My thoughts on healthy eating (for what they're worth)

Since I started this space in January to track my training progress for my first marathon, I have also been reading a ton of blogs out there about running and fitness. In the process of reading and discovering more running blogs, I naturally came across a few really great health and nutrition blogs. Running and eating basically go hand in hand, so it's natural that most running bloggers also talk about the food they eat at some point. I have learned so much about how other runners eat, new health foods I might not have discovered on my own, natural and alternative food sources, but most importantly I realized that my crazy way of eating was shared by thousands of other women (and men) out there.

Lil Bit of Background
Before I immersed myself in this blogosphere I wasn't really surrounded by like-minded eaters. My family never ate particularly healthy growing up (not particularly unhealthy either), my boyfriend enjoys healthy food but doesn't naturally crave foods inherently healthy on a regular basis (he used to have an aversion to anything labeled organic because he thought it was "made of beans or somthing" Men!), my co-workers in the past have never generally eaten the way I do. So for me to stumble across an entire network of people just like me has been pretty enlightening.

Someday soon I will share more about me and my background. I think that will explain a bit more about my eating and exercise habits and patterns. But in light of yesterday's post, I wanted to comment briefly about how I qualify the foods I eat.

I used to count calories and log all of my food on MyFoodDiary.com. Before I started using this site and logging my food and exercises, I thought I was a supremely healthy eater, and I was partly right. But I wasn't paying enough attention to some things that were adding a ton of extra and unnecessary calories to my day (like dressings, sauces, methods of cooking).

This site is a fantastic resource and it truly helped me refine my eating habits. It taught me the right ways to eat healthy. It also helped me to examine everything that I ate, in turn revealing some of the uglier facets of my diet. I would say that going through this process (about 2.5 years ago) changed my life, changed my outlook on food, and helped me to become a smarter eater.

How I Eat Today
Now I don't count calories. Partly because of the fact that I run so much but mostly because MFD ingrained in me the correct way to eat/correct portion size/how much I can comfortably consume in a day.

In the past few years, I have been desperately trying to add more fresh fruit and veggies to my diet. I read somewhere that an easy way to do this is when you are at the grocery store, spend the majority of your time in the outer edges of the store rather than in the aisles where all the paakged and processed foods are. This seems counter-intuitive but I had never thought of it that way, and now I cannot shop without considering that. Try it! It really, really helps you think about what you're putting in your cart.

Generally, I pick up a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables and I incorporate these into all of my daily meals. For breakfast I usually eat oatmeal or cereal with fresh fruit and coffee. For lunch I usually have a veggie-packed salad, wrap or sandwich with a side of fruit or veggies. If I only pack a salad I try to add in some healthy carbs like whole wheat bread, brown rice or quinoa. For dinner, I try to cook something that we both will enjoy, that is also healthy and packed with fresh vegetables and a healthy meat. We rarely eat red meat or pork, we try to stick to ground turkey breast or ground chicken, or boneless skinless chicken breasts. For snacks during the day, I always have fresh fruit. I think I eat an apple every day, plus bananas, plums or whatever else is in season.

I also am getting more thorough about reading food labels and choosing items that I can actually read and understand the ingredient list. Although I am severely limited by budget these days, I spend a lot of time in the stores trying to find items that are as all natural and organic as possible and are also low in sodium. I cannot always afford organic, which is okay for me right now. I cannot get all of my gorceries at Whole Foods, so I shop smart at a few different stores and do what I can. I would like to be able to afford to eat organic produce and food exclusively, but right now that is not an option. So I focus on buying tons of fresh produce and purchasing organic when it is possible. The most important thing for me is to make sure that what I am consuming is made up of things that I don't find offensive and damaging to my body.

I do not diet, and I try not to limit myself too much. I actually think that diets in general are crap. My general rule is to be able to eat what I want one day a week. So if I want to share some french fries at happy hour on Friday, I will! Or if I want a cupcake or some greasy pizza, I can enjoy these things in moderation. I have gotten better at stopping myself from going overboard with junk foods, and the healthier I eat, the less I crave these things.

I think the number one mistake those who are trying to lose weight make is denying themselves the food that their bodies are craving. You have to learn to be an intuitive eater, but this does take time, so initially you're going to have to make some sacrifices. This doesn't mean when you're on a "diet" you're limited to 1000 calories a day and you can't touch sweets. If you love sweets and you're craving them, you're just going to eat more and more food until you satisfy that craving, which was probably worse than eating the sweets in the first place! Also, if you're working out alot, limiting your body the calories it needs will actually be counter-effective and will cause your metabolism to slow down rather than speed up.

The bottome line is that if you want to get healthier and lose weight, start exercising and eating more fresh fruits and vegetables! Crazy right? But it is literally that simple.

Americans tend to want someone to give them the answer, they want the easy way out, and they don't want to do any work to see results. So they turn to whatever fad diet is out there and might lose a few pounds, but end up gaining it right back. Eat fresh and natural foods rather than packaged processed ones, get active, and you WILL see results.

Challenges to Eating Healthy:
Living with my boyfriend has created some eating challenges for me. I went through a phase last year where I was doing a lot of baking for him (and for me because I love to bake) which meant that we had a ton of sweets around all the time. It is also challenging because when we're together I am more likely to cave in for the junk food, like pizza, chips or bar food. It's also sometimes hard to make a dinner that is healthy but one that he will also willingly eat (I think I have done pretty well with this, although I know he won't be sharing in my tofu dishes any time soon).

