Tag Archives: eating

Keeping the wheels from falling off

28 Mar

Can you believe it’s almost the end of March? And that Easter is only a little more than a week away? Crazy, I tell ya.

Because of that, I thought I’d give another update on how my eating plan for Lent is going. When I first started tracking my food, I realized that my eating was haphazard. I already knew that I did well until about 4 pm and then ate everything in sight. A couple of weeks ago, I said that I was being more mindful of what I eat, but I was still struggling with emotional eating.

Well, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that the wheels still fall off my eating habits around 4 pm, or more specifically, the minute I walk in the door after work. It probably doesn’t help that I plan what I’m going to eat on my drive home…

The problem is two-fold. The main issue is that I come home from work hungry. That is caused by either not bringing substantial enough snacks/lunch to work, or by eating my afternoon snack too soon after lunch, leaving me hungry by the time I go home. This whole ‘figuring out exactly what I will eat for the day at 8 am in the morning’ thing is tricky. Most days, I get it right. Other days, I totally underestimate (I guess I’m optimistic about my willpower early in the morning).

The other issue that causes the wheels to fall off is that I eat while trying to avoid doing what I know I should do. A couple of days this week, I came home from work and just didn’t want to run. While I was hemming and hawing and talking myself into putting my running clothes on already, I had a snack, almost always in the form of refined carbs. The things I crave the most often usually come in the form of cereal and white grains – bread, buns, tortillas. Usually topped with butter. Mmm…

My remedy to these issues is also two-fold. Stop coming home from work hungry and stop stalling by eating. (duh) To actually make these happen, I need to get creative. I’ve tried the whole “I’ll bring a snack for that afternoon slump” and eaten it at 10 am instead, because let’s face it, it’s the best snack I bring. I would totally be up for a salad then (because I’m still in love with salads right now) but my lungs vehemently disagree that a salad is good pre-run fuel. I’ve also thought about bringing a box of granola bars to stash in my office but that could be dangerous…

Anyway, the good news is that beyond my hunger-induced and distraction-providing eating snafus, I’ve been doing pretty well. Some victories: I went to a baby shower last Saturday, a situation which usually causes me to eat more than I should (I don’t know why, but for some reason, I eat more when I’m around people than I would by myself), and left feeling like I had eaten the perfect amount.

Travis wanted ice cream tonight and even though we went to Dairy Queen to get him something, I didn’t have anything because I honestly didn’t feel like ice cream. Funny how some people just naturally would choose that, but other people (like me) have to make that conscious choice – and it feels good.

And this isn’t a victory, per se, but more of an interesting observation. I’ve been keeping track of my calories since starting this journal (but not changing what I eat based on the number – it’s just for recording purposes) and have seen the amazing power of the body to regulate itself. Consider this: the average calorie intake for my “rough” week that involved quite a bit of emotional eating and made me feel gross was 2,398 calories a day. But that week was followed by a week that averaged 2,008 calories a day. The average for a month (2/27 – 3/25) was 2,203 calories a day. So even though I had a “bad” week, by listening to my hunger cues, my body corrected itself. That’s why I think it’s so easy for me to maintain the weight I’m at – it’s my “happy weight”, as they say.

Finally, to lighten up this copy-heavy post, here are some adorable pictures of my pooches:

Charlies likes to chew on blankets (naughty!), and she gets the blanket strands stuck in her floppy lips. It’s hilarious.

And Katy hates getting her picture taken. She refuses to look at the camera.

But she’s still cute.

That’s the blanket that Charlie gets stuck in her lips. It’s actually really cute because she likes to adjust her bed with her mouth. When I see her doing it, I’ll just sit there and watch her. If she sees me watching her, she’ll stop right away, like Crap, she saw me.

Do your pets have any quirky behaviors?

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So tired. Need chocolate.

8 Mar

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that I was starting a food log as part of the Love to Eat, Hate to Eat book study I’m doing with my church, and as a way to be more mindful of what I eat. I have been faithful in logging my food everyday, even on Tuesday when I was stuck in a meeting in the same freezing room for 12. hours. straight. Well, we did get a few breaks. But it was a looong day. Everyone at work was still exhausted yesterday. I feel mostly recovered. Wowza.

