Final Wednesday weigh-in

Well, I can hardly believe how fast this past 12 weeks have gone. I definitely had a few ups and downs with my eating but overall I gradually shrank ;)
This week I only lost 400g, but I did start to back off the exercise a bit to try and achieve a level of activity that will be possible to maintain in the long-term.
Anyway, the stats:
Fat 22.8% (down 0.2%)
Total body water 57.2% (up 0.1%)
Muscle 36.7% (up 0.1%)
Bone 2.1kg
BMI 21.2 (down 0.2)
Daily kcal requirement 2185 (down 20)
In total over my first round of 12wbt I have lost 8.2kg, or 12.8% of my body-weight. I've decreased my bodyfat % by 2.8%, increased my muscle % by 1.1%, and dropped my BMI by 2.6. I'd still like to aim for a couple more kg lost to get rid of the last bit of blubber on my tummy :). But I am going bathers shopping with my sister on the weekend, woo-hoo!
I'm about to enter the dreaded swot-vac/exams period for the next 3.5 weeks, so this will be a real test of my willpower. I hope to chip away at those last 1.8kg or at the very least not gain anything - after all this I've got to look really good when I go to Fiji!
I posted on the 12wbt page after last week:

'My aim for 12wbt was to lose all the weight I gained on a trip to Europe last year. And this week, I've done it! In fact, I've surpassed it, and now weigh as little as I recall weighing in my adult life. I'm proud of me, and literally in my WHOLE LIFE have never had as many compliments as I've had during the 12wbt program. Today I had 3 compliments from 3 different people: that I looked glamorous, that I looked really good, and that, from a gay friend, if he was a woman he would be intimidated by me based on how good I looked! Haha! There is now rarely a day that goes by that someone doesn't tell me how good I am looking - and let me tell you that is an incredible feeling!
I feel my self esteem has really had a massive boost and I'm sure it is reflected both in my internal happiness and in the way I portray myself to others. I smile and laugh more for sure!
I can now run 15km non-stop, which surprises even me given I couldn't run 5k non-stop a few months ago. I now run 5-10k nearly every day, and 15k once a week!
I am not going to do another round (though if I fall off the wagon I will return for round 1 next year), but will definitely keep blogging, using my heart rate monitor, and logging my calories in myfitnesspal. I have not found this restrictive, but rather a useful tool to use in my daily life. I eat 12wbt meals for most meals, nearly all lunches, though never eat the breakfasts. I have saved all the recipes to keep using.
Anyway, before I started this program I never thought I had the willpower to lose weight. So, I am proud of me. In fact, this might just be one of my proudest achievements to date. And it wasn't even very hard!!!
My hope is that, with my new-found confidence, happiness, and self-belief, I can find that elusive Prince Charming who has so far escaped meeting me '
Here's what I managed in the final week:

Wednesday (previous weigh-in)
Cals out 485, cals in 1771. Went out for dinner with ~300 other Gippsland women and watched the documentary 'Happy' - really worth seeing. I felt inspired to do a few more things to increase my happiness (but the 12wbt has definitely helped!).

Thursday
Cals out 515, cals in 1156. Had Mish's vietnamese beef noodle soup for tea. Super yummy & easy! Would definitely make this again.

Friday
Cals out 530, cals in 1309. Had Mish's chicken cacciatore for tea. It wasn't bad but wasn't one of my favourites either.

Saturday
Cals out 400, cals in 1210. Had Mish's veggie burritos again for tea, to keep using up the tofu. Yummy!

Sunday
Cals out 500, cals in 1223. Burritos for lunch, Mish's roast pumpkin salad again for tea to finish off the haloumi.

Monday
Cals out 905 (ran 12k & walked my doggy after class), cals in 1328. Mish's cajun chicken with sweet potato & avocado salad for tea. Enjoyed it, though tend to be less of a fan of salads generally, not finding them as filling.

Tuesday
Cals out 465, cals in 1000. Not that hungry today. Had Mish's chargrilled beef with avocado & corn salsa for tea. Yummy & super quick which was good as I had 2 hours of prac exam practice in the evening. Not much time to eat which probably explains the low cals!

