Last day of August. I’m calling it the end of summer since my kids are in school now. Both kids. In school. For a full day. Well, the school day is only 6/12 hours. And figuring in travel time since we live too close for bus service, I guess I have about 6 kid-free hours. I’ve waited for this for a long time. Now I have the time to do the stuff I want/need to do without getting interrupted. Not sure how much I’ll really get done. Just got to chip away at all my little projects. Mostly decluttering and getting organized. But I’m going to pace myself. I figure that I’ve also earned some time to just relax. Right?

Overall, I think the summer went pretty well. I honestly thought I would go completely bonkers but I never did. I think what helped is that I just let myself and the kids be incredibly lazy. Sure, we should have played outside more and maybe reviewed school lessons more and I probably should have had the kids meet up with other kids more but oh well. I think we all had a nice relaxing time. We went to California. Had a short visit to the Indiana Dunes. Mets friends at the planetarium. Had a zoo & beach outing another day with friends. Went paddle boating. So some fun activities sprinkled in amongst the lazy days.

Yesterday, I ran a bunch of errands and felt like I was on the go go go and didn’t have a moment to myself. Having moments to myself is important to me & my sanity. Today I’m taking it slower. Got myself a nice extra hot grande latte with an extra shot from Starbucks after I dropped off the kids.

Now healthwise, well things are not going so well. My eating, ugh, just out of control. Still running but not as much as I need to be doing. August has been pretty hot and humid here and that sapped my energy and motivation. I am very much looking forward to the cool, crisp days of autumn.

I’ve ordered The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged from Amazon in hopes that I’ll get motivated. Looks like Eat Clean Diet site has some interesting resources as well. I like the Kitchen Table feature, which allows members to post meal plans. I think it will be helpful to see what people are doing for the meal plans. I’ve gained 10lbs over the summer and can see my blood sugar creeping up. Time to get back on track.

I have begun my photo food diary. Check it out HERE. It definitely kept me more mindful of what I was eating.

I’m letting myself down. I worked hard to change my eating habits to healthier ones and lost weight. But now, it’s all falling by the wayside. I’ve stopped using Lose It. I got tired of calculating calories for everything. It was especially tedious when I would make my own food. I often like to just throw things together. Having to measure everything, look up the nutrition info, etc., was just getting to be too much for me.

But I recognize that I need to be aware of my food intake. I’m seriously thinking of copying Foodie McBody and starting a photo food log. But this is a time consuming thing to do too. I think I shall try though.

In other news, the kids and I went to So Cal last month to visit my sister & mom. Hubby couldn’t come with, which was a bummer, but it was still a good trip. We went to Disneyland, California Adventure, whale watching boat ride at Newport Beach and hung out at Hermosa Beach for an afternoon. The kids really got a kick out the sand and waves. Unfortunately, the whole time there I ate pretty poorly. Even had a couple of diet sodas, once at California Adventure and one on the plane home. I forgot to bring my jump rope and didn’t run at all.

I went nearly 2 weeks without running. In the past I might have fretted about that but now I have more confidence that I can get back to running even if I end up taking time off from it. I have done nothing about strength training aside from buying the book New Rules of Lifting for Women. I’m thinking I’ll read through it first and then perhaps in the fall, I’ll join the local fitness center to have access to better weight equipment. And then while the kids are in school all day, I will have more opportunity to work on my strength training. Ooh, all day school for both kids. I can’t wait.

Life would be much easier if I didn’t have to eat. Think of the time savings! No cooking, no clean up. Ah well.

I’ve resumed calorie counting. Seemed like a wise idea as I was letting myself get too lax. Especially with snacks.

I borrowed a book called The Rebel Diet from the library. Not really an earth shattering book but two things stayed with me. One, the author mentions that eating dry food is worse than wet food as dry food is lighter. The stomach needs to register some sort of weight in it to feel full, or something like that. So one is better off eating stuff that has a high water content because those foods tend to be heavier. However, just drinking water doesn’t work. This made me realize that eating crackers like I like to do is just not a good idea. I tend to eat way too many of them b/c eating just a few doesn’t make me feel full. The second thing I got from the book is to try unsweetened Almond Breeze as a milk substitute. I’ve tried the chocolate version and I like it. It’s not sweet but does have a chocolate flavor. Eight ounces is only 45 calories and 3g of carb. One problem of cow milk for me is that it has too much carb for me so I’m thrilled that this is only 3g. I have a carton of the vanilla unsweetened version too but haven’t tried it yet.