At first, I thought that my eating log wouldn’t be a true representation of my eating habits – wouldn’t knowing I was going to write it all down motivate me to choose wiser than normal? Perhaps it did for the first few days. But just like I can slouch on an exercise ball, I can eat for emotional reasons even if I’m tracking it.

I have been encouraged to see that 85% of my eating is not emotional. Some days I don’t even make one emotional choice. But then I have days like yesterday, when I’m exhausted and grumpy, and I just want sugar, sugar and more sugar, and throw all discipline and control out the window.

The biggest surprise shock has been to actually see how many calories I eat. In the past when I’ve counted calories or tracked my eating, I’ve conveniently ignored the times when I eat a little bit too much, or regret my dinner choice. “The damage is done – I’m moving on” was my mentality.

But if I am really trying to please God with my eating habits, I can’t just ignore the ugly parts. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). So to bring everything into the light, I’ve kept track of everything – the little bites here and there, the candy, the condiments, everything (even Tums!).

During the first week, I counted calories as I wrote my food down. But I could feel the temptation to become obsessed with the numbers and this is supposed to be about gaining insight and not about making changes. So last week, I decided that I’d leave that part off.

This morning, though, I went through my log from last week and tallied it up (mostly out of curiosity). I don’t believe that our bodies operate on a 24-hour schedule like we do, so I am using a 7-day average as the measuring stick. While some days are scary high (pushing 3,000 calories), the weekly averages for both last week and the first week are around 2,190 calories a day. According to this calculator of Daily Calorie Needs for a moderate activity level (I sit around at work but am fairly active otherwise), I’m eating the right amount for my body size and activity level. My scale agrees. I’m still at the same weight I was 2 weeks ago, 2 months ago, and 2 years ago. My body just likes this weight. So while the sticker shock has yet to wear off, I think that I’m feeding my body an appropriate amount.

That leaves me to tackle the whole emotional aspect of my eating habits. I wish it were as easy to solve that issue as it is to tally a bunch of numbers on a piece of paper. But it isn’t. On days like yesterday, when I am so moody and emotional in general, the idea of not eating the delicious-though-they-cost-$1.25 Reese’s peanut butter cups awaiting me in the vending machine makes me want to yell or hit the first person who dares to annoy me. Glorify God? Respect the temple? I. Don’t. Care. 

Even though I don’t have the solution figured out when I’m already in a bad mood, I do have one insight into prevention: SLEEP. It is no coincidence that yesterday was my roughest day eating-wise, and also the day I felt like a walking zombie. I’ve known for a while that Tiredness + Kathy = Bad Life Food Decisions. I think I also channeled my frustration over having to be at work into eating – Maybe this donut will send me into a wonderfully numb sugar coma so that I don’t realize I’m still here.

“Need to get more sleep” has been written on my log more days than not over the past 2 weeks. I haven’t been doing my morning routine of Bible + writing because I wake up sooooo tired (which is not normal for me). Several days, I’ve woken up to see that I had been hitting my snooze for 45 minutes without even realizing it. Yesterday after work, I walked in the door and promptly laid down on the couch. I didn’t even take my jacket off. I seriously would’ve gone to bed right after dinner if I hadn’t had my ladies group, and I would’ve skipped that, if I hadn’t been the one leading the discussion. I left right after we were done, went straight to bed when I got home, and then… I couldn’t fall asleep. {My mind was running a mile a minute. Even about work stuff. Seriously? So I finished reading Robinson Crusoe. The book was okay. It was pretty slow moving, which isn’t that surprising since it was first published in 1719 (100 years before Dickens was even born!).}

Anyway, to sum it all up, my eating log has helped me be more mindful of what I’m eating, but I have yet to eradicate emotional eating. Stay tuned for more on that…

Do you like reading old classics like Dickens, Tolstoy, or Twain? Which book is your favorite?

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My Running Nemesis

29 Feb

Monday night, I almost died.

Well, at least that’s what it felt like.

I got home from work tired (because I had stayed up too late Sunday night) and didn’t feel like going on a run outside in the brisk air. So I talked Travis into going on a walk with me and the dogs, and I’d go to the Rec after dinner.

