::: book review and giveaway: find your strongest life: what the happiest and most successful women do differently :::

Are you a frenzied woman?
Has your life become a juggling act, requiring you to keep everything in the air, barely allowing each aspect to register on your fingers before the next one comes flying at you?
Are you unclear about which direction your life should take?
Are you constantly struggling to "find the balance" in your life?

It's no surprise. According to the book Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham from Thomas Nelson Publishers, though both men and women suffer under life's pressures, women suffer more.

In Buckingham's book, he shares that:

• As men and women age, men become more satisfied as women become less satisfied with every aspect of their lives;
• An extra hour of free time doubles a man's feelings of relaxation, but it does nothing for a woman's;
• Contrary to popular belief, women are not better at multitasking than men and that your IQ actually drops ten points when multitasking;
• Women, in general, have become less happy over the last forty years than men, in spite of increased availability of education, better jobs, better pay and more freedoms. 

So what can be done?

Buckingham suggests that finding balance is not the answer, that we should be tipping the scales toward ourselves in certain areas of our lives. He tells us that we are not taking advantage of our strong moments, that our lives should not to drain and exhaust us, but fill us up. By offering the Strong Life Test, Buckingham helps the reader to focus on the areas of her life that bring her the most strength based on her Leading and Supporting Roles, to trust her own judgment about what fills her up, and, maybe more importantly, to determine what exhausts us, even in our relationships, and what we should do with those aspects.

This is not a book I would typically choose to read, but from the first few pages, I was drawn in and compelled to read more. Some of the book seemed to delve into an overly-strong self-importance, but Buckingham reminds the reader that it's impossible to give effectively to those we love if we're drained by life.

While a large portion of the book seems to be tailored to the professional woman, especially working mothers, including the online Strong Life Test, Find Your Strongest Life offers plenty of suggestions for women from all walks of life, and even includes chapters titled Tactics for Stronger Relationships and Tactics for Stronger Kids.

If you believe you need to find a balance, don't have a direction, or feel unhappy with the role you're playing in your own life, pick up Find Your Strongest Life and discover the role you were born to play.

Leave a comment in the comment field to win my review copy, underlining and all, of Find Your Strongest Life by Marcus Buckingham. A winner will be chosen at random on Friday, October 9th. 

Couch Potato to 5K: Hit the Road!

Kim and I hit the trail on Friday morning. I wasn't really up for running and had planned to slowly acclimate to the trail with a nice, brisk 3 mile walk. Kim had other plans. She arrived with stopwatch in hand, encouraging me to get back into the swing.

It wasn't all that bad, save the nagging nausea that seems to attack partway through the first leg of my run. I've done a bit of reading, and, apparently, that's just from being out of shape. I've tried eating and not eating, both with the same result, so it seems that I simply need to keep at it and the nausea will abate.

The schedule:

5 min run
4 min walk
5 min run
4 min walk
5 min run
Walk the remainder of the 3.3 miles (or so)

Today, I decided to run on my country road. It wasn't all that bad, and even the small hills were okay to tackle. I took it very, very slowly, jogged .6 of a mile, walked a minute or two, then jogged .5 mile. I was sweaty and it was definitely enough of a workout for me, but I hope to get up to jogging the whole thing, then adding to it.

Interestingly enough, I was most concerned about what the neighbors would think of the "crazy English woman" running on the road. I guess if I do it long enough, we'll all get used to it.

Tomorrow, it's off to the trail with Kim again. I'll try for 8 minutes of jogging. I think I'm ready for the push.

I Would Eat It In the Rain!

It's unbelievable.

It was always my very strong opinion that there are "fish and seafood" people and there are those who hate fish and seafood. I always classified myself as the latter.

But, somehow, I've become a fish eater.

I know. I can hardly comprehend it myself.

After reading this list, I decided to try adding some salmon to my diet. I was sure I'd hate it. It would be fishy. It would taste like seaweed. I'd never like it. Never. Not ever.

So Saturday night, I was craving meat. Hunger overtook me and before long, Bo and I were visiting a restaurant in Cincy at ten at night. I looked at the menu, searching for a big, juicy burger, and I saw that the restaurant featured TWO salmon dishes. It had to mean something. I ordered the salmon, hedging my bets by making a deal with Bo. He'd order a burger, and if I totally hated the fish, he'd trade with me.

I do like salmon, Sam-I-Am!

Not only did I like it, I actually preferred it over the burger.

Astounding.

I bought a few salmon filets and prepared them for the family tonight. What a hit! I'd post the recipe over at Time to Cook, but it doesn't qualify because it only took minutes to prepare. So I'll post it here.

1/3 cup lemon juice
1 clove of minced garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
fresh rosemary (or dried, if you don't have fresh)
a teaspoon of crushed thyme
lemon zest
salt to taste
salmon

Marinate the salmon at room temp for about a half-hour. Grill or broil, basting once half-way through. I used my contact grill and it was done in no time. I served it with this:

Snow Peas

1 pound of snow peas
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
2 cloves of garlic
a dash of lemon juice
a pinch of thyme
a pinch of salt

Mix all of this together, then spread in a baking dish in a single layer. Bake at 450 degrees farenheit for seven minutes, til tender but not soft.

Very yum.

I think I can handle this new way of eating.

