I almost called this blog “Here we go again!”. But that seemed a little negative, if also rather accurate!
It’s been a while since my last blog in April 2021, when
things were going so well! After an
early lockdown weight gain, I had turned things around and even managed a sub 28
minute 5k! Oh, those were the days …
Fast forward 16 months and I’d be pretty pleased with a sub 34 minute parkrun. So what went wrong? Well, the pesky pubs and restaurants re-opened and life has pretty much returned to normal, allowing me to pick up again all those pre-Covid habits:
- Cheeky pub visits mid week after an evening dog walk.
- There’s nothing in the fridge so let’s go out for dinner.
- Snacking on the treats in the office kitchen.
- Not taking lunch to work then making “poor” choices at the sandwich van.
- Being freely able to access crisps and chocolate at pretty much any time.
Lockdown and all those restrictions weren’t fun, but they
certainly made it easy to stick to a healthy eating plan!
So the lockdown weight loss has been undone, and then if I’m
being completely honest, there has been a bit of weight gain as well.
Those who have known me a long time will not have been
surprised by this, most will probably have expected it. And some will wonder why I even bother to try
if it is just going to go wrong again.
But that is the point of this blog – the only thing that
matters is to just keep on trying! What
is the alternative? Give up? Accept that I will always be overweight and a
slow runner? That, to me, is
unthinkable.
And, whilst running might be pretty hard right now (you have
no idea how hard) at least I’m doing it. I still obey the “Julie parkrun law” and never miss a parkrun if I can physically
get to one. I also run in the week. I have joined a new gym and am strength
training three times a week. (Ladies, if
you haven’t tried lifting heavy weights – give it a go! It is the best fun! Maybe a blog on this later.)
So whilst I am living proof that “you can’t out train a bad
diet” at least I am keeping on training.
But it is time to fix that bad diet. So I need a goal. Being overweight isn’t stopping me running 5k
(even if it is grim and a slog) but it is certainly stopping me running 10k! So that is what I will do.
The Guildford 10k is on 16 October, just over 10 weeks and 4
days away. I did that race in 2019 and
loved it, despite the first half being all uphill, as that meant that the
second half was all downhill!
10 weeks is enough to make a difference. 10 weeks of not doing all the things I listed above. 10 weeks of making good choices. 10 weeks of portion control. 10 weeks of putting my health and fitness first.
I mentioned before that my excess weight is my running “super
power” – as I can just keep getting faster by getting lighter. Well,
I certainly have a lot of super power now! And I’m going to use the next 10 weeks to unleash some of it.
Accountability is the key to success so I will report back! Watch this space …
