28lbs and 2 marathons to go...

[zoerunsfaster]

Hi! I'm Zoe and I want to lose 2 stone and run 2 marathons this year. This is my diary.

I lost just over three stone last year, but have been stagnating over the last few months - as my training has increased, so has my appetite! So I joined slimming world last night to make sure that the vast quantities of food I'm consuming at the moment are as healthy as possible!

My two marathons are Paris on 7th April and the New Forest Marathon on 22nd September. Paris is in just over 4 weeks, so I'm at peak training now, running 30-40 miles a week. And I'm hungry all the time! (Except today - slimming world is great because it gives me permission to eat as much healthy food as I like, whereas I've spent the last month not eating enough and then falling into a bucket of sweets!

It's tricky to get to grips with, and today I made one fatal error - I had rotisserie chicken from the supermarket. I thought as long as I took the skin off it'd be okay, but apparently not...waitrose say nothing is added to their chickens, but lesson learned, I won't risk it again.

so today:

B - 2 slices wholemeal toast (hexb) with 2 fried eggs. Banana.
L - homemade tomato rice with courgette, peppers, onion and green beans, chicken breast (x2 - I was so hungry I ate tomorrow's portion as well!)
T - rotisserie chicken (leg & breast), mashed sweet potato and butternut squash (made with 1.5 tsp olive oil - 3 syns), small bunch of grapes
S - skinny latte (hexa), 25g dark chocolate (7 syns)

im going to ignore the rotisserie chicken as nothing was added, so today I have had 10 syns.

exercise: 3.7 mile run, average pace 9.26 (35 mins)
Pedometer says: 15687 steps

 

[rhirhi93]

Good luck with the marathons. Fab weight loss so far I'm doing a half marathon in Oct and I haven't started training yet as I've been focusing on getting into uni. Hoping to join the gym within the next few weeks Looking forward to see how things go for you xx

 

[zoerunsfaster]

Good luck with the marathons. Fab weight loss so far I'm doing a half marathon in Oct and I haven't started training yet as I've been focusing on getting into uni. Hoping to join the gym within the next few weeks Looking forward to see how things go for you xx

Hi and thank you so much for visiting! How's the getting into Uni going?

Also, can I recommend marathon training academy running plans for half and full marathon (and their podcast) - I love them! (I'm not affiliated or anything, they just have training plans that focus on only three days a week running and cross training so you don't get injured or bored, and they really work!)

Good luck

 

[zoerunsfaster]

Day two

B - 2 scrambled eggs with stir fried veg (peppers, courgette, mushrooms), 2 small pieces of toast (80g - hexb and 2 syns) and some smoked salmon - yummy!
S - 1.5 choccie digestives (6 syns)
L - breast & leg of chicken, mashed butternut squash and sweet potato with a drizzle of olive oil (3 syns)
S - skinny latte (hexa)
T - pasta bolognese (sauce made with a splash of apple juice, 0.5 syn) added lots of veg (carrots, tomatoes, onion, mushrooms) plus nibbled on raw carrot an mushroom whilst cooking), grapes (and a banana if I'm still hungry later)

Syns - 11.5

Exercise: 45 min kettlebell DVD before work
Total Steps: 11039

Day three might be more problematic as I've been asked round to a new friends for pizza and wine, I can use my training as an excuse though, and am going to save my syns for a couple of glasses of wine, but with a half marathon on sun I can't afford to drink more (fortunately!). I'm also going to duck out of the pizza by asking if she minds if I bring a baked potato....I feel a bit of a party pooper but its first week and I'm going to have to be strong if I want this to work. I really want to shift a few lbs before the marathon, it'll be much better for my poor old body....

 

[zoerunsfaster]

I think I did really well today, despite not knowing how many syns I ate. I dodged a number of bullets so am pleased.

I knew I was going round to visit a new friend this evening and she texted me to say she was getting pizza in. I'm not feeling like confiding yet so I said I wasn't eating wheat at the mo, and brought round a roast chicken instead. She knocked up a salad and voila (some syns in the dressing but nothing compared to a pizza!)

I also managed to stick to two medium glasses of wine and avoided the after dinner choccies! And doughnuts at work earlier....

B - fat free Greek yoghurt, blueberries, banana, 35g oats soaked in apple juice (2 syns and hexb)

L - baked potato & baked beans, grapes

S - Pre run banana, post run banana, bowl of stir fry veg

T - roast chicken breast & leg (no skin), salad with halloumi (hexa), walnuts and olive oil dressing. 2 glasses of white wine - lots of syns

Exercise: 3.2 mile run (30 mins)

 

[zoerunsfaster]

Day 4

Mixed up day, ate massive portions, larger portions than I should of, mainly because I didn't have lunch until 4pm so was starving. Note to self, eat more regularly!

