And I asked, "What Was I Thinking?"

Thank you, every single one of you.

Today was a good day.
I woke up (slightly later than I wanted) and managed to get 1 mile in.
I felt good, nonetheless.
Remember the Jeff Galloway quote that I love?
"When I finish a run, every part of me is smiling."
That was how I felt this morning.
All three dogs went with me.
No one was on a leash.
We just ran like a bunch of wild, free women!
Even poor old Buttercup managed to slug it out like a champ!
I had many thoughts in my mind. And this run was definitely THE run that I needed.
I can sum up my thoughts with a few words.

I will feed my body.
Because without food, this chick just can't run strongly.
And when she doesn't run, nothing is smiling.

I don't know why I had faltered and entertained the thoughts I had before.
I don't think I am that much of a basket case.
I know nutrition. I am sensible. I have a boyfriend who thinks I am pretty fabulous. 
Goes to show how influential peer/family pressure is, I guess.

•  I don't think showing race bibs and medals and pictures will convince them of anything. In fact, I have been advised to quit running because it is bad on the joints. But I love running. I will scale back like I am doing now, but I am NOT going to stop running.
   
• I don't cry in front of my parents. That is a sign of weakness. In fact, I don't remember the last time I cried in front of them. I must have been weeee young then.
• How have I dealt with this issue in the past? I told them I'm more active than ever, run farther, lift heavier, eat better, loving life all the more than ever before. It didn't do a thing.  

And here's the food.
Since I was running a little late, I had some Greek yogurt with a sprinkle of granola and honey.
I made lunch plans with a teacher and her aide so I won't work through lunch. I ordered a taco and an enchilada and was careful with the chips and salsa.
For dinner, I made something yummy - shrimp and pasta.  I ate. I enjoyed every bite.
Now, I just want to swim a few laps or run another mile, or walk a mile. Anything.
And I want some apples and oranges later tonight as a snack.

I am not taking this issue lightly because issues like this isn't a light issue.
But, after today's food and reading comments y'all left, I am banging my head against the wall for even doing what I did before and thought before. 
What was I thinking? 

Thoughts on a Saturday + review

Yesterday 3-mile run was great. Exhilarating. Three miles isn't a exactly a long distance, but since I have been dealing with a fussy knee and have been resting it some, this 3-mile is akin to taking a bite into a slice of lusciously creamy cheesecake for a diabetic. Heaven on earth. The L knee started to throw temper tantrums about 2.5 miles into it. So I channel my inner-"mom"ness and babied the knee, "Almost there sweetie. Just a little longer. Hang in there."  The knee remained a little fussy today so instead of running, I hopped on the elliptical machine and did some strength training on my legs. Cross-training is supposed to help strengthen those leg muscles and eventually prevent knee problem right? I can only hope this is true.

I dislike the elliptical machine. It is so much work. But I stayed with it and hopped away. My ponytail actually made the entire workout fun. Each time I take a stride with gusto, the ponytail rhythmically swinged from left to right and right to left. I like that momentum going on back of my head, so I kept going. It worked. I did about almost 2 miles in 20 minutes and burned 200 calories. :)

Talking about burning calories, I need to get back into shape. Let me put some blame on the knee (and a little on my gluttony.) With the fussy knee, I wasn't able to run for a while. And I ate and ate and ate pretty much the same amount as when I was more active. Add some buttery Danish cookies to the mix. Ooooh, buttery goodness in my mouth. Needless to say, I packed on a few pounds and I can't white-lied myself that "muscles are denser than fat." Anyway, here I am, pudgier than before. It struck me: If I can't run because of fussy knee, I can STILL work my arms, my back, my thighs, my calves, my abs. There is NO reason for not working out. Absolutely NO reason.

Talking about attitude change, exercising makes me a happier and more cheerful person. Must be those endorphins at work.

A four-year-old kid at kid piqued my interest in almond milk.  During our therapy session, somehow the topic of milk or breakfast came into conversation and he mentioned about rice milk and almond milk and how yummy they are. This was a rarity because seriously, in southeastern Arkansas, the only milk most people drink is cow's milk. Soy milk (my favorite) probably receives a less than lukewarm reception here in this part of the country. So, to hear that this kid drinks almond milk and rice milk and actually thought it was yummy, ha, I gotto go investigate.

I bought the only kind of almond milk they have at the store. We'll it isn't exactly almond milk but almond drink - Almond Dream. I'm not too impressed with the nutritional content. An 8 fl. oz drink packs 50 cal, 2.5g fat, 5g sugar, 1g protein, and less than 1g of fiber. So, the nutritional content is blah but maybe, like junk food, it will taste good. Fat chance. It's tastes ok. Not bad. It has a hint of almond but barely. It tasted like a very very diluted almond drink. It's almost good but not there yet. Neither here nor there. I think I will stick to my soy milk, chocolate goat milk and regular skim milk for now.

Just for fun, I made eggs-over-easy for breakfast after the trip to the gym, a slice of whole wheat toast and this almond drink thing. For lunch, we'll be having tuna sandwich and soup and for supper, we'll be having vension and whatever leftovers we have from lunch.

Have a good weekend.