Oxygen Deprived

For the last year I've been trying to lose some weight. I haven't been on any diets per say or counted calories though I do try to be very conscious of what I'm eating, trying to eat only when hungry, eat better, eat less, run more, drink lots of water, etc...

This last week I've been hovering right around 40 pounds below what I used to weigh and needless to say I feel great. It's really amazing the difference gaining some fitness can make in your life, both in terms of how much energy you have and how you feel. Not to mention how it affects running. I think back to how I was running a little over a year ago and think about how I'm running now, or better yet, I picture wearing a 40 lb backpack on all of my runs... ouch!

As I reflect, I think one of the hardest things about losing weight is having patience, as most people know, it's not good to lose to much weight to quickly. So, if you want to do it right you could be in it for the long haul – depending how much you want to lose and how hard you’re currently working to lose it. When there's at least some progress it definitely helps to fuel the motivation. Of course I had a bigger goal in mind but I would normally just try to focus on what I thought would be possible for any given day or week. Though it’s probably best to focus on weekly versus daily goals as your weight naturally fluctuates which can be frustrating - make you feel like your not seeing the kinds of results you want or that you are working so hard to obtain.

Over the last few months (or even longer) I've been staying pretty steady at around 35 lbs below my initial weight – which in reality was about my initial goal. It's been nice because I’ve been able to focus even less on what I'm eating yet because of the added benefits of being able to run further and faster I've been able to maintain my weight more easily.

Lately, I’ve started to think that I could stand to lose another 10 to 20 lbs, but now not so much with the goal of looking and feeling better (though hopefully that will happen too) but mostly so I can just run better. My friends and family would all say I'm crazy and that I don't need to lose anymore weight - they're all really nice like that. But during really hard efforts I can feel it holding me back, maybe not a ton (no pun intend) but I feel it. Obviously, my level of fitness plays a roll but if you look at what you could potentially do with an equivalent level of fitness while carrying less weight - it's a no brainer.

So, not out of obsession but more out of the desire to run better which in the end, I may obsess about a little.

Disclaimer: By my title "Run More, Eat Less", I’m in no way trying to trivialize the process, effort or the difficulty some people experience trying to lose weight, but for me it’s become like a slogan.