B - oat pancakes (made with porridge oats - hexb, 1 egg and 2 egg whites. Topped with fat free Greek yoghurt, blueberries and 1 tsp honey (1 syn), banana
L - lots and lots of chicken, stir fry veg, 8 mini eggs (6 syns)
T -pork, noodle & veg stirfry dressed with 1 tsp sweet chilli sauce 1 syn), 2 Maryland cookies 6 syns (doubled up on noodles as hungry and as carbs for half marathon tomorrow)

Hexa: milk in 4 cups of tea
Syns: 14

Exercise: none - resting up and trying to get rid of the ache in my legs from kettle bells before Longleat half marathon tomorrow.

Steps: just over 9000

 

[zoerunsfaster]

Day 5 - Longleat half marathon!

I have decided that I will discount race nutrition (immediately before, during and immediately after) from my slimming world programme for runs of half-marathon distance and over. I know I could fit it round the plan, but I don't have long enough to practise before the marathon, and if I'm burning off upwards of 1500 calories, as long as I eat sensibly, it won't amount to more than 500 cals so shouldn't affect weight loss too much.

So food I ate today that I'm discounting: peanut butter on my Pre-run breakfast toast (and a little extra toast - 2 normal slices instead of 2 weeny slices for my hexb!) 2 Percy pig sweets, a 9bar straight after run.

B - 2 slices toast (hexb and a little bit), peanut butter
S - 2 Percy pigs, 9bar after run
Normal slimming world eating resumed:

L roast chicken, baked potato, lots of broccoli and carrots, a splash of bisto gravy (2 syns)
S - skinny latte (hexa)
T - smoked salmon on 3 ryvita (6 syns as not hex), banana
S - 3 ryvita (6 syns) topped with cottage cheese

I'm really quite proud of myself! I normally have a full fat latte and a cake after a long run! No wonder I wasn't losing weight!

Exercise: Longleat half marathon, 2 hrs 13 mins (av pace 10.15) cals burned according to HRM - 1500
It was much hillier than expected which I really quite enjoyed but it did slow me down. But I ran the entire thing, non stop, despite some massive hills (at one point I was sure walking would have been quicker, but carried on regardless!)

 

[zoerunsfaster]

Day 6 - a green day by accident!

Exercise (am) - 45 mins of core & stretching work (150 cals according to HRM)


B - toast (1.5 hexb), 3 fried eggs, banana (deliberately had a large breakfast as knew I'd be starving after half marathon yesterday)
L - baked potato, beans and cauliflower, cadburys fudge bar (5.5 syns)
S - skinny latte (hexa)
T - baked potato, cottage cheese, butternut squash & courgette, 3/4 pack of chewits (4.5 syns)
Throughout day: 2 cups coffee with milk (0.5 hexa)

1.5 hexa, 1.5 hexb, 10.5 syns

 

[zoerunsfaster]

Day 7 - EE and weigh in

Weigh in: -3lbs, yay!

After weigh in I went out for coffee and cake so a little over syns...

B: toast (hexb and 3 syns) & cottage cheese, banana
L: minestrone soup (with extra chicken)
S: mcvities gold bar (6 syns) in meeting, cinnamon swirl (12 syns?) and skinny latte (hexa) in Waitrose cafe post weigh in
T: roast chicken, cabbage, leeks, gravy (2 syns)

Total: 23 syns, naughty but not outrageous!

Exercise: 4 mile run at lunchtime (36 mins, av pace 9.19)

Steps: 19,500

 

[zoerunsfaster]

Thurs 14th March

A bad day yesterday, I was on a course and lost the plot with food completely. Crisps, flapjacks, and when I got home, a Big Mac meal, and onion rings, and a sweet chilli chicken wrap...! Followed by mini eggs. Evil. Back on track today, phew! And totm started today which explains a lot about my cravings!

So today was EE

B - fat free Greek yoghurt, banana, blueberries, 35g oats (hexb), 100ml coconut water (1.5 syns)
L - baked potato & beans, fox's jam sandwich biscuit (4 syns)
T - tuna stir fried with veg (onion, courgette, carrot, yellow pepper, spinach) and noodles
S - 3 coffees with milk spread through day (hexa)

Exercise: 6 mile run, 57 mins, av pace 9.23
Steps:22,000

 

[zoerunsfaster]

Tues 19th March

A few bad days - kept up with the running, but on Fri night ended up eating loads of sweets, crisps and a big bowl of spag bol (totm didn't help I'm sure). I followed this with a 20 mile long run on Sat am, in 3 hrs 25 mins (av pace 10.15) - a time I'm very pleased with. I then had another completely off day on Sun. I thought I was facing a gain for sure this week.

I got back on track on Mon, with total syns of 5.5, and a 4 mile run.

Today was also reasonably good, and I didn't have my usual post weigh in cake!

B - 2 eggs on toast (hexb) with cooked tomatoes
L - salmon fillet, boiled new potatoes, broccoli (left over from tea yesterday)
S - skinny latte (hexa)
T - roast chicken with mashed sweet potato and butternut squash (2 tsp butter - 4 syns), instant gravy (1 syn), cauliflower and broccoli. Melon slices.
S - 2 aero biscuits 10 syns, 2 cups of coffee with milk (2 syns)

Total syns: 17
Exercise: 4 mile run

Weigh in: sts - am v pleased with that - but need to stay focused for a good loss next week.