Running to lose weight or maintain weight?

Wow so it has been over 2 years since I wrote on this blog. Not sure where to start……

Well I last posted that I have joined a running club, I stayed and completed the couch to 5 k this time 2 years ago it would have been. In October 2018 I ran my first 10 mile chip timed race in the Great South Run in 1 hour and 55 minutes, which I was very pleased with. In 2019 I ran in over 10 races throughout the year some 10ks, 10 milers and 2 half marathons. I ran the Great South Run again in 2019 and it took 1 hour and 45 minutes, so that is a great measure of progress, that is a whole 10 minutes faster!

This April 2020 I was due to run the Manchester Marathon, but it got cancelled due to COVID-19, I ran up to 22 miles and then the cancellation came through just as I was about to taper before race day.  Weirdly I still don’t feel that fit :).  I run quite slowly and was probably on for a marathon time of between 5 hours and 5 hours 30 minutes.  I will run the Manchester Marathon hopefully in 2021 if the country can get on top of this virus.  I am still aiming to run at least 20 miles a week to keep my fitness levels up.

My health must have vastly improved since January 2018 and I have maintained the 10lb loss throughout bouncing up and down from 16 to 10lb loss over the couple of years. My BMI is currently 26.7 – so still a bit overweight at 10 Stone 10 lbs (I need to be under 10 Stone 4lbs for my weight and height of 5ft 3) and still trying to lose that bit more.

My conclusion is that fitness is easier than weight loss and marathon training does not go hand in hand with losing weight as you are sooooo hungry all the time.  But I would say I have been successful in changing my desk bound lifestyle where I was gaining weight to a healthy active lifestyle even if I am not quite at the weight goal I was aiming for.  I will keep going and as I have no races to train for in 2020, I can focus on the weight loss side of things easier, as it is best to do this when not in a training cycle for a race. So will keep you posted and hopefully it wont be 2 years before the next update.

I do have plenty of time in ‘Lockdown’ to focus on myself and have even created a gym in the corner of my kitchen, just wish I had a treadmill.

My advice for anyone wanting to get a healthy active lifestyle is to keep going and set yourself goals and make them public (I use an Instagram feed @lisas_runningdiaries. This is what has spurred me on and kept me going.  From January 2019 a coach at my local running club wrote out some training plans for me and follows me on strava, so that also keeps me motivated.

Lockdown and cancellation of races has been disappointing and I have had to refocus myself and what type of goals I will aim for this year, taking it month at a time in May I am doing the Strava goal of ‘5k a day in May’ – so I will run/cycle/walk at least 5k a day for every day. It is the little things like this that I commit to and make happen, it is mental as well as physical and often the hardest thing is to get your self out of the front door. I sometime play tricks on my mind and say just going out for a 3 mile run, then feel good when out and run like 7 miles instead.

#keepsafe #keephealthy #healthylifestyle

Day one of my new year weight loss and fitness journey

Every new year we all say I want to lose weight and get fit. I seem to dip in and out of it, 8 weeks seeing a personal trainer this summer, got to September and all went wrong. So here I am again it’s a new year, so what better time to start on the new me!

Interestingly my husband keeps saying to me don’t tell anyone you are trying to lose weight just do it!!!  Well that clearly hasn’t worked so I am going against his advice! Sorry hubby.

I started by making the decision I needed to do something over new year, though due to social engagements I did not put anything into action until Tuesday 3rd January, which was my first day back at work. What I  did managed to do over the Christmas break was the first step to making this a success, I made a plan.

1. Plan my menu for the week and do an online order with all the fresh ingredients.  Then I will prepare my breakfast, lunch and snacks for work the night before, as I tend do grab a cup of tea and go in the morning by the time I have got the kids organised and off to school.  I can tell you that Tuesday to Friday has been a success for my healthy diet plan, and I have stuck to it.

2. Research and think about my dietary habits and what I have tried and tested before, that I have not found sustainable and why I have struggled. Ok one part was busy lifestyle and not organising my shopping, but the other was trying to do a too restrictive diet, like clean eating or green smoothies.

3. Decide on what I think will work for me. I am going to try something new that I think will be achievable, my own rough version of ‘CARB CYCLING’ I think this is the term. I am going to eat a low carb diet (basically no bread, pasta, rice, cereal, oats) Monday to Friday and then Saturday and Sunday I am going to allow myself a meal with carbs on each day.

Follow my blog to see how I get on, it is Saturday today and I can tell you that from Tuesday to Friday this week I have lost 2lbs. So a promising start.

About me

A bit of history about me, I never gained weight as a child or in my 20’s and was always a size 8 and weighed about 120 lbs.  I had my first child at 31 years old and have never got my weight below 130 lbs since, in fact I sat at 136 lbs naturally until I hit 39 years old.  Today I weight 160 lbs and am a comfortable size 14!!!  I am now 44 years old, so I am not expecting to be a size 8 again, but I think I should be able to get to a size 10, does that sound familiar?

I have a long journey ahead of me my target weight is 126 lbs, that is a total loss of 34lbs, eeekkkkkkk!  What I am going to do is break it down into smaller manageable chunks my first goal is below:

1. To hit 152 lbs (10 Stone 12 lbs, this equates to 2lbs per week weight loss and it should be easy as I was 10 Stone 9lbs summer 2016) in 4 weeks – Saturday 4th February.

This will be a challenge as I work full time and help my husband with his business and ferry around 2 children, but I am up for it!  So lets get started, I will post some yummy recipes, and the type of meals I am eating as I go along.  Plus when I get into ‘Getting Fit Mode’ I will include an exercise regime.

This is my inspiration! Ok maybe not that realistic at 44 years, but here are a couple of pictures of me today and when I was a size 8.

P