The 15 foods runners need every week for good health and top performance

I didn't run today, but I did get encouragement from your comments as well as from a fellow runner today. I hope to run sometime this weekend, if the weather permits, but in the meantime, I found this article online while searching for the best foods for runners. Very good to read. I hope to implement more of them. I already buy mixed greens, frozen berries, raw and salted almonds, yogurt, oranges and bananas and I ocassionally use whole grain pasta but I've also been making my own pasta and haven't experimented with the whole grain stuff yet. What I really need to add are eggs (don't like 'em), salmon (not a big fish eater. Like to the tune of I never eat it), and chicken is so expensive that I rarely buy it. But I know that if I and my family are going to start running, we have to eat to run, as one commenter said. So, here, according to Runner's World, is the...

The Best Grocery List of All Time

The 15 foods runners need every week for good health and top performance
By Liz Applegate Ph.D.

Most supermarkets stock more than 30,000 items, yet every time we race up and down the aisles of the grocery store, we toss into our carts the same 10 to 15 foods. Which isn't such a bad thing, as long as you're taking home the right foods--ones that will keep you healthy, fuel peak performance, and easily cook up into lots of delicious meals. So before your next trip to the grocery store, add the following 15 foods to your must-buy list. Then, when you get home, use our tips and recipes to easily get them into your diet and onto your menu.


Add to your cart: Almonds

Runners should eat a small handful of almonds at least three to five times per week. Nuts, especially almonds, are an excellent source of vitamin E, an antioxidant that many runners fall short on because there are so few good food sources of it. Studies have shown that eating nuts several times per week lowers circulating cholesterol levels, particularly the artery-clogging LDL type, decreasing your risk for heart disease. And the form of vitamin E found in nuts, called gamma-tocopherol (a form not typically found in supplements), may also help protect against cancer.

Add to your diet: Add almonds and other nuts to salads or pasta dishes, use as a topping for casseroles, or throw them into your bowl of hot cereal for extra crunch. Combine with chopped dried fruit, soy nuts, and chocolate bits for a healthy and tasty trail mix. Almond butter is perfect spread over whole-grain toast or on a whole-wheat tortilla, topped with raisins, and rolled up. Store all nuts in jars or zipper bags in a cool dry place away from sunlight and they'll keep for about two to four months. Storing them in the freezer will allow them to keep an extra month or two.

Add to your cart: Eggs

One egg fulfills about 10 percent of your daily protein needs. Egg protein is the most complete food protein short of human breast milk, which means the protein in eggs contains all the crucial amino acids your hard-working muscles need to promote recovery. Eat just one of these nutritional powerhouses and you'll also get about 30 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin K, which is vital for healthy bones. And eggs contain choline, a brain nutrient that aids memory, and leutin, a pigment needed for healthy eyes. Choose omega-3 enhanced eggs and you can also increase your intake of healthy fats. Don't worry too much about the cholesterol: Studies have shown that egg eaters have a lower risk for heart disease than those who avoid eggs.

Add to your diet: Whether boiled, scrambled, poached, or fried (in a nonstick skillet to cut down on the need for additional fats), eggs are great anytime. Use them as the base for skillet meals such as frittatas. Or include them in sandwiches, burritos, or wraps as you would meat fillers. You can also add them to casseroles and soups by cracking one or two in during the last minute of cooking.

Add to your cart: Sweet potatoes

This Thanksgiving Day standard should be on the plates of runners year-round. Just a single 100-calorie sweet potato supplies over 250 percent of the DV for vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene, the powerful antioxidant. Sweet potatoes are also a good source of vitamin C, potassium, iron, and the two trace minerals manganese and copper. Many runners fail to meet their manganese and copper needs, which can have an impact on performance since these minerals are crucial for healthy muscle function. There are even new sweet-potato varieties that have purple skin and flesh and contain anthocyanidins, the same potent antioxidant found in berries.

Add to your diet: Sweet potatoes can be baked, boiled, or microwaved. You can fill them with bean chili, low-fat cheese, and your favorite toppings, or you can incorporate them into stews and soups. Baked as wedges or disks, sweet potatoes make delicious oven fries. Don't store sweet potatoes in the fridge because they will lose their flavor. Instead, stash them in a cool, dark place, and they should keep for about two weeks.

Add to your cart: Whole-Grain Cereal with Protein

Look for whole-grain cereals that offer at least five grams of fiber and at least eight grams of protein. For example, one cup of Kashi GoLean cereal, which is made from seven different whole grains, including triticale, rye, and buckwheat, fills you up with a hefty 10 grams of fiber (that's 40 percent of the DV) and is loaded with heart-healthy phytonutrients. It also contains soy grits, supplying 13 grams of protein per serving. If you pour on a cup of milk or soymilk, you'll get 30 to 40 percent of your protein needs as a runner in one bowl. Other high-protein/high-fiber cereals include Nature's Path Optimum Rebound and Back to Nature Flax & Fiber Crunch.

Add to your diet: Of course whole-grain cereal is excellent for breakfast--a meal you don't want to skip since research indicates that those who eat breakfast are healthier, trimmer, and can manage their weight better than nonbreakfast eaters. Cereal also makes a great postrun recovery meal with its mix of carbohydrates and protein. Or you can sprinkle whole-grain cereal on top of your yogurt, use it to add crunch to casseroles, or tote it along in a zip bag.

Add to your cart: Oranges

Eat enough oranges and you may experience less muscle soreness after hard workouts such as downhill running. Why? Oranges supply over 100 percent of the DV for the antioxidant vitamin C, and a recent study from the University of North Carolina Greensboro showed that taking vitamin C supplements for two weeks prior to challenging arm exercises helped alleviate muscle soreness. This fruit's antioxidant powers also come from the compound herperidin found in the thin orange-colored layer of the fruit's skin (the zest). Herperidin has been shown to help lower cholesterol levels and high blood pressure as well.