Wednesday (today)
Cals out 615 (8k run & dog walk), cals in 1116 plus some plain roast chicken meat. Made Mish's beef moussaka today - yummy, but ended up making 4 pies instead of 2 with the quantity of ingredients listed so was super low on cals!

Another goal achieved!

Well, two Wednesday weigh-ins have passed since I last wrote so I thought it was time for an update :)

Thursday
Cals out 651, cals in ~2500. Urgh. Had a friend's b'day dinner where there were heaps of plates of deliciousness, so this is just an estimate but likely a fairly accurate one!!!

Friday
Cals out 755, cals in ~2000. My sister came to stay this weekend, which means a weekend of indulgence - I know it didn't have to mean this, but one of our shared passions is food, so I was willing to sacrifice a weekend of healthy eating for this!

Saturday
Cals out 221, cals in 1880. 1200 of these were snacks! Pretty poor effort on my part. Had fun visiting the Korumburra Farmer's Market, trying the Rusty Windmill cafe in Leongatha (the salad with my burger was AMAZING!), and going for a bit of a bush walk.


Sunday
Back on track with sis heading home today. Cals out 320, cals in 1171. Had Mish's beef, pumpkin & prune tagine for tea and REALLY enjoyed it!

Monday
Cals out 1185, cals in 1657. Ran 15k in 77min 37sec which is my best ever effort! Beginning to think I need to eat a protein bar immediately after a big workout to stop the crazy snacking. With some trepidation I decided to cook Mish's vegetarian burritos for tea. I'm not a huge fan of tofu, and was unsure whether the $5 spent on tofu would just be wasted. Well, I was very pleasantly surprised! It didn't taste like much, certainly wasn't offensive, and was a fine meat substitute. I would definitely eat this meal again.

Tuesday
Cals out 360, cals in 1162. Made Mish's roast pumpkin, haloumi & brown rice salad for tea. I knew I liked haloumi so knew I'd like this dish, though the haloumi was a bit expensive.



Wednesday

Cals out 605, cals in 1762. 8k in 39.45 which is my fastest ever. Had 2 sausages in bread at lunch to support a new med student mental health wellbeing club, in addition to my leftovers from the night before. A bit excessive! For tea made Mish's chickpea, ricotta & tomato salad for tea. Enjoyed it, but overdid the ricotta so it was overly creamy.
Surprisingly, despite the shocking stats of the last week, particularly the weekend, I managed to lose 300g! Any downwards movement I am very happy with!
Fat 23.5% (down 0.1%)
Total body water 56.8% (up 0.1%)
Muscle 36.4%
Bone 2.1kg
BMI 21.8 (down 0.1)
Daily kcal requirement 2244 (down 10)
Aiming for another 300g loss at the next weigh-in!

Thursday
Cals out 250, cals in 1141+. Final day placed at Leongatha Hospital, which I am sad to leave!

Friday
Cals out 706, cals in 1240. Made Mish's tasty tandoori chicken for tea - I don't know if the chicken thigh fillets I bought were just super tiny, but I felt this meal was rather sparse to be honest! What there was of it, though, did taste good.

Saturday
Back in Melbourne & big day at work so no exercise today. Also MASSIVELY overdid it on the intake today, guesstimate would be 2300cals in. Best friend & her partner came over for tea, so I made Mish's butter chicken which I love and they did too, but they brought with them cheesecake & cookies & cream icecream (my favourite). Anyway, we had a lovely evening.

Sunday
Was going to go for a big run this morning but was far too tired. Went for a short run with the dogs & my sister later in the day, burning 210 cals. Cals in ~1350. On the walk/run my sister literally said 'You are SO LEAN! In fact I don't think you could BE any leaner!' - haha I have never been called lean IN MY LIFE! When I got home my Dad also commented on how good I was looking, and said he was really proud of me!

Monday
15ks on Mondays seems to be part of my routine now, so managed that, burning 1126cals. 1186cals in inc Mish's hot dog with crunchy slaw, though ate a whole sausage in mine rather than a half, which just seemed silly! Basic meal, but yummy.


