It was raining this morning, it’s still raining, and the wood stove is going. Tea and more tea, with honey for what feels suspiciously like a cold coming on. I went to bed at 9:30 last night, on foot of reading for too long to my sons and getting sleepy myself.

Diet: Interesting times. According to my boyfriend (ok, I married him, but he’s still my boyfriend), my butt is looking smaller. I celebrated with a chocolate pastry. Just kidding. The chocolate pastry was before he told me my butt’s looking smaller… The other day he saw me eating some cake and said, “I thought you were trying to cut back on sugary food.” “No,” I said, “I’m just RECORDING it all in my food diary.” A derisory noise emanated from his direction.

I recommend a food diary for anyone who’s kidding themselves that they’re not eating too much / cheating. One day in particular I knew I’d had a bit too much cake, but when I tallied up all the carbs, it was astonishing: I’d had:

6 servings of carbs; 1 1/2 servings of fruit & veg (in a stew that went over my pasta); 2 servings of protein (veggie chicken pieces also in the stew, and a handful of nuts); and 7 caffeine / alcohol units (3 1/2 cups of tea/coffee & wine at lunch and 1/2 beer in the evening).

Yet this is not a terribly UN healthy diet – all home-cooked food etc. It’s just so easy to go astray if I’m not aware of my consumption patterns.

This dire day caused me to have a quick look at carbs, and I was reminded of the complex carbohydrates (whole grains, basically – brown pasta/bread/rice) vs. the simple carbohydrates (white flour things like cake, cookies, white pasta/rice/bread). The complex carbs break down more slowly offering the body a more constant supply of energy, and keeping the blood sugar level more stable.

I also glanced at some protein information. As a vegetarian I need to be sure I get enough. These were the amounts recommended on a nutritional website:

girls 11-14 need 41.2 g / day; boys 42.1
girls 15-18 need 45.4 g /day; boys 55.2
women 10-49 need 45 g / day; men 55.5

Tofu is a great source (10.3 g in a 140 g serving); nuts are also quite high, almonds have 16.9 g in 100g (that’s quite a lot of nuts though); brazils have 12 g / 100g; a boiled egg has 7.5 g; 2 slices of brown bread have 7 g.

So now that my awareness is raised, hopefully my brain will make good choices and not be SO dictated by what my silly taste buds shout out for!

:Ah, it’s not so bad. I have to get myself going this week though, it’s supposed to be Long Run week and since I wore a pair of heels on Saturday to my boy’s First Communion, my ankle felt a bit sore yesterday. My excuse!

Run: I had a pretty good week last week though, 4 short runs to keep me going. I was impressed by my 13-year-old daughter who usually is reluctant to join me, despite having started running with her school this year. She’s improved exponentially! This time last year we would have needed a rest at the top of our lane. On Friday, she challenged me to a sprint 15 minutes into our run, and beat me hands down. AND continued jogging home, rather than giving up. I am so impressed!

Diet: Still trying to get myself to be careful of eating wrong things at wrong times. I started a food diary last Thursday. The result so far: I’m simply listing what I eat at what time, but last night I started a simple analysis: food groups. Turns out I ate 6 portions of carbohydrates (cake, cookies, pasta, potatoes), 1 1/2 portions of veg AND fruit, a total of 7 units of caffeine and/or alcohol, and about 1 1/2 litres of water (I’m aiming for 2). So even this quick check is a stark revelation of the error of my ways!!

And now, for a glass of water…

Anyhow, the run itself was just to keep limber, a 20-minute jog around a short route near home. I was to be in a meeting this morning but it got postponed. The beautiful sunny day is calling… I have to attempt 10 k this weekend (if I have time – it’s first communion weekend) so I need to keep limber! Plus the weather is expected to change so better now than not.

Diet (CRAVINGS): I’ve had serious cravings for sugar, like a small crowd gathered round me crying out, “find something! Eat something! Chocolate sauce* over there, cookies in the tin, find something! Eat something!” I nearly collided with my husband on my way into the kitchen for my 3rd cast-about last night. His advice: Just don’t. Just don’t for 2 days and it’ll go away. A LONG 2 days!!!

I wasn’t 100% successful, but rather than delve into the chocolate sauce, I had several handfuls of both my dried cranberriess & blueberries mix and my seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, linseed, sesame, & sliced almonds) that I keep in the cereal cupboard for generous sprinkling over cereal in the mornings. And, it turns out, desperate late-night cravings.

Best solution: Go to bed! Cravings diminish in direct proportion to distance from kitchen, most of the time.

*my husband’s home-made, deadly, cocoa-butter-sugar mix. Very scoopable, very dangerous. Made in quantity. Far too accessible. Best eaten fresh.

On Saturday I ran for 40 minutes (nearly), about 3/4 of the 10 km I need to do – my pace was reasonably strong.

On Sunday I ran 4 miles (about 6 km). I didn’t time it because the purpose of the run was to bring my 5-year-old on a bike ride, and my 11-year-old joined as well. We went to the village down the road (2 miles each way) so there was a pause as we bought the paper and some Sunday treats.

The Sunday run was hard work, because my legs were a bit heavy from Saturday’s effort. Plus, we’d been out to a birthday bash, a bit of champagne and wine laced the evening.

Drinking and smoking: I didn’t have a hangover (I was the designated driver), but still, every little thing is amplified when you’re getting fitter. At university (long long ago) I was a “cafeteria smoker” for a while. I’d buy a 15-pack which would last the week and I’d share with friends. Still, those few smokes showed up when, a few weeks into this “cool” activity, I went for a run while trying out for the basektball team. Ouch. I made the team but had to ditch the cigs, very painful for the bronchial tubes when I exerted myself, even though I didn’t notice any change in my breathing in day to day life.

Diet: I haven’t given up the coffee but I am drinking interesting things like lemon & ginger in hot water at night and lemon water this morning. It’s really unfortunate that my daughter is a good pastry chef because her cake had to be eaten this weekend, while fresh. Not so good for the gut. That and the birthday party gave me all the treats I needed!

My approach is to watch portions, and to go easy on carbs in the evening. That is all. I hate giving things up, even for lent!! And I cannot possibly manoeuvre around strict eating regimens with a slightly mad schedule and 4 children. Not to mention the fact that I sometimes mysteriously-on-purpose disappear around meal-prep time, leaving my husband fills in the gap. I am then not entitled to comment on what is put before me.

I plan to record this process every couple of days. I will note the training I do and some notes on diet.

The rough traning schedule is: run twice more this week (today and probably Friday) so that I can try a 6 km run over the weekend. That leaves me with only 2 more weekends before the event. So around the 23rd of May I’ll have to be able to do the full distance; and after a couple of short runs I’ll try it again, about a week before the event.

Notes:

Advantages: I practice yoga regularly which keeps me toned and flexible so there’s less chance of injury. I have a fairly healthy diet, vegetarian with a preference for whole-grain foods. However I also have a hefty sweet tooth – cakes and cookies, pastries of all types, washed down with multiple cappucino’s, is my kind of decadent. I have lots of coffe in the morning, and need to make sure I get around 2 L of water a day to keep properly hydrated. (I have a note from my first pregnancy that at 4 months pregnant my waist measured 29 inches. Now I’m around 31 or 32 inches (and not pregnant!). So not a huge amount, but definitely the cake and ice cream consumption ought to be suspended for a bit!)

Disadvantages: I had knee surgery 4 years ago to fix a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). So far it’s held, but I still feel vulnerable around the knees. Probably ought to do some leg strengthening to support the knees! I’ll ask my phyiso.

Off to the races!