I am 59 and for many years i have yoyo dieted like a lot of people. As i head into Yr3 of my degree and dissertation (gulp) i have gradually upped my carbs and addiction to sugar. I guess as a way of soothing myself in between full time work and degree commitments. I have recently realised that i am in a food trance most of the time feeling like im heading rapidly towards being an old person.
This is why i took up C25K. To get me doing some exercise that i can do without cost or hassle. I have just started Wk4 with R1 this afternoon. It was hard, but i kept going. When i got back and sat ready to go for a shower, i suddenly had a feeling of the real me come over me. It was weird. For the first time in years i felt like a useful member of society who CAN DO IT! Not the constant failed dieter, or the failed gym member or the bystander who is always moaning she cant do it. Its my feet, my muscles, my pace and i dont need to compare myself to anyone else. It gives me great hope that i can conquer my food/sugar addiction and rid myself of this weight that has held me back for years.
Sorry its a long post but i wanted to share how running is making me feel
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Jasminflower59
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Good post from you Jasmine, you don't need to apologise for the long post, I wish you luck with your degree and long dissertation, I have not come across many people here on C25K who have a university degree, there may be some. There was a young lady last year who compared her college graduation with her graduation from C25K, she was much happier with this C25K one than her college one.
Wow! You are seriously an amazing person! Look at all you are achieving...many others would not be able to take on academic studies at a high level as well as overhauling your lifestyle-eating and exercise. Well done and go you! Cutting sugar down is such a good target. Your health will benefit in so many ways - including your mood! Keep going-you’re doing great!
Well done. Just go for it. Remember that it doesn't end with week 9 and graduation though. Once you've finished, keep up with those three runs per week and you'll find that it's amazing where it will take you.
I find that getting out for an early morning run sharpens my mind and sets me up for the rest of the day. I'm retired now, but when I was working, I always made sure I went for a run on days before I had a particularly important meeting. It helped me enormously.
I fully understand this! I have spiralled over years into a heavy and unhealthy state, but am now starting to feel like a proper runner (I graduated C25k at New Year). I struggle with work:life balance and totally get how studying in your own time just takes over. I am a long-standing Slimming World member but not making much progress at the moment, but I am running regularly and increasing my distance. Your post has inspired me to really focus on my food intake now: only I have the power to change what I choose to eat. Good luck with your journey and your dissertation! What’s your subject?
Hi Molly. Thank you for your reply. Yes i am in a dissertation/sugar bubble at the moment. I have to turn a blind eye to life whilst im doing this and be thankful that my husband keeps everything going at home including 2 young dogs. Im doing a BSc (Hons) in Counselling and Psychotherapy. Its intense. Just 3 months to go 😁
Good luck: it’s so tough with a family to manage. I did a PhD largely in my own time and I don’t know how everything kept going but it did and nobody is any the worse off, apart from my waistline! It’s so easy to feel guilty for putting your studies first so huge pat on the back for getting through. Thank goodness for having an amazing support network 👍
Great post Jasminflower59 . Have a look at the NHS weight loss forum, it's a great place to start your weight loss journey, many people who would give you a huge welcome & plenty of support. I belong there 😊
Well done Jasminflower! You have lots of challenges and are making positive changes! I've been running for a year now and I know exactely what you mean about its effects - it makes me feel so much more positive about myself. Good luck with all your goals, and happy running! 👍👍🏃♀️😀
You are doing really well, I am also 59 (only for another 4 weeks), very overweight, I was full of self doubt and never thought I could do it. But I have and like you find it very hard, that sense of achievement we get as we progress is priceless and empowering. So you go girl!
I have had a couple of set backs but just get back on it with quiet determination and feel proud of myself for doing it.
I’m 56 and can so identify with you. A yo-yo dieter still 😢. I did OU and finished a masters in 2015. So proud of what I did. But now all I’m left with is my weight. I started running two years ago but had family health problems which stopped me. Your post might just be the motivation I need. Thank you. I loved running through the woods and so miss it.
Hi Del. Thanks for your reply. Im always kicking and screaming going into any exercise or even a sniff of a diet, even if it is badged as ‘just heathy eating’! I have never run in my life apart from athletics at school in the 70’s. My daughter said ‘you just havent found an exercise you like’. Like 😂??? Nah never like 😟. But i envy people who achieve 5k or all those charity runs, so i am giving it a go. I can still talk myself out of running as its my default setting. But im 10 runs in and once im out i just do it. When i get back i feel so smug 😊. Give it a go Del. Let me know how you get on x
Well done!!! I finished my dissertation for my masters degree and found myself looking for something to do once I had completed it, hence the couch to 5k programme!! Good luck with the rest of your studies and the running x
Thank you. Its still a battle cos im mid dissertation. Im sitting here now facing my screen knowing im procrastinating by writing to you 😂. But at the same time im smug cos i have actually been out and run 10 times!! Ten times!! My husband has been looking on in admiration and now thinking of taking it up himself!! Wonder why? Haha. X
I fully understand your dissertation sugar woes. When you sit down and look at it and then your brain says ‘ I’ll just have a brew and a biscuit then I’ll crack on’ 😁 then you watch half an hour of Homes Under the Hammer and think ‘ I’ll just have another brew and another biscuit then I’ll start’. I wasn’t running when I did mine but I wish I was - I’m sure it would have helped. I’m glad you had your lovely moment of clarity and I’ve got no doubt you will smash both your degree and your running and have a double graduation celebration 🎓
Oh wow. How do you know this?? Where are you hiding in my house? I have that very brew and im thinking there are some biscuits hidden in my bedside table! 😂. If hubby wasnt downstairs now, i would be down there searching for Homes under the Hammer as i procrastinate some more 😱
😂 I even tried to kid myself that all the hard thinking I was doing was creating a demand for extra glucose!! Good luck Jf59 - it will be worth it once it’s finished.
I am a teacher sat in the library now using this forum to procrastinate! But you are so me, sugar addiction I am unfit a Nd unhealthy but this weekend reading all the support I am so going to give my wk3 r1 a good go this afternoon. Thank you everyone for being so supportive x
Haha...!!! I was also a mature student and I went through my last year and my dissertation with a cup of coffee- to stay awake- and a big pack of chocolate- to endure the coffee, as I don't like it- beside me. But I finished!! Thank God for the forgiving academic robes! The thing is that our brains need water and glucose, so you are in a middle of a sugar craze for a reason. Relax. I just completed the killer Larmer Tree Half Marathon yesterday and I did my first humble race in October 2016, with a silly cycling injury in the middle, so I haven't been running that long. Think in terms of nutrition, not calories. You don't have to go for a run at the moment, You can go for a long walk in nature "to clear your head". Running will come later, your body will signal you when. Sleep as much as you can or your memory will start glitching and drink plenty of water. Some uphill walking will get the blood flowing and help with both study and sleep. If you are really worried about your graduation pics, after your exams, you can go into something like Cambridge. I have nothing to do with them but I see the advantages of that system and a couple of friends of mine lost an staggering amount of weight permanently and in a very short time because, most importantly, made them review their relationship with food. Well done, you! We only grow old when we stop.
Well done to you. Give yourself a pat on the back.
I did a Midwifery Degree as a mature student whilst having children still at home,so I completely understand where you are coming from. Lots of juggling needed to keep everything going but sounds like you are doing it and doing it well. Keep up the running as good for you mentally as well as physically.
Soon you will graduate with C25K and your academic degree. Good Luck.
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About to give up, help!
Nope, don't want to
Feeling a bit emotional...
Can I ask you about addiction?
I want to enjoy 
