Advice needed

[Jaquta]

Hi.  Would you have any advice on how one could go about reducing their tendency to sabotage their efforts at weight loss, exercise, etc?

I have been training for a running event for the past 12 weeks.  I was using increased health and fitness and the event as incentives.  Now that the event is nearly here I am so psyched out I can't get my head around running 2 km let alone 20 km.  I've done enough training to complete the event, although maybe not enough to do it comfortably or competitively.  I have tried to reevaluate my goals but if anything that has caused more anxiety.

Do you have any tips to overcome these psychological blocks?  How do we take that pressure off ourselves?  I want to be able to maintain changes without needing to start from the beginning again (which is inevitiably what usually happens).

Forgive me if the solutions are in your book.  I haven't been able to wrestle it off my mum yet.  She has had positve feedback about it though.

My brother is getting married at the end of the year (in Christchurch) so I want to have all this sorted by then.  I've lost motivation since the Christchurch earthquake so perhaps that has been the problem.  Not sure.

[Jaquta]

I get that incremental changes are the best way to go.
I have emotional issues so find making even very basic changes difficult.
My poor running performance was due to me being burnt out.  I have since struggled with motivational issues and injuries.  Walking actually bores me unless it is challenging.

Great advice on the junk food.  Yesterday I was so stressed I ate 150g potato chips, 350g corn chips, sweets, a blueberry chocholate slice I made, about a litre of icecream, meals plus other stuff and alcohol.  That's a massive calorie blow out.  And that was after I stacked the fridge with loads of fresh fruit and vegetables.

I think that structuring my diet and exercise would help.  I found journalling my food in the past helpful.

Have just gotten really depressed and feel so frustrated and powerless.  I guess I have just hit the self-destruct button but overlooked that at some point I would have to reverse the negative effects.

Have enlarged axillary lymph nodes with history of breast cancer.

I think that perhaps I am a good example of what people should not be doing.

insight + action = change (I think Dr Gould, a former expert at medhelp said that).

Thanks for your post.  Perhaps it will help motivate me to do what I know I need to be doing.

[Zanaprin]

A combination of calories control diets, walk and exercise would be the best way to lose weight quickily. Cut out oily, high-fat and junk food and substitute it with vegetables and fruits. Start exercising without too much exertion and gradually increase the duration of the exercise. Only a gradual weight loss technique can help you stay healthy in the long run. Fasting or other sudden and drastic weight loss techniques can usually lower a person's energy level, damage the skin and can even lead to health problems.

[Jaquta]

Hi.  It wasn't so much fun after all.  Really struggled to get into it for some reason.  My strategy was to draft and to run my lines (and to not be in the loo at the start of the race, which I wasn't).  I think I just found it hard to get into a rhythm.

There was some wind and the road section was wet (?dewy).  The off-road stuff was a little rough with some of the sections a little wet underfoot.

I took an eternity in an hour 55 and something seconds.  Embarrassingly slow for me.  I came about ?27 out of 120+ open women.  I feel bad about the result but think that it was perhaps OK for the 40 odd average runs I did do.  Basically I'm just trying to justfy how useless I actually am.

The plan was to now start training for the next event in early June.
I have been offered a 60 hour working week doing a mundane job for minimal wage.  I'm keen to work but ... anxious about the hours and the lifestyle and the affect it will have on my health.  My family are frustrated with me and don't understand why I would have reservations.  I think my doctor would have concerns.

I'd lost 15 kg's but are now losing about one a day through stress.  (I ate the chocholate, etc out of the goodie bag too.)  ??

Sorry for the novel.  I just wanted to update you about the run.

The only other remotely interesting news here was that my sister had a baby boy.  He was apparently distressed with his HR 260 then 50 so they pulled him out.  They tore my sister's rectum, etc and suspect he may have some degree of brain damage.  It'll be interesting to see how he develops.

Thanks for helping to normalize the run experience for me.  I wish things were different for me or that I could make them different.  Thanks for the role modeling.

[Jaquta]

Thanks!!  The visualization does help with weight loss but not so much exercise in my experience.  I don't think I'm even able to visualize a positive outcome for that.  I've tried to look at it from a different perspective, one of participation and enjoyment, but for some reason I can't seem to let the performance aspect go (even though I know it's hindering me).

I wonder if it comes back to self-belief or self-doubt in my situation.  I have tried to reinforce the positives.

"Always looking up," is a good idea.  I've tried that too.  I thought that I could use this current event as a stepping stone for one in several months and then another in October.

It's OK to let it go once it's gone isn't it?  I think the fear of failure has left me feeling paralyzed and avoidant.  The panic and feelings of being overwhelmed were making me feel trapped and powerless.  Safety was becoming an issue.  I hate it when I do this.  It's a run, that I can walk, for goodness sake.  How hard is that?

Probably not overtrained.  Well maybe considering I was basically sleeping 24/ 7 before starting.  After a couple of easy weeks to start with it stepped up pretty quickly.  I think the running plus the firewood and helping my parents with their deck plus all the emotional stuff was quite tiring.  In my last two hard weeks I missed the hill climbs and cut short my long run.  I also injured myself.  I thought I pulled my quad but my GP said the problem was where my thigh inserts (high vs low wherever that is).

The event organizers marked the track last week and I ran over part of it then.  I thought my time was pretty slow and that I think knocked my confidence a lot.
I was hoping for a time of an hour 38 but I don't have the base and based on my times to date I'll be looking at an hour 50 (providing I don't quit or walk the whole way).

I've come a long way so I should reward that progress and not keep berating myself.

Thanks for the advice and thanks for listening.  I think talking has perhaps helped a little too.

After this weekend I'm going to join the athletics club.  I think the social and enjoyment aspects are hugely important too.

I'll let you know how I get on.  I think.

[James G Beckerman, M.D.]

One thing I try to do is visualize how I will feel once I've accomplished my goal - I really try to put my head in that place...and it can really keep me going!  Another idea is to think about how accomplishing this goal will put you in a stronger position to have other new experiences down the line - I call this the idea of "always looking up."

But it's hard - especially when you get close to the race, you're exhausted (and maybe even overtrained?), so it's not a simple solution!

I wish you the best! Have fun with it!