Wise words & words I need to heed this week, 6 sleeps until my first Half Marathon since my accident, scared? … Muchly
Tag: goals
Does Sugar Make Us Fat
Every where you look at the moment someone is talking about how sugar is bad for us
So you can imagine my distress when me the worlds biggest chocoholic started studying nutrition and even my text books were pointing the finger at my sweet best friend
The article above talks about Jamie Olivers #SugarRush campaign & as with all the other articles I have read makes a good argument as to why even at my 9st 7 & running half marathons slimmest self I was still able to pinch a lot more than an inch around my waistline
A few weeks ago my Sky+ was tuned to record Jaime on C4, & I wondered if the cute cockney could convince me to tackle my sugar addiction & dramatically reduce my often 2 bar a day chocolate habit
Unfortunately for me, the program didn’t quite hit the mark, there was no new news, I already knew about the risks of diabetes and the effect sugar can have on your teeth (can you believe at 42yrs old I have never even had a filing) & while I do not proclaim to be an expert in the ‘sugar’ field, I am an expert in my own weight over the years, my body & my chocolate addiction
So here are my insights into the ‘does sugar make us fat’ debate
Ultimately I do not think any food is bad for you, nor do I think any food or food group for should be banned from our diets, but I have always believed that moderation is the key for certain foods, I now accept that my beloved chocolate falls into this bracket, I found out many years ago that I have a wheat intollerance & for around a year I was made to eat wheat and gluten free (this was years before wheat & gluten free substitutes where readily available in the shops) thankfully I do not really like bread which is the biggest hurdle for many when being told to go wheat &/or gluten free but I do love pasta, I think my problem arose because I was often eating pasta for lunch and dinner so could end up eating pasta at least 8x a week now I limit it to once a week and touch wood I do not have the same issues I had in the past.
If I could just adopt the same approach to sugar, as I did to pasta, then maybe my pinch around my waist will reduce.
I am not prepared to give up chocolate, I personally do not believe it is necessary nor realistic but I do understand it would be better for me if I could reduce my sugar consumption, and something that has surprised me over the past few months is the hidden sugars in foods, even some foods that are considered healthy come very close to being labelled High Sugar, so this is an area I know definitely focus on to try and make savings in my daily sugar intake
I have slowly been trying to reduce my sugar intake for the last 2 months and have managed to reduce my body fat by 2% not a lot I know but its the first time I have seen my body fat go below 40% in around 10yrs, so I am going to continue trying to make small changes and continue to monitor my body fat %, I would love to see it below 37% before Christmas which would require a reduction of around 1% a month
If you missed Jamie’s SugarRush you can catch it HERE
Its a slow process, but quitting won’t speed it up
I had physio yesterday and received some really good news & a teeny bit of bad news & all I can focus on is the bad news when I know I should really be celebrating the good news.
So the good news is my gastrocnemius muscle that I tore at the London Winter Run (if you don’t know about my accident click here) in February is now fully repaired. It’s now just a matter of building its strength up & I was tben told that will be a slow process my physio feels there is nothing more he can do, he is happy with my awareness of my limitations so has said I do not need any further appointments but has not fully discharged me so I can call them for an appointment if I have any major issues
The bad news is because I’m still getting niggles he wants me to drop down to 2 runs a week for the next 2 weeks, (I’ve already dropped from c210k to c25k as that’s 30 mins of run/walking rather than 1hr & now they are reducing that even further) no running for 5 days after the Shine Half Marathon then he’s happy for me to train for the Vitality WestRun London but I’m to run no further than 8k before the race (to be honest I only expected to get to 8.5-9k but it’s annoying to be told no if I was feeling I could go further)
Then when I mentioned I was beginning to contemplate a marathon again, I could see steam started coming from his ears, I stamped my feet a little & he begrudgingly agreed that if my leg felt ok after WestRun I could slowly build my mileage but to no more than 15k of running by the end of the year, no more than 20k by the end of Feb & he would suggest no more than 18 miles before marathon day and then to try and do my long run 3/4 weeks early so I have a long taper & plenty of time for my legs to rest before the big day.
To be honest all of the above sounds like a marathon is a definite for me when the reality is a marathon may not even be possibility, after watching the Great North Run highlights on the TV yesterday even a half feels like a very distant dream at the moment, a dream that I may never achieve again, but I just want the opportunity to be in control of my own destiny, I’m sick & tired of being told NO, I can’t believe a simple run, a popping feeling, a warm running water type sensation led to a leg being put in plaster, months in a boot & 8 months of virtually no running
I never thought I’d ever want to run so badly, nor that I’d miss running as much as I have, it really helps clear my head, I have always found walking and running helps with my anxiety, after a hard day at work a run may be the last thing I want to do, but I can guarentee if I push myself out the door I will always return happier than when I left, even if I arrive home soaking wet where the heavens have opened mid run
The positive I am taking from today is that I didn’t reach for chocolate, normally the first sign of bad news or things not going my way, would have seen me leave the physio session & head straight to the sweetshop for some chocolate
Project Healthy Fit Me 