Tuesday
8k and 520 cals at the gym this morning, plus an 80cal dog walk = 600 cals out. Wasn't very hungry this day, or the previous, so only 798cals in. Had Mish's korma lamb cutlets with mint yoghurt and rice which were really yummy and very easy!

Wednesday - today
Weigh-in day! Stepped on the scales hoping to see a 300g loss, and was 1.1kg down! YAY! This means GOAL ACHIEVED! I am now lighter than I was before I LEFT for my 2.5mth Europe trip last year, and in fact lighter than I can recall being pretty much since high school (though my memory has never been wonderful).
Fat 23% (down 0.5%)
Total body water 57.1% (up 0.3%)
Muscle 36.6% (up 0.2%)
Bone 2.1kg
BMI 21.4 (down 0.4)
Daily kcal requirement 2205 (down 39)
My total weight loss so far with 12wbt is 7.8kg. I was aiming for a total weight loss of 7-10kg on the program, so I have achieved my aims. I hope to lose at least 200g this last week!

Yet another Weigh-In Wednesday

So it's definitely time for another blog post. Today was weigh in day, I was happy with my results, I've now lost a total of 10% of my body weight (700g this week) which feels like a bit of a milestone. A few days ago a friend described me as waif-like so that was pretty nice, haha! Still haven't QUITE got to my pre-Europe weight though - 600g to go!!! And still don't quite have a bikini-ready body but I'm getting closer and closer....:)
-fat 23.6% (down 0.3)
-water 56.7% (up 0.2)
-muscle 36.4% (up 0.2)
-bone 2.1kg
-BMI 21.9 (down 0.3)
-total kcal requirement: 2254 (up 19??)
Today we had some nutrition lectures. I actually learnt quite a bit. The lecturer was talking about all the ways we can measure body composition so I went up afterwards and asked her about how much her clinic charges to do DEXA scans. Turns out they are currently recruiting people for a DEXA scan trial so it will be FREE! I am super super keen and will definitely be getting in touch with her to organise that, hopefully it all works out!
Anyway, here are my stats. I didn't do well with my eating over my 'break', but managed to maintain my weight and neither gain nor lose anything so I was okay with that.

Friday
Cals in 1181, out 402. Dad didn't eat the teriyaki meal I made for him. Not sure why I bothered!

Sat
Cals in 1229+, out 606 (Grand Final breakfast then GF party at my sisters)

Sun
Cals in 1293, out 450. Out for lunch and had Vietnamese bun (a rice vermicelli salad dish), this is absolutely delicious and if you haven't tried it you absolutely should!!!

Mon
In 1274, out 1628. Geez I can't even remember what I did this day but I must sure have exercised a LOT!!! Oh yes now I remember. I did a massive run in the morning, then took the dogs for a walk (totalling 15k between my run then a few kms walk), then did an hour of aqua aerobics in the evening. I hadn't done this before but I had a FABULOUS time, it was more tiring than I thought it would be!!! Made Mish's chicken strips with cherry tomatoes, broccolini and beans and I enjoyed it. Stayed the night at my sisters which was really fun - had to take my own dinner as she was fasting for some fructose testing the next day, but this meant I kept within cals when normally I wouldn't have as we would have headed out for tea!

Tue
Went for a short run in the morning burning 451cals. Spent the day with my best friend at the Royal Show, had a fabulous time sampling all the delicious gourmet foods (and how cool is the vertical Masterchef herb garden! I want!). As a result, didn't eat lunch. Made Mish's beef fillet with roast pumpkin, beetroot & gingered spinach for tea. This was really yummy. Best estimate of cals in is ~1400+!

Wed
Cals out 500, cals in 1652 of which half were scones! Ooops! I tried a new scone recipe and it was a bit too delicious....!

