Inspiration

A friend and colleague of mine did the Ironman yesterday. 

Look it up.  Google. It is a monster endurance race of swimming, biking, and running. 

Not for me. 

I do, however, want to challenge myself.  I have a big birthday in 2017. I'm hoping that next fall I can qualify, so I can run the 2017 Boston Marathon. 

What?? I said I'd NEVER run a marathon, and now I have to run one marathon to qualify to run another one!

Boston is special for me because my relatives are from the area.  My grandfather is buried near there. Plus I was so inspired by the runners who said "in your face" to the cowards who did the bombing. 

The qualifying run is where I lived before I moved here. I left the most toxic, unhealthy time of my life. To qualify there, it really would be full circle. Symbolic of how far I have come, by the grace of God. 

Conquering the wall of no for my "big" birthday would have me in the best shape of my life. Again, how awesome.  

So, I'm grateful to my friend who pushed himself safely to meet a goal. Ultimately the competition is against yourself. 

Right now I'm in dream and discussion phase. Planning the trips associated so the run is part, and the rest is enjoying the cities with my hubby. 

What is your goal!? Mine started four years ago with walking daily. 

Start somewhere! Announce it - be accountable! Then GO FOR IT!

e b e r

What's Your Rough Time?

It happens every day. Some time during the late afternoon, I am starving. I do not crave healthy things during this bad time, but crave all the former "go to" foods that would throw me off my healthy course.

It's bizarre. 

The rest of the day, I eat every 2-3 hours.  Frequent, small, low carb meals.  I drink lots of water in between. 

This bad time - it is terrible! Unfortunately, I have succumbed to it on more than one occasion, eating forbidden fruits of the former unhealthy life. 

Oh, I try to prepare for it.  It is the time of day I have one small square of dark chocolate, which I relish. Nothing healthy sounds good at this time, though. 

Yesterday I ate some pork rinds, and that seemed to satiate me. 

I'm hoping that as I continue to avoid the food traps during my hours of temptation, the issue will subside. 

It may not. 

What is your bad part of the day? What, if anything, do you do about it?

e b e r

The Shake Debate

So, I have been looking and reading and watching and pricing...shakes.  Healthy ones, not the shakes of my past that came with lots of ice cream!

Popular exercise programs, including Piyo which I find to be a great adjunct to my running program, hawk the benefits of their shake for health and supplement. Or meal replacement! I cannot pay $4 a shake. I will not sell the product to get a discount.  I don't use them for meal replacement. 

So the search went on. 

Via another blogger, I found this product:

Amazing Grass

What appealed to me was it is gluten free and vegan  -lower carb by far than some other shakes I have seen. This particular product has the phytonutrients and green things missing from my ever healthier diet. It is not gritty and it doesn't taste like grass - and this coming from a girl that takes shots of wheat grass every time I go to the local farmers market. 

 

You may not be saying "yum", but I'm already pleased. It is helping greatly with my chronic lower GI problems. I mix it with light vanilla almond milk for breakfast. And ice! Easy! I read tons of reviews. I am pleased. Of course my disclaimer is always consult your physician before making changes! 

The other great thing is 30 servings for $20!  Now that's reasonable. 

The bottom line is make choices and changes - in conjunction with your health care team - that enhance your life. Safely!

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Out Eating

Oh, yes, I am a foodie. A food snob, sometimes. An adventurous palate has me wanting to try new cuisine on a regular basis!

The diabetes and not wanting unwanted side effects make me think about everything I eat. Every. Single. Bite. 

So go with me out to eat - I do it a lot. 

First of all, I drink water. Not a lot, though! Drinking volumes of water with meals is a mistake. You dilute your stomach acids and ability to digest. Drink water all day- limit dinner beverages. 

I skip the bread. Kill me. Former carb addict now just says no. I will occasionally make exceptions if the meal is super low carb - but usually I pass on the bread basket.  

First up from this weekend at Walt Disney World (WDW) is seafood curry from Yak and Yeti. Mmmm. Wish I could smell it again! Fresh seafood - yes! Rice- oh, only a little but it was soooo good in that coconut milk broth. So limit the carb, eat the fresh veggies and seafood. 

This was Chris' dish, and I had a rib, and a bite of slaw.  The slaw was vinegar based, so I could have eaten more. Fresh cabbage- yes! Rice, again no. 

Now to Morocco in WDW - pita sliders. Tabouli- fresh yum! Lentils- for me, in moderation but yum! Hummus - I adore but will make my sugars go up so I out some on the whole wheat pitas. One had lamb, one had veggies, and one had falafel. I'm not a big falafel fan so I didn't eat that one. Lots of fresh veggies insider the other two , so it was a good choice - high in fiber and taste!  

And then there was this guy...

Ginormous carrot cake cup cake. I took off the candy head - didn't eat it. I cut a third of it off with a knife - and relished every single bite, and licked the knife clean! You have to treat yourself occasionally or you will go crazy. I'm much less likely to stray if I get an occasional treat. Make it worth the calories! If it doesn't taste good, stop! Don't waste your time and daily allowance on tasteless calories!

We were also walking an average of 9 miles a day. Yes, you read that right. So that helped me maintain my blood sugars in healthy range. 

Just a snapshot of eating out - pick fresh, healthy foods. Limit unhealthy or calorie high (or for diabetic me carb high) components. Give yourself a treat. 

You can be healthy and still have a healthy love of food! 

e b e r

Training in Earnest

It officially begins. 

I have started kicking it into higher gear to prepare for my first half marathon of my running season, which is six weeks away. 

It is still excruciatingly hot and muggy. No bueno...but no excuses!

August was a bad month. Oh, I still did a lot of stairs, walked a lot of miles, ran some more, did some Piyo. But August typically is - and was - the nadir of my clinical depression. It's hard to motivate when you are summoning energy to breath. 

Ah, but September! Already I feel the abyss hissing away it's retreat. I'm excited to get back to the discipline and peace of my runs. 

Just a short three years ago...I walked my first 5k. I was recovering from an exacerbation of my back woes, so it took me 53 minutes. But I did it! At a pace that didn't hurt me. And I had fun. 

As I've mentioned before, I am goal oriented. I don't have enough discipline to just run. If I know I've  paid for a run, I'm going to train. 

Start somewhere. 

If you want to start exercising and you are a couch tater like I was, here's what to do. 

1. Go to your doctor. Get your baseline health status, if you don't already have it. Talk to them about what you want to do. They will let you know what is recommended or feasible for where you are. 

2. Go on www.active.com, or a similar site, and peruse the opportunities in your area. Pick something within your capability and interest. If you want something fun, look for color runs or zombie runs or music runs - you will see that exercising with a big bunch of folks is fun!  Or pick a cause run - one that raises money for a responsible charitable organization. You will help others while you're helping yourself.

4. Buy good shoes. Go to a running store - even if you are a walker - and be evaluated for the proper shoes.  They look at how you walk, where you land on your foot, and they pick the right shoe. Yes it will cost more  - but they last longer, and the right shoe will make or break you. You can avoid a lot of injuries by doing this step. 

3. Begin! If you need direction, like this rookie did, get it. Running stores have classes for beginners. There are tons of programs for your phone that will keep you moving. Running clubs also are great - everyone has to start somewhere. 

I walked just over 4 miles this morning, starting with the Jeff Galloway half marathon training.  It was miserably humid. But I concentrated on my great uplifting music, and the beauty around me. I exclusively run/walk outside. I need the sights sounds and smells to keep my mind occupied. But a treadmill or elliptical or bike or tread climber - whatever. You pick what you like, get informed, get a goal, and GO!

😍 

e b e r