Bad idea. Remind me to never do that again, will ya?

My mistake was eating an antelope burger (they’re actually very tasty) and about half a pound of brussel sprouts for dinner.

Remember how I discovered less than a month ago that I couldn’t eat a salad before a run? Apparently that same thing is true for brussel sprouts.

Only this time, the brussel sprouts really tried to finish me off. I was running around the track at a really easy pace (11:30ish/mile) and I started feeling a little sick. Assuming that the ketchup on my burger had given me acid reflux (which it has been known to do, and of course I forgot to eat Tums before running), I was just going to muscle through. I was on my 17th lap (1.6 miles) when in the span of ten seconds, all of a sudden I couldn’t breathe.

I got off the track and sat on a bench, and I was actually really scared that something bad was happening. My chest felt like an elephant was sitting on it, like I just couldn’t inhale enough oxygen to expand my lungs. My face was tingly and hot, and felt like it had swollen up to 5 times its normal size (but I felt it with my hand and it seemed normal). This was exactly what had happened during my run after eating the salad, only 10 times worse. That time, the symptoms had slowly subsided on their own, so I felt okay to just wait it out – even though it was incredibly painful!

After about 5 minutes, I started to feel better. I sat there for another 5 minutes and then granny-walked to get my stuff and leave. My stomach hurt as I was driving home and immediately after I walked in the door, I laid down on the couch.

I felt ok for about 10 minutes and then my hips and legs started aching – like how your body feels when you have the flu. Then the chills set in – I had two blankets covering me and I was still shivering. Finally, I got the worst headache I’ve ever had – stabbing pain in my forehead. I asked Travis to make me some tea and bring me some Tylenol, which he did willingly. But it was hard to drink the tea because I had to sit up, which made my headache worse, and I had to take my hands out from under the blanket, which made me colder.

After at least 10 more minutes of agony, Travis suggested a warm washcloth for my forehead. I didn’t think it would help, but what could it hurt?

That was the ticket. My headache and chills didn’t go away immediately but by the third re-warming of the washcloth, my headache was bearable and I wasn’t shaking anymore. By the fourth, I was sleeping. Wonderful.

I don’t plan to go to the doctor because 1) I’ve had this happen before. 2) I woke up yesterday morning feeling fine. 3) I don’t believe in doctors.

No but seriously, I went to the ER once for chest pains. It was the same kind of scenario – my chest felt tight, I couldn’t breathe deeply, etc. They diagnosed me with acid reflux, gave me some meds, and sent me on my way. Apparently, the combination of chocolate, coffee and ibuprofen caused acid reflux to such an extent that the acid inflamed the lining between my lungs and ribs, causing friction which feels like chest pain. It took several days for the chest pain to go away. I had to literally sleep sitting up because it hurt too bad to lay down.

Then another time, I gorged myself on fried food at a friend’s house (hello sweet potato fries and arepas!) and woke in the middle of the night convinced I had to throw up. After racing to the toilet and sitting there for 10 minutes with nothing happening, I realized that it was probably acid reflux. Sure enough. I propped myself against the wall and was fine in the morning. Acid reflux is a weird condition.

Since my brush with death (I’m being melodramatic if you can’t tell), I’ve done a little research on acid reflux and discovered that there are more offending foods than I thought. Here’s the short list of Food to Not Eat Before You Go on a Run if You Have Acid Reflux from WebMD:

  • Meats. Ground beef, marbled sirloin, chicken nugget-style, and chicken/buffalo wings.
  • Fats, Oils & Sweets. Chocolate, regular corn and potato chips, high-fat butter cookies, brownies, doughnuts, creamy and oily salad dressings, fried or fatty food in general.
  • Fruits, Vegetables & Juice. Orange juice, lemon, lemonade, grapefruit juice, cranberry juice, tomato, mashed potatoes, French fries, raw onion, potato salad.
  • Other Beverages. Liquor, wine, coffee, and tea.
  • Grains. Macaroni and cheese, spaghetti with marinara sauce.
  • Dairy. Sour cream, milk shake, ice cream, regular cottage cheese.

Um, doesn’t that include about everything? Except spoonfuls of peanut butter I guess. My most-often offender is tomatoes or tomato-based anything.