The people you're around can create huge nutrition barriers for you. My co-workers used to always tease me about the salads I brought for lunch, or the fact that I wouldn't go eat certain foods when we went out. My dad gives me speeches when I don't want any pork chops he's cooked when I come to visit. I have learned to just get over this because I know that the way I eat is the best (and healthiest) way for me. People are just different and everyone does things differently. If you let yourself succomb to the pressures of eating like everyone else, you will never reach your nutrition goals.

This brings me back to this blogosphere. The fact that I have not always been surrounded by healthy eaters has created a challenge for me. But connecting with all of you through this forum has made me realize that I am not a weirdo for eating the way I do. It's not crazy to crave health food stores and be super excited about Farmer's Market season. It's not insane to want to try out meat substitutes or soy milk or not wanting to eat a big hunk of meat at a barbeque (although I do love me some hamburgers and hot dogs). It's not weird to order a salad for lunch that GASP doesn't have any meat on it, or heaven forbid, I eat without dressing. It's not completely insane to want to buy organic even though sometimes it means shelling out a few more dollars. It's normal to care about how I fuel my body.

So thank you all for opening my eyes to this healthy network of those who are teaching me more every day about how to be a healthier and stronger woman. I have realized now that this is the one thing I truly love and am passionate about. Who knows where this will take me?

Kale Chips & A (Good) Week in Running

Good morning everyone! I am so glad that today is Friday! I have a ton to do this weekend, and it's supposed to rain ALL weekend so I suppose that is fine by me...although I would prefer that it holds off until about noon tomorrow when I'm done with my long run...

I already posted about my easy 8 miler last night, I finished 8.0 miles in 1:19. I have been so worried about my upcoming marathon recently, but this week has really helped to ease my mind. Although my long run Sunday didn't go as planned, I almost made up for it with my 11+ miler Monday night that went swimmingly. Then Wednesday I had a short track workout (pretty tame, wish I had had time for more sprints), and of course last night's run which went great.

The only running regret I have from this week, is that I couldn't have done more on Wednesday at the track. Next week I would like to run 5-6 miles then do 2x100m, 2x200m, and 2x400m.

I haven't really been doing anything more than 6 miles during the week up until now, so from here on out I will be on schedule by adding one (at least) 8 mile run (easy or tempo), one 5-6 mile + sprints track workout, and one 6 mile hill run.

Last night after my run, I wasn't all that hungry but we had pulled some salmon out to cook so I baked some of that up with some Jamaican Jerk Seasoning and breadcrumbs. Didn't really love it with the breadcrumbs, but that seasoning is always good. The I finally made kale chips! They have been all over blogs lately, and if you google 'roasted kale' you can pretty much find a dozen or more articles on it.

So simple and yummy. It's even Matt approved!!* Here's how you make 'em:

Roasted Kale or "Kale Chips"
-Preheat oven to 375
-Wash and dry as much kale as you want (I used about half a bunch)
-Chop it up into desired pieces and try to remove the hard stems
-Toss with extra virgin olive oil
-Bake on baking sheet for about 5 minutes; take out and turn kale over and bake for another few minutes. (If it's turning too dark, it's burning so just be on the lookout.)
-Take out and drizzle with sea salt.

Finished Product:



Not the best picture, but these do kind of taste like potato chips! I will be making this a lot in the future. Too, too good! (LiLu, I have even seen people putting ketchup on these babies! You especially need to try.)

And if you didn't know, "the beautiful leaves of the kale plant provide an earthy flavor and more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost any other food around." To read more about why kale is one of the world's healthiest foods, click here.

Some other pics from breakfast this morning:



I made a mixture of oats and multi-grain hot cereal with milled flax and soy. I used 1/2 mushed banana, 1 packet Splenda, some light vanilla soy milk, water, 1/2 scoop vanilla soy protein, spoonful of natural chunky PB, some cinnamon and vanilla, and one chopped plum on top. It actually wasn't all that great. I think I had too much hot cereal and not enough oats! But the plum was FANTASTIC. I cannot believe I haven't been eating those until recently.

This week has truly been a fruit-filled week! I mentioned yesterday all the fruits I had eaten that day, and realized after posting that I had forgotten to mention the tangerine! So I really probably ate too much fruit yesterday (if that's even possible).

I have really been putting an effort into eating fresh fruit and veggies in almost every one of my meals lately, and I can definitely tell a positive difference in how I feel, my energy level, and my metabolism (i.e. how often I poo...hehe). I think Matt is even enjoying eating more fruits and veggies lately.

Well must get to work, but I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday and an even better weekend. I probably won't be running today, to give my legs some rest for tomorrow's long run. But since I have my big test coming up on Tuesday, so I will be studying (and running) ALL weekend.

*My wonderful boyfriend Matt has been described by his family as only eating things that are "round and covered in cheese." We have been living together for almost two years now and I am pleased to say that he now likes most vegetables, especially squashes, loves fruit and is generally eating many more things that are not round and not covered in cheese. He has also always said that he hates "all beans, especially green ones," but I have even wooed him with a green bean recipe that now he begs me to cook. Although he still loves his pizza and burgers, he is also pretty open when it comes to trying my health-nut recipes. So if something healthy is "Matt approved" you know is damn good.