Thu
No exercise today as drove my Mum down to my grandparents to see them and have lunch. Had a creamy pasta for lunch. Didn't eat dinner but a likely cal blowout regardless. Cals in 1425+. Saw my allergist in the morning, he has now started me on an asthma pump I have to use up my nose! Feels odd but is hopefully going to be effective as if it doesn't work I think my only options to make the polyps go away are oral steroids or surgery. On the upside, he says if we can fix my nose my asthma is likely to disappear, and I'm almost certain he's right about that.

Fri
Cals out 800. But another blowout cals in. I think I may need to add protein shakes or bars to my diet as I am nearly always craving food - I am doing a lot of exercise so I know I need to eat a fair bit, but it needs to be quality nutrition not just extra snacks!!! Made Mish's chicken parmagiana for tea which was just alright. Cals in 1633.
Did my fitness test this morning. 1km in 4min17sec. Didn't have wheezing as badly so perhaps the asthma treatment is working.

Sat
Cals out 589. Cals in 1337. Had Mish's roast beef, avocado and cottage cheese wrap for lunch. Didn't really like it. Not a fan of deli meats generally so not sure why I thought this was a good choice! Oh well! 99% of the time I have been really loving the recipes so it's no problem! Cals in is just an estimate. I can't even remember what I did on Saturday but I must have been out for dinner...

Sun
Cals out 615, cals in 1575. Had Mish's chicken with mustard sauce, roast tomatoes and asparagus for tea. Nearly forgot about the tomatoes in the oven but thankfully my housemate realised! I quite enjoyed the meal though it certainly wasn't up there amongst my favourites. Back to Gippsland for the last part of Semester 2 before the deliciously long summer break.




Mon
Cals out 930, cals in 1569. Made Mish's grilled lamb with pumpkin and pine nuts for tea. This was realllly yummy and I can highly recommend it.

Tue
On Tuesday I ran the farthest I have EVER run before. I managed 16.4km (on the treadmill) in just under 90min. I was very proud of myself. Perhaps I can run a half marathon after all! Also took my dog for a walk after uni, so burnt 1187cals all up. 1504 cals in.






Today (Wed)
Cals out 585, cals in 1187. Made one of my favourite Mish meals to date tonight: beef bulgogi skewers. YUMM!!!! I marinated the meat overnight and it was just delicious.

To finish with, I promised energyandemily I would post a pic of me in my zebra jumper. So here it is! :)

Holidays!

I'm officially on holidays! I am glad, but they haven't started too well.
Last night was my sister's 26th birthday. I was really looking forward to having a family dinner, as we hadn't had one since my Dad got back from his 6 week holiday. I was looking forward to it all week. Well, of course I took one look at Dad when I arrived at the restaurant (after a 6:30am start and a total of 3.5 hours driving) and knew he'd ruin the evening, which he then proceeded to do. He was in a foul mood and like usual took it out on the rest of us. My poor sister was so upset. Dad ended up saying that he was tired, it was not his kind of food, and left. He went and ate a kebab somewhere. I was terribly angry and disappointed. He was acting like a petulant child. He later returned, to our amazement, and though things started okay, he then deteriorated in his mood again. After dinner he went home & Mum & I went to my sister's place for a bit. I snuck off and got her an icecream cake as not only had Dad's mood soured the evening but her workmates had completely forgotten her birthday and she had had no cake. So I did what I could to salvage the evening. I felt really sorry for her.
ANYWAY - probably should backtrack a little while.

Friday
The footy last Friday was good, though tarnished by a few things, first of all that my sister & I weren't able to sit with our family, then that we were told there were no more seats available and we would have to stand (at $140/ticket I was pretty livid about this), and then Dad finally scrounged us some seats but they were single ones amongst strangers. So I spent the first quarter sitting by myself, eating some hot chips, and they stuck in my throat a bit because the whole thing I enjoy about the football is spending time with my family and here I was sitting by myself. The second quarter was better as I became friendly with my 'neighbours' and they were willing to move around a bit so my sister could come and sit next to me. After half time we were heading back to our seats and all of a sudden my sister leant down clutching her face as a big tall dude, in his haste to get back to his seat, had 'shouldered' her right in the eye (accidentally). Her glasses were broken, she had a few cuts, and I could see it was already starting to puff up, so we spent the entire third quarter at St Johns with her holding her an ice pack on her face (she still has a black eye a week later!). Anyway, the Hawks did eventually win the game, so that was good, but I have to say it wasn't the most enjoyable game I've ever been to by a long stretch (and, it was definitely the most expensive! :P). Cals in 1339, cals out 600.