Add to your diet: Add orange sections to fruit and green salads, or use the orange juice and pulp for sauces to top chicken, pork, or fish. And to benefit from the antioxidant herperidin, use the orange zest in baking and cooking, as with my Grilled Herbed Salmon recipe (above). Select firm, heavy oranges, and store them in the fridge for up to three weeks. Orange zest can be stored dried in a glass jar for about a week if kept in a cool place.

Add to your cart: Canned Black Beans

One cup of these beauties provides 30 percent of the DV for protein, almost 60 percent of the DV for fiber (much of it as the cholesterol-lowering soluble type), and 60 percent of the DV for folate, a B vitamin that plays a key role in heart health and circulation. Black beans also contain antioxidants, and researchers theorize that this fiber-folate-antioxidant trio is why a daily serving of beans appears to lower cholesterol levels and heart-disease risk. In addition, black beans and other legumes are low glycemic index (GI) foods, meaning the carbohydrate in them is released slowly into the body. Low GI foods can help control blood sugar levels and may enhance performance because of their steady release of energy.

Add to your diet: For a quick, hearty soup, open a can of black beans and pour into chicken or vegetable stock along with frozen mixed veggies and your favorite seasonings. Mash beans with salsa for an instant dip for cut veggies, or spread onto a whole-wheat tortilla for a great recovery meal. Add beans to cooked pasta or rice for extra fiber and protein.

Add to your cart: Mixed Salad Greens

Rather than selecting one type of lettuce for your salad, choose mixed greens, which typically offer five or more colorful delicate greens such as radicchio, butter leaf, curly endive, and mache. Each variety offers a unique blend of phytonutrients that research suggests may fend off age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer's, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. These phytonutrients also act as antioxidants, warding off muscle damage brought on by tough workouts. You can usually buy mixed greens in bulk or prewashed in bags.

Add to your diet: Toss a mixed greens salad with tomato, cucumber, scallions, and an olive oil-based dressing (the fat from the oil helps your body absorb the phytonutrients). You can also stuff mixed greens in your sandwiches, wraps, and tacos. Or place them in a heated skillet, toss lightly until wilted, and use as a bed for grilled salmon, chicken, or lean meat. Greens store best in a salad spinner or the crisper drawer in your fridge for up to six days. Just don't drench them in water or they won't keep as long.

Add to you cart: Salmon

Nutrition-wise, salmon is the king of fish. Besides being an excellent source of high-quality protein (you get about 30 grams in a four-ounce serving), salmon is one of the best food sources of omega-3 fats. These essential fats help balance the body's inflammation response, a bodily function that when disturbed appears to be linked to many diseases including asthma. A recent study showed that people with exercise-induced asthma saw an improvement in symptoms after three weeks of eating more fish oil. If you've been limiting seafood due to possible mercury or PCB contamination, simply aim for a variety of farm-raised and wild salmon for maximum health benefits.

Add to your diet: Bake, grill, or poach salmon with fresh herbs and citrus zest. Gauge cooking time by allotting 10 minutes for every inch of fish (steaks or fillets). Salmon should flake when done. Precooked (leftover) or canned salmon is great in salads, tossed into pasta, stirred into soups, or on top of pizza. Fresh fish keeps one to two days in the fridge, or you can freeze it in a tightly sealed container for about four to five months.

Add to your cart: Whole-Grain Bread

Runners need at least three to six one-ounce servings of whole grains per day, and eating 100 percent whole-grain bread (as opposed to just whole-grain bread, which may contain some refined grains and flours) is an easy way to meet this requirement since one slice equals one serving. Whole-grain bread may also help weight-conscious runners. One study showed that women who eat whole-grain bread weigh less than those who eat refined white bread and other grains. Whole-grain eaters also have a 38 percent lower risk of suffering from metabolic syndrome, which is characterized by belly fat, low levels of the good cholesterol, and high blood sugar levels. All this raises the risk for heart disease and cancer.

Add to your diet: Bread is versatile, portable, and ready to eat right out of the wrapper. Spread with peanut butter or stuff with your favorite sandwich fillings and plenty of sliced veggies for a one-handed recovery meal. Coat with a beaten egg for French toast, or use as layers or crumbled in a casserole. Just be sure the label says 100 percent whole grain (all the grains and flours included in the ingredients should be listed as whole, not milled or refined). And don't just stick with the popular 100 percent whole-wheat breads. Try different varieties of whole grains such as barley, buckwheat, bulgur, rye, or oat.

Add to your cart: Frozen Stir-fry Vegetables

Research shows that eating a combination of antioxidants, such as beta-carotene and vitamin C, may lessen muscle soreness after hard interval workouts by reducing the inflammation caused by free-radical damage (for more on this, see "Should You Be Afraid of Free Radicals," page 61). Most ready-to-use stir-fry veggie combos offer a potent mix of antioxidants by including red and yellow peppers, onions, bok choy, and soy beans. And frozen vegetable mixes save lots of prepping time but still provide the same nutrition as their fresh counterparts.

Add to your diet: Dump the frozen vegetables right into a hot wok or skillet, add tofu, seafood, or meat, your favorite stir-fry sauce, and serve over brown rice. Or throw them into pasta water during the last few minutes of cooking, drain, and toss with a touch of olive oil. You can also mix the frozen veggies right into soups or stews at the end of cooking, or thaw them and add to casseroles. Vegetables store well in the freezer for about four months, so make sure to date your bags.

