Does the statement, you are what you eat true??

I have always been curious about the validity of the statement you are what you eat?  From fitness pages to diet promoters you always hear trainers or coaches talk about how one should always watch what they eat because it affects your body.  When you are told that diet is 80% in your weight loss journey and exercise is 20% makes it more challenging for one to stick to as a lifestyle.

Did it but didn't appreciate it.

I have been working out somewhat consistently for about 4 years however, my diet hasn’t changed that much over several years. About 8 years ago, I decided to go onto a weight loss journey and I was so disciplined that I obsessed about how much I ate as well as made sure that I worked out consistently.  I lost the weight but I don’t think I recognized the effort I had made mentally and never saw myself as having achieved anything despite the hard work.  Life happens and I fell off the bandwagon and went back to being “comfortable” in my own skin.  I met somebody who once told me that she knew I would not keep the weight off and I recall shrugging my shoulders and pretended to ignore what she said but to be honest it cut deep. Yes, the weight came back but that still does not define me as a person.

I love good food, I believe the best time to socialize with loved ones is over food and you always get to learn more about people when you are sharing a meal.  Whether it is brunch, lunch, dinner, coffee or even happy hour I think people are usually their authentic self when sharing a meal. Two weeks ago, I decided I would keep a promise to myself and watch what I eat while I continue with my journey of being a better me.  I decided to do a 10-day cleanse to reset my body from all the sugar and junk food I had been eating from mid-March since I was still celebrating my half marathon and my birthday.   Talk about taking a celebration too far and I was not guilty at all.  While I was on the detox I continued to go running and it was so rough out there.  Without food in my system I felt like I was carrying 4 people on my back while I tried to run.  I now understand why people are advised not to exercise while doing a detox. 

One of the things am going to observe over a long period is if am going to become a stronger runner, if my body will change, if I will be able to sleep better, how my ankle feels and how I will feel overall.  I don’t expect to have changes immediately since I didn’t get to where I am in a day.  My goal is to remain consistent and enjoy the journey while am at it. I don’t expect to deprive myself of any delicious food but I also don’t expect to over indulge. I will not only use the scale to record my progress but also use a tape measure because there can be changes to your body that cannot be measured by the number on the scale.  Of late the scale is not my friend so we are getting a divorce.  I know there will be days when am frustrated and others where I will continue to be happy but the one thing I know am going to do is enjoy every moment.  None of this will be important if I don’t feel good about myself and are satisfied with every single milestone whether it is big, small or not even visible. 

 In 3 weeks, I will be taking part in the 2 day Avon 39 mile (62.76 km) walk. Training for the walks while also running has been challenging but as somebody told me the other day is that the important things is that it is getting done.  Walking these miles will be a very tiny contribution in the fight against breast cancer.  I will not only be walking in memory of my late Aunt Elousa but for some of my amazing great friends who have fought the fight and are here as a testimony that they are warriors.  I will also walk in memory of those who have lost the battle but did their best.  Here is to a new chapter, a new year and work towards making myself healthier, stronger and a better me.  In the words of my fierce coach remember it is “your race, your pace, your journey”.  Let me also see if you are what you eat is a true statement?

What next, two weeks after the half marathon?

It is two weeks since when I ran my first half marathon.  I was very sore for several days and I think swore I would never do this again.  My first workout class last week was a cycle class which was 4 days after the race and before I got back to running.  My first run was 6 days after the race and I think my legs felt like bricks but I was able to do 5 miles that morning.  Last week was our last training week for the 10-mile program that we started 12 weeks ago and I can't believe how fast time has gone by.  The best part with our training run this past Wednesday was that it was my birthday. Some of my friends who had sent me messages asked me if I was going to do something different apart from running and I told them that I would take the day off, spoil myself and yes, I would still go out running since it was the last training night.  We did our training and met as a group to celebrate my birthday with drinks and cake.  Thanks band, I love you all.

My swings will make me go faster..vroom

I signed up and was selected to do the Cherry Blossom 10-miler which was my first 10-miler last year.  I remember how nervous I was last year and knew that if I had done 13.1 miles then in two weeks I would not have a problem doing 10 miles.  A few of my very experience runner friends had told me that running 10 miles after the half would be a lot easier however, I had my own reservations based on how I felt.  As the days got closer to the race I felt like I was not ready and I became nervous since the Cherry Blossom 10 miler has a time limit and if you don't make by a certain time you would have to be stopped from completing the race.  I always set high expectations of myself and when I feel that I cannot get to them I feel like I have failed.  While I struggled, and got stressed about doing the 10 miles I reached out to a very close friend and told her how I felt and what was keeping me awake. One of the advantages of having an amazing support system is that they reminded me about what I had accomplished, how hard I worked and that I should stop and take it all in and bask in my own glory.

Just like any other person I have my own struggles where I get into my own head about what I can or cannot do.  I freak out and have doubts that make me stop believing in myself and make me feel like giving up.  A few days before the Cherry Blossom race I decided that I would opt out of the 10 miles and do the 5k race.  I know I would have probably finished the race however, I did not have the mental strength to hang in there for 10 miles. I did very well during the 5k race and surpassed the goal I had set for myself for the race.  Does this mean that I failed or quit?  Obviously not although a part of me felt that I had disappointed myself until when I was reminded that there will be very many opportunities in the future and I did not have anything to prove to anybody.  Does this mean that my journey ends now that I managed to do a half marathon?  Of course, not I will keep running and will continue to sign up for races to see what I can do since this is my journey, my race and my pace.

Last year, when I signed up for the half marathon I wanted to lose at least 20 - 25 lbs (9 - 13 kgs) before the race. I had read somewhere that when one loses about 10 lbs they can improve their speed by about a minute and I was determined to make sure that I lost the weight.  I told myself that with that amount of weight down I would be able to do the race without a problem and even be a lot faster in my own opinion.  By race date I think I had only lost about 8 lbs which was less than 50% of the goal I had set.  If my only focus was on losing weight, there is no way I would have done the race.  I realize that we choose what we want to believe to get to accomplish what we want. If you want to accomplish something in life, you will do whatever it takes to get it done. We must learn to stop and silence the negative voices or stories we tell ourselves and go for what we would like to achieve.