While I am pretty philosophically opposed to the idea of "dieting" and have a really hard time accepting that thinness equates to beauty, I do try to maintain a food journal so that I prompt myself to eat healthfully and mostly in moderation. I do this, not because I want to see a certain number on the scale or be able to buy a certain clothing size, but because am aware that my weight and the way that I eat has an impact on my performance as a runner (even as a slow one) and as a yogi. If you have ever tried to do a long run after a day of drinking coke and red wine and eating corn chips and cheese, you might know what I'm talking about. The onset of cold weather and the holiday season often give me both reasons and excuses to exercise less and to eat more. In an effort to keep the focus on making healthy choices and rebuilding my conditioning and running base, I'm participating in Run to the Finish's Holiday Booty Buster Challenge this year.
I'm doing the challenge at the level of Doer because I'm shooting to work out 5-6 days a week over the next six weeks. I've had some heel pain this week so I'm taking a few days off from running and icing, stretching, and rolling my foot. In the meantime, I want to make sure that I'm cross training: lifting, riding the bike, doing yoga, and, if I can ever get over my fear of the pool, maybe some aqua jogging. Hopefully, by next week I'll be running again without any appreciable loss in my current level of conditioning.
Over the next six weeks, I plan to continue rebuilding my running base and in December I'll begin officially training for my eighth half-marathon, which I plan to run on my birthday. That's right, friends, I have finally hopped off the fence and made a decision to run the Team Ortho Get Lucky Half-Marathon. Registration hasn't opened yet, but when it does I will be buying myself the birthday present of 13.1 miles. I'll be checking in and logging my HBBC points here on the blog on Saturdays during the duration of the challenge.
Are you participating in this challenge? How do you motivate yourself to commit to your fitness during the holiday season?
I just signed up yesterday! I think this is a great way to stay motivated to work out and eat well, even if I don't win any prizes or anything! It's still fun! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI also log my food and exercise every day. This definitely keeps me more accountable.
My sisters and I will be running in Vancouver's First Half Marathon, early in February, so that while weather and holiday events are sure to disrupt my schedule, I'll be motivated to keep myself Half-ready. Lately, though, I've realized that I've been pushing a bit too hard, and I'm using the skiff of snow and the pervasive ice as a reminder/excuse to give myself some rest time as well. And yes, I hear you on the effect of drinking & over-eating on the next day's run. . .
ReplyDeleteYep, I'm participating too! I enjoyed it a lot last year. :) Although I know I don't stand a snowball's chance of winning anything, it's fun to play along anyway.
ReplyDeleteYep. I signed up over a month ago.
ReplyDeleteI do want to comment on the dieting thing though. When I first started losing weight it was because of a combinations of things. I wanted to wear smaller clothes, I wanted to be at a healthy weight, I wanted to be conformable with my body. I didn't want to end up with diseases that I could have prevented with a healthier diet. I wanted to be a more confident person. Once I learned more about how to take care of my body with both food and exercise my "dieting" turned into a lifestyle. While I have pizza and candy from time to time overall I still do a good job of fueling my body with healthy things.
I have no shame in admitting I dieted. Dieting helped me get to where I am now. It taught me about portion control. It taught me to learn to love to exercise. It helped me find my passion for running. It helped me change my life. Because of dieting I was able to change my lifestyle and I have added years to my life.
I was thinking.... we should get together soon and catch up! Its been far to long!
Such a great challenge Amanda has put together. Good luck with it! And with the heel..you'll be fine w/ your conditioning w/ some good crosstraining.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's a hard one. I'm really trying not to eat the treats. To keep it moderate. But I love Xmas food.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking about participating but haven't decided yet. I'm not even sure when it starts.
ReplyDeleteI am obviously a 12 year old boy because I cracked up at the name "Get Lucky". That's awesome that you are running it on your birthday! Have fun with the challenge!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh the cooler weather and holiday season brings back all kinds of craving I don't normally have! For sure this is a time for paying attention to what goes in the body. I always have to work hard to feel like I am staying healthy but not depriving myself of all the best things about the holiday season. Good luck and have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI love aqua-jogging! I don't really like the pool per se, but aqua-jogging is such a great complement for running that I cannot praise it enough. Give it a try! It's easy on the legs, but you'll get a great aerobic work-out if you work hard.
ReplyDeleteI am not doing a whole lot of runnign these days... the last med i was on had a side effect of tendonitis, so I have been careful about working out as my doctor said there is a higher prevalence of this side effect in runners... So I feel quite lazy to some extent, but i also continue to be sick, so I guess this dowtime is needed while my bodies fights this darn sinus infection that I just can't seem to kick!
ReplyDeleteI'm having more trouble with food than exercise here lately. Even though I'm pregnant, it's hard not to gain weight and question it. Am I gaining too much? Am I over-eating? Is this healthy? So hard to gauge, especially at the holidays!
ReplyDeletethank you for this post! It really turned around my thinking about eating at the holidays. While I'm not signed up for the booty challenge, it has inspired to eat well and exercise whenever I can during this season. It's sorta obvious, but breaking it down into a day-by-day approach--rather than just thinking, "oh, heck, it's the holidays, and it's impossible to eat right," has already got me behaving more sensibly :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to join you in this challenge - despite me signing up late, which disqualifies me from any final prizes. lol. I think it should be fun! Thanks for blogging about it.
ReplyDeleteI joined two days ago, what a great way to keep up motivation throughout the holidays. Winter swim season starts soon so this is double bonus to keep me in race-form for late winter meets. Thanks!!
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