Weight Watchers and Marathon Training: Week 4
Starting weight: 234.8 pounds
Current weight: 225.6 pounds
Change: -9.2 pounds to date, down 0.8 pounds since last weigh in
Slow and steady may not win the actual race, but in this case it’ll help your clothes fit better if nothing else.
Week four on Weight Watchers brings with it one step closer to the 10 pound weight loss milestone. If you would’ve told me before I started this program that I’d be able to lose almost ten pounds in a month while barely making any changes to my diet, I wouldn’t have believed you and yet, here we are.
As mentioned in a previous post, I’m determined not to let this combination of a new way of eating while training for a marathon take over my life, and last week was no different. I didn’t let it stop me from grabbing pizza with a buddy after work on Thursday or eating hot dogs and nachos and beers while going to both a White Sox and a Cubs game in the same day on Saturday.
Granted, the fact that I ran 30 miles last week helped me justify some of those indulgences in my head, but part of the reason I’m doing WW in my third year of running marathons is because I’ve learned over the years that you cannot, in fact, outrun a bad diet.
I’ve been fairly good about sticking to a lunch routine during the week, ordering the same thing consistently — A chicken salad from Chipotle with no rice or cheese that only eats up three WW points and gives me flexibility with the rest of my day.
I had managed to keep this up almost every weekday until I finally snapped.
“Babe,” I texted my girlfriend. “I cannot eat at Chipotle today.”
My issue with eating healthy and thus sticking to the same exact meal for lunch 4–5 days a week stems from a couple of factors — I’m horrible at meal prepping, I’m never home in long enough spurts to justify long term grocery shopping, and while I’m committed to this program, I haven’t made the effort to find restaurants that have quick meals that will help me stay within my daily points limit.
Focusing on finding healthy and quick alternatives around my office is something I need to work on. Social media, of all things, has been incredibly helpful on that end as people have offered up suggestions that I’ve been meaning to try. I just haven’t gotten around to it because, well, I’m a creature of habit.
I was, admittedly, skeptical of WW when I started the program because I didn’t think it was going to work for me. That said, I’m happy with the results so far. I’ve lost a reasonable amount of weight over the course of the past month without resorting to gimmicks or crash dieting. Chipotle meltdown aside, the program isn’t taking over my life or driving me insane, and I’m actually learning better dietary habits. So, progress.
I’m running the 2019 Chicago Marathon and New York City Marathon to raise money for the American Heart Association to honor my late mother. To donate, please click here.
