Dietbet and running

Day 1 of the new Dietbet challenge I have joined. I was a bit miffed to find that I'd put 4lb on in a week but when I was realistic and looked at what I'd eaten this past week I'm quite surprised it wasn't more.
Anyway there's still time for new players to join in on Sunshines Dietbet game, the stake is $25 (approx £16) and the fund pot currently stands at $20,850.00, so it's worth a go - I won about $48 on the last game.

Having not run at all last week despite my being adamant that I would I knew I needed to start this challenge as I mean to go on so Leanne and I headed out for a 4 mile trail run today. Unfortunately Leanne suffered from stitch almost immediately so we had to run in between the bouts of stitch but we think it's probably because she ran on empty, it seems Leanne doesn't get stitch if she eats before running whereas I have to run on empty - different strokes for different folks though right.

On the upside my cheap 'Pulse sonic' heart rate monitor actually seemed to manage to keep some kind of track for the first time ever - my heart seemed to range from 130 when fast walking to 186 when running. I was quite relieved to see that my heart rate returns to normal very quickly too.
On the downside though I don't know how to use all the other functions such as calories burned or stopwatch etc - I must dig the instructions out.

Here's some of the trails we ran

Food intake today has been minimal to say the least, I've just been too busy. I had a Nature valley bar at lunch time followed by one after we ran and then dinner consisted of a Pasta n sauce with added ham - that's it. I'm about to tuck into grapes but I haven't eaten enough today or drank enough for that matter.
Must do better.

Dietbet weigh out

Well that'll teach me! I won my Dietbet challenge and decided I deserved a treat for all my hard work. Well we all know where that leads don't we!
Once I'd recieved my official verification of my photos and weight on Monday I kinda let loose and this is my full days ration for Monday

• A whole packet of Shortbread biscuits.
• A whole bag of Doritos
• A whole tub of Onion & Garlic dip.
• A monstrous bar of Dairy Milk chocolate.

That's it! Not a single ounce of decent food in sight and Monday night/Tuesday morning I paid for it by throwing up everywhere!
I am so not doing that again. Yesterday I spent the day feeling sorry for myself and only managed to eat some toast but today I'm back on track with healthy eating and come June 1st i will be joining in with another Dietbet challenge - why not take a look and see if it's something you would be interested in -  Sunshine's Dietbet. Honestly, if you need the motivation to lose that weight that I totally recommend Dietbet, it's been the one thing over 22 years that has kept me focused.

Anyhow here's my before and after pictures - 10lb slimmer. You may not see a huge difference but that bulldog stance with the arms that I have going on is definitely not as bad - the main weight is off my stomach

 

What's a couple of pounds........

Todays weigh in saw a gain of 2lbs. I kind of expected it because I've had a few days where I've had "the odd treat" and we all know where those odd treats lead.
I'm not worried though, I'm straight back on track and I now have 8 days to lose 2.2lbs to win my 'Dietbet' challenge - I can so do that!

I was back out running at 7am this morning with my daughter Leanne and her boyfriend Owen. Both Leanne and Owen have a naturally faster pace than me, probably due to their Penelope Pitstop type strides compared to my short choppy strides and usually we run in 2 groups (them and me basically lol), today though we all ran together because Owen has had a few issues with his calf muscles and I think it's because they go off too quick (we're only a few weeks into this 10k training) and don't stretch properly.
Despite running my granny pants off today we don't appear to making progress on times, though maybe Owens gimpy calf and my asthma making my breathing "sound like a Walrus" (according to Leanne) could have something to do with it.

Anyway I've just been scouring the net for inspiration and I found this old page from 3 years ago. It's the local running group page where I was a featured runner for the Castle of Mey 10k and I, along with a few others, had to give weekly progress reports. That was the first time I'd ever run as an adult and by week 5 this is what I had to say;

Report 5 - Week beginning 08/02/10

Have you stuck to the training programme? If not any reasons why?

So chuffed! I did the whole 6 miles in one day!!! Then hubby made me get out the car and run!
Excuse the wit but this weeks training has been pathetic from start to finish and humour is all I have left!

Have you done more or less than expected? Explain.

As much as what the training programme expected of me (just) but less than what I expected of me.

How did you feel during training this week? What were the highs and lows?

Lethargic & breathing difficulties.
Highs : - What are those!!!
Lows :- Every single training session this week.

Are you seeing improvements; in speed, distance, breathing?

I wish!

Where are you walking/running; gym, beach, roads, forests?

Twice on the treadmill, once on the road and once in the forest. Pathetic attempts all of them but the treadmill fared a tad better.

Are you training alone/with someone else/mixture? How does this affect your training?

A mix. Alone on the treadmill but have also been out with hubby and with my daughter Leanne. As much as I enjoy hubby coming with me it doesn't do my ego any good that he is so much more fitter than me, despite his dodgy foot and being a heavy smoker. Yep, I'm slower than a limping chimney!

Any injuries?

Mentally, heaps of them!

Are you feeling any benefits away from training as a result of the training; health, toning up, more energetic?

