Currently Craving

Spinach or broccoli.

I got some for dinner, both spinach and a broccoli + cauliflower mix. I also got a few other fruits and veggies. The check out guy told me it good to be eating lots of fruit and vegetables. I guess I'm glad he wasn't there the time I bought potato chips and butter (that's gross) frosting to dip the chips in.

I couldn't decide what to make, spinach or broccoli + cauliflower so I made both. I microwaved the two together for a minute or so and added some feta marinated in oil to it. So simple and tasty.

Here's a photograph:

Whose rights?

This is so disturbing and yet so informative:

Inclusive exclusion

When I started doing ashtanga (a form of yoga) lots of years ago, my teacher said a really interesting thing.

anyone can do ashtanga but ashtanga is not for everyone

"How poignant!" I thought at the time but since then I've given it more thought.

It's the strangest thing to say. On it's face it implies every one is welcome to do this one thing. But the fact of the matter is that not everyone is going to enjoy/be good at this thing, bless their hearts. Too bad they'll be missing out on this amazing activity.

But the really, um, how do I put this, asinine thing about it is that this saying is true for pretty much anything you do or would like to do.

Try it:
anyone can run but running isn't for everyone.
anyone can eat sushi but sushi isn't for everyone.
anyone can sleep till noon but sleeping 16 hours a night isn't for everyone.
anyone can aquajog but being considered the crazy lady by the people lounging by the pool isn't for everyone.

Of course, I just applied these to my hobbies. Try it out for stuff you like to do. Saying it has an odd effect of making you feel as if you're hugging the whole world and yet morally superior to the general populace.

I'm injurrd

I've tried to blog about it but it all comes out sounding trite and empty. So here's a summary:

I'm injured. Fat pad impingement.
I am barely running a mile once a week or so. Things are looking up though.
I thought I would run the san antonio half and the austin full but I think its going to be just the austin half for me this year. That's ok now. I did panic when I first realized that.
I'm spinning and swimming and aquajogging. I love them all.
I miss running and seeing all my running buddies immensely.

A Dear John Letter

Zucchini,
I have never liked you. You look like cucumber but don't taste like anything. However, in my quest to eat in season and also eat locally, I decided to give you another try. It turns out fried or browned you almost taste okay. Your texture is just slightly too mushy for me but I thought that if I was able to make you taste good I would look beyond your texture.

Today I made a mixed vegetable dish. You should try it, it's my mom-in-law's recipe and it's delicious. I'll send you a copy. Anyway, it turned out really well. The eggplant, onions and peppers just work so well together and they got soft and stewed. The spices and vegetables shared their flavours, melded and became a happy meal that both satisfied and nourished.

And then there was you. The zephyr version of the zucchini I got from the farmers market. you're supposed to be tastier than the usual variety. What a disappointment. Not only did you contribute no flavour of your own but you didn't even absorb any of the other flavours that were available to you.
You were bland, mushy and overall disgusting. Your only redeeming quality is that you didn't ruin my dish and I was able to remove you from it entirely.

Needless to say, I am extremely unhappy with you performance and as of now you and I are done. I think going our separate ways is best for both you and me. I wish you the best in life and in your future endeavours.

-Gayatri

p.s. If you see me with Kale or Spinach, please don't try to strike up a conversation. Eventually we may reestablish our friendship but for now let us keep our distance.

Know I need to post

I have something in the works but in the mean time please enjoy photos of my new shoes and kitten.

These shoes were talked about on the gazelle forum, runners world and a running podcast. Given this nerd trifecta, I knew I needed to go out and buy these. I ran in them once but it didn't feel very good so I won't be doing that again. I felt the impact of the run way up in my hips. They are great to walk around in and also to bike in, so still very useful.

Behold the vibram 5 finger shoes (not bought w/ my five finger discount):




and one last one w/ the cats (one of them is barely visible):



Who is this cat? This is Hexley and here is a video of him a few days after we got him home:

The Omnivore's Hundred

Found this on the chocolate and zucchini blog:

The Omnivore's Hundred is an eclectic and entirely subjective list of 100 items that Andrew Wheeler, co-author of the British food blog Very Good Taste, thinks every omnivore should try at least once in his life.

Rules:
1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4. Optional extra: post a comment on Very Good Taste, linking to your results.