Add to your cart: Whole-grain Pasta

Pasta has long been a runner's best friend because it contains easily digestible carbs that help you restock spent glycogen (energy) stores. Whole-grain versions are a must over refined pastas because they contain more fiber to fill you up, additional B vitamins that are crucial to energy metabolism, and disease-fighting compounds such as lignans. And even better, pastas such as Barilla Plus offer whole-grain goodness along with heart-healthy omega-3 fats from ground flaxseed and added protein from a special formula of ground lentils, multigrains, and egg whites to help with muscle repair and recovery.

Add to your diet: Pasta makes a complete one-pot meal--perfect for busy runners--when tossed with veggies, lean meat, seafood, or tofu. Or combine pasta with a light sauce, a bit of your favorite cheese, and turn it into a satisfying casserole.

Add to your cart: Chicken

Runners need about 50 to 75 percent more protein than nonrunners to help rebuild muscles and promote recovery after tough workouts. And just one four-ounce serving of chicken can supply about half a runner's daily protein needs. Along with protein, chicken contains selenium, a trace element that helps protect muscles from the free-radical damage that can occur during exercise, and niacin, a B vitamin that helps regulate fat burning during a run. New studies also suggest that people who get ample niacin in their diet have a 70 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Add to your diet: Chicken's versatility makes it perfect for runners with little time to cook. You can bake, broil, grill, or poach chicken in broth. Leftover chicken works well on top of salads, mixed into pasta, or stuffed into sandwiches and burritos. Fresh chicken stores safely for two days in the fridge, but can be frozen for six months or more.

Add to your cart: Frozen Mixed Berries

The colorful compounds that make blueberries blue, blackberries deep purple, and raspberries a rich shade of red are called anthocyanins--a powerful group of antioxidants that may help stave off Alzheimer's disease and some cancers. Anthocyanins may also assist with postrun recovery and muscle repair. Not bad for a fruit group that contains a mere 60 calories or so per cup. And remember: Frozen berries are just as nutritious as fresh ones, but they keep far longer (up to nine months in the freezer), making it easier to always have them ready to eat.

Add to your diet: Frozen berries make a great base for a smoothie and there's no need to thaw them. Once thawed, eat them straight up or add to some vanilla yogurt with chopped nuts. Or liven up your hot or cold cereal with a big handful. You can also bake berries with a nutty topping of oatmeal, honey, and chopped almonds for a sweet treat after a long weekend run.

Add to your cart: Dark Chocolate

As a runner you deserve at least one indulgence--especially one you can feel so good about. Chocolate contains potent antioxidants called flavonols that can boost heart health. In one study, a group of soccer players had lower blood pressure and total cholesterol levels, and less artery-clogging LDL cholesterol after just two weeks of eating chocolate daily. Other research suggests that the chocolate flavonols ease inflammation and help prevent blood substances from becoming sticky, which lowers the risk of potential blood clots. But not just any chocolate will do. First off, dark chocolate (the darker the better) generally contains more flavonols than milk chocolate. Also, the way the cocoa beans are processed can influence the potency of the flavonols. Chocolate manufacturer Mars has developed a procedure that apparently retains much of the antioxidant powers of the flavonols, and their research shows just a little over an ounce (200 calories worth) of Dove dark

chocolate per day has heart-healthy benefits.

Add to your diet: Besides the obvious (just eat it!), you can add dark chocolate to trail mix, dip it in peanut butter (my favorite), or combine it with fruit for an even greater antioxidant punch. Just keep track of the calories. Buy chocolate wrapped in small pieces to help with portion control.

Add to your cart: Low-fat Yogurt

Besides being a good source of protein and calcium (one cup provides 13 grams of protein and 40 percent of the DV for calcium), low-fat yogurt with live cultures provides the healthy bacteria your digestive tract needs to function optimally. This good bacteria may also have anti-inflammatory powers that can offer some relief to arthritis suffers. Just look for the live-culture symbol on the yogurt carton.

Add to your diet: Low-fat yogurt is great topped with fruit, granola, or nuts, or used as a base for smoothies. Plain yogurt can be mixed with diced cucumber and herbs like dill and spread over grilled tofu, chicken, fish, and other meats. Yogurt can also double as a salad dressing with vinegar and herbs. Or mix it with fresh salsa to stand in as a dip for veggies and baked chips.

Couch Potato to 5K: Week 5, Day 2

Well, I did it. I went on to Day 2 of Week Five, which means:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk (3.8 mph), then:
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes) 5.6 mph
Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) 3.8 mph
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes) 5.6 mph

I finally realized that I need to get up to 6 mph in order to do the three miles in 1/2 an hour. Duh. Yes, it really did take me that long to figure out that very simple math problem. I guess I just wasn't doing it mathematically, but trying to sort of figure out how much faster I'd need to run to make the 3 miles in half and hour. Silly, I know.

Anyway, it was killer. I was so entirely bored and tired of running, and panting up a storm that I really couldn't wait until the time was over. All said and done, though, I only ran for a mile and a half, but not in a row. 3/4 mile at once and then a five-minute walk followed by another 3/4 mile.

What I don't understand is that the next day of the Couch Potato to 5K program calls for 20 minutes of running. That's more than TWICE what I did today! With no walking in between! You'd think they'd at least do a set with less walking in between before hoisting me right into the 20 minute run. Am I missing something? Am I reading this chart wrong?

In other running news, I convinced my seventeen-year-old daughter Bard to start the program, so pretty soon, I'm going to start the program all over again, only with her beside me. We'll do this either on my off days with Kim or in the evenings. Bard is most definitely NOT a morning person.