I’ve discovered a new way to enjoy steel cut oats. I used to eat them with 1/2-1 tsp of sugar, walnuts and cinnamon. Maybe a touch of butter. But someone on a running forum mentioned he eats his with an runny yolk egg. I tried it and discovered it is quite yummy. I make a batch of steel cut oats for the week. In the morning I lightly fry the egg in olive oil so that the white is cooked but they yolk is not. While the egg is cooking I heat up in the microwave some oats about a cup of torn baby spinach and a little water. I like to add extra water to give the oatmeal a creamier texture. When the egg is done cooking I add it to the oatmeal and stir it all up. I also add some Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (soy sauce would work too) and some Frank’s RedHot Sauce.  Very yummy and satisfying breakfast. Steel cut oats are kind to my blood sugar too.

Speaking of blood sugar, I can see that my fasting numbers are creeping up. I’m pretty sure that is because of my evening oversnacking. And because I haven’t been eating that healthfully lately. Working on improving all that.

I have decided that I need to exercise even more. My body is covered by a layer of fat that I’m starting to not like. Also just for general weight control I guess I need to exercise an hour a day. An HOUR a DAY! Of course, running is good but I do not run every day. So I’ve been walking on the treadmill too. But I’m not walking at enough intensity as I do things like play Bejeweled Blitz on my iPhone while on the treadmill. So need to increase the intensity. And do more strength training. Hmm, I should do some today. I think I need to get some heavier dumbbells. Five pound weights aren’t going to do a whole lot for me.

Yesterday, I did pretty good with eating. Made a point of eating more veggies and an apple. But after dinner the kids and I sat down to watch Hotel for Dogs on DVD. I decided to have a bit of chocolate as a movie snack. Before I knew it, I had eaten the entire package of chocolate, 2 1/2 servings. Oops. Big oops.

Kids have begun summer vacation. I am trying very hard to keep them busy to keep fighting to a minimum.

I wrote this up after the race but just got around to posting it now. My official time was 35:45, which makes sense since I crossed the start about 15 seconds after the gun went off.

Since I ran this race last year, I decided to do it again this year as a way of seeing how I have progressed over the year. Last year, it was my 1st 5k race after finishing Couch to 5k and I was very nervous. This year I wasn’t as nervous because I was familiar with the race and am a lot more used to running. Plus now I consider a 5k a shorter distance. A year ago it was a long distance for me.

The weather was humid, warm, and overcast. Temp was around 74F I think. Humidity in the 80s. Felt very humid. Gah. Looked like it might rain or even thunderstorm. As usual I started in the back. And was soon passed by stroller after stroller. At least the strollers were being pushed by people running. Checked the Garmin and could see that I was going faster than I should but yet didn’t feel like I was. I guess that is what happens at races. The excitement propels you a bit. Mile 1 went OK, 11:05! That is like crazy fast for me. Mile 2 the humidity started to get to me, slowed down a bit, 11:21. Mile 3 I was regretting starting out so fast. Entertained thoughts of drastically slowing down, maybe even just walking. I decided to skip the 2 water stops but did run through a sprinkler someone had set up. Toward the end of mile 3 I started to feel too hot and slightly queasy, 12:02. It started to drizzle ever so slightly but not even to really cool me off. Even when I could see the finish line I considered just walking it in. But then people started sprinting by me. Including the woman I had just recently passed. So I forced myself to pick up the pace and according to the Garmin I finished in 35:31. Last year, my official time was 43:11 so I have definitely improved. I’m still waiting for the official results.

Afterwards, the hubs and I along with 2 whining, complaining children ate breakfast at the Sugar Bowl, just like we did last year.

I’ve had all these thoughts swirling around in my head and I feel like I need to get them out. So this post may make very little sense as my mind tends to wander a lot and jump from thought to thought.

So last time I posted I said I was going to do a little experiment and limit by fat intake and see how that affected my blood glucose. Well, that plan never happened. Funny, as soon as I tell myself not to eat a certain thing, I want to eat it. Hmm. Ha. Actually my eating in general has really taken a turn for the worse. I’ve even given up on calorie counting for the time being. I just wish I could eat like a normal, sane, reasonable person. It would be very nifty if I only ate when I was actually hungry. And stopped eating when I was no longer hungry. Oooh, what a concept.

Instead, I find that I am a rather mindless snacker. I think I feel a need to be doing something with my hands a lot of the time. A lot of the times when I’m driving, I feel like smoking. I’m not a smoker, although I tried it for about a year after college. Anyway, I don’t want to smoke; I just want to keep my hands occupied. I think I need to get some yarn and dig out my knitting needles and occupy my hands that way while I watch TV. I don’t watch that much TV (really!) but when I do I tend to hit the snacks pretty hard.

So far today I am doing OK eating-wise. But it’s in the afternoon that things start to go all wrong for me. So must be aware. Must not be mindless. Often, I start snacking when the kids fight. They are kids so they fight rather frequently. Obviously, eating in response to stress is a very bad idea.