I was absolutely certain there are things I wouldn't eat but then I saw this from the writer of the above blog, Clotilde:

There are a few that I wouldn't rush to eat, but none that I couldn't swallow if someone's life, honor, and/or feelings were at stake.

I love this sentiment and would like to echo it. The crossed off food items are things I wouldn't eat unless I was presented with the opportunity in the best place possible to sample it. For example, haggis is something I wouldn't seek out but if I were in Scotland and was offered a sample at a little pub, I would eat it. Atleast once and then again to confirm an opinion.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea (I've always wanted to try nettle soup, something I saw on a show about food from Scotland)
3. Huevos rancheros (ATX! Woot!)
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding (Clotilde thinks boudin noir counts so yes I suppose I have but the spanish version)
7. Cheese fondue (Yeah, in switzerland)
8. Carp (apparently, there's a deccan white carp. As in, the deccan plateau which is part of the state of Maharashtra. The odds are high I've eaten this. I need a hindi or marathi name for this fish)
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush (in the US and in Saudi Arabia)
11. Calamari (of course a great way to test a chef's skills)
12. Phở
13. PB&J sandwich (definitely an acquired taste but I will only eat it with grape or strawberry jam)
14. Aloo gobi (huh)
15. Hot dog from a street cart (Ann Arbor had this amazing cart that serves all it's hot dogs in french bread)
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle (didn't like it. Don't see why I should)
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (Japanese plum wine)
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream (just finished a stash in the freezer)
21. Heirloom tomatoes (darker the better, I say)
22. Fresh wild berries (does picking off the mulberry trees around austin during spring count?)
23. Foie gras (don't like it, too strong even though I do like chicken liver)
24. Rice and beans (which beans?)
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (I'm not a masochist but they do have a non spicy version which allows you to actually taste the pepper flavour. I'm told it's citrusy)
27. Dulce de leche (next step is try to make my own)
28. Oysters (not raw but fried)
29. Baklava (I think it's too sweet, let the ostracizing begin)
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas (um okay, really?)
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (see above)
33. Salted lassi (tempered w/ mustard seeds and curry leaves and untempered)
34. Sauerkraut (meh)
35. Root beer float (like most foreigners to the US, don't like root beer)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (whatevs. We get it, you're a man's man)
37. Clotted cream tea (I'm counting this because the only way to get cream in india used to be to skim it off milk which I have then added to tea)
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (was this list made by a 20 year old frat boy?)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail (would love to try this in spain)
41. Curried goat (my mom's and my dad's recipes both great but subtly different)
42. Whole insects (I do want to try crickets but no grubs ever.)
43. Phaal (apparently, this is a south indian style curry. Perhaps, I've tried it?)
44. Goat’s milk (surprisingly tasty)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/€80/$120 or more (maybe, what about scotch?)
46. Fugu (I really want to even get into a situation where this is even a possibility. In the US the fugu available is completely tame, the poisonous organs are removed in Japan and then it's flown here)
47. Chicken tikka masala (really? bleh)
48. Eel (yum)
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (I tried one of these warm and understood the lure of the donut)
50. Sea urchin (a while ago, I don't remember liking it but I would give this another try)
51. Prickly pear (growing wild outside a mexican restaurant. Made Sandeep stop the car, got one, peeled it and ate it right there. He wouldn't let me in the car till I was done)
52. Umeboshi (I do want to try this. It sounds like some thing I would like)
53. Abalone
54. Paneer (cannot be made with skim milk. Will be cooking some with spinach for dinner tomorrow)
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (never have eaten this, don't intend to. Whataburger 4Eva)
56. Spaetzle (wurstfest, texas)
57. Dirty gin martini (with hendricks. Delicious but I couldn't finish it.)
58. Beer above 8% ABV (started drinking beer on the harder stuff like triples)
59. Poutine (I don't know if I could stomach this)
60. Carob chips (it's as if they have to make these super sweet so that they don't taste awful)
61. S’mores (too sweet.)
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (um, this is a clay. Why?)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (yes, yes, yes and yes please)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain (My favourite are the sweet ones but also those plantain chips which are slightly sweet and salty)
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (in menudo but did not like it)
71. Gazpacho (love it but had it once at Epoch where it was so thick it was almost gummy. Gross.)
72. Caviar and blini (almost, caviar and toast not blini but I think the point here is the caviar. Yum!)
73. Louche absinthe (I want to try absinthe so badly. I think we would make great friends. Nope, didn't get along at all.)
74. Gjetost, or brunost (brown cheese with caramel undertones, sounds tasty)
75. Roadkill (I would try it because I really like the concept of it. Nothing wasted)
76. Baijiu (why not, think rice wine but closer to rice vodka)
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (Why? Why not just have some pie?)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong (tasty but easy to overdose on the smokiness)
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum (one of my favourite soups)
82. Eggs Benedict (again, was this list made by a 20 year old just being introduced to the joys of brunch?)
83. Pocky (Ah, yes, yes it was)
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant (not interested in that level of food snoberry)
85. Kobe beef (got it, fatty beef is tasty)
86. Hare (what about rabbit?)
87. Goulash (I even liked the crappy dorm cafeteria version)
88. Flowers (sure. Eaten as a meal accompaniment and as a kid on the playground)
9. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate (apparently the thing to eat if you're a chocolate lover. I'm not)
91. Spam (I come from a family of canned meat lovers. Me, not so much)
92. Soft shell crab (have I told you that I'm allergic to shellfish? No? Well soft shelled crab is amazing fried)
93. Rose harissa (it's harissa with rose petals. Color me intrigued.)
94. Catfish (yee haw)
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor (allergic to shellfish and won't push my luck w/ lobster)
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake (I think I would like snake meat. Beating snake heart in snake blood? Not so much.)

