DietBet V2.0 Results

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So the Read Write Run Mom DietBet is officially over as well as 30 days without eating wheat!

The DietBet was definitely a success, the first two weeks I saw a lot more progress than the last two but I'm okay with that as it was still a significant drop in 30 days. 

After the 30 days of eating wheat-free were complete (last Saturday), I'm not going to lie I definitely indulged in a burger and fries mmm! But I paid for it big time - I felt tired and gross and I was definitely dragging for the next couple of days. As a result of my indulgence my weight was up on weigh in day (last Sunday) but thankfully not by too much so I still won my money back and then some! It cost me $25 and I won $47.40!

STATS

Starting Weigh In: 163.9 (April 13th)

Goal Weight: 157.3

Final Weigh In: 156.7

Total Pounds Lost: 7.2 lbs

I'm back down at 155 today and intend to keep losing and staying away from eating wheat. Will I do another DietBet? Maybe, but not right away. For now I'll enjoy my new size small running pants and keep eating properly!

To see how my fellow bloggers did please visit their blogs here:

Cori from Read.Write.Run.Mom.

Solana from Beast Mode on the Run

Weigh In Friday & The Marathon Debate

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So I'm about half way through my Diet Bet and I haven't eaten any wheat since April 12th...

April 12th: 163.9
April 19th: 157.3 (-6.6lbs)
April 26th: 154.6 (-2.7lbs)
May 3rd: ?
May 10th: ?

I'm down over 9lbs in two weeks and I feel great. A few years ago when I didn't eat wheat I found it a lot more challenging to start off with so I was worried... My biggest mistake last time I think was trying to replace the things that I used to eat such as breads and pastas, here is what I've learned:
1) They're never going to taste the same or be as satisfying
2) That's not the type of food you need in your body so it's a waste of calories

I feel so much better than I did a few weeks ago so temptations have been easier to resist. I'm not going to say there haven't been cravings but they've been mainly due to poor planning. My best days are when I pack lunches and snacks if we're going to be out and I don't let myself get to the point of beyond hungry. If I snack regularly and plan my meals then a burger rarely crosses my mind. The worst day was probably after running 24km last Sunday, but that was because I let myself get really hungry. For my next race/long run I'm going to have snacks prepared for right after and plan a tasty wheat free meal for lunch or brunch.

A lot of people have been asking me if I read the book "Wheat Belly"? No I have not, the only reason I chose to cut out wheat is because I know personally it affects my digestive system and I have experience with it in the past. I hate the idea of "fad diets", I'm not saying that wheat doesn't affect a lot of people because it certainly does but it is definitely really popular right now and I think a lot of people are misinterpreting the point. On the other hand it makes it easier for me to go out because a lot of restaurants and places have more options right now for people eating specifically "gluten-free" which of course is also wheat free. I'll probably for the most part continue eating like this after the next two weeks are over but it will be nice to indulge once and a while even though I will pay for it later.

I'm also debating about whether to fit in a full marathon this year... after last weekend I realized that I'm more than half way there with the training and I know I can do it at this point so why am I waiting another year? My original plan was to do the BMO Full in May 2014 but now I'm leaning more towards a race in late September/early October this year. My options would be:

Surrey International Music Marathon: September 29th, 2013
I loved this half last year but the full course is a double loop not sure that is what I want for my very first full marathon. Running the same 21.1km course twice gets kind of boring... On the other hand this is really close to home and my entire family could be there to support me.

GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon: October 13, 2013
This is a BEAUTIFUL course and I think it would be a great first marathon. I will have to travel to this race which is not ideal considering all the travel for racing that is already planned for the year, my entire family probably wouldn't be able to make it.

So here I am not sure what to do, but I'm pretty sure at this point I can't wait a whole year to do a full. Thoughts?