And in other weight news, I realized that the last time I weighed myself prior to my previous post was here. Two week ago. So while I'm not losing as much as I'd hoped, I've lost two pounds in two weeks, which is pretty darn good, considering that I could really eat an entire raw cow on some days. Seriously. That's how hungry I feel.

Which brings me to my next point; for some reason I've been really having problems with food the past couple of weeks. I'm just terribly hungry. I eat a huge salad. Still hungry. Down a 1/2 pound of beef with onions. Hungry. Scarf several pieces of pizza. Hungry yet still. The only thing that seems to satisfy me lately is a big bowl of ice cream or a piece of pecan pie. Today I just wanted a candy bar. The whole day. I mean, my mind was completely and totally focused on NOT having a candy bar. To the point of obsessing about it! Generally, I'm not a candy-eater, but I really, really, really want a candy bar lately. Whassupwitdat?

It makes me frustrated to the point of believing I'll never actually lose the weight I want to lose. And once I do? How do I keep it off?

Argh. Quite frustrating.

Couch Potato to 5K: Week 5, Day 1

Stepping on the scale this morning may have been a mistake. I don't know how accurate the scale is (one woman told me that she's seen people adjust it if they think it's not set right), but according to it, I've lost two pounds since I last weighed myself. I was really hoping for more, but I also know that I haven't been very careful with my eating this past week. I can't seem to help it. I'm just so HUNGRY! I've been craving protein more and more, like a great big chopped steak, but I don't tend to have those things around the house. I have been trying to watch my portion sizes, but sometimes it's hard. And this weekend, we ate chicken and jo-jos--FRIED FOOD!

Still, I've avoided soda and juices entirely and I've cut down on my ice cream consumption. When I'm as hungry as I've been, I simply can't see stuffing myself with a salad. I want SUBSTANCE! I want FLAVOR! I want something with CHEESE or CREAM or FAT. And if you can fry it up, that's all the better.

I really have changed my eating habits, though. No fast food, nary a french fry, no candy and chips lying around the house. I know that I've changed my eating habits, because, while I use to rid my car of fast food bags and soggy drink cups, I now remove yogurt containers, apple cores and banana peels.

So I'm down to 172, which still makes me sick, but at least I'm going somewhere with it. Right? Right?!?

This morning, we started Week 5 of the program. It went like this:

Brisk five minute walk (3.8 mph)
Run for 5 minutes (5.6 mph)
Walk for 3 minutes (3.8)
Run for 5 minutes (5.6)
Walk for 3 minutes (3.8)
Run for 5 minutes (5.6)

Cool down with 3.8 walking for a while, then about five minutes of 2.5 walking. It wasn't too terribly bad, but the last 5 minutes had me panting pretty good.

The next session is supposed to be:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)

But I may just stay on the 5 min/3 min thing until next week, unless I really feel like pushing myself.

One thing I can very clearly see is that I'm not going fast enough. The running/walking intervals were supposed to take me to 2.5 miles today, and I was just at 2.5 when I was finished, including my warmup and cooldown. So I guess if I want to hit this thing, I need to pick up the pace a bit.

We'll see what I feel up to doing tomorrow.

Couch Potato to 5K: Week 4, Day 2

Kim and I met at the gym and decided to begin with a stretching session. We haven't been stretching beforehand at all, but going right into it with a five-minute brisk warm-up walk.

After the stretch and the five-minute walk, we did our Week Four intervals. This was my second day of doing Week Four and Kim's first, but she'd gone to the gym alone and done a higher-paced Week Three day, so she was ready for this.

Our intervals went like this:

Five Minute brisk warm-up walk at 3.8 mph
Three minute jog at 5.2 mph
90 second walk at 3.8 mph
Five minute jog at 5.3 mph
2.5 minute walk at 3.8 mph
Three minute jog at 5.3 mph
90 second walk at 3.8 mph
Five minute jog at 5.3 mph

That took us to 24 minutes total and a little over 2 miles, so we walked 3.8 mph for the rest of the 5K (3.1 miles) and then walked at 2.5 mph for the remainder of our hour. Then we did some cool-down stretching and experimented with an ab machine.

That second three-minutes was very tough for me--much tougher than the first five minutes. The last five minutes was pretty tough, too, and around four minutes, I felt nausea coming on, but pushed past it. Yeah, I feel like a wimp, but considering that the nausea used to come at 45 seconds, I'm thrilled to be to this place.

We're going to try to push ahead to Week Five next week. Can we do it?

I'm willing to wager. ;-)

Couch Potato to 5K: Week 4, Day 1

I wish I could get myself as motivated to go running BEFORE I do it as I feel AFTER I've done it. I think this is a cruel joke that God has decided to play on us humans. Okay, I don't really think that; I honestly don't think God is cruel, but still, I wonder why He, in His infinite wisdom, made it so that we have more energy after we've done aerobic activity than we have before.

For whatever reason, every morning, I have to convince myself that I really do need to go running, that it's no okay to skip a day, that I don't have more important things to do (like checking my e-mail seventy-eight times), and that I can actually achieve the goal I've set for myself before I'll get myself out of bed and on my way to the trail or the gym (I keep typing "trial" instead of "trail." Does that mean something?)

Today was another one of those days.

But when I finally made it to the gym, I determined to kick myself into gear and go for Week Four of the Couch Potato to 5K program I'm trying to kill myself with master. Week Four looks like this:


Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes)
Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

That's two miles of running/walking plus a five minute warm-up and a five minute cool-down. And I did it. It's out of the way. Two more of these babies, and I could, conceivably, move on the Week Five.

