Couch to 5k: Week 5 (in summary), and a Weigh-In

First, I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who commented on my last post, and to whichever lovely people recommended it for the Healthy You Challenge page. It feels pretty cool to see my name in big letters somewhere other than here, so thank you very much!

And it's good, I suppose, that I had such a nice ego boost, since I certainly didn't get one from the scale this weekend... ~groan~. This is the first week since March 1 that I've seen a gain (only 0.9 pounds, but still), and it was a rough blow to be dealt after splurging the previous weekend but feeling like I'd been almost perfect for the rest of the week. Even if I'd just maintained, that would have been great, but a gain....? You've got to be kidding me, I said aloud, to no one. I ran a 15 minute interval on Sunday, 20 minute intervals on Tuesday and Friday. I also ran every other day, in case you were curious. And I ate on plan. How could this happen?

It definitely felt like a betrayal. I decided to move forward immediately, of course... I didn't go on a "take THAT, scale!" binge like I've done in the past. (I've commented on far too many little gain disappointment blog entries supportively, and I'm finally learning to take my own advice.) I have a really important to decision to make this weekend, so I'd already decided to wake up at 5am and hike my local mountain, and I'm pleased to say that despite this setback, I was out of my house at 5:15 and on top of the mountain by 6:15. I'd vowed not to come down until I'd made a decision, and I did just that, on the way up actually, and I feel much better about the future now that it's made. It was hanging over me like an axe, but now that it's finished, I feel at peace the way I haven't for a few weeks.

I came home, took a nice long shower, and did a few household things before taking a really satisfying nap. I also had a surprise visit from two of my favorite students, who I took out for pizza, and didn't have a single slice myself. (Where is this self-control coming from?) But now that I've sat down to blog, I'm trying to come to terms with this week's weigh-in so I can put it behind me completely. (I'm also going out with a friend who loves to eat out and snack tonight, so I want to be in a good head space when he arrives.) I'm trying to reassure myself that there seem to be two possibilities... 1) This is just a minor fluctuation, due to the impending arrival of TOM next week; or 2) Despite being on plan, I've been eating too much.

I want to believe it has to do with TOM, so I'm going to give it two weeks and see if those pounds don't come off after he leaves. I think this is most likely, and I refuse to start panicking that my plan has stopped working yet. I'm sure I'm not eating more than I have been for the past few months, and I've upped my exercise a LOT, so I have to believe this will all sort itself out. I'm not sure why a plateau at this weight even scares me so much... I mean, I was ready to stop completely 12 pounds ago, before March Madness. The way I looked in February was such a drastic improvement over how I'd looked one year before (see progress pictures) that it seemed good enough for me. And I've lost even more weight, and at least one pants size, since. I've gotten too small to wear any of the pants I own comfortably (and because I live in Korea, I can't easily get new ones)... so thank God for spring and the elastic waistbands of my skirts. Even if I didn't lose another single pound before going home in July, I will have become a runner, run my first 5k, and am in better shape than I've probably ever been in my adult life. And I feel good.

I guess the progress has just been so amazing these past six weeks that for it to come to a screeching halt like this, especially after a pretty good week, is a little scary. But I'm FINE. This is probably just a flukey week, and even if I have another TOM-inspired flukey week next week, I'll be down on April 26. I'm sure of it. If not, I'll just have to come up with a new plan. It's NOT a big deal. I can do this. I'm just going to keep making the right decisions, one at a time, and not worry about the scale, like I said I would. I'm going to focus on training for the 5k in (eek!) 36 days, and record my NSVs, and as someone else put it... keep on keeping on. I'm proud of myself for rebounding from American buffet weekend so resiliently, and I'm especially proud of myself for the awesomely long runs I put in this week. And I'm excited to do more next week!

This quote is another in keeping with the theme of my last post about motivation, and I really love it:

"Perseverance is not one long race; it is many short races one after another."

Walter Elliott

This week I'm going to focus on the little things. I've got to, with TOM cravings coming. I know I can beat this.