Diet Bet v2.0

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So I'm starting another DietBet even though I said I wouldn't do it again. Previously I said that it wasn't a positive experience and in a way it wasn't, even though I won. The first time around I found myself weighing in daily because I was stressed out about meeting the 4 % goal. Well this time there's going to be rules and I will not just barely win like last time, I'm going to WIN. I can't believe I'm going to do this but it will be more motivation to lose the weight if I share my weight with you now (closing eyes and cringing):

Yup that's right, I weigh 163.9lbs... Which means my target weight for this DietBet is 157.3lbs. If you've never done a DietBet you may ask why there's an index card with the word "pumpkin" on it,  #1 I feel like a pumpkin (haha), #2 that's how DietBet insures that you took the photo on the day you are supposed to weigh in, they send you a word to take the photo with, this time it was "pumpkin". 

Here's my official weigh in photo (yuck):

 I succeeded in my first DietBet and I kept the majority of the weight off but I just squeaked by on that one and I don't want to feel that kind of pressure so what am I going to do differently this time?

1. I'm only weighing myself once per week on Friday's since I weighed in today.

2. I'm drastically changing my eating habits.

3. I'm planning, I've always been a planner so I'm not sure why I haven't gotten into meal-planning more.

4. I'm changing my relationship with food, yes it's a relationship, and it's unhealthy.

About 6 years ago I cut out wheat completely because I was having a lot of dietary and digestive issues. During that time I learned that things like bread, various baked goods, pasta, etc were things I had come to rely on and that they were completely unnecessary in my diet. I learned new ways to eat, snack, and prepare meals. All around I felt a lot healthier. As I slowly re-integrated wheat into my diet I feel as though I've forgotten again how to live without it and I need to remind myself. I'm only doing this rigidly for 30 days, why? Because I think that's all I need to change my feelings towards the food, after which I hope to continue eating less of it but still be allowed to have a treat now and then, just not every day.

What does that mean for the baking section of my blog? Well I can still bake I'll just be more limited, I'm hoping to do at least 4 recipes this month that will be wheat free. As a side note, I'm not cutting out gluten, just wheat, don't know the difference? You can read about it here. 

Why am I doing this? It's not about the numbers for me, it's about feeling healthier and more comfortable. I consider myself a runner now and I'd like it if I looked like one too!

Thinking you want to join in the fun with Solana from Beast Mode on the Run,  Cori from Read.Write.Run.Mom, Run Stretch Go, and Myself? There's still time to weigh in, our DietBet starts on Sunday! It costs $25 and the pot right now is at $275 and growing.

I'm a Sweat Pink Ambassador & DietBet Results

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I got the news today that my application to become a Sweat Pink Ambassador has been approved!

I applied back in early January when I revived the blog and when I looked back at their site I saw that applications were closed so I had no idea that mine even went through. What is a Sweat Pink Ambassador? The fit approach website describes it here:
"Sweat Pink Ambassadors live the Fit Approach mission every day: they sweat hard, play hard, and inspire those around them to achieve their best selves."

I love that even though my sport is an individual one I still can be part of a team and a community!
Can't wait to get my pink shoelaces :)

On another note the Fit Fluential DietBet finished today and I have in fact a been verified as a winner, just barely I might add...

Will I do the DietBet again? Probably not, though I lost weight it wasn't a positive experience for me. Having to lose 4% of my body weight in 3 weeks (because I started late) was just too much pressure. I'm glad it's over and I'm still trying to lose weight but just by eating healthy and exercising regularly. I found myself weighing in daily, which normally I would never do because your body fluctuates way too much day to day -- one day I'd be up 4 lbs and another day I'd be down 2. Back to my regular life and not obsessing over a scale.

WORK IT OUT Wednesday

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So today I'm initiating "WORK IT OUT Wednesday". From now on Wednesday's I'll be doing the usual run club at the Running Room and I'm also doing training at Equilibria. I decided I needed to add some cross training to lose some weight and maybe work on improving my running speed. Tonight was just my first session so we did goal setting and a fit test. At Equilibria they have this great wall where they post all the clients goals so when you walk in the gym it's the first thing you see, I love it and I should have taken a picture, I stole this one from the Equilibria FB page, I'll get a picture of my own paper next week.