It really wasn't all that hard. I did a 3.8 mph warmup walk for five minutes, then I intervaled with 5.1 mph jogs and 3.8 mph walks. I cooled way, way down with a 2.5 mph cooldown, so it all totalled out to a little over 3 miles and it took about 45 minutes, including the warm-up and cool-down.

I'm worried that using the treadmill is easier than hitting the trail (it's been too cold to run outside) and that, when I get to the trail, it will be harder and I'll have to work myself back up to where I think I am.

Ah, well. I guess I'll just work towards my goal and get there when I get there.

Anyone else running with me?

That's for me...

I wasn't sure I wanted to run today. I just feel apathetic about it. So I was wasting my time putzing around on the computer, preparing for an upcoming workshop when I read this:

"Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I've warned you of them many times; sadly, I'm having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ's Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites."

I'm heading to the gym, now...

Couch Potato to 5K: Week 3, Day 2

My new hobby is chatting with other runners. I don't really mean to do this; somehow, it just happens. For instance, I was at our first speech tournament of the year this past weekend (update on that later) and I sat down to chat with my son's debate partner's mother. Turns out that she ran her first marathon last summer and has been running since she was in high school. She encouraged me to keep running, reminded me how good it is for me, promised me that there will come a time when I won't want to die every time I run.

Thursday morning was not one of those times.

I decided to go running on Thursday because I knew we'd be at the tournament all weekend and I likely wouldn't have time or opportunity to take a jog. Once I was on the track, I decided to move on up to the next level of the Couch Potato to 5k. Week Three. 90 seconds running, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking. It. Was. Torture. I'm not going to lie about it. I was panting, praying, and coming thisclose to dying.

But live I did. I did intervals for 33 minutes and was on the trail for a total of 50 minutes.

More than actually stay alive, I actually felt good when I was finished. AND I felt good enough that I went running again today. Kim and I braved the weather and, er...um...visited the health club again. What? Stop looking at me like that. I know I said I really love the outdoors and don't mind running in the cold, but it was BELOW ZERO this morning! That's, like, BELOW ZERO! They called school off everywhere! I may be insane, but I'm not crazy.

So we did the treadmill thing, and we decided to do the Week 3 thing together.

And I actually didn't want to die while I was on the treadmill. You know what else? It really wasn't all that hard! Now, I may not have run as fast as I could have, and I didn't have to brave the cold, but I actually did the intervals and didn't want to gnaw my own leg off.

We did 35 minutes of intervals and 60 minutes of exercise total.

And you know what else? Kim talked me into standing on the scale again. And I'm at 174! Yeah me! That means that I have less than forty pounds to go to reach my target weight, and it means that I actually HAVE lost weight! Especially considering that I weighed in at 185 last time I stepped on the scale.

I'm thankful for encouragement. This is almost addictive, now. While I may want to die again in the future, for now, Kristi's right--I'm actually enjoying it!

Couch Potato to 5K: Trying to Give Up

I found a way out of it yesterday. After all, I'd slept fitfully through the night. I don't think I'd had more than a couple of hours of sleep, tops. And that's all put together. I certainly didn't get that much all at one time.

And the stomach pain. How could I run with stomach pain? I mean, it's not completely my fault that I ate two pieces of birthday cake. And ice cream. I hadn't had birthday cake with its Crisco-based icing for ages. Sure, I had to force myself to eat it, to choke it down. But I finally convinced myself it was good, and the cake part actually was. Well, so was the ice cream part. But that's always good. I didn't say I hadn't had ice cream in ages. Just Crisco-icing cake.

So how could I really have been expected to run yesterday?

And it all turned out fine, anyway. Kim needed a break, too. I decided to try harder the next day. Which was today.

When the alarm went off, I pretty much wanted to die. When I awake on running days, that's basically my first conscious thought. "I want to die. I can't run today. I'll fail. I want to die."

My stomach turns all knotty. I worry about my bladder. What if I have to pee while we're running? Then what? I worry about my bowels. I've seen those photos of marathon runners with the brown stains on their behinds. What in the world is worth that?

I slammed my hand on the "snooze" button. Okay, I really just pushed it with my finger. But I felt like slamming it. Rolling over, I tried to get a few more minutes of sleep. But I couldn't. My brain said, "You can't do it. You're such a wimpy burger. You really, really are a failure, aren't you?" And I, crying like a little girl, said, "Yes. Yes, I am. And I'm not getting out of this bed."

But eventually, my body urged me out of bed, and I slid from the warm, cozy cocoon into the world of good morning.

"Good morning," my husband Bo mumbled.

"Ergh," I answered.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"Arachk," I spat.

"What's the matter?" he persisted.

"I have to run. I have to...run. I hate running. I don't want to go. Why do I have to go?"

"Baby. Don't go, then," the demon temptation that is my husband spoke.

"What's the MATTER with you? Of COURSE I have to go! I'm not giving up all this work I've done! I'm not quitting for nothing! How dare you?"

I checked the weather. Fourteen degrees. I hear insanity slips away from you around fourteen degrees.

I pulled on my black long underwear and my tan Columbia Omni-Tech® Nubby Faille HP™ with 100% polyester Ultra-Wick™ brushed mesh lining cargo pants, a built-in-bra camisole and three layers of shirts, topped with a hooded sweatshirt. And one pair of socks. My feet usually don't get cold when I run.

We were the only ones on the trail, Kim and I.

"Are we gonna run?" She asked.

"I don't know," I confessed.

