Day 117 of Training: Emotions of Food and Motion

Many of you know what a bad running week I had last week. Well I am proud to say that this week was so much better.

I'm still amazed that what I eat & put in my body makes such a difference on how I feel while I run. It also makes a difference on how I feel emotionally through the day, it makes a difference on how much energy I have, it directly affects my self worth level & also how I view myself. I find that if I eat pizza, chocolate & soda I immediately feel like I'm fat, lazy & ugly. I know it doesn't make sense but it's true. If I eat vegetables, fruit, whole grains & good protein I feel energetic & beautiful. I feel like I've already taken the time to take care of myself in one way so I usually wear nicer clothes on those days & my hair & makeup will be done too! You can tell I feel better overall.

I also get more done during the day on the days that I eat right & run. I guess it's because I feel like I already had time to myself and now I can work on my family or the house or take care of whatever else needs attention, I already took care of me. Taking care of me is important... not just to me but to my family. They get a lot better quality mom and wife when I'm in a good mood and more energetic.

I remember about a year ago there were days when I felt like locking myself in the bathroom just so I could have a minute to myself. I was so tired all the time and constantly didn't feel good. I was lucky if I got to take a shower, let alone put on makeup, nice clothes or do my hair. I always felt like I needed more sleep, so the idea of waking up early to exercise sounded awful!

I still have those days once in a while but I'm happy to say that they're the exception now rather than the rule. I know that no matter how tired I am in the morning I will feel more tired through the day if I choose to stay in bed rather than go move my body. It's amazing what has happened over the last year when I finally decided to love myself, take care of myself and make ME a priority. I know that might sound... self absorbed? As a Mom of 4 kids though, I was never thinking about myself. I would get everyone ready for church and my kids would walk out looking like beauty queens and my hair was still half wet. I was the last one to sit down at the table, I was exhausted from taking care of everyone and I felt guilty if I took time out for myself for ANY reason.

I was hoping that all of this would change me on the outside and make me a healthier person but I never knew the changes that would come emotionally or the positive changes it would have on my whole family. It doesn't make sense but it's true. I take care of me first and then everyone else gets taken care of, there's suddenly enough of me to go around!

I've read the book "In Defense of Food". It's a little wordy but very enlightening and will change the way you think about food. It basically says to not eat all that processed stuff. Try to choose REAL food. (Butter instead of Margarine, Whole Grains, etc...) It also says to try to choose foods that have 5 or less ingredients and that has ingredients that you can pronounce and that you know what they are. I've also gone organic and no horomones or pesticides in my food. On the front of the book it says... "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Does this sound familiar to anyone? It's what I've been told my whole life in the Word of Wisdom only it never seemed that simple before. So I'm standing in the shower the other day and thinking.... "DUH! When did we decide that our scientists knew more about food and what was healthy for us than Heavenly Father does? When did we become SO clever that we could MAKE food be more nutritious for our bodies and less fattening than the vegetables, fruits, grains & animals that Heavenly Father gave to us. When exactly was it that we became smarter than God?" The answer to me is that we're not smarter so I've put away my Cap'N Crunch and candy and although I do have my treats every once in a while my diet does not consist mainly of 100 calorie snacks, breakfast cereal and fake, "No Fat" yogurt made with fake sugars and chemicals used to preserve it. Wow, what a difference I can feel! Amazing.

So I re-did "Week ONE" of my training schedule and it was a night and day difference. I tried really hard last week to eat well and when I ran the 5 miles on Saturday I felt like I could breathe easy, my body didn't get tired and I felt like I could have kept going. Today I started the "Week TWO" of the 16 week training and I have to run 6 miles on Saturday. I hope I can do it... I've never ran more than 5 before. We'll see how it goes.