I Just Felt Like Running p.2

Training for a marathon isn’t easy.  Something as huge as a marathon takes a lot of dedication, self-control, and spirit.  I ran in the cold, in the rain, during lunch at work, in a hurricane, and in 100 degrees.  It’s fairly easy to skip a couple runs and never get back into it.  My diet changed, my thought patterns changed, and my schedules changed.  Around senior year of high school my friends and I would ride our bikes to McDonald’s, eat a Double Quarter Pounded with Cheese, then bike around some more.  That eating habit did subside a bit, but you can see where I’m coming from.  My newer diet wasn’t aimed at making me miserable.  They key to sticking with something is to turn it into something you enjoy.  I stopped eating most fast-foods.  Not to say I didn’t eat it at all, but I made more conscious decisions about what I ate when I did.  I made certain exceptions and limited consumption to certain days.  For example, I could eat Chick-Fil-A but I would substitute the fries for fruit and drink for water.  Also limiting it to once a week at most.  Of course sometimes I would cheat and eat out with friends, but sticking to the guidelines really makes a difference.  Order something without the mayo, skip the cheese, grilled chicken instead of fried chicken, etc.  Writing things out will really help you see a difference in what you are eating/not eating over a period of time.  I did have my cheats though.  I would allow a half glass of Coke with a meal or during the day and I would eat a few Hershey Kisses as well.  I wouldn’t cut out everything delicious, I would just try to regulate it.  The mornings would be some cereal with skim milk or some egg whites on whole grain bread with fat-free cheese and cayenne.  Lunch would be a bit more boring since I was at work; plain tuna sandwich with beef jerky and some plain Greek yogurt mixed with fruit.  It’s surprisingly hard, at first, to deny a catered Pei Wei lunch and opt instead for Sweet Tomatoes soup/salad.  Once you get into the habit of eating better, it comes surprisingly easier to maintain.  I started to feel better about myself.  I felt more awake and more alert.  About 6 months into training, I had already seen a major difference in my body and my mood.  Running was starting to grow on me and I enjoyed it more and more.

In just six months I had already dropped 35lbs – from 165 to 130.  Results started slow in the first month or two which was expected, but definitely demotivating.  However, I knew my mileage was increasing and I had better endurance so I knew something was happening.  “Just stick with it” I would tell myself.  And it worked. 

6 months progress.  165 - 130lbs