Things I have learned from years of physical therapy

Had my annual pilgrimage to the physical therapist today. Actually this was the referral to go see the PT tomorrow. I came away with my head swimming in lots of fancy words and compounded latinates like patellofemoral. I'll have more details about how this will affect the training plan tomorrow.

But for now I give you some nuggets of wisdom:

1. Names of the muscle are fun to say. Popliteal muscle anyone? How about iliotibial? But with another word attached they become scary. e.g. popliteal tendonopathy or iliotibial syndrome.

2. Do not trust a first diagnosis of anything that ends in 'bursitis' that means, they don't know what it is. Sandeep had a 'bursitis' till they figured out what is was. My SI syndrome (OMG SYNDROME!!) was a 'bursitis' till Dr Spears got to it. Just get a second opinion.

p.s. the SI syndrome has undetermined-graded to SI joint dysfunction.

p.p.s. I might have to start aquajogging. I might also have to give myself a wedgie. We'll see.

Magic Mixer

I used the bullet to make vegetable soup yesterday with roasted veggies and spinach. Blended all of them up and heated the soup with a pat of butter. Served with goat cheese crumbles. So simple and so good
Also made banana peanut butter smoothies with it.

peanut butter (also bananas) makes everything taste better.

The one about the pull ups

I can't do a single pull-up, I hang there and bend my elbows pretending I'm lifting myself.

I did five yesterday. By 'did' I mean, I hung there and bent my elbows while the guy who helped me did 5 of those 'lift a weak G' exercises that are so trendy right now.

My arms hurt.

Weekend run

My first ever 14 miler. It's the longest distance I've ever run and I can't believe it went so well. My knees were tired by the end of it but otherwise I felt great. Since my left side (leg, knee, hips back) are weaker than my right, I was encouraged (is that the right word to be using here?) by the fact that both my knees felt equally worn out. We've started to experiment with salt tablets and they make such a difference during the long runs especially given the humidity in this hell-hole that is austin this summer.
I ran with Leslie and Jessica. I'm surprised how smoothly things went considering, I ran 14, Leslie ran 12 and Jessica ran 8. We ran into a fellow Gazelle that had been left behind by her group who ran my 14 with me. Having someone to run large distances with you is great but having someone who is fun to talk to really makes the run. Emily, the girl I ran with, was a talker and interesting to boot.
She also happens to be crazy!
She is training for her second marathon and she does all her runs without any nutritional supplements, I mean no food whatsoever! The only time she has used gels was during the marathon itself and it her cramps so she's a little weary of using them. I shared an extra gel and salt tablets with her during our run and I hope that has changed her mind about using the stuff.

A weird result of the salt tablets is that I need less gels to run on. I took three with me since that's how many I used during my training runs over 12 miles during the half. I ended up using only two. As long as I was alternating the tablets w/ the gels. I was fine. Actually that's a lie. I almost forgot to take a second gel because I felt fine but around mile 9 I started to feel a little nauseous. Realizing that I was probably low on sugar, I took a gel and immediately felt better. Ah, mustn't forget to take those things.