Saturday
Big day today. Had work, which is usually straightforward & I usually finish bang on time, but today there were lots of complex cases (dog with fulminant heart failure, cat with abscess that I had to lance, blocked cat etc etc) so I finished late. It was a mad rush to get home, change my shirt, then head straight back out to do my interview (for an assignment) of a patient with a chronic illness. That took 2 hours, then I headed home before heading out for dinner with a group of 20 vets who are all now pursuing, or thinking of pursuing, alternative careers. It was a very enjoyable evening. Cals in 1328, cals out 0.

Sunday
Determined to burn off some of my indulgence with a decent workout this morning, so started the day with a 10k run (in just under an hour), then did about another half an hour of jogging & jumping around to take the cal burn up to 1000. Made Mish's mediterranean chicken for tea which was reasonably enjoyable though I've discovered I definitely don't like squash! Cals in 1148.

Monday
Had a 707cal workout to start the day. Made Mish's chickpea & veggie pies which were quite yummy (though needed a little salt for flavour) though made 4 pies instead of 2! Guess what I'll be eating for days! Cals in 1310.




Tuesday
650cal workout today, 1259cals in. Am really loving strawberries dipped in Chobani greek yoghurt. I have heard that the pineapple flavour is amazing but I haven't managed to find that yet. Didn't feel like dinner tonight so just had some healthy snacks instead.

Wednesday
Weigh-in day! Argh! I always dread this day. Anyway, I lost 300g. I'm okay with that. Since 12wbt officially kicked off, I have lost 500g/week (but, actually, most of my weight was still lost in pre-season!). As long as it's a loss, however small I will take it.
Stats:
-fat: 23.9% (down 0.1%)
-water: 56.5% (constant)
-muscle: 36.2% (constant)
-bone: 2.1kg (up 100g)
-BMI: 22.2 (down 0.1)
-daily kcal requirement: 2235 (down 9)
I had the day off from uni which was super pleasant. I slept in a bit, then went to the local shops to buy a few new clothes. The weather was warm so I went to pull on some shorts, and I was shocked when they were so loose they nearly fell down around my ankles! I bought 2 pairs of shorts, a new top, and a dress, and all were size 8, I could hardly believe it. I also tried on some pants in one shop, and size 8 was TOO BIG?!!! Amazing :) I do feel like I've lost some of my love handles, I like the shape of my legs & arms, but I definitely still have work to do around my tummy, especially my 'rib fat'. I feel my goal weight is still a realistic goal to aim for.
Headed to the gym after shops, 633cals out, 1012cals in. Had Mish's beef fajitas for tea again, didn't have mexican seasoning so used moroccan seasoning and this was AMAZING! Definitely one of my favourite recipes.

Thursday
Largely described above. Cals in 1660, was definitely doing some emotional eating after Dad's mood & there was no way I wasn't going to eat some of the icecream cake & make my sister eat it all by herself. Not bothered at all by the cal blowout as it is a rarity these days. Was a bit upset when I got home, and worked up, so I had to take a sleeping tablet to get to sleep. I feel so frustrated at the situation.

Today
Mum's in the hospital having another operation today, this time on her shoulder. It's made me rather anxious, as it does everyone when their Mum goes under an anaesthetic, I'm sure! I'm looking forward to being able to take care of her next week, as I'll be living at Mum & Dad's during my mid-sem break. Dad has no idea how to look after himself let alone himself & Mum, so this is definitely necessary. I've heard she's woken up from her procedure now & I hope to be able to visit her this afternoon. I'm going to make Mish's teriyaki chicken & vegetable stir-fry with noodles as I think Dad will tolerate that. Went for a 5.5k walk/run and burnt 400cals.

