Not losing weight

lesle1

I ran with a 36 year old buddy this morning. We had a conversation about people that go to the gym every day and don't lose weight. He said it's because they don't change anything. As runners we run fartleks, change our distance, run hills, etc. We also try to cross train. We have easy days and hard. I know that running with the 30 something year old guys at 5 in the morning sure has helped my time. Gee, I don't know too many 51 year olds that do that.

He also said that we started with 5Ks went on to 10Ks then to half marathons and are either running marathons or seriously thinking about it. We keep changing things around.

He's right about how much more we push ourselves. I know when I first started with walking I didn't go far. I just wanted to go a mile. I kept extending it. Then I realized I needed to be out there an hour for me to feel like it was working. After awhile that got too easy and I had to find ways to push harder. So I ended up running. I still keep trying to push myself. So I'm signed up for more races. It gives me a goal. I have 2 more half marathons I'm signed up for this year and this weekend I'm running my first 10K. I guess I did things backwards. Half marathons before a 10k.

People have asked me why I like running. I don't know that I like it. I do love competing and pushing my body to see what I can do. The main thing I love about running is how I feel after running. Life is great! It's hard to describe unless you're a runner I guess. Nothing makes me feel as good as I do after running. It really is the fountain of youth.

I am going to get a gym membership. I do have a barbell at home I play with. I do pushups, leg lifts, etc. This summer I'm going to be doing a lot of swimming.

I have had gym memberships in the past and worked out with weights and on the treadmill but I never did get my weight down doing that. I lost maybe 20-30 lbs and put it back on after I quit the gym. This time I want to get more toned and I'm hoping the swimming will do that. It sure worked last summer.

I still have a problem with food. Seems like I eat all day, and not the healthiest food. My joints will bother me if I eat too much junk so I believe what they're saying about certain foods will cause inflammation in your joints. If I eat right my knees don't bother me, if I eat junk., they do. I'm still losing weight and I can eat whatever I want at this point. I don't know how long that will last but I really really need to change my eating habits.

So I'm going to keep pushing myself. I'm going to get under 25 minutes for a 5K and sometime this year or next I'm going to run a full marathon.

My question is what do you do when you want to work harder at the gym? When you're not seeing results, what do you do?