Then, the strangest thing happened once stretching was finished. I realized how amazing my legs are. This is a big deal because my legs (thighs) are what I like the least on my body. But the run made me feel this intense love for them. They carried me through those miles and kept me moving. They are getting stronger as training progresses and I can't help but be proud of them.

Mile repeats

Yesterday's workout was mile repeats. I've never done this one before so I was a little nervous. I was also late. The cat hasn't been feeling well and I woke up to puke. I ran by myself to Zilker where we do mile repeats around the pool area. My group did 3-4 depending on how 'accomplished' they were feeling. I stopped at 3. I ran all three at an approx 9:35 mins pace. That's crazy because I'm not that fast in reality. Even coach was surprised.

The first two miles were great, albeit tough. The last one though was like running with 20lbs weights attached to my legs. I couldn't seem to move as fast as I wanted to. This was also how I felt during my long run on saturday. The same long run that we had to cut down to 10 miles from 13.5 because of the humidity.
So the question here is, is the humidity making it difficult to run because it makes my legs really heavy or is it something to do with what I'm eating or drinking. I suspect it's the humidity combined with the fact that I have been a little lax with my water/electrolyte intake.

Peanut butter smoothie time

My mom-in-law (MIL) is a teacher and she gets the most crazy gifts from parents. One of the gifts she got was the magic bullet. Actually she got two. While it may sound kitchy is supposed to work really well and is a really great tool to have for a small kitchen.Since she doesn't use either, I asked her to send one to me.

It arrived yesterday in all it's awesome informecial glory complete with the other ten thousand things I will never need to use. I don't have the space for a blender but this fits in a much smaller area and I think I might able to get rid of some of the other single taskers I own (like my coffee grinder I use for spices).

Anyways, the number one reason I've wanted one was to make smoothies with. It's just too hot for a warm breakfast but smoothies are perfect for this weather.
So this morning I went for a run. A short one, around 4 miles and made a smoothie when I got back. It was delicious. I can't wait to try more recipes.

For this morning I used:
Ice
Milk
Soaked almonds
Banana
Cottage cheese
Honey

I've been adding strained yogurt or cottage cheese to my smoothies to add protien since I can't take the taste of whey protein. It works beautifully. There is absolutely no texture of the cottage cheese in the smoothie. It's smooth and a little tangy from the addition which makes it really tasty. I think I want to experiment w/ rose/kewra water(kewra is a flower, the essence is a bit similar to rose but flowery-er) and vanilla next.

Did you know?

1.Alcohol is metabolized as fat? Fat has 30-something kcals (kJ, I can't remember) per gram, alcohol has 29. Both protein and carbs are in the late teens for energy/gram.

2. Oxybenzone (half of neutrogena's helioplex) is a chemical sunscreen but it's also a carcinogen? I started to use sunscreen w/ helioplex a few months ago and had a significant allergic reaction to it. So I went online to look for what might be causing it.
I found this wikipedia link.
And it's not even the only one; the internettings are full of information about this chemical. If I remember correctly, it cannot be used in sunscreens in Europe. Just in the US. Nice.
I switched to Eucerin's sunscreen w/ titanium dioxide*. This took about half day's worth of going through all the suncreens in the stores because almost everything has oxybenzone.

* in the interest of full disclosure, titanium dioxide may also be carcinogenic but the study deals more with inhaled Ti dust not in suspended form.

A little pick me up

Never fails to make me smile.

Nike women's marathon

I love the idea of sport events directed at women. The whole feel is different at a women's sports event. It also takes some of the intimidation away from someone just getting into a sport who is starting to compete.

Now, here's my problem. I don't want to run for a tiffany necklace. Or chocolate at a water stop. Or a pedicure. It's a friggin' marathon and no amount of telling me it's a party is going to make 4-6 hours on my feet 'fun'.
I happen to know for a fact that love for chocolate, pedicures and branded jewellery don't make or define being a woman.

That being said, even I'm not stupid enough to complain about the firemen that hand said necklaces out to the finishers.

Do Not Want

I almost don't want to talk about this but I must. Please forgive me if I offend you.

I just don't want it.

I don't want to get my degree, have a kid and then do something else. I don't want to have kids, decide academia isn't for me and stay at home. Then write a blog about my kids or about gardening or food or knitting.