The following are my goals:

1. Lose 20-30 lbs by June 1, 2013
By far the most daunting of all the goals but doable, definitely doable. I figure with all the running I might as well just throw that in there too... I know it's going to get more challenging as the weeks go on but I've already lost 5lbs with the DietBet!

2. Run 3-4 times per week
I can do that, I do that already but it feels good to have it written down somewhere. It's not an option anymore, well it can't be, not with 16 half marathons in 2013... Yes you read that right, 16, I'm not sure what happened to 13in2013 but I'm addicted to races, anyone ever heard of "Runner's Anonymous"? (I'll save that for tomorrow's post).

3. Eat 5 small meals at least 4 times per week (They said to start slow instead of saying that I will do that every day start with 4 days per week)
Eat... that sounds easy right, I love to eat. However, with Griffin I think I tend to put off eating for too long and then I'm starving so I eat too much and not often enough. So I'm going to work on eating smaller healthier meals more often.

There you have it. My goals, now everyone knows and there's nothing to hide.

The fit test went OK... Things have changed a lot since I last entered a gym. I had a baby, it's an excuse I know it is but it was hard on my body, the pregnancy, the c-section and everything that followed. Running has been a great way to build strength but this reminded me how much more work I have to do to be where I want to be.

122 days till June 1st.

Healthy Lemon Raspberry/Blueberry Muffins

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I found this recipe on Pinterest last week. I've generally been trying to eat better since we got back from our trip in hopes that it will help me win the DietBet and also when I'm eating healthier food I feel better running, no surprises there. Anyways I did commit to baking weekly with the blog so I thought I should research some better recipes. I think this one is OK, not super healthy but better than some of the baked goods I would buy or normally bake. A lot of eating healthier for me is less about the choices I'm making (I'd say 90% of the time I'm good at making healthy choices especially eating at home) and more about portion control anyway. So i've been opting for a half of one of these muffins at breakfast with my coffee and some fruit and I save the other half for after a run as a treat. Anyways the recipe I found at EatingWell.com uses more lemon than I did and I also added blueberries.

INGREDIENTS
1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen but not thawed)
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen but not thawed)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees ferenheit. Coat muffin tin with cooking spray or paper liners. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the lemon in long strips (I probably only did about half the lemon and it still turned out pretty "lemony"). Combine the zest and sugar in a food processor; pulse until the zest is very finely chopped into the sugar. Add buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla and pulse until blended. Combine whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture and fold until almost blended. Gently fold in raspberries and blueberries.

I was worried at this point because the batter was less like traditional muffin batter and more thick and dough like, however not to worry they turned out good. 

Bake muffins until the edges and tops are golden, 20 to 25 minutes (20 minutes was enough for my oven). Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Serve warm.

Diet Bet & First Virtual Race

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Friday! Yesterday I went for my first run post Tinkerbell, I felt a little tired and achy (like when you're getting sick) but I pushed through it. I also did the Jillian Michaels DVD workout. Today I did NOTHING. I had the best intentions to go for a run again but sadly, I did not. I went to a Stella & Dot party instead and bought jewelry...
Anyways, I need some extra motivation to lose some weight and a friend of mine mentioned a "dietbet" today , I'd never heard of anything like this before so I looked it up:
FitFluential is holding the contest. The deal is you need to lose 4% of your body weight in 28 days (24 for me cause I started late). It costs $25 to join and everyone who reaches the 4% splits the pot... currently there are 556 players and the pot is $13,900. I'm just not brave enough to post my starting weight here yet, maybe when I lose some I will be.

I've also been researching for a race I could do around April, currently I have two races planned for February as well as two for March. I just came across this one on the 13in2013 facebook page. Now it's not exactly in April but it's the same week as Easter, close enough for me. It's called the "3rd Annual Jelly Bean Race", they have distance options, I've chosen the half marathon distance (surprise, surprise). It is free to enter and you print off your own race bib, you also have the option of paying $10 to receive the finisher's medal. You can run it anytime between the first day of spring and Easter Sunday.

Well, off to bed I go since I skipped my run today I have to get up at 6:00am to run and workout, boo hoo... and then its off for a long run on Sunday, I guess the vacation is really over now.