I also discovered this about heartburn (a symptom of acid reflux): “Heartburn usually is described as a burning pain in the middle of the chest. It may start high in the abdomen or may extend up into the neck. In some patients, however, the pain may be sharp or pressure-like, rather than burning. Such pain can mimic heart pain (angina).” {source}

So I’m convinced that my chest pains were caused by acid reflux. I do have a doctor appointment scheduled in March and will ask about this then (ok, Mom?).

Not one to be deterred, yesterday I was back to running. A 3.5 mile tempo run with Travis. I was admittedly a little nervous but the run was good. Legs felt strong. Lungs felt strong.

My takeaways from this whole situation are:

1. Stop eating vegetables before a run.

2. Go on a run right when I get home from work, instead of eating dinner first.

3. Avoid running at the Rec. There are bad vibes in there.

4. Take Tums before every run, even when I don’t think I need them.

I’m a slow learner, folks.

Have you had any brushes with death while running?

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My Current Food Obsessions

26 Feb

Last Sunday, we had lunch with about 3 other couples from church. Ana Helena was the cook and as always, everything was delicious. My favorite part was the crepes for dessert. We piled them with warm berries, homemade chocolate syrup and whipped cream, ice cream, fried bananas, and walnuts. I am in love with crepes. Thanks again Ana Helena for such a wonderful dinner (we didn’t go home until 4 pm)!

As I was eating the crepes, I remarked to Travis that I need to learn how to make crepes. I crave them all the time. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized they probably weren’t that hard to make. Then on Friday I saw the Blueberry Cream Cheese Crepes post on Part-Time Housewife and knew: I need to make crepes.

I didn’t have the ingredients on hand to make her recipe so I used her crepe recipe and improvised the rest. (Note: I think it would be easier to combine all the ingredients at once instead of in steps, but perhaps that’s just my rookie thinking. The egg/flour mixture got stuck all up in my whisk.)

We don’t have much food in our cupboards or fridge in general right now, but I had thawed a chicken breast and we had a few marinated artichoke hearts left from making little pizzas. So we combined those with some garlic and spices. I also found a long-forgotten tupperware in the freezer, full of a soup that had failed but could be used as a sauce. So while Travis went to work on grilling the crepes, I prepared the rest.

Our crepes actually turned out well, if you ignore a few lumps.

I put the chicken mixture on the crepe, topped with some cheese.

Then I rolled them up, placing the seam on the bottom, and topped them with what looks like disgusting green poo, but actually is a pureed vegetable soup.

Yes, I realize that picture does not want you want to eat this. But I have two more that you will want to eat.

After we ate our crepes, we went to see Sherlock Holmes 2 at the cheap seats (and it was just as good as the first!) and THEN we went to…

Yogurtland!

I still had not made it to Yogurtland after my January of not eating sweets. The night we had decided to go was the day we got about 2 feet of snow and even though Travis and I slid our way over there, they were not open “due to the weather.” Single tear.

So I was determined to make up for it with this run. Travis kept making jokes about not going. After the movie, he said, “You wanna just go home instead of going to Yogurtland?” Um, NO!

And then when we got to Yogurtland and saw that it was the high school hang-out and pretty busy, Travis was like, “It’s too busy. It’s going to take forever. I don’t think we should go in there.”

“I will wait as long as it takes,” I replied.

This girl needs froyo, yo.

I chose 4 different yogurt flavors, and a slew of toppings. Travis was boring and chose 1 yogurt flavor and “2” toppings (it only looked like 1).

Mmmmm… I’m so glad that Denver has Yogurtland.

Saturday morning, I had yet another treat awaiting me. We had 2 crepes left over from the night before, and this one I determined was going to be a dessert one.

So I slathered it with almond butter, topped it with blueberries and frozen Cool Whip, then folded and doused it with chocolate syrup.

Savory crepes have their place, but dessert crepes are the best. It was good, I actually wanted to eat Travis’ crepe too and went to our bedroom to ask if he was going to eat his crepe. After no response from him, I decided that I actually was full. So when he got up, I made the same crepe combination for him!