I want to be a researcher (well be good at it). I want to be proud of my accomplishments independent from those of my children.

Note: I do reserve the right to change my mind as the situation demands.

JELJAB!!

I've been struggling on my long runs ever since I got back to running in April. Last week changed all that. I took the first two miles really slow and that may have done the trick. Or not restricting my calories (carbs more specifically) may have done the trick. Or drinking accelerade before the run may have done the trick. Or not drinking coffee before the run may have done the trick. Or drinking electrolytes during the entire week leading up to the run may have done the trick.

Anyway, finally kept up with EELBA (w/o one E, erin but with two extra Js, Jessica V and Jessica C).

Let's see how this saturday fares, we plan to do the lopsided lolli (since there is a turnaround that looks like a circle). That's 9.8 miles with a middle with serious hills. I plan to sing 'lollipop' in all its misogynistic glory.

she says he's so sweet....

Well that was fun

Let's never do that again.

We ran a 4 mile run on wednesday with the last two miles paced.

It started out great. I kept a pace of under 10mins/mile for the first two miles and I wasn't even pushing it. I tried to take it slow to keep from overheating in the afternoon. With close to 100 degrees, I thought I was doing well. Then during the third mile, I started to struggle a bit. Walked, felt a little pucky and then ran some. Mile 4 created more nausea but also added chills. A little unusual and alarming.
When I got back Allison was nice enough to get me some water and coach didn't let me run the cool down mile.
I went to his truck to get some accelerade and managed to spill it all over my shirt. It wasn't exactly dissolved in the water and looked like I had thrown up all over myself. Yikes, I left. I went home, showered and wallowed in self-pity for the rest of the evening. This could/would have been the best tempo ever. Stupid texas summers.


Note:
self-pity entails me yelling 'my life sucks' intermittently through the night.

Currently craving

To not have to cook dinner everyday.

Note on currently craving

The 'currently craving' posts do not include any of the PMS cravings. I've been monitoring those and it seems like it is always something sweet and soft like Quack's strawberry oat bars (effing awesome!) and the newly discovered carmelita bars at Whole Foods. The interesting thing is that it never involves chocolate and the carmelitas have chocolate chips which kind of ruins them.

I tend to crave things a lot and they tend to strange, specific items like salmon sashimi or the potatoes from tacodeli. But I'm discovering that the cravings right before my period always involve sugar in a soft chewy form like caramels or fudge or local cinnamon buns (think cinnamon sugar dusted croissants).

dee-lie-ma update

Her royal laziness returned the pants and hopes to find a similar pair that are as cheap and cute. At the rate she is going, the ETA is 2012.

Cheers!

Conundrum

I bought a pair of shorts at target. For $7. Ya for me.

They are a size 13. I am not a size 13 but my thighs are. So while I fit into the smaller sizes, I like the way these look around my widest part (my thighs).

But here's the problem, as I mentioned, I am not a size 13. I worked really hard not to be a size 13 (actually 14) anymore but really I don't know if I care, it's just a number. But these shorts don't sit on my hips, they slip off. I could spend a little more money and get them altered to fit my hips. Or I could return them and hope to find something in my size in the same colours (did I mention they are tan, green and blue? Cute.)

So help me with my dilemma (or like Chitu likes to call the frivolous ones, dee-lie-ma), should I return the shorts or alter them?

Mama's day or the weekend of two runs

Elizabeth and I ran two shorter long runs this weekend. We ran 6 miles on saturday and decided to keep Jessica company as she ran her 6 miles on sunday.

First of all, this is bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!! I can't believe we did that. This time last year, just the one run would have been an accomplishment. It's amazing that we ran two of those in succession.

I had been dealing with a strange backache that appeared out of nowhere on thursday. After not moving for two days, I knew that warming the muscles up would help. I did make a pact with myself to stop if it didn't feel good and turn around no matter what. I considered not going on saturday and sunday but I'm so glad I went because today I woke up feeling fine.

Saturday was disgusting: humid, overcast and warm. The run was slow and uncomfortable. The highlight of the run was the family of swans on the lake, complete with five fuzzy cygnets (or as Leslie called them 'ugly ducklings'). Perfect for mother's day weekend.