Plodding along

So the Wednesday weigh-in came and went and to my great surprise I managed to lose another 900g. I was almost certain I'd have a gain so this was a very pleasant surprise indeed. My stats were:
-Fat 24% (down 0.3%)
Water 56.5% (up 0.3%)
Muscle 36.2% (up 0.1%)
Bone 2kg
BMI 22.3 (down 0.3)
Daily kcal requirement 2244 (down 35)

Multiple times a day now I am having people comment on my weight loss. My pre-Europe jeans are now completely comfortable rather than a bit tight (and at the start, completely impossible to get on!), and I am starting to notice changes in my face (more angular - more attractive I think??). My legs are looking more muscular with all the running I am doing. The thing I am most looking forward to, despite forgetting to list it as a goal at the start, is the crease marks (from when I sit down and my tummy fat bunches up) to go away, and what I call my 'rib fat'. Besides the general tummy area I am now happy with my body shape. I do think my arms are thinning out a bit too & they have been my nemesis for a while, with my torso being a size 10 but my arms occasionally meaning I have to go up a size or sometimes even 2!!! 

I feel proud of myself and what I have achieved so far. Mentally I am in a good place. My body has long been a source on unhappiness for me and I am now starting to feel I have control over it rather than it having control over me. Sometimes it tries to fight me though as I have outlined in previous posts! I just hope what I have achieved is sustainable. I will likely do another round of 12wbt - another lean & fit if I have not achieved my goal weight, or lean and strong if I have. I hope this might cement these changes into my psyche permanently :)

Today we had a clinical skills day. This involves learning about examination of different body systems, and today was endocrine. I was feeling really exhausted and a friend was practicing on me and took my heart rate - 48 - and my blood pressure - 105/60. Haha no wonder I wasn't feeling great! She fed me a chocolate frog and about 20 minutes later we were doing blood glucose testing, and mine was 5.4mmol/L, which is consist with if I had been fasting, rather than post-lunch and post-choccie frog as I had been (for which normal is anything up to 11.1). Good to know I have absolutely no signs of diabetes anyway :)

Anyway, here's the latest summaries. Monday's cals finished up at about 1669 in, 1200 out.

Tuesday

1233 in, 403 out (toning day + dog walk). Made Mish's beef & broccolini stir-fry for dinner which was yummy and the portion plenty. 

Wednesday

1418 in, 1184 out. You'd be horrified to hear that, no joke, 584 cals of that was chocolate brownie! In fact I only ate one proper meal today cos I just wasn't hungry for some reason, so I just grazed instead. Had a final goodbye at the local Salvation Army crisis centre where I volunteered last semester. The first thing people did when they saw me was exclaim over how much weight I had lost. It's amazing how much of a difference losing just 5kg obviously makes!!! In the evening I attended a psychological first aid workshop run by a fellow student. It was really good. Pizza was on offer but I was good and took along a 12wbt cauliflower & chickpea curry instead. I enjoyed this but the serving size was a bit too big, so next time I'd split it into 4 servings instead of 2.

Today

Today started out well with a toning day at the gym before class, burning 400cals including my dog walk after uni. Couldn't control the snacking afterwards though, not sure why, just cravings rather than hunger, also feeling really tired at uni. Makes me wonder when I get super super tired at uni whether my blood sugar's just dropped really low. I'm going to try to eat more low GI foods & see if that helps. Maybe I should eat a bigger breakfast post-gym too (or higher protein), as my normal brekkie on uni days is just 2 corn thins with cheese.

Heading to the footy tomorrow night. Really excited. GO HAWKS! It will be great to hang out with my extended family and it will be the first time I have seen my Dad in a few months as he has been away for a while in the US. Poor thing flies in at 8am tomorrow and I cajoled him into going to the footy that same night! I plan to start the day with a 1000+cal gym session to really get my weekend kick-started :) Won't have time for exercise on Sat as I have work, then a patient interview, then out for dinner, but I'm happy to have a day off.

Exhausted.

I've hit a bit of a wall tonight, so I've decided to take the rest of the night off from study and just do some relaxing things. I didn't get enough sleep over the weekend and it was also a very full on weekend with a full day of an Indigenous Mental Health First Aid course each day.

