Yesterday's Run and My Weightloss Journey

Yesterday's race was such a triumph for me. I never thought I would be a runner, let alone, run in a race, even a fun race. I took the challenge to try to run faster than 30 minutes for a 5K, not really believing I could do it. It looks completely possible after yesterday, even this morning with my achy calves.

For those wondering, I raced in the FiveFingers Sprints, which got me at least one question before the race. As far as I could tell, I was the only person there running in minimalist shoes. I definitely think they make me look rather odd, having seen my race-day picture, but I'm definitely loving them. I look forward to next weekend when I run the 5K.

One of the main reasons my running is so amazing to me is because I have lost 100+lbs, and I'm in the best shape I've been my entire life. I'm still not near goal, but when I take a step back and look at where I've come from, and where I'm headed, it's a bit amazing to me.

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist, I've just been trying to lose weight for more than 20 years (I'm in my 30s!). I've been on multiple diet plans, read books, seen nutritionists and read a lot of the current news/research on weight loss and obesity and have formulated my own ideas on the subject. Always consult a nutritionist, MD or ND before making radical changes to your life/lifestyle. Seriously. I may even disagree with some of their beliefs, but this is what has worked for me.

Just for the heck of it, I used the Tools at Calorie Count to get an idea of where I've come from, and where I'm going. To be honest, I don't use Calorie Count (I use Weight Watchers, which does the same basic thing, but offers meetings and a handy formula to simplify tracking) for my day-to-day tracking, but it is an excellent, free, weightloss resource. There are other similar resources available - Livestrong, Daily Plate, Spark People - just to name a few. The basic idea is to figure out what your normal calorie burn is for your usual day, this is your Base Metabolic Rate. Next is to figure out how many calories you should reduce (and/or how much exercise you should add) to lose up to 2 lbs per week.

Personal facts and Weight Loss Stuff:

• At my heaviest, my BMR was around 2750 calories per day.
• My current BMR (to maintain current weight) is 1700 calories.
• The BMR of the weight I'm shooting for is 1580 calories.

1 lb = 3500 calories, to lose 1 lb/wk, that's a reduction of 500 calories per day.

I usually exercise daily, in the form of walking or running, and for a burn of between 100 - 400 extra calories per day. On those days, I might eat more.

I eat roughly 1200-1400 calories per day, which means that I've gradually reduced my daily caloric intake almost by half over the past few years. It should be noted, though, I started by reducing my daily intake gradually (about 500 cals/day). The biggest change in the past 25 lbs is having to incorporate more whole foods in my diet to keep me from getting hungry. I could eat my daily calories in doughnuts (that's about 3 doughnuts in a day). Or I could eat an abundant variety of food all through the day for the same calories. Doughnuts give me a nasty simple-carb hangover. Whole wheat pasta and homemade spaghetti sauce does not. In a way, I actually eat MORE food - but it's the variety that I eat that makes the difference, and where I choose to say "No." Scone at a coffee shop for breakfast = "No." A cupcake at Cupcake Royale = an occasional after-dinner decadence worth waiting for.

And for the record, I don't deny myself occasional beer, mixed drinks, chocolate, ice cream, bacon, cheese, burgers, french fries, pizza, etc. I just don't eat them all in one day. I eat real food with real ingredients (hopefully, the fewer required to make the food tasty, the better).

It's been a long road. I still have a ways to go.