediately gained 35 pounds. Then I slowly gained another 10 to reach my adult weight) (then I gained another 60 pounds over six years after coming to the States!) That put me at about 201 in 2006. About three years ago, I was too busy working on my PhD to fret about my weight and going vegan slowly peeled some of the the weight off. I’m perfectly happy at my current weight as far as life goes. I think this is a good place to start from, because I’m NOT doing this because I feel like I’m bad the way I am. I’m doing this because I really want to reach my athletic goal.

The only way my body will be able to run fast enough to do a sub-four marathon is if I lose a significant amount of weight. It will be easier on my poor asthmatic lungs, along with my aging hips and knees. Pretty much the only way I’ll lose weight is by watching what I eat. Exercise is great, but isn’t quite enough for me.

The main diet changes I’m making right now are to eat two large salads a day, cut down to one soy latte, and switch from canned or bottled soda to SodaStream soda water with fruit essences. I’m not giving up Chipotle, but I am going to give up chips and guac (while still getting guac on my veggie bowl.)

For sleep changes, I’m trying to work my bedtime back to sometime between 10 and 11pm, getting up around 7 or 8. This will be a hard change, since I don’t have a 24 hour pattern and I am an insomniac. I’m not drinking caffeinated drinks in the afternoons any more and I’m trying to exercise and do enough stuff that I’m tired at the end of the day.

For exercise changes, I’m going to be more focused on running faster and on getting more movement in every day. For the sake of my joints, I should probably not run more than two days in a row right now, especially while I’m losing weight. For the next month, I’m going to run four times a week– three interval runs and one long run. I have a dance class on Tuesday evenings, so that’s a fifth day of exercise. I also recently got an Xbox with Kinect, so I’ll probably be playing Dance Central or doing Zumba several times a week. Plus, there’s hula hooping, which I need to practice at least five days a week to get better. Getting enough exercise won’t be a problem.

I just registered for the Austin half-marathon in February. I can see how close I am to my goal and determine how much more work I have to do. I’m not going to shoot for a sub-4 marathon until I can do a half in less than two.

My goals for Austin:
Dream: 2:00 half
Break my PR: 2:35 half
Finish

My weight loss goal: (partway)
15 pounds by January (which will put me just under 150.)

I know this goal is crazy and I don’t even know if my body and mind are capable. But I really want to try.

I’ve been struggling to get back to “normal” since.  I’ve been drinking pop and soy cappuccinos every school day.  Yuck.  And I’ve been having too much trouble eating enough vegetables.

Okay, now that I have confessed to you, my loyal reader, I can get back on track.

At least we’re still running.  Three days a week.  This Friday, we’re going to try to run/ walk for an hour.

Fitday tells me I’m only getting about a thousand calories a day. I need to add more fruits to take it up just a couple hundred to 1200.

I think I have successfully done the work to change my focus from weight to health. Yes, I’d still like to be slim, but more than that, I want to be energetic and healthy. This is why I’m leaving one of my jobs… I need the sleep for my health, and so I’ll have the energy to work out. I also eat better when I’m getting enough sleep. I suspect I’ll be a better student, too.

Part of the reason I can focus more on health is that if I do this right, my weight will naturally go to where it’s supposed to be. I’ve never truly eaten for health. Ever. This is a first. I’ve done so many fad diets, but I’ve never thought about health. Another bonus is that this diet is more economical for our budget and more sustainable for the world. It’s all good. The best part, though, is I don’t even want the bad stuff any more. It’s like a switch went off in my brain and said, “You don’t want toxic food!”

Now, to get back my drive to workout five to six times a week. I think that will come with plenty of sleep and complete detox from caffeine.

BTW, I read an article today that said drinking soda is linked to a gain of 15 pounds a year. I can buy that. (No point in linking, since yahoo lets its links die pretty quickly.)