I’ve been buying some new clothes. My top size hasn’t really changed that much. But I have found some size 6 shorts and pants that I can fit into. Perhaps a tad on the snug size but I can actually zip & button these clothes. And this is kind of messing with my mind. Size 6? I can fit into a size 6 (a size 6 that runs large but still, heh heh). In what world is this possible? Have clothing sizes changed so much that a size 12 is now a size 6? Probably to some degree, yes. In the mirror, I don’t look that much different to myself. It’s kind of freaking me out a little.

The last ten pounds are tough to lose. I’ve been thinking that it would be good for me to lose about ten more pounds. But first maybe I will try maintaining where I am for a bit and then go on to tackle that last ten. Or instead of trying to lose pounds, work on overall toning and strengthening. I am flabby. And still have mucho fat all around. It’s not good. Need to find some heavier weights I think.

My running is going fairly decently I think. Been staying consistent. For the time being I’m not going to try to go for really long runs b/c my bowels can’t seem to deal with it. I wonder if my increased fiber intake could be to blame. I think I might try running more days instead. My weekly miles will still end up being the same probably. Six miles is becoming a very manageable distance for me now. I’d love to get up to ten one of these days. And if my bowels cooperate and the weather conditions are good, I bet I could do it.

This week when I run past a certain tree a bird swoops down on me and chases me while berating me for getting to close to its precious tree. The first time it happened the bird actually collided with my head. Today it just swooped down and flew around me threateningly. Geez.

I have started reading Dr Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes. It is kind of similar to The 30-Day Diabetes Miracle in that it also advocates a vegan diet. I don’t remember if the 30-Day Diabetes Miracle discussed how fat affects diabetes but in Dr Barnard’s book he says that it’s the fat inside cells that makes it hard for insulin to do its job. Insulin is often describes as a key that lets sugar into cells. His analogy says that the fat gums up the lock and that is why the key (insulin) cannot work. I am very intrigued by this. He claims that with a diet very low in fat and with no animal products whatsoever, insulin will be able to work better in the body. He even says to limit the healthy fats from nuts and olive oil.

So I’ve been a little worried about my fasting numbers, which have been a bit higher than I want. I do realize that I’ve been getting a little relaxed with my diet. I’m wondering if greatly reducing my fat intake will have any affect on my blood sugar. I figure it won’t hurt to try. However, I don’t know if I can be as strict as he says to be. I really like Fage Greek yogurt and have a few cartons in my fridge so I will eat those. I’ve been eating more nuts and cheese lately so I will try to cut down on that and see what happens. I think I will still eat some nuts and maybe a few eggs. But will limit meat for sure and try to use less oil.

Yesterday I mentioned I was going to try posting my daily reports from the Lose It iPhone app I’ve been using. But I didn’t like it idea of cluttering up my blog so instead I created a separate blog just for the Lose It reports and whatever thoughts I might have regarding that day.

I’m walking on my treadmill while trying to type this post on my iPhone. Let’s see how coordinated I am. I think I’ll just do a draft for now and tidy stuff up when I’m done walking.

It’s a gorgeous day today so one would think I’d be walking outside. But I have so much to do and limited time. Anyway, I’ll get to enjoy a bit of the outdoors when I walk to the school to pick up my kids.

Yesterday I finished reading Food Rules by Michael Pollan. This book is a short manual on his rules of Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. This book makes so much sense to me. I think I agreed with everything in it. Not that I actually follow all the rules all the time but in just trying to follow them I’ve become a healthier eater and person.

Cutting out processed foods has probably been one of the best things I’ve done for myself. Now these kinds of foods horrify me. But that’s not to say I’m not still tempted on occasion. Or that I never give in to temptation. I do, but not nearly as often as I used to. Junk food doesn’t appeal to me that much anymore. Hallelujah!

It distresses me when I see recipes for desserts or sweet treats but many of the ingredients are stuff like fat free pudding mix, or fat free Cool Whip or some other factory made fake food, instead of real food. For one thing, I fear that some people think this kind of stuff is OK to eat just because it’s lower in calories. Another problem I have with this kind of stuff is that I think it makes people feel like they can have sweets more often. I think if you keep eating sweets, you just want more sweets.  Maybe that is just me.

Today is Tuesday and I’m excited to watch The Biggest Loser tonight. I think they are doing makeovers tonight. Who doesn’t love to see the makeover transformations? I have to stay strong tonight b/c when we watch TBL, the kids always want a snack. I don’t them to eat while watching TV but then they’ll start bugging me and bugging me and then I end up flying into mini fit of rage and then giving in. Aaaaargh. Even if they had just eaten dinner before we start to watch, they still want a snack. So I know it’s just a bad habit. And you know what happens when they snack? I snack.