Downs and ups

Down...Not so much success this week following my eating plan.

Hmm.

Some long work days and a few days of just feeling ravenous no matter what I ate sent me in some eating directions that were - while not terrible - definitely not on plan and probably filled with more calories than really necessary.

Tomorrow's weigh-in will likely be...disappointing, but not unexpected.

However...

There are ups this past week as well.

Friday night Team Torture. I do not run treadmill intervals. As much as I want to participate in all aspects of the Fall Fitness Challenge, I have come to the conclusion that for now...running is just not for me. Perhaps in another 20 or 30 pounds I'll be able to run a little bit, but for now me trying to run leads to nothing but frustration and upset.

And I just don't need frustration and upset at this stage of the game.

What I need is to feel like I'm making progress and moving forward.

So, on Friday I join the group of people who also opt out of treadmill work and instead get on the elliptical trainers for elliptical intervals.

My elliptical machine is set for a 10% incline at level 1. I leave it there. Trainer W leads the intervals. 2 minutes low-intensity and 2 minutes high-intensity intervals...for 24 minutes. Trainer D hops on the treadmill next to me to do the intervals with me. When it comes time to bump it up for the high interval, I bump it up to level 3.

"C'mon, let's put that on 5," Trainer D says peering over at my machine.

So, to level 5 we go.

Sure enough within seconds I am breathing very, very hard. Not quite sucking wind, but pretty damn close. In through the nose. Out through the mouth.

My breathing sounds really loud to me.

The first high-intensity two minute interval feels like an eternity. Rather than watch the time elapse on the machine's display panel, I just close my eyes and try to keep breathing. My heart is racing. Sweat is already pouring down my forehead and dripping off of my nose. So very attractive.

When I arrive at home close to 9 p.m., Chris asks me, "So, how'd you do?"

"30 minutes on the elliptical. D made me go to level 5 for the high-intensity intervals. I kind of wanted to die, but I did it."

"You're really sweaty," he says.

"Yeah."

"So, was D helpful while you were doing the intervals?"

"I don't know. She was talking to me the whole time. I'm sure she was saying all kinds of encouraging really things, but I have no idea what they were. I just kept my eyes closed and was pretty focused on breathing, not passing out and not falling off of the elliptical trainer!"

Chris laughs.

But, here's the thing, I did it. I made it through all of the intervals. Didn't feel very good toward the end. Getting my breath was hard, but I didn't give up.

Surprisingly, even though I'm bone tired on Friday when I get home and even more tired when I wake up on Saturday morning, I haul myself to the gym for Low-n-Loaded - thinking that if I make it through even half of the class it will be a friggin' miracle. But once we get started it actually goes pretty well. I still find myself needing to march in place during a few of the intervals, but I manage to do probably 90% of everything she has us doing.

Improvement!

So, some downs and ups this past week. We'll see about this coming week. My work schedule is crazed with numerous client presentations. Eating could be an issue, but I'm going to try my very hardest to stay on plan.

Wish me luck.