I still sleep better.....
I'm trying to think of more but I've got nothing.

Are you doing any other forms of exercise; swimming, cycling, yoga, pilates?

Cycling and strength training.

Any other observations?

My mental attitude this week has been appalling. I've concentrated more on what I haven't managed than what I have. My first attack of EIA has left me unable to push myself for fear of another attack!
Next week I will be getting a grip completely. No more negative thoughts and telling myself 'I can't' when I know I can.


Gave me a giggle, I remember it so well!

Dietbet works.

I got on the scales with some trepidation this morning. I knew I'd done pretty much everything I needed to lose some weight this week but past experience has left me dreading those scales.
I was totally surprised to see that I lost 6.2lbs this first week of dietbet, never ever have I lost that amount in one week before, I guess the thought of losing money is more of an incentive than I ever realised, if only I had found this out years ago!

Slow wins the race.

Day 3 of my 'dietbet' challenge and everything is going smoothly - at least I think it is but we'll have to see what the scales say on Monday morning.

I was out running again this morning at 7am with my daughter and her boyfriend, plus the dogs of course. My problem today was that I forgot my ipod and I hate, hate, hate hearing myself breathing while I'm running - it's kinda off putting because I breathe veeeery loudly.
We managed 3 miles walk/run again and I have to say that I'm suprised by how much I'm enjoying it despite not being anywhere near as good as I used to be. My pace is pretty slow at the moment but I know that will pick up soon enough so I'm not worried about it.
 It's this 'dietbet' challenge, it has me looking at food and exercise completely different. For example Mr SG just took me up to Tesco to get a few bits (healthy stuff of course) and I was not even tempted by the goodies I would normally get - you know, the 'bad' stuff.
I'm feeling pretty good as I sit here writing this post snacking on grapes. Grapes! Who'da thought it!

I've been tracking my daily calories on My Fitness Pal and I'm finding it difficult to use up all the calories that I'm allocated each day. Never in a million years would I have thought that I'd struggle to eat all those calories.
Fingers crossed I will see at least 2.2lb weightloss on Monday.

Day 1 - I can do this!

 “I would rather attempt something great and fail than attempt to do nothing and succeed.” ~Robert Schuller



Yesterday was the first day of healthy eating and I have to say it was much easier than I thought it was going to be, I had a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner and snacked only on grapes. I find that if I drink water constantly throughout the day then it helps curb hunger pangs plus if I begin to waver I just have to remind myself that I bet money on this weight loss - it may only be 16 quid but I am determined not to lose that money.
I got up at 6am and was out running by 7am with my daughter, her boyfriend and 3 dogs - 3 miles walk/running, I am so glad we decided to take running back up and the three of us have even decided to enter the Baxters 10k at Inverness in September. My daughter and I signed up for it last year but we got lazy and ended up not even going, I don't want a repeat of that so we won't actually enter for another few weeks.

Dietbet is definitely motivating me to lose this weight. I have to lose 8.8lb in 4 weeks - completely doable and the pot in the dietbet challenge that I am part of is now standing at £28,950 - wowsa, I certainly want to win me a share of that!

Dietbet - are you in on it?

A month of no posting, needless to say I had no motivation. I don't know how it happened but I missed a couple of days of Insanity and it was all downhill from there, I just couldn't get motivated back into it. Of course that made me feel like a complete failure which in turn made me wallow which then led to me convincing myself "who wants to lose weight anyway! I am what I am".
I needed accountability!
Going back to a slimming club was no good because I only get weighed and then leave (I am not a joiner inner) so I wasn't really talking to anyone about how it was going.
Slimming in a family of skinny people is haaaard but there must be a million and one other people who manage it so what could I do to find that accountability?
Biggest loser is out the question and as I don't have any friends up here (my choice) I don't really have support that way. I was kind of resigned to the fact that it was hopeless and then good old FB came up with the goods, or more precisely FB page "Sunshines journey to 199". I've followed that page for a while now and I'm hoping I manage to get on one of the accountability groups but what has really got me excited is "Dietbet".
I followed a link after it was posted on Sunshines page that she had just started a new "Dietbet" challenge and I loved what I found - just the motivation I needed.
"Dietbet" is a challenge where you have 4 weeks to lose 4% of your start weight. There are various challenges ongoing but what makes this so much motivational is that you pay a stake fee (these range form $10 - $500) and as long as you lose at least the 4% then you will win a portion of what's in the pot for that challenge.
At the time of writing this the challenge I have joined has £17,875 in the pot. This will get shared out amongst those who manage to pass the challenge.
I will be weighing in first thing Monday April 22nd and I have to take a full length image of me on the scales and a photo of the scales showing my weight, plus Dietbet has given me a secret word to tag within the photo so that I can't use an image of weight from ages ago (cheat in other words) and then I will be told how much I need too lose.
What great motivation this is going to be because if there's one thing I hate it's spending money on myself so losing it is not an option.
I feel amazingly optimistic about this and cannot wait to get going.