Friday
Made Mish's bimbap for tea; really enjoyed it. Total cals out 1044, in 1236.

Saturday
Couldn't rouse myself to do any exercise before the course this morning. Had a ton of the provided pizza for lunch. Luckily wasn't hungry at dinnertime so just had a small cheesymite scroll Mum had got free. Cals out 0, cals in 1276.

Sunday
Really tired. Rediscovered how good Arnotts raspberry shortcake biscuits were at morning tea time...also had a few other lollies that were going. Cals in ~1339. Managed to JFDI after I finally got home (course ran overtime again), and while the sun was setting walked the dogs then ran for a while, total 7.7k

Monday
Back at uni, so this morning started with a bit over 2 hours of driving. Thankfully a short day so decided to blast it at the gym. Had my biggest session since owning an HRM to date - 1200cals burnt! Phew!!! That consisted of running 11.3k (1hr) on the treadmill, jogging/walking 1.2k on the cross-trainer on level 12 (20min), then walking my dog when I got home. I think it's certainly why I'm so tired now, and looking for snacks despite not actually being hungry. I have made passionfruit and coconut creme caramels for my housemate's belated birthday, so we will be enjoying those after she has had dinner. I'm already up to 1400cal for today but I don't care given my epic gym session, and I know I will do better tomorrow, the day before weigh-in.
The good news is that no part of my legs (besides my blistered feet) hurt much at all during my running today.

My body is fighting me but I am fighting it back

Well it hasn't been the greatest week. Mentally, I'm on top of the world! Physically, hmm, not so much!
So of course my right foot has been giving me a fair bit of grief as previously mentioned, though it has been less sore since I have been having a rest from wearing the runners.
As I've also mentioned, I've been wondering if I've been getting asthma, despite not having it since I was a little kid.
Last night when I was at my wonderful doc's, getting yet another dust mite desensitising injection (one fortnightly one to go before I start monthly jabs!), I mentioned it. She had a look up my nose, and said no wonder I couldn't breathe through it as both nostrils were nearly entirely occluded (blocked off) with nasal polyps which develop when you've got chronic rhinitis/sinusitis like I have had for the past couple of years. Greattttt. And she says yup, what I've described is definitely asthma, and probably worsened by the fact I can't breathe through my nose, as the nose plays a vital role in humidifying the air before it hits the lungs, as cold air makes your air passages close up.
So anyway, I'm to use a steroid nasal spray morning and night, use an asthma puffer (steroid & to widen my airways) morning and night, and if we're still not making progress, she's going to put me on oral steroids to try and shrink the polyps, which she otherwise says will take forever to decrease in size (surgery is an option but she says they often just grow back).
I'm happy to get started on the puffer & love the idea of being able to breathe through my nose again but the thought of oral steroids doesn't excite me as I know they lead to weight gain, bloating, and other yucky side effects.
Anyway, in more positive news, I had some thick insoles in some old shoes at my parents place, which fit in my new runners, and elevate my heel to the point where my bone is no longer bashing against the side of the shoe. Happy days! Today I tentatively (keeping my recent asthma diagnosis in mind, plus my physio's 'NO RUNNING!' advice) set out to see if I got pain in my legs after a while. Because of asthma and just starting on meds the previous night, I walked some of the way, but managed a bit over 10k including hills in about 1hr 7min. Not a bad effort. And the best part is, I got NO pains in the part of my foot that has been hurting recently, and I didn't get pains in my knee til about the 9k mark. I did get some pains in the outside of my left knee (great!!!) but I may just need to take the extra insole out of that shoe. We shall see! Came home and jumped around for a while to take the cal burn to 1004. If I can get on top of my asthma a half-marathon may be do-able after all :)

Thursday
Big day of driving (2hr45min) & long day at hospital placements & then at docs & chemist, so no exercise today. Days like this only happen once a fortnight so I'm okay with that. Unfortunately didn't reign it in food-wise too well, so ate about 1500cals including going out for dinner & having a mexican bean burger & chips :P