Patience

Let me set the scene for you...

I work out 6 days out of 7 and then I attend my weekly weigh-in and I'm up 1.4 pounds from the last week. Typically what I would do the week after the poor weigh-in is cut back my workouts to maybe 3 days a week. Then I weigh-in again the next Monday and BAM! I'm down 4 lbs. I have a love/hate relationship with working out. I don't buy the "muscle weighs more than fat" idea. One pound of muscle weighs the same as one pound of fat, the muscle just takes up less space. If I maintained that would be fine, but I don't like gaining.

A fellow WW member at my meeting today told me to have patience and to keep working out this week as I did last week. I believe she is right and it is no wonder that my weigh-in fluctuates so much when one week I work out hardcore and gain but then stop and lose. I need to keep pace from week to week. This week, I will work out just like last and we will see how it turns out.

I'm not discouraged, really. One just expects that if they workout a lot they see weight loss, not gain.

I had a fantastic week of workouts. Starting last Monday I worked out using my Fit in Six PS3 game. I did 45-60 minutes of that Monday, Tuesday & Friday. Wednesday I ran 3.27 miles, Thursday I ran 1.75 miles, Saturday I ran 2.0 miles and Sunday I rested. Today I began the week with 3.4 miles which is to and from my Weight Watcher meeting. This Sunday I'm registered to run a 5K through the town I live in, it will be my first one in my hometown so I'm looking forward to it.

I have been thinking recently how I've ran quite a few 5Ks (3.2miles) and I think I'm ready to move on to 8Ks (5 miles). There is an 8K near my home in November that I'm going to register for and my goal is to complete it in under 60 minutes which would be a 12 min/mile and an attainable goal. When I run multiple miles now I maintain between 10-11 min/mile depending on how far I run. Since an 8K is a little more than I'm use to I will allow myself to have a slightly slower time. I was a sprinter in high school and it's difficult for me to not sprint the first mile, I need to learn to pace myself over multiple miles. I'm not looking to place in the top of my age group, I just want to complete these races and build myself up to a half-marathon, perhaps. At this point a marathon seems like a crazy idea. Why would anyone want to run 26.2 miles?! I might get there someday, but right now I'm starting with 5Ks and I think I'm ready to move on to 8Ks. Looking forward to this Sunday, my goal is to run this 5K in less than 32:45 which is my personal best thus far. I would have to maintain just under a 10 min/mile the whole time. I know it won't be easy for me, I still feel as though my endurance had much room for improvement, but if I can complete this at 32:30 I would be thrilled. Shaving off 15 seconds in a lot in running.

Next week after my weigh-in I will hopefully have better news that working out has helped me lose, not gain, even if it is muscle. This week: patience. Patience in that my hard work will pay off on the scale.