Experimenting

I'm currently experiencing the experimentation stage of the weight-loss, as in I've already had to up my caloric intake. I'm trying to balance my physical activity with my food intake and how much I need to eat in order to keep my body nourished enough but not over-eating to the point of maintaining or gain. That was a mouthful. Since yesterday, I haven't lost any further weight and I'm using this experimentation time to figure out if I simply need to eat more to combat how many calories I'm burning. When I first started this originally, I dropped my caloric intake drastically, but I wasn't doing this kind of physical activity right out. I had to gradually raise my calorie count according to how much running or whatever I was doing. And apparently it's already that time. 

Today I ran 2.44 miles, with a time of 11:10 for the first mile, and then interval running for the rest, burned 310 calories, and the workout was complete at 33:01. I ran until I heard her tell me I'd reached 1 mile and I gotta tell ya, I was feelin' the burn toward the end of it. I feel like waiting to hear her tell me when I've reached that mile keeps me focused on just running instead of wondering how long I've been going. She takes all of the guess work out! My average pace wasn't quite as quick as yesterday's, but it definitely wasn't bad. I ran in the afternoon today because I actually could and I loved it! It was warmer, sunnier, and there were less people out. I also wasn't under a time constraint and just enjoyed getting it done and then going home to lounge for a bit. And by lounge, I mean that I layed out on the back deck for a while and then ate my snack while watching "Grey's" re-runs. Perfection.

I gotta say, I was a little disappointed when I weighed this morning and hadn't lost anything, but then I have to put this into perspective. I've lost (close enough to) 10 pounds in 9 days. That's damn good, y'all. I was expecting to lose 10-12 pounds in 3 1/2 weeks....I'm proud. And amazed. I can still lose at least another 5-8 in 12 days, I think. I just have to be mindful of how many calories I'm eating and keep it at a good ratio with the amount of calories I'm burning. I can do this. I have the knowledge, I have the determination, I have the ability, and I have the will power. I FaceTimed with my mom last night and she said that it's already quite apparent that I've lost this weight. We hadn't spoken "face to face" since I had my breakdown, so when she saw me 10 pounds later, she said it was obvious. The smaller you are, the easier it is to see when a few pounds are lost. Good.

Something else I did today was shop for workout clothes. I haven't done that in quite some time, not since I was forced to because all of mine were too big. I finally got a good pair of running capris that hold muh tum tum in and compress my legs a bit. Also, I picked up two really comfortable, really cute workout tops that actually stay down and don't ride up as I run. Up until now, I've pretty much just been wearing camis or t-shirts and a pair of black capri leggings. It was time. I got to wear the new stuff for the first time in my run this afternoon and I'm pleased with my purchases for sure. Definitely worth the money! Now all I need to do is save up for a pair of really good running shoes. Mine are fine, but there not necessarily made for running. I need some with maybe a little more support and are a little lighter. All in good time. 

On the menu today:

• Breakfast- vanilla yogurt with 1 c strawberry halves, coffee- 1 tbsp creamer in each cup
• Lunch- Egg Beaters Egg Whites with about 4 halved cherry tomatoes (sauteed before put into omelette) and 1/4 Kraft Fat-Free Shredded Mozzarella 
• Snack- frozen strawberry smoothie
• Dinner- 1 1/2 c cooked spaghetti squash with 1 full can of tuna with 3 tbsp of the same cheese

Yeah, I kinda repeated last night's dinner a bit, but I like it. So there.