Let’s Have THE Talk

Oh yeah… I’m bringing IT up: weight gain (and why I blame it on the marathons).

One year ago I was about 10 pounds over my happy weight. I blame it on the transition from being a student running around working two jobs to being a 50-hour-week lazy that spent her whole day in front of a computer.

Then in July I left my job, moved to Orlando, went vegan, became dedicated to training for the marathon and biking and slowly lost my 10 extra pounds. I know I hardly mentioned it on the blog, but I felt great. I was more comfortable in my own skin than ever before. I was training hard, watching what I ate and my healthy (and leaner) body reflected that.

Then came marathon #1, Thanksgiving, Christmas and marathon #2. Welcome back, 10 pounds and the inability to fit into my favorite clothes.

Sure, marathon training means tons of exercise, which makes weight maintenance (or even loss) very attainable during training. It’s the two weeks before and the two weeks after the race that will get you! Your marathon appetite is still alive and well, but your exercise decreases considerably- more than running 26.2 miles in one day can make up for.

I’m ready to get back to that healthier, leaner version of me. It’s better for my clothes, my speed and my energy level.

I exercise plenty, so I know it all comes down to what and how much I eat.

The kicker of it all is that I am least motivated when I have weight to lose. When I’m at my happy weight I see and feel the motivation to eat healthy. Silly, right?

I need to eat cleaner- and less! I’m going to work on choosing fresh fruits and veggies for snacks and watching my portions at meal times. Now more than ever I’m going to shoot for including most or all of my meals on the blog.

Speaking of running… meet my new friends: Brooks Trance 9’s! I’ve had them for almost two weeks and they’re heavenly. My glass slippers :)

How do you deal with weight gain? How do you motivate yourself when you don’t feel so hot?