Arizona Half Marathon

Sometimes I do things that DO NOT help me lose weight. Like eating too much, baking late at night, not writing in my food journal, and not exercising-you get the picture. And sometimes I do things that you think would help me lose weight and in fact, it does the OPPOSITE. Like running a half marathon. YEP...when I run long distances, I DO NOT LOSE WEIGHT! Apparently, from my reading, this happens to lots of women. It is frustrating. You set a goal to do something challenging and good for yourself, yet, you gain weight and look like a fattie doing it. Doesn't seem to make sense. But when you run long, you get really hungry and tend to eat more than you should. This is not the first time I have done  a half marathon- I have been running the distance since the age of 19...but not for the past 8 years. I ran 7 marathons, and numerous 1/2 marathons, for about 11 years. Then, I had kids. I gained weight. I got busy and tried losing the weight the regular way. {Thank you Weight Watchers} And it worked. BUT this time, I did something different. I lost some of the weight, but not nearly enough- and decided I needed therapy. I needed to run, long and far, and set a good goal. But the weight did not come off. In fact, some of it came back on. And even though I struggle a lot with that- every single day- I gained something else. I gained the confidence to know that I can do something I once did, even though my circumstances are different. I gained the belief in myself that everything does not have to be perfect to be good. I also gained a lot of muscle. My arms and legs are stronger than they have been in years. {Please note that gaining muscle does not make up for the 40 lbs. of extra fat I am also carrying. While muscle weighs more, it does not weigh that much more!}
Overall, I feel good. I feel strong. I feel that I can do hard things. My next goal- is to focus on my core and get stronger. I know as I do that, I will lose weight. For me, I have to lift weights to lose the weight. And that is just what I shall do.

Thanks for reading. I have a  few posts planned about running.... coming soon.