I was hoping that my crepe and frozen yogurt obsession would be cured, or at least decreased, by these treats. Nope. I just want more.

What food can’t you get enough of lately?

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Eating Plan for Lent

22 Feb

Quickly, I just want to mention that it’s 56* in Denver today. Absolutely wonderful. I just want all the snow to melt already so that I can stop wiping off dirty dog paws!

On to today’s topic:

Eating.

Ever since my January goal of not eating sweets ended, my eating has been kind of haphazard. I do really well until about 4:00 and then the wheels fall off. I get home from work hungry and have a snack before I run. Then I have a snack when I get back from my run while I’m cooking dinner. Then I have a drink or treat before bed.

I also discovered that while my tastebuds enjoyed my new favorite breakfast, my stomach did not. After almost a whole week of feeling incredibly bloated and gassy, I realized that the only consistent thing that had changed about my diet was that I was eating Fiber One and Uncle Sam cereal every day – often combined. Both cereals are high in fiber. And contrary to the hype that fiber should be added to every single food possible, there is such a thing as too much fiber.

My body should be no stranger to fiber. I eat  at least 3-4 servings of fruit and 2-3 servings of vegetables daily, plus plenty of whole grains. So the only thing I could think of was that by adding the high fiber cereals, my body was getting too much fiber. I stopped eating those cereals and within 2 days, I felt normal again. Travis is thankful that I am no longer gassing him out of the house (ah, the beauties of marriage).

Yesterday afternoon, I thought maybe it was just the Fiber One cereal that had been giving me problems. So I ate 1/4 cup of Uncle Sam with some yogurt. Bad idea.

Welp, I guess I’ll just have to go back to my trusty, sugar-filled Honey Bunches of Oats and Frosted Mini-Wheats. Such a hard life…

Even though the fiber bloat is gone, I’m still feeling meh with my body right now. Maybe it’s because I was running 10 miles a week and eating like I was doing 25? I don’t know. But I do know that I have found myself bringing my normal snacks to work, and within an hour of eating a healthy, well-balanced snack, I’m hungry again. I feel like I am always. eating.

When I read another chapter in Love to Eat, Hate to Eat the other morning, and the author suggested keeping a food log, I decided to try it, hoping that it would help me to be more mindful of when and how much I’m eating. Enter the food log:

Mine looks different than the one she includes in the book, mostly because there is no way I could fit my handwriting into the tiny squares of her graph. But also because I like tracking my food in meals/snacks instead of by food group.

I’m recording:

  • What I ate for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and 3 Snacks (including pre-/post-workout fuel)
  • When I ate it
  • What my mood or feeling was when I ate it (specifically if it was emotional or not)
  • How much water I drink
  • If I complete my morning routine of reading the Bible and writing
  • If I complete my training schedule for the day
  • Any victories
  • Areas that need growth

And at the bottom, I have these 2 verses that inspire me to more disciplined eating:

“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” (Romans 13:14)

“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything.” (1 Corinthians 6:12)

…………………………

For some reason, I have a hard time believing that God cares about my eating habits. But reading through this book with a group of women from church, I am little by little accepting that God does care. Because it obviously affects me a lot and occupies quite a few of my thoughts. So my main goal with tracking my eating this way is to be mindful of when and why I’m eating, so that I stop running to food for reward and pleasure, and start running to God instead.

It just so happens that today is the first day of Lent. In the past, when I’ve given something up for Lent, it hasn’t had the desired result of helping me be more mindful of my relationship with God. But this, I think, has potential. So I am going to commit to tracking my food this way for Lent. 40 days.

Here we go.

Do you observe Lent? 

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3 Losers and a Winner.

15 Feb

My cupcakes lost.

I confessed to Travis that I wouldn’t have voted for them either. The cupcakes tasted too much like chocolate cake and I really don’t like chocolate cake.

Travis told me that I didn’t even know what the other options were.

I don’t need to know.

Loser #1.

……………………..

Saturday night, we went to a college hockey game. Travis and I both had season tickets almost every year in college and whenever the Gophers come out to Colorado to play DU (we drove down to CC in Colorado Springs once but it’s a haul just for a game), we try to go to one of the games.