Sunday was beautiful: cool, sunny and dry. We ran the eastside trail again but slightly altered so that we didn't have to deal with the road at all. We got to see the swans again, on mother's day no less! That made the two mom's day. This was the kind of run that reminds you why you love your city and running with the people you chose to run with.

I came home, called my mom who then proceeded to scold me about not 'making babies' :)

Currently Craving

Red meat but more specifically, steak; charred and salty. With onions involved somehow.

Those skinny jeans

(Ha! I typed the title as skinny cheese by mistake (lunch time).)

Funny thing about those skinny jeans, they don't always work out the way you would want to.

Four years ago, when I weighed around what I do right now I bought three pairs of khakis from jcrew. When I put on weight (again), these became my 'skinny jeans'. These are the pants I decided to fit back into as a pre-goal on my way to my final goal weight.

I've finally gotten to the point that I can start to wear them again. Funny story though, I don't like them anymore. No, I can't stand them anymore. One of them has no pockets in the back (remember when all the pants had that no back pocket thing going?). The other one is fitted around my thighs but wide-legged around my calves. And I haven't even looked at the third one yet.

So, I think I'm going to get rid of these pants and just find clothes that fit me right now.

Speaking of finding things that fit, let's take a letter:

Re: Vanity sizing

Dear Old Navy,
why change your sizing so that now a medium is now a large? I come into the store and nothing in my old sizes fits anymore (not that it did to begin with but I knew that I needed to try EVERYTHING before I bought it). I know I'm not a size small in anything (thanks boobies!!). To someone trying to lose weight, this is just cruel.

kthxbai,
Me

Birthday present

This is part I of Sandeep's birthday present. It's grainy but so worth it.

It's also the alcohol

Two weekends ago, a friend had a birthday party. A beer brewing, 16-yr old laguvilin (scotch) sharing friend. We got home feeling toasty and very much loved. The following monday, I noticed the scale was registering a heavier weight for me. I figured that would even itself out over the week and didn't think too much of it. Then on friday, we met some friends at the new neighbourhood watering hole. Didn't get drunk or even tipsy, didn't eat whataburger after (like we usually do) but again, the weighing scale registered a heavier number the following day.

I think, anything that messes with my cellular water content (i.e. water retention) messes with my weight. Salt, alcohol, humidity, gravity etc. Ever since I went off the pill, eating badly once or twice hasn't been as fatal as it used to be. This leads me to think that alcohol is particularly insidious because that 'weight gain' seems to last longer (it took almost all week to get it down to baseline).

So, for the next month, I'm going off alcohol. Completely (no let me taste your drink, no just a sip). Perhaps, once that is done, I can fiddle around with the kind and quantity of alcohol to figure out if these two factors make a difference.

Updates to follow.

Currently Craving

Eggplant.
Avocado.

I want the eggplant in a stewed, soft state and the avocado in a raw sliced state.
So I'm thinking, eggplant cooked indian style w/ broadbeans and potatoes (always craving potatoes) sometime this week maybe on friday.
And, and, and, a sliced avocado sandwich w/ just salt and pepper.

mmm....

Someday

One of these days I'm going to keep up with the fast girls (EEL (Erin, Elizabeth, Leslie), as Jessica calls them). Now we can add Barb and Allison to that (EELBA?)

That'll be a good day.

Weight-loss changes

So some of the questions I got from the post about my lack of weight-loss were the following:

- do my clothes fit differently
- do I drink soda
- what about diet drinks
- what about processed foods

So, my clothes are fitting differently but not enough to make be feel better about the slow weightloss. I don't drink any soda on a regular basis, maybe once every two-three weeks. But if I do drink it, it tends to be diet soda. My intake of processed foods is also minimal. I tend not to like the taste of refined flour so there isn't too much white flour in my diet. I do, however, eat lean cuisines very regularly for lunch. Dinner is almost always homemade as are snacks. I hate those 100 cal snack packs, if I want ant snacks, I'll go raid an anthill.

On a side note, the hummus from the farmer's market is in itself worth the trip downtown. I tend to eat it plain, on bread or with veggies. But then the boy gets pita chips in the house and I come home to find that he took care of the 'hummus problem'.

On a side side note, the alternative bread from central market has quinoa, amaranth and some flax and it worth the extra buck you have to spend on it (compared to the other breads they have). Expensive, but so good if you're feeling splurge-y.