I told her all about my morning battle, how I psyche myself out, convinced that if I come running, I'll surely miss my goal. I'll surely fail. And then what?

"Let's just try," she said.

And we did.

There had been others on the trail before us, evidenced by their footprints in the snow, but they turned around during our first interval.

"This is now uncharted territory," I told Kim as we puffed along. "We're officially insane."

But I'm not so sure about that, even now as I sit in the warm house with my sheepskin slippers keeping my toes toasty. If I could but describe the beauty of the winter trail, the snow-capped trees, the silent snow, the peace, I would rival Wordsworth, Dickinson, Teasdale and Longfellow combined. This snow, this scene, was too beautiful for words. Ocassionally, the wind would catch a branch and, like a domino effect, a few completely soundless clumps of snow would crash, unheard, into a pine bough, which would move in seeming slow-motion, bouncing noiseless and flinging more silent snow to the ground, like giant hushed snowflakes begging for a laconic description. There is none. "Silent," is the banal, overused word that just keeps lunging into my mind. But it's not enough.

We trudged on, and I pushed myself. "If I let my brain win," I told Kim, "I'll give up. I'll be a failure." And so we ran more, longer, endured. And when we thought we were done, we ran one more interval, just in case.

90/90, 2 min/2 min, 2 min/2 min...repeat. We did three repetitions in all, 36 minutes of nine running/walking intervals, and then we walked the remainder back, noticing the difference of our lone back-trail, mine tattling how my feet kick outward as I run, Kim's as straight and steady as a pair of railroad tracks.

We high-fived when we finished. Kim did a little victory dance. My body had won. My brain had been defeated. We'd passed another milestone. We'd lived to run another day. I'd tried to give up, but I hadn't let me.

Next time, I'll likely try to find a way out again. But remembering this day will help. As will the encouragement of my friends (Hi, John! Hit the road!) and even my dear husband, who isn't a demon at all, but the very one who assures me that "it's going away" and he pats my posterior.

It's going away.

The Thighs, They Are a'Changin'

I don't know if I'll ever get the hang of this running thing. I was so proud of myself on Monday for finishing my run and thought that today would be easy since I'd already done it. Guess what?

It kicked my tuckus.

From the second I stepped onto the trail (I just typed "trial" and corrected it. I shoulda left it), I was wondering when I would be done. Ugh! It was work every. step. of. the. way! And looking for the bluebirds? Forget it. It didn't cut it at all. I tried counting in my head. I tried staring at my feet. I tried letting my mind drift. Nothing doing. It was hard, hard, hard, all the way. I felt like I was going to vomit a couple of times, and I literally wanted to quit, but I didn't. Kim and I finished the goal. 90 seconds jogging (and I do mean j.o.g.g.i.n.g. Every muscle and flabby place on my body flopped like a dying fish), 90 seconds walking, then two minutes jogging and two minutes walking.

It was tough, I tell ya. Tough. Kim handled it like a trooper (she *is* superior to me, I must say) and barely even panted. But me? I was close to howling.

But I did it. And we're that much closer to Week Three (90 seconds jogging, 90 seconds walking, 3 min jogging, 3 min walking). We both confessed today that we're really not in that big of a hurry, and that, while running a 5K sounds yummy, it wouldn't break our hearts if we didn't make the goal. We *could* do it, if we really, really, really, really, really, really wanted to. But do we really, really, really, really, really want to? (I just typed all those "reallies," but the way. No cheating with the cut-n-paste for me.)

In a way, I do. I mean, that's what inspired me to start running in the first place, seeing a group of sweaty human beings crossing a finish line on Turkey Day. There were even a couple of people in costumes. There was, no joke, a running banana and two running penguins. I'm not sure I'm that crazy.

But I would like to run in the Spring 5K here. If, that is, I could talk my body into it. Ack.

I have to admit, though, that under the flab that's on my legs? Muscles. Oh, yeah. I can feel 'em. I mean, literally, with my hand, I can feel 'em. How weird is that? I wake up each morning and pull on my belly fat to see if it's any smaller (remember the "pinch and inch" commercials? I've got enough for all of ya), then I feel my hips and legs to remind myself that, yes, I have been actually running. This isn't a dream. Then I look in the mirror to see if my love handles are gone yet. Not quite, but they're getting there. Before you know it, there'll be less of me to love.

That reminds me--do you know that I actually have real, valid reasons for staying overweight? I do. I have actually talked myself into believing that being overweight is a good thing! For example, I've comforted myself with the knowledge that I'm not a stumbling block for any woman's husband. I've also patted myself on the back for being non-threatening to my friends. I've preened in front of the mirror reminding myself that I'm the kind of woman Rembrandt or Rubens would have painted, full-figured and healthy. I've pounded it into my head that extra pounds are healthier. I've thought that I'm just meant to be this size. I've thought all of this. And more.

But I've never been happy being overweight. I've longed to be truly healthy since I first gained this weight eighteen years ago.

I want to keep running, in spite of the fact that I want to quit running. Does that make any sense at all? It doesn't have to. It's just true.

It's really hard to type when I have to keep stopping to feel if my thighs have shrunk any more, so I'll just leave you with this last thought. I'm reading the book French Women Don't Get Fat and the author says that it's important to institute a lifestyle that you know you'll maintain. I'm trying to find that balance now. It's very difficult. Tonight, I just wanted a great big steak and a large, fully-loaded baked potato and a roll slathered with butter. That seems to be a trend. I've wanted beef recently like nobody's business.

It's just another sign.

My body is changing. I can just feel it.

