FAQ

What’s with the numbers?

My sister and I before heading out for the last segment of our 90in9 challenge.

Good question. It’s not like I’m a math geek, at least not in any conventional sense. I can never keep track of how many laps I’ve run or how many reps of hand weights or whatever. If there’s any data that needs crunched in my life, I almost always subcontract that to my husband or son or even our 9-year-old daughter.

Yet I love reading about math and spotting number patterns that emerge in real life. (For example, I always found it almost eerie that my siblings and I emerged in the exact quantity and birth order as the two previous generations on my mom’s side: Girl-boy-boy-girl.)

So naturally I was taken with the symmetry of losing 90 pounds in nine months, and it was fun, a year later, to flip that around and run 90 miles in nine days. Now I find myself cutting crappy carbs out of my life in groups of three, just for the heck of it but also because those changes seem to “stick” better than cutting out foods one at a time.

Do you have a certain posting schedule that you try to follow?

Sort of. I usually do running posts on Mondays, interviews on Tuesdays,  and family fitness on Fridays. Saturday is food day — sometimes a recipe, but it can also be a review of a product or restaurant dish.

Wednesday and Thursday are more variable. Sometimes themes begin to evolve, but I like to keep those days a bit more flexible to allow for the occasional spontaneous burst of inspiration or (more likely) a backup plan if my original idea falls through.

Sunday is my day off. Usually.

How did you lose weight?

Diet and exercise — Weight Watchers and jogging, specifically. I owe a special thanks to my sister, Traci Heller, who served as my personal trainer, hauling me out for intense walking and then running sessions. For a brief  overview of my story, see the positive side of a negative number.

Why should I read your running posts?

Ben and I round the corner at the 1-mile mark of this year's Swiss Day's Race.

That’s a great question. I’m no expert and I’m certainly not fast, so it’s not like I dispense a wealth of training tips.

The main thing I have to offer is a genuine love of running, which is reflected — I hope — in stories about my favorite or most interesting runs. I love to collect stories from other runners, so if you’ve got an anecdote or experience you’d like to share, shoot me an e-mail me at tischcaylor@gmail.com.

What do you mean by “Normal People” interviews?
After I lost weight, I began interviewing so-called “normal people” — that shrinking slice of American adults who don’t have a weight problem — about how they avoid getting fat.

I tell people I’ve learned more from these interviews than from all the diet books I’ve read over the years, and it’s true. To see the interviews, go to my blog home page, find the categories menu on the right side and click on “How ‘Normal People’ Eat.”

Are you an advocate for Weight Watchers?

Not really. That’s what worked for me, but I think any diet and exercise program works about as well as any other if you stick to it.