Traffic on the way down was hideous. But we made it with plenty of time to park, eat at Noodles & Co (which really brought back the memories, since I worked at Noodles my senior year of college), and walk to the stadium. The cold walk brought back memories too – of freezing our butts off every time we stepped outside December through March. I have to say, I don’t miss the tingling sensation of your legs thawing out.

The game was really good – the Gophers scored 2 goals in the 1st period.

But then they let one slip in the 2nd. And another in the 3rd. The game went into overtime and almost immediately, DU scored and the Gophers lost. Seriously, Gophers. You were ranked #1 in the nation and you couldn’t win the one time we get to watch you all year?

Loser #2.

……………………..

Pictures from the race were finally online yesterday.

Let’s just say they’re not my greatest looks.

First, I faked my happiness {nobody’s that happy during a race}:

And then I didn’t give a crap:

Yes, that was the finish line.

Not even pretending to care.

Loser #3.

………………………

Last night, I cooked salmon, dill couscous, and brussel sprouts for dinner. Why I decided to cook (what I thought was) one of the most disgusting vegetables for a special dinner is beyond me. I had tried them once a couple years ago and hated them. But I guess I like a good underdog so I gave them another chance.

Dear Brussel Sprouts,

Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this…

and totally redeem yourself!

Signed, 

Your Valentine

I prepared them using this recipe, except that I omitted the cheese because they were so good.

The Winner.

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V-Day Cupcakes and February Goal

14 Feb

Yesterday, Travis entered a dessert contest – a $5 donation to the Children’s Home got him a chance to win (what, I have no idea). So he texted me around 3:30 –  would I “help him” make a dessert (aka make a dessert for him)?

Lucky for him, I like baking.

Unlucky for him, I refused to go to the grocery store. That’s why I dragged my butt to the store on Sunday night!

Lucky for him, I had a box of Red Velvet cake mix in the cupboard that I had actually been thinking about making for Valentine’s Day dinner anyway. So cupcakes it was. And what says Valentine’s Day more than Red Velvet?

Usually when I make cupcakes, they are hideous but delicious. This time, since it was for a contest and all, I decided to use a trick I had read about – piping the frosting onto the cupcakes using a Ziploc bag.

After I baked and cooled the cupcakes, I whipped up some frosting using powdered sugar, butter, milk and vanilla (recipe from Betty Crocker cookbook). Cream cheese frosting is 1,000x better but I really didn’t want to go to the store. I spooned the frosting into a Ziploc freezer bag, cut a small portion of one bottom corner off, and piped away. Some sprinkles and sugar hearts later, and I have to say that they are the best-looking cupcakes I’ve personally ever made.

Travis better win. All’s I’m sayin’.

……………………………

I did a pretty goal job on updating you all on my January goal but I’ve been mums-the-word on my February goal (except that it’s posted here). I haven’t forgotten about my goal of reading or listening to the entire Harry Potter series – in fact, I’ve already listened to the first book and have a pretty good start on the second.

But I’m not going to finish all 7 books in one month, let alone the shortest month of the year (thanks for nothing, leap day). So it’s more of a rolling goal that I plan to be done with as fast as I can listen to the books. I can hook my iPod up to my new car stereo and I’ve been listening to Harry Potter on my drive home every day. And if you’ve never listened to the Harry Potter audiobooks, you should. The reader won an Emmy/Grammy (??) for his performance. He does different voices for each character and really helps you get into each scene. I’m enjoying them a lot. Anyway…

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Busyness is the new black.

8 Feb

Yesterday, I hit a milestone at my job: I worked the entire day. I didn’t even check my gmail. (I decided to end that streak today.)

Things have picked up here big time and it feels so good to finally be involved, contributing, bettering the company that I’m working for instead of just schleping a paycheck home every week.

Since my blogging time has now become work time (and rightly so), I’m back to the ever-a-struggle of finding time to blog during non-work hours. Which has been tough so far this week…

Monday night, I was excused from a workout by spending an hour and a half at the vet just for Katy to get her heartworm shot. I swear, going to the vet is even worse than going to the doctor. And my dogs go to the doctor more often than I do! Completely. ridiculous.

