Back to basics

...in which I aim to behave (or at least not misbehave too much).

As I said in my last post I'm currently a couple of pounds over my target weight range. I have been for the last 2 months, and I'm not really that worried about it; a couple of lb over my target is no big deal, and it's not like I'm in an upward spiral or anything. I'm staying reasonably steady between 11st 8lb and 11st 11 - my target is 11st 4, so target range is 11st 1 - 11st 7.

I think this is partly because one of the things that exercising regularly does is build muscle, which is denser than fat, and I exercise 6 out of 7 days per week - 3 gym visits and 3 runs. However, the other reason is that there's temptation to eat based on the amount of exercise you're doing ("I'm running 22 miles tomorrow, another couple of glasses of wine won't matter").

I've fallen into this trap quite a lot recently; although all of our meals are still SW friendly, there's been a lot of "extras"....crispbread with cheese has become a regular evening snack, and I've been having crisps way too often again. I'm still not too worried since I'm not exactly a couch potato any more.

However, there is the small matter of having to run 26.2 miles in two weeks. To do that, my body needs to be properly fuelled, and that means eating cleanly and not putting too much junk into it. Fortunately that lines up pretty well with Slimming World's plan; lean meat for protein, plenty of carbs (pasta/rice/potatoes are all unlimited on SW's Extra Easy plan) and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.

There's also the matter of money...I have to pay for Slimming World while out of target range, and although I have plenty of work at the moment our finances are still recovering from the months when I didn't have much (this is one of the things you have to live with when you're a freelancer).

It's a good job that carb-heavy food is unlimited as I need to "carb load" for a few days before the marathon to make sure my body has the fuel needed to make it around the whole 26 miles at the required pace. I've been up to 22 so far, although it was hellish weather and I was utterly knackered by the end of it (but I did it, and I'm really proud of that - although I could have done without the bloke telling me "you're going to kill yourself mate" at 18 miles in - apparently I didn't look all that great by that point)!

So for the next 2 weeks (after today...it's a bank holiday tomorrow after all ;)) I'll be aiming to follow the plan much more strictly than I have been. I'll attempt to go back to doing my online food diaries like when I first started blogging about Slimming World, although I'm a bit shorter on time now what with all the work....