Around Peachtree Battle 5k

I definitely had a good race today! I managed to run just about all of it. I took a tiny walk break after the second mile, but I ran the rest. So far that's the best I've done. Hopefully I'll be able to run a full three miles in another week or so. I'd like to begin ramping up my mileage so that I can be really ready for the Peachtree Road Race in July.

My time was 35:23, 7 seconds faster than my PR. My running buddy Jennifer said her watch gave her a final time 20 seconds faster than the race time, but I'm happy either way. Endurance wise I'm getting much better. Towards the end I might as well have walked because I was jogging so slowly, but I kept going. The more I train, the better I will be. The next race I'm signing up for is on February 28th, so I'm seriously considering looking for something else between now and then.

Bondi Band part 2

I just ordered three more Bondi Bands because they're that awesome. When I opened up the package I noticed I also received a card. A card with online coupon codes!! Yay!!!

If you're interested in purchasing any, try these when checking out:

Buy 3 get 1 FREE - Coupon code: ONE

Five for $25 - Coupon code: FIVE

TMI

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but January seems to be the month of diet and fitness tips. You'll see anything ranging from "exercise doesn't matter as much as diet" to "secrets of effortlessly skinny people". If you try to follow the advice in every article you come across, you'll get so confused with the contradicting information that you'll want to give up out of frustration. I mean, CNN is saying one of the oldest people alive credits bacon for living so long. You read that right. Bacon.

So for anyone trying to get in shape or lose weight right now, please know that you have some options out there in terms of what kind of diet you'd like to follow or what kind of exercise regimen you adopt. (Btw, diets are misleading. You should strive to make healthy changes to your eating habits for the rest of your life, not for a few weeks or months.) Honestly there is just too much information floating on the web, and you shouldn't let that deter you from meeting your goals. This is more about evolving and adapting a better way of life than trying to meet a target weight.

Go Oprah!

I'm not a huge fan of Oprah's, but I don't hate her either. I think many people (mostly women) tend to follow what she says with blind and fanatical devotion which is a little scary. I have to admit that I was a little annoyed when Anna Karenina became a hit when I had already read it two or three times by the time Oprah noticed it and her book club told everyone to read it. But she is a woman that many people all over the world can relate to because of one struggle: weight.

For those that don't know, Oprah has come clean about her 40 pound weight gain. She now tips the scales at 200 pounds. I think she's gone through a grieving process in a way. First she was in denial. She talked about how she hid her body when posing for shots on the cover of her magazine "O". Then she was angry and to me now seems ready to accept what has happened to her body and the responsibility for those changes. I'm interested in seeing how she will stay motivated. Lets be honest here...celebrities have much more to motivate them to stay in shape and be thin than the normal person. They get paid to look good. We don't.

All in all I'm glad Oprah was honest about her weight. It was obvious that she had gained some weight, but we didn't know how much until she said something about it. Perhaps her fanatical followers will learn a lesson from her honesty and her struggle to be healthy. Being fit in this day and age is not easy, but it's not impossible either. If it was easy, we'd all be doing it.

I have a new cookbook!

For those that don't know, there is a movement out in foodie world that says screw "health food" and low-fat/low-carb prepackaged garbage. It says to eat whole foods (whole milk, real butter, etc) but simply eat in moderation. Overall I've found that foods made with real ingredients as opposed to processed by-products taste better and therefor satisfy my cravings better. Nothing says love like fillers. While I don't follow this philosophy completely because I still keep my eyes open for the kinds of carbs I'm eating (for lack of better descriptors brown carbs vs white carbs), protein amounts, and the kinds of fats (saturated vs unsaturated), eating real food is yummy and I haven't noticed any kind of detriment to my health and my doctor hasn't said anything.

All of that was to lead up to the arrival of my latest cookbook - How to Cook Like Your Grandmother second edition. It's a self-published cookbook by Drew Kime that goes over basics like how to mince vs dice and focuses more on flavor than nutritional content. In the end I believe we should all be accountable enough to make sure we're eating veggies with every meal and not drinking a boat load of gravy and calling it breakfast. This book even includes a recipe on how to make your own butter. Yes BUTTER!! I've made butter using this recipe over the summer and my husband loved it.

Check out the blog that goes with the cook book, and have fun in the kitchen again. I think if we all enjoyed cooking and had some of the intimidation taken out of the kitchen we'd all eat healthier and enjoy food again. Don't let food be a guilt trip.