Last night, I raced home after work for a quick 2 mile run with the pooches and then did the first 30 minutes of P90X Yoga before heading to my church for a book study. I helped clean up afterward so I didn’t get home until 10:30 – waaaay past my bedtime. But somehow, I still managed to wake up this morning at 5:15 without an alarm. This has happened to me a lot lately. How does my body know what time to get up even when I go to bed later than usual? It boggles my mind.

Speaking of that 2 mile run, I wore my new Speedy Bullet jacket for the first time. And I am totally convinced it was worth the hefty price tag. My biggest concern about the jacket was that it wouldn’t be warm enough but it was 25 degrees on my run yesterday and with just a long-sleeve running shirt under the jacket, I felt perfect. Even, perhaps, slightly too warm (though I’m not complaining). This means I don’t have to dress like the Abdominal Snowman anymore!

Even though I was very impressed with my new coat, I was not impressed with the running trail.

My choices of running terrain were: 3 inches of snow or black ice. I actually didn’t mind running through the snow but the ice scared the crap out of me. And of course, the pooches were pulling me along wondering why I was being so slow. I’m ashamed to say that after at least 10 yanks on Katy’s leash, I used it as a rein to slap her butt so that she’d slow down and not pull me over. It worked… but she was not happy.

To switch topics in a completely random way, I have a new favorite breakfast.

Mix 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats with water and microwave. Add 1/2 tbsp peanut butter and 1/2 tbsp raspberry jam and stir until blended. Add 1 tbsp vanilla protein powder and 1 tbsp ground flaxseed; stir until blended. Top with 1/4 cup freeze dried strawberries, fresh blueberries and Fiber One cereal. Mmmm…

This idea was inspired by Run Eat Repeat and Clean Eating Chelsey – they always get creative with their breakfasts. I like that this keeps me fuller for longer than just plain cereal, but it’s also a way to get my cereal fix. It’s a win-win!

What’s your favorite way to eat oatmeal?

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New Discoveries.

4 Feb

Thursday night, I discovered that a salad is not a good pre-run meal.

Friday, I discovered that it’s actually kind of nice that everything in Denver shuts down with a big snowstorm, because I get to work from home.

I also discovered that working from home with nothing to do is only slightly less boring that being at work with nothing to do.

I discovered that it takes two feet of snow for Denver to actually plow main side roads with any sort of decency {these pictures were taken Friday morning – it continued snowing all day and we ended up with about 2 feet).

This afternoon, I discovered that the plows still don’t always do a very good job because I almost got stranded at the library.

This morning, I discovered that running 11 miles, or 115 circles, on the indoor track is surprisingly painless with a friend. (Thanks Heidi!)

I also discovered that with no wind and no hills, I can run a 10:45/mile pace for 11 miles…

…and that despite good intentions and a camera, I can still forget to take a picture of my first-ever blogger meetup, and instead make do with a crappy picture of me in my bathroom.

This afternoon, I discovered that the day before the Super Bowl is an even worse day to grocery shop than the day before Thanksgiving.

I also discovered (again) that one of my all-time favorite kinds of candy is Australian Style licorice. Seriously, try it. It’s amazing. (I found it at the regular grocery store in the candy section.)

And finally, I discovered that Reese’s peanut butter eggs are just as delicious as I remember them. Mmmm…

Have you discovered anything new this weekend?

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January Goal: Achieved.

2 Feb

Well, friends, I made it. Survived one entire month without sweets of any sorts. It was rough. Especially last week. The culmination of busyness at work, that time of the month, tiredness, and sickness made me want to punch someone and steal their ice cream. But I didn’t.

The past couple days, I’ve been thinking over whether this goal achieved its intended purpose or not, which was to destroy my intense craving for sweets at all hours of the day for part of every meal. And I have to be honest, last week I was convinced that this whole goal was one big waste of willpower.

But then this week came. And the idea of getting to eat chocolate today was like Meh. I woke up this morning and stumbled to the bathroom with one eye half open, and then I remembered, it’s over. I can eat sweets again.

I stumbled to the kitchen where the thawed Triple Decker Brownies that I had kept in the freezer since New Years were sitting. And to be honest, I didn’t really want one. But I have been waiting for this moment the entire month of January – it’s the Day of Chocolate!

