Tuesday, June 14, 2011

pound for pound

Some of my friends and I just started a biggest loser type challenge thing. Ben and I were running about a week and a half ago and he proposed the idea as a way to be more accountable for our weight loss goals.

To be honest, I'm pretty OK and comfortable with where my weight is at. I'm a little overweight, but not dangerously so. When I look in the mirror I feel good about myself. But I hate that I don't run as fast and as far as I used to.

So my plan is to drop 40 pounds. I don't know if I'll be able to lose that much by the time the contest is over on August 22. That's 10 weeks away (counting down the weeks will really make this summer fly by, which is both a good and bad thing), so that means a loss of four pounds a week. It also means serious dieting and daily exercise. It's going to be hard with 100 degree plus temperatures and two summer vacations (Telluride this weekend, NY/Canadia in July), but I think I'm up for it. If I can perfect my exercise habit during the scalding Arizona summer, I'll have such an advantage when running season starts in the fall.

In the end though, my goal with this challenge isn't so much to lose weight, but to establish healthy and sustainable fitness habits.

In the past, my running goals have only been for distance, rarely (if ever) for speed. My goal is to be able to run a 5K at a 8:45 mile pace, that clocks in at about 27 minutes (hey, that's fast for me). Working on speed is also advantageous because it gets rid of fat faster than distance running (which is probably why I didn't lose much when I was half-marathon training last winter).

I also plan on buying a bike for stuff like grocery shopping and going over to Ben's for our weekly CPPP (Cool People Pool Party; yes, you're invited) and other short trips (and for bike rides in general). I'm going to be cooking a lot more instead of eating out so much (I'm planning on making this tomorrow night; I won't eat it all so come hang if you're hungry).

Special note to friends participating in this challenge: This blog is a "happy place" for me so any crap-talking posts will be deleted. Thanks!

3 comments:

  1. you are making massaman curry?? I wish I could sample. and that star anise spice is so pretty.


    good luck to yah, and make sure to hydrate for all that AZ heat exercise. oh, and plan yourself a trip to the northwest in the fall as a reward for all your hardwork...

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  2. I'm really happy you put that blurb about this being a happy place, I almost didn't write anything (haha jk jk)... but I'm glad we are doing this!!! I'm excited to see how everyone does. Also, Katherine and I were talking about the Tough Mudder (yes I still want to do this) and to prepare we were MAYBE thinking of doing a half marathon in November... What are your thoughts?

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  3. myke,

    i left a comment earlier on your post about Weezer's Blue/Pinkerton tour. (Feel free to go look that up if you haven't already). Now I have gone through other parts of your blog and decided that we should totally be friends. Keep up the good work and don't be afraid of random internet strangers that find your blog and want to be friends. You can e-mal me at skamondongo@juno.com

    -aaron

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