What a difference a day makes...

I'm waking up a day later and 5 pounds lighter. That's ludicrous, you can't lose real weight that fast. I'm simply coming down from the post marathon inflammation, water retention, and feeding frenzy. It feels good to be solidly back under 200lbs, but what's better is that my wife and I have been able to come to an understanding about the way to conduct our food lives. See, when I lost over 100lbs, I did it alone, single, with no one to think about other than me. I know for a fact that this was a HUGE contributor to my success. I said many times that if I had the lives of many of my friends, wive, kids, etc., that I don't know if I would have been able to do it. Well here I am, married, extremely happy, and in need of dropping some lbs. It was complicated because my wife and I have very different likes, dislikes, wants, and needs when it comes to food. I'm happy to throw some salt, pepper, and garlic on anything and eat it every day until the rapture, but she get's tired of this fast. I base everything off of the protein, a chicken breast, or a pork chop, and whatever I have to go with it. She hates "big hunks of meat" as she calls them and would rather graze on vegetables and small sides. The fact is, both of our individual styles have helped both of us lose and maintain weight, they just don't work for the other. We've tried to coordinate, compromise, be flexible, but when the rubber meets the road, this is an issue we both have enough trouble with that we need it our way to feel successful. Turns out it's not that hard, we buy the foods we like at the store and we eat them when we are hungry. Of course we have dinners that we both like and we sit and eat together, but there's no reason I cant have the breakfast I like and she have what she like at the same time. I ate cereal for breakfast, a banana for a snack, a sandwich, pita chips and yogurt for lunch, some hummus for a snack, and a chicken and slaw pita for dinner yesterday and felt totally NORMAL, in control, satisfied and largely not tempted. It's only day 2, but I'm feeling good about it.

A Marathon Is Only The Beginning...

Most people choose to make running a marathon the goal at the end of a journey. Training, nutrition, sacrifice, pain, training, pain, a little more training, and even more pain. At the end of it all you get to call yourself a marathoner. I felt this experience exactly 2 years ago when I completed the Houston marathon for the first time. I had lugged myself off of the couch and in 9 months went from a 300lb couch potato to a marathoner that weighed under 200lbs. I had found my new passion in life and I was never going back. I did anything but stop there. Since January of 201 when I ran that marathon, I lost 20 more lbs, completed over a dozen sprint and olympic distance triathlons, over 20 running events, a half ironman, and in May 2011 I finished a full Ironman triathlon in The Woodlands, Tx. Yesterday I did something else that I can't believe. I repeated my performance at the Houston Marathon, only this time instead of taking 5 hours and 19 minutes to do it, I did it in 4 hours and 1 minute. I had a one hour and 18 minute pr (personal record), something that is all but unheard of in running. It's a huge accomplishment and only 1 little minute away from my ultimate goal of breaking 4 hours. Today, however, I've done something else that I didn't think I would ever do. I stepped on the scale and saw a 2 as the first digit again. It's hard to write. It's hard to admit, but as I contemplated what to do about it, I realized, I'm going to use this huge accomplishment as the beginning, not the end. It feels crazy to say, but the thought of running a 4 hour marathon, or completing a 140.6 mile triathlon doesn't scare me half as much as the idea of having to lose weight again. I think it scares me so much because this time I've gained 20 lbs while training for a marathon. What does that tell me about the state of my diet? It tells me that I have lost complete control.

So just as I said, this marathon is the beginning. The beginning of me regaining control on my diet, my health, and my life. I have an entire triathlon season to plan for and I will not go into this season battling my weight. I'm starting over, starting over with weight, this blog, and my attitude. Here's to new beginnings...again.