So I got out a plate and made the breakfast of champions:

I ate the dark chocolate square first. It was chocolate but it didn’t explode in my mouth like I had fantasized for 30 days.

Then I started eating the brownie. And I realized that what I was doing was ridiculous. Not only was I eating chocolate for breakfast, I wasn’t even enjoying it. So I bagged up the other half of the brownie and the chocolate cherry for later. As I drank my coffee and ate a piece of peanut butter toast, my stomach was doing flip-flops – not in the elated, I can’t believe we get to eat chocolate again! way but in the What the f? What is this crap? way.

{Don’t worry, I still ate the other half of the brownie and chocolate cherry for my morning snack, and instead of the salad and butternut squash lasagna I so carefully packed, I ate a Cinnamon Crunch bagel with Honey Walnut cream cheese from Panera for lunch. Now my stomach is really confused angry.}

All that to say…

It was cutting it close but I think that my goal finally had its intended effect. That time of the month aside (because we all know that we can’t be held accountable for our actions then), I think that my craving for sweets has decreased to a normal, sane amount.

In fact, I’m not even planning to get Yogurtland tonight.

I know, I know. Who am I?

The reason being that I’m going to run 5 miles and do my physical therapy exercises. And Travis is meeting with guys from church. And I don’t want to drive all the way to Yogurtland by myself. And it’s supposed to be a blizzard tonight after work. And I don’t want my stomach to go on strike for being mistreated.

What I Learned:

This experience has taught me that I do have the willpower to resist sweets. I can never use lack of willpower as an excuse again. I will have to admit that I ate the bowl of ice cream because I wanted it more than I wanted a flat stomach or a stable blood sugar. (That’s been the truth all along anyway.)

I also learned that I turned to sweets of all kinds (including soda…who knew?) for comfort and indulgence. When I come home from a stressful or tiring day, and just want to relax, food is where I turn – because it’s fast, easy, and gratifying. I tried to think of other ways to achieve the same effect but I don’t like baths because relaxing against a cement wall isn’t my idea of a good time. Walks are just more work. Reading and TV are better with food so that’s not it either. I guess I’m left with trying to tame the beast.

Where I Go from Here:

This goal reminded me of why I believe in Intuitive Eating (IE). The main idea of IE is that you give yourself permission to eat whatever you want. There are only two rules in IE: Eat when you’re hungry. Stop when you’re full. The authors believe that when we classify foods as “bad” and “good,” food ends up exerting power over us. But when you ditch the classifications and allow yourself to have whatever you want as long as you’re hungry and stop when you’re full, food loses it power – because you know you can have it anytime you want.

With this goal, I took away that freedom. I couldn’t eat sweets when I craved them and found myself trying to fill the void with other food. This comic from Cathy sums it up beautifully:

This is exactly what the authors of IE  say – you end up eating more food and calories trying to satisfy your true craving in a “healthy” way than you would if you just ate what you truly wanted. And I really found that to be true. When I wanted something sweet after dinner, instead of being able to satisfy myself with a 35-calorie Dove chocolate, I would eat 250 calories of Pirate’s Booty or a bowl of cereal. So if you’re wondering if I lost any weight doing this challenge, sadly, no I did not. 😦

Now that the month of no sweets is over, I’m going back to giving myself the freedom to eat sweets when I’m truly craving them. But I am not going back to the licentiousness I had before I did this challenge. Then, I ate whatever was sitting out or free, whether I really wanted it or not. I exercised hardly any discretion (which is what led me to my sugar addiction in the first place). Now, I would like to be more intentional and make every choice count. If I eat a piece of chocolate cake, it better be just about the best piece of cake I’ve ever had. If I eat ice cream, it better be my favorite flavor or served on top of a gooey, still-warm brownie. That’s one rule I try to follow regarding what I eat in general: If you don’t love it, don’t eat it (even if that means throwing out “perfectly good food”).

I would like to preserve my body’s sugar shock as long as possible. It always make me feel good (and yet at the same time, feel horrible) when I’ve been eating healthy for long enough that my body freaks out when I give it unhealthy food. I must be doing something right. 

Have you ever ransacked the cupboard trying to satisfy a craving?

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