Okay, back to the topic. I've cut out splenda, aiming for 14 cups of water and I am also limiting my salt intake. I drink a cup of coffee and a cup of tea a day and each one gets a teaspoon of sugar. No more added sugar to anything else in my meals (so fruits are fine, ya).

Surprisingly, I am getting in 14 cups of water a day without too much of a problem. The sugar limit is also not an issue.
BUT:
Do you know you should keep sodium down to 2300 mg/day? Do you know how much sodium a single teaspoon of salt has? 2300 mg. Do you know the culture I come from (I think most of the western part of India does this) actually gives you salt on the side to eat raw with your food. Take a bite of the rice and dal, then a bite of a green chili dipped into salt. mmm.
Yesterday was the first day I even managed to get my sodium to under 2500 mg.

Well I never...

this one made me blush (I ran into it off a blog while I was looking for nutrition information on pan fried noodles):

This really shouldn't be this difficult

It's even difficult trying to write about this. I've lost a grand total of four pounds in the past two months of working out on the average 5-6 times a week (two of which were weight training). In the past week (after the in-laws had gone) I regained two of those pounds and it won't budge.

I know, I've gained muscle weight. I know its impossible to gain two pounds in a week and its something else like water. But right now, I'm at a loss. I've cut out splenda and am going to increase my water intake to about 14 cups. Let's see if this helps.

I don't know if I can even drink 14 cups of water. 10-12 is difficult as it is.

Belly Flops

She's in the ladies bathroom at the gym folding her sleeves up while she gets ready to go get her workout. I walk in and get the look. You know the one where she looks me up and down to decide whether I look like I should be there or not. If I look 'fit' enough to look so satisfied about getting my sweat on. Or if I look too big to be so proud of myself. I do a mental check to see what I'm wearing. I'm glad I have my Fila relays shirt on (even though it doesn't say so on the front, only on the back).
Is this why I want to wear my race shirts to the gym? So that I look like I belong? So that the big girl can stay even though her belly seems to move independently of the rest of her body?

Too bad the 3M shirt is full sleeved, I can't wear it during my workout.

It is definitely the sugar

I think I write this blog more for me than anyone else. It's a place where I can write stuff down that I don't want to forget. Its finally paid off. Around december I wrote about how I think sugar makes me crazy. Well last week I had some run ins with Jam that made me eat like I was training for a marathon. So today I ate some sugar but keeping in mind what I was doing. I ate some cottage cheese with jam and then a hard candy. Its around three in the afternoon right now and I've spent the last hour trying to stop myself from thinking about food. Sugar, it seems, resets my food gauge. I remember this used to happen to me during undergrad where I couldn't eat anything sweet for breakfast or I'd spend the rest of the day rabidly hungry. Now, it appears, sweet stuff seems to do that no matter what time of the day I eat it.

Strangely enough, natural sugars don't seem to matter. I eat a piece of fruit almost every afternoon without any repercussions. This is good since I am unsure if a fruit-less existence is worth my effort.
I guess the next step from here is going to be to figure out if eating the sugar with something else helps or not. Past run ins suggest that neither protein nor fat are going to help.

Blah blah blah and then some insight

Jess recently wrote about thinking a single nice thing about someone. This is something I've been trying to do myself but in a slightly altered way. I've been trying not to be judgmental about people I see around me. To be more exact, I've been trying not to judge people based on how they look by deciding who is 'too skinny' or 'overweight'. Its not acceptable to do something like that unless I'm okay with that being done to me (which I am not since, you know, you don't know me).

Yesterday was cold and windy so the gym was mostly empty. That meant that for my body sculpt class, the middle area, which is usually full, had spots available in front of the mirror. As a result, I got to work out with the added benefit of watching myself workout. This is something I have managed to successfully avoid for the past month and a half. Initially, I just wanted to spare myself that instant when you realize what you look like. It doesn't help that for some reason most of the people in these classes are really really slim (not unhealthy just naturally tiny). Compare and contrast at its best.

So I had to work out in front of the mirror. It wasn't bad and I caught myself thinking I don't absolutely hate the way I look. As in the past, I didn't spend my entire time avoiding looking into the mirror. Then I noticed that the girl next to. She was a little wider than I was but she had no tummy. Just amazingly flat abs. Unfortunately, the rest of the workout was then spent wondering why my abs are, shall we say, not flat?

So I'm going to try something new. Along with not judging people I see based on how they look, I am also going to try and be nicer to myself.

