::weightloss wednesday::

Maybe I'm starting something I can't finish, but how about a post on weightloss on Wednesdays?

::finishing strong::
Today was kind of a blah day at the gym.  I had what felt like zero energy.  I was just putting in my time, burning my minimum number of calories (I do not like to leave the gym with less than a 400 calorie burn.  Optimally, I like to hit around 700 a day, with around 900 calories burned at least one day of the week.).  I have all these personal goals in my head when I come in each day.  And I have an annoying little cheerleader inside my head when I'm pounding out miles on the treadmill.  I tell myself, like a well known train from a children's story, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. 
On Saturday, I put in almost 6 miles on the treadmill. I took Sunday off.  Monday I logged 4.4  miles.  Yesterday I hit 4.4 again.  But today when I walked into the fitness room at the gym, I was already telling myself: Okay, 200 calories on the elliptical (typical warm up for me), and then 2 miles on the treadmill.  Lift a few weights, and call it a day. 
I just felt tired. 
But Thursday is my other weekly off day, so knowing that tomorrow is a gym-free day, I pushed myself ahead.  I did my regular 20 minutes on the elliptical, and then jumped on the treadmill and started jogging at 6.0 mph.  I was comforting myself with the 2 mile goal, but when I hit 2 miles, that annoying voice in my head started telling me to do more.  I moved to my regular jog speed of 6.5 mph and pushed my distance to 2.5, then 3, then 3.5, and then 4.  At that point, I had been running for 38 minutes, so why not run 2 more and even it out at 40 minutes?  So I did. (This is a game I play daily when I'm running.  Even out the minutes, add 5 more, see if I can add 10 more, etc.)  And after my cool down, I had finished 4.3 miles.  Not at all what I planned on doing when I came in, but that inner motivation is actually really helpful.  I keep telling myself over and over not just to finish, but to finish strong.  I compete with myself.  It's about the only measure of competition I have....unless I'm playing board games.  :) 

In the end, I burned about 650 calories during cardio, and did some weight training afterwards.  I'm still really glad that tomorrow is my off day, because I think my body just needs some recuperation time.  I worked out 5 days last week, and I'm looking at 5 days this week, as well.  Knowing I have a day off tomorrow was also a little extra incentive to finish strong.

The hard thing about a lot of cardio, though, is that it drives up my hunger like CRAZY. I will not leave the gym with less than 40 consecutive minutes of cardio.    But, when I crank it up more than that like I have been lately, I fight the urge to snack all.day.long.  Sometimes it's a little counterproductive because even with all the exercise, too much snacking will keep the scale from budging even a tenth of a pound.  I've been looking at my food log over the last couple days over at myfitnesspal.com, and I realized my protein has been a little low, and my carbohydrates a little high.  I'm trying to remedy that today. 
According to my dietician, I need about 90 grams of protein and about 120-150 grams of carbs.  If I eat a lot of fiber rich foods, I can count the grams of fiber off of my carb total and end up with a net carb total.  It can get old tracking food every day, and I usually miss a day or two each week, but it is helpful in understanding why I'm struggling with snacking too much.  For me, too many carbs leads me to snacking way too much. 

My brother is getting married in March, and I'd really like to have these last 6 pounds off by then. I'm still holding steady between 126-127.  When I lose these last pounds, maintenance will be my plan.  (I can't imagine what it will be like to NOT be trying to lose weight anymore!!) But until then, I'm working hard to get to my 6 pound goal.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a lower carb, high lean protein recipe that my husband and I LOVE to eat.  :)