In Pursuit of a Healthy Lifestyle

Scales are not a universal fixture of French bathrooms as they are in
America. And they can be dispiriting indicators of progress. A woman gains
weight with water retention during part of the month. OUr weight can vary for
other reasons, too (time of day, for instance), that have little do with whether
or not we are eating in balance. I did confirm the loss of kilos from time to
tim, but mainly I learned to be more attentive to the look and feel of my body
in my clothes. I could see it was changing. And when the scale registered my
loss of twelve pounds, it was only confirming what I seemed to know. I still
find getting into some slim-cut pants the best indication of pounds
melting--much easier, more reliable, and sexier. Use what French women call le
syndrome de la femeture eclair (zipper syndrome), or use a measuring tape.

Your equilibrium weight, as we have said, is very personal, depending on
many facotrs like age, body type, and for some people, even time of year.
Likewise, improvements are relative, not absolute. Just as French women do not
count calories, they mainly do not count pounds.

~Mirielle Guiliano
French Women Don't Get Fat

I began reading French Women Don't Get Fat yesterday after seeing a short piece on morning television featuring Guiliano while I was walking the treadmill Monday morning. As fate would have it, I remembered the book while I was at the library, our branch owns a copy, and it was actually checked-in. I delved into it like I would a chocolate cream stick, devouring every bite. (Great. Now I want to run to the bakery and buy a cream stick. Nice job, Thicky).

What Guiliano writes throughout the book makes a lot of sense. She talks about eating what you like, but in small portions, learning to eat with your mind--thinking about your food and why you're eating it. Of course, she discusses exercise, but she talks about all of it as a lifestyle that you love, not as a faddish diet that you endure. That's appealing to me.

Because I believe in real food. I believe in wheat and dairy and real, buttery fats. I don't like artificial butters, neither for their taste nor for what they represent to our agriculture. I believe in raw milk and high-quality cheese. I believe in good things, and in everything in moderation. I've just come to the place in my life where I like a glass of red wine; it's a much better choice for me than Dr. Pepper with my evening meal. And I appreciate the taste and cleansing properties of water, not diet sodas or diet shakes.

So, beginning yesterday, I took Guiliano's advice of writing down what I eat for three weeks to assess my eating habits. What do I eat and why?

I know generally, what my problem areas are. I can tell you right now.

~I'm too busy. I have five kids that have to be driven all over tarnation, and I end up running through a drive-through or stopping at a pizza place. This has gotten better, but our choir season has been on-hold. It starts up again this Saturday. That's when the massive driving begins.

~I'm too much of a procrastinator. I wait until I'm so hungry that I can't stand it, and then I'll eat anything that's quick. There are just so many fun (and not fun) things to do, like blogging and reading and thrift-store shopping and cleaning and laundry. Who has time to EAT?

~I'm picky. I'm actually a food snob, and I want things "just so." Because of that, I procrastinate, and then I eat a handful of nuts and a glass of milk. See previous note.

~I don't eat enough greens. One time, I bought a big, beautiful bunch of broccoli at the market. When I got it home and washed it, I found a great big, not so beautiful broccoli worm on the stem. Did you know that broccoli worms are exactly the same color as broccoli? Now, I'm as organic as I can be, but broccoli worms are right-out. Several years later, a girlfriend whose parents own a fruit and veggie farm invited me to pick all of the broccoli I wanted because it was the end of the season and it was going to go to waste in the frost. She took me to the field. We filled up bags and bags of broccoli. It all had worms on it. She showed me how to soak the broccoli in salt water and then blanche it before freezing it. Dead, boiled broccoli worms freaked me out. What if I didn't get them all? I served the broccoli to my family, but I only at it with much suspicion. I certainly didn't enjoy it. That sucks, because I love broccoli. I have the same kind of relationship with other greens, like spinach and romaine. How in the world do I get all of these little individual leaves clean? And I'm too cheap to buy the stuff in bags, prewashed. Except for spinach. I do that. Still, I'm wary. Who washes this stuff? And were they angry at their boss when they did it?

~I really like fats. I'm not so big on sweets, but fats do me in. Give me a bit plate of french fries and a cup of sour cream, and I'm on my way to Fat Heaven. My favorite snack is high-quality potato chips. I'd prefer a buttery-crusted grilled cheese sandwich to a chocolate bar any day. I love a fresh-baked hunk of bread slathered with butter. The only time that sweets are just as tempting as fats are if they're fatty sweets. A fried, glazed donut. A big, fat, greasy cream stick. A buttery, crunchy bowl of butter pecan ice cream. Stop me. Somebody please stop me.

~I like pop. I like Dr. Pepper and Coke and Cherry Coke. I like to drink them with my meals and will occasionally get a craving for one so badly that I have to drive somewhere to get a can, even if I have to pay $1 for one out of a vending machine.

I've really improved over the past few months. I haven't had a donut in weeks and weeks, though the best donut shop is a little Amish place I can literally see from my window right now. Cinnamon fries the size of your head. No joke.

I rarely drink pop with my meals now (always water).

I've greatly reduced the amount of drive-through trips I take, and when I do, I get a small burger and a water.

I've decreased my portions significantly, and I don't feel cheated. I actually feel good.

I still get distracted and rush too much, leaving me no time to sit down and eat or forcing me to skip meals.

I haven't figured out the greens thing yet. I'm open to suggestions. Although I can say that when I take the time to make a salad, I actually enjoy eating it. I guess the time, procrastination and food snob thing all work together against me, here.

Now I'm hungry, so I'm going to go have some homemade yogurt, another thing that Mileille Guiliano and I agree on.