Moving on

I've been trying to come up with a good way to report the half marathon to everyone (Hi Mike!) but I can't seem to put it into words. It was strange and surreal and amazing and to some extent disappointing.
I say disappointing because I got really tired with three miles remaining. With all that training, I should have known better than to start out so fast. I did finish well under my goal time of 2:30 and intend to run many more. Photos of the race before, after and during can viewed here.

Now, I must move onto the present. I've been avoiding writing because I can't seem to articulate the 3M experience. Well, then, I'll talk about the other things going on right now and hopefully the words will come.

Gratitude for the 3M

Its been a week since the 3M half and I can't stop thinking about everyone who made the race one of the most amazing things I have ever done. Thank you for nodding considerately as I obsessed about training and thinking of me during/after the race.

Some friday nights Sandeep actually laid out all my stuff for me so that I could go to bed on time before a long run. I definitely would not have done with this without some amazing people to run with. Running long runs is bad enough but if I had had to run them alone we all know that I would have just slept in. During the race, there were throngs of people out there to cheer the runners on. Volunteers frantically working to keep the water stops functioning but still taking the time to say an encouraging word. Some of the spectators were even nice enough to bring out bananas and tissues. Simply amazing!

Even our running group is amazing, they were so proud of us for racing. I can't help but be touched.

To some this might sound like an acceptance speech but I can't help but feel the need to give thanks all around. So, in conclusion, I would also like to thank my physical therapist for keeping me as strong as he could despite the issues that cropped up and then congratulating me and looking appropriately impressed with my time even though he also works with women like this: http://www.desireeficker.com/

I can has 3m photos?

If you said the photos would go up on the 30th, why aren't they up on the 30th?

Running is for fun!

Tomorrow is the race and I'm having trouble eating. I'm so nervous.
I really like races because of the sense of community they create and I feel really connected and a part of something bigger. The problem is that I'm afraid that my back is going to rebel. I want tomorrow's run to be more than just something I was glad I got through. I've done everything I can. It's time now to relax and thank nature for being kind to us. Its going to be cloudy/clear and amazing weather in the 50s during the race. Time to go to bed.

Two days remain

I had my first panic attack two days ago on Wednesday about the half marathon I am told I will be racing on Sunday. I think I need to be really good and blog about what is going on with me.

Wednesday was my last hard workout. 6 X 400s at Austin high. It was cold but almost all the familiar faces showed up. It felt really good to just talk to them and run. Minnie, Barb and I ran without timing ourselves. Alison, Sarah and Jessica ran ahead of us (and I think they did time themselves). I did some core work and PT yesterday but nothing strenuous.
Dinner at changos made my stomach so unhappy even today two days later I can feel it. That being said, you'll have to pry that al pastor taco from my cold dead hands.

Yesterday was bad in the sense that I didn't drink enough water at all. I maxed out at 7 cups if I'm lucky but I need to drinking close to 12.
I hope today will be better.

FYI, masoor (brown lentils) = tons of protein
chana (bengal gram/horse gram) = very little protein.

Today's dilemma: Eat dinner with some asha folks (catered Indian (?) food) or eat dinner at home (Rajma and rice a.k.a red beans and rice).

Ha!

This ad has been making the rounds and is quite funny.



But what is truly funny about this is ad is that the people I run with have used all these complaints/excuses at one time or another. While we run.

Infact, just yesterday, Alison thought her run was going to suck because she didn't have her Gu on her (with caffeine), I thought it was too cold and a bunch of us weren't feeling well because of allergies.
Yesterdays run was 900 meter repeats around the Zilker pool in alternating directions. Either way ends with either a steady climb or a steep climb. Favourite conversation during the run? Which direction do you hate more? The steady or the steep incline?

Running or jogging

Apparently, in order to be technically running your speed has to be 9min/mile or faster. Otherwise, you're jogging.
I disagree.
There has to be a definition of running that involves perceived effort because a raw running pace cutoff doesn't take into account weight and body builds. I don't know if I'll ever get to the point that I can sustain 9min miles for longer than a mile but that doesn't mean that I'm not going the fastest I can when I 'run'. Not to mention, even though I'm slow, I do have a running pace and a jogging pace. I think there needs to be a new definition for the two terms.
Or maybe we just need to get away from this need to feel better than all those slow people